How I Tamed My Wolfish Husband Back in 80s-Chapter 307 - 309: Visiting Relatives_1

The next day, Qin Jin returned to Beijing, and Li Qiao went to work, spending the whole morning organizing files.

In the afternoon, good news came from next door: Qian Wanguan from Xiong Village had confessed.

They hadn’t even begun to interrogate him when he spilled everything.

He had killed Ma Tian.

The reason was that Ma Tian’s young wife had once been in a relationship with him. They had separated due to family objections, but the two had kept in touch all these years. That night, Ma Tian discovered she had another man, and after an argument ensued, he strangled her in a fit of rage.

He fled to Qian’s place.

Once Qian learned the ins and outs of the matter, he took his revenge by strangling Ma Tian and stuffing his body into a hayrick to destroy the evidence.

Ma Ling was shocked, "These two cases actually have a connection."

Xun Dong said, "Top Scholar thinks differently than us, solving two tough cases right after arriving."

Li Qiao said, "I merely noticed by chance that the missing person and the victim had nearly identical heights and weights, which is why I became suspicious."

Xun Dong encouraged her to keep up the good work.

Li Qiao was embarrassed; she had really just stumbled upon the truth by accident.

But everyone agreed that she had a unique talent.

Before the end of the workday, the team even held a meeting to praise her, which left her feeling immensely flattered.

....

The next day was Saturday.

Li Qiao got off work after half a day.

After lunch, she picked grapes from the yard, gathered the clothes she had made for her little nephews, and rode the unit’s bike to her older sister’s house.

The two girls were playing at the door with their brother.

Li Jiaoyang and Mrs. Song sat under the shade of a tree, knitting, surrounded by several villagers chatting about family matters.

"Auntie~" The eldest girl was the first to spot Li Qiao, and she excitedly ran toward her from a distance.

"Dani~" Li Qiao waved back with a smile.

Li Jiaoyang put down her work: "Qiaoqiao, you’re back? Didn’t your letter say you wouldn’t be back for the summer holiday?"

"I changed my mind later." Li Qiao took out the clothes and grapes from the bike basket.

Li Jiaoyang chided, "They haven’t even worn out the clothes you sent earlier, why did you make more?"

"These aren’t worth much."

The villagers, feeling the fabric, said, "Oh, this is indeed good material, and you say it isn’t worth much?"

Li Qiao: "The color isn’t right."

"The color is good, how much did you pay for the fabric?"

Li Qiao: "Two yuan for a big roll, thirty meters I suppose."

"I thought things in the city were expensive?" The villagers crowded around Li Qiao with various questions, all of them asking her to bring fabric for them.

Li Qiao, thinking that Feng Fugui would be frequently traveling to Beijing these days, took out her pen and paper she carried with her to make a list: "I’ll only bring fabric, okay?"

"We won’t buy anything else, just the two yuan per big roll of this really good Dacron fabric. We’ll take one roll."

But when it came time to collect money, someone was unhappy.

The reason was they hadn’t seen the goods.

Li Qiao said, "I’ll front it, and then you can give the money to my sister."

"That’ll work."

After the villagers left.

Li Jiaoyang said: "Qiaoqiao, you shouldn’t have covered for them. Two yuan isn’t a small amount; what if they don’t want it after you bring it over?"

Li Qiao: "Isn’t there still fabric left? Keeping it for making our own clothes is also fine."

Li Jiaoyang: ".... Who uses thirty meters of fabric for clothes?"

How many outfits would that make?

The whole family could wear them, and it’d probably be enough.

Mrs. Song poured a cup of cool boiled water and handed it to Li Qiao: "Girl, have some water."

"Eh, thank you, aunty."

"What’s there to thank for." Mrs. Song smiled warmly, "Let’s talk inside."

The group went into the house.

Dani washed the grapes and brought them to Li Qiao first.

Li Jiaoyang said, "This child is really spoiled. The moment you come, she completely forgets I exist."

Li Qiao laughed heartily as she plucked two grapes to eat. "Alright, take these to your mom before she gets jealous."

"Where did you get these from?" Li Jiaoyang asked, knowing that the Qin family didn’t have grapes and that the ones at the supply and sales cooperative were all withered at this time.

The ones in front of her were obviously freshly picked.

Li Qiao: "The county seat, Dani, close the front gate."

Mrs. Song uttered an acknowledgment, glanced towards the gate, and shut the courtyard door.

Li Qiao began to talk about business matters.

Li Jiaoyang said, "That’s great, when the time comes, my brother-in-law and I can set up a stall."

"Set up a stall? First, let’s not talk about whether it’s demeaning—just setting up a stall is frightening enough, what if we get caught? You mentioned making clothes, I agree to that, but setting up a stall is absolutely out of the question," Mrs. Song protested, afraid of inviting trouble and even more afraid of making a loss.

Before, Qin Jin’s business dealing with radio parts had resulted in a loss.

Her son complained about lying at home, neither fully human nor ghost.

He went to ask the villagers to store their goods in his storage room and found the door ajar. Inside, he saw someone grimy and dirty lying there and thought it was some beggar who had snuck in to sleep.

It turned out to be Qin Jin.

He didn’t make a sound in response to questions.

When her son inquired outside, the neighbors said that Qin Jin had lost money in his business, and not a single person involved with him had gotten away unscathed. One family was so poor they even had to borrow food.

Now that land was being distributed, wasn’t every household well-fed? Wasn’t having enough to eat enough? Why make trouble for oneself?

Not long ago, a young man had come over to ask her son to help haul manure, and she had resolutely refused to let her son go.

If Qin Jin suffered a loss, Li Qiao had a safety net.

But if they lost everything, they would truly have nothing left.

Li Jiaoyang: "If we do it, we don’t even have a sewing machine."

Li Qiao: "That’s fine too, I’ll lend you a sewing machine to start with, and you can pay it back once you’ve made some money."

Mrs. Song smiled, "That works."

Li Jiaoyang: "How can that work? You need a coupon to buy a sewing machine, I have the money, but where do I get the coupon?"

"I’ll ask someone about it," said Li Qiao.

Li Jiaoyang: "If it’s too much trouble, don’t bother."

Mrs. Song felt dissatisfied.

Her sister mentioned setting up a stall and immediately agreed, but now she’s concerned about the trouble.

Why wasn’t she worried when her own husband was making a business loss? Why wasn’t she afraid he’d get caught?

...

After sitting for a short while, Li Qiao left and then went to Li Jiaojiao’s house.

"Qiaoqiao is back, eh? I’ve missed you to death. And you even brought grapes? They’re so fresh."

"I got them especially for you, they’re really sweet," Li Qiao steered the conversation back, "You always say you miss me, but I haven’t seen you come to Beijing to visit."

"Isn’t it just that I’m afraid of bothering you?" Li Jiaojiao complained playfully. She had thought about going to Beijing before.

Her husband had said that it wasn’t easy for Qiaoqiao being away from home.

They would arrive with their entire family, eat and drink at her expense.

When they returned, Qiaoqiao might even cover their travel expenses—why impose such trouble?

"It’s no trouble. Why not join me when school starts? Bring along Dani’s family of five. Children don’t need tickets."

"Let’s talk about it when the time comes."

Li Qiao chatted with Li Jiaojiao for a while, and the latter mentioned Li Shengcai and Dong Lamei: "Ever since you left after the New Year, Dad fell ill. Stepmom only talks about money and threatens to leave Dad."

"He is your dad; it has nothing to do with me," Li Qiao said. Fell ill? Who would believe that?

Dong Lamei would have left long ago if she wanted to.

Li Jiaojiao: "There’s no feud between father and daughter that lasts overnight."

Upon hearing this, Li Qiao thought she had been brainwashed to act as a mediator. "I am not her daughter. Besides you and Dani, I don’t recognize anyone else. If you keep bringing this up, I won’t come to your house anymore."

"Alright, alright, I won’t talk about it anymore," Li Jiaojiao hurriedly begged for mercy.

Her sister was so stubborn.

It hadn’t been like this before she got married.

But before she got married, her sister didn’t seem to remember to visit her, her elder sister.

She spoke cautiously, "Did you see Li Jinhua when you returned to the village? Did she give you any trouble?"

"I haven’t been back to the village," Li Qiao told Li Jiaojiao. The reason she came back was: "Last summer, wasn’t I working as a forensic assistant? I’m continuing that this year."

"Having a job during the summer break is not bad at all," Li Jiaojiao was happy for Li Qiao: "Are you staying at the unit then?"