Lin Chunying frowned. She knew her house was about to collapse, but the thought of rebuilding it would cost a lot of money...
"How much does it cost to build a house these days? It must cost at least three or four hundred yuan!" They don't have that kind of money!
"You don't need to worry about that. Qin Huai and I will cover the cost. Grandma Qin gave me over a thousand yuan when she was in Beijing, so you don't need to worry about the money."
Fang Jingru listened to what the others were saying and took out 500 yuan from her pocket.
“The Qin family’s house will be built with the Qin family’s money, and I will pay for the construction of my second brother’s house. That’s the only fair way.”
“No way! We’re building a house, how can we let you pay for it? Absolutely not!” Lin Chunying immediately refused.
Qiao Weiguo also said, "We can't let you pay. So, we'll use Qiqi's money first, consider it a loan from your mother and me, and give it to you when we have the money later."
Qiao Qiqi had anticipated this outcome. She said, somewhat amused and exasperated, "If you give me the money, my in-laws will definitely have to give me theirs too. So, are you sure you want to be so calculating with me?"
Lin Chunying and Qiao Weiguo frowned.
After thinking for a moment, Qiao Weiguo suddenly said, "You won't tell your in-laws about this, will you? If you don't tell them, they won't know?"
"No! If we're going to build one, we'll build one together. I'll definitely pay for my in-laws' house, so I have to pay for yours too." Qiao Qiqi had already thought of a way to deal with it. As long as she insisted on fairness between the two sides, Qiao Weiguo and Lin Chunying wouldn't be able to bear the Qin family taking money, so they would have no choice but to listen to her.
"Why are you so disobedient, child?" Lin Chunying deliberately put on a stern face, but unfortunately, she had no strength at all, and Qiao Qiqi was not afraid at all.
Fang Jingru also put the money down, saying, "Second brother and sister-in-law, this money isn't entirely mine; it was left to you by our parents, so you must keep it."
Qiao Weiguo was somewhat conflicted. "We can't be sure yet that I'm from the Fang family. What if I'm not?"
“Even if it’s not true, I’m already convinced that you’re my brother, and Qiao Qiqi is my niece!” Fang Jingru had already made up her mind. Although she felt that the possibility of it not being true was extremely slim, there were no other ways to verify it at the moment.
After considering it for a while, Qiao Weiguo and Lin Chunying decided to use Qiao Qiqi's money first and have Fang Jingru take the money back.
After finishing their meal, Qiao Qiqi, wanting to finish building the house as soon as possible, took advantage of the fact that Wang Guihua was probably home at the moment and immediately went to the Qin family to tell them about the two families building a house together.
As expected, Wang Guihua and Qin Baojun both disagreed.
Qiao Qiqi continued to put on an innocent expression, "My parents said that if you don't agree, they won't build it. You know, my parents' west wing is about to collapse, and if it snows heavily this winter, it definitely won't hold... I heard that a few years ago, during a heavy snowfall, people in the next village were killed when a house collapsed at night..."
Qiao Qiqi finished speaking, and sure enough, Wang Guihua and Qin Baojun's expressions changed.
“Mom and Dad, if you don’t want to cover it, then my parents won’t cover it either. This money was given to me by Grandma Qin, or more precisely, it’s for me and you. If you don’t use this money, then my parents will be even less likely to use it. They originally considered this money as a loan to them. If you don’t cover it, they simply won’t cover it at all.” Qiao Qiqi put on a troubled expression.
Forced into a corner, Wang Guihua finally said, "Fine! We'll build it then, but we have to build the Qiao family's first, so your parents can move in with you first."
"Okay!"
Having achieved her goal, Qiao Qiqi returned home satisfied.
Having already decided to build a house, Qiao Qiqi went to Zhang Qing's house early the next morning to borrow a donkey cart to help Lin Chunying with her luggage.
When Zhang Qing learned that a house was to be built, he thought that the heavy items such as the kang (heated brick bed), piano cabinet, and wardrobe would be too heavy for a woman to lift, so he took a day off to help.
Qiao Qiqi was initially quite embarrassed, but it turned out that moving required a man; women alone could manage to move small items, but large items were completely out of the question.
When villagers saw them driving a donkey cart and pulling luggage through the village, they couldn't help but ask, "What are you doing? Moving?"
"The Qiao family is building a house, and they're staying at their son-in-law's house during the time their house is being demolished," explained a villager who had asked beforehand.
The village immediately became lively upon hearing that Qiao Weiguo and Lin Chunying were building a house.
Those who had previously said that Qiao Qiqi was going to be divorced by Qin Huai suddenly resurfaced.
Some people said sourly, "You have some money but don't know what to do with it. Is it easy to build a house? These days, it costs at least 400 yuan to build a house. It would take two years to earn that amount."
Some villagers said, "Qiao Qiqi built a house for her parents, but what about her in-laws? Wang Guihua's house also has cracks, and it doesn't look like it will last much longer."
"I just passed by the Qin family compound this morning, and there was no sound at all. I guess they're not going to cover it up."
"Tsk! Qiao Qiqi is too biased, isn't she? She only thinks about her own parents, but not Qin Huai's parents. I heard that she bought a sewing machine for Lin Chunying before, but the Qin family doesn't have one."
"Wang Guihua doesn't know how to sew. She's just strong and can work in the fields like a man."
Everyone chatted and laughed, and in less than a day, the whole village was talking about the Qiao family building a house.
When some villagers saw Qiao Weiguo, they went up to him and asked, "Who paid for your house construction?"
"My daughter gave it to me. It was given to me by my son-in-law's grandmother in Beijing. Before he joined the army, he specifically told my daughter to make sure it was built for him." Although Qiao Weiguo refused last night, when villagers asked him today, he still spoke with great pride and said that it was built by his daughter and son-in-law, without hiding anything.
When the villagers heard that it was Qin Huaijing's grandmother who gave them the money, they felt even more sorry for Wang Guihua and Qin Baojun. The two of them had worked hard all their lives and finally raised the child they brought back, only to end up like this!
Some people felt sorry for Wang Guihua in front of her, saying, "You've raised this son for nothing. He used to be filial to you and his father, but after he was recognized by his ancestors, he immediately turned his back on you. He only thinks about giving his wife good food and drink and building a house for his father-in-law, but he never thinks about you."
"Who told you Qin Huai wasn't thinking about me? Did he say it himself?" Wang Guihua saw that these people only dared to say it behind her back before, but now they dared to say it to her face. She was too lazy to pay attention to them and turned to leave.
Even after walking quite a distance, I could still hear the gossiping voices of those people behind me.
"I kindly spoke up for her, but she doesn't appreciate it at all. She really doesn't know how to appreciate kindness."
"Forget it, if they don't care, we outsiders shouldn't worry about it."
"Hmph! Once the Qiao family's big brick house is built, I don't believe she won't be resentful living in this dilapidated house! Just you wait and see!"
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