How I Tamed My Wolfish Husband Back in 80s-Chapter 326 - 328: Return to Hometown_1

Qin Jin: "Will you join me?"

Li Qiao agreed, since she had nothing else to do, she said, "Before going back to our hometown, I need to refund the train ticket first."

"I’ll get up and go refund it now." Qin Jin tidied up a bit, finished breakfast, took Li Qiao’s student ID and the ticket, and braved the rain to the train station to refund the ticket.

By the time he returned, he had acquired a bicycle.

The rain had stopped, and some sunshine was faintly emerging in the distant sky.

It was the perfect time to return to the countryside.

"Qiaoqiao, let’s go," Qin Jin said.

Li Qiao: "Take these snacks with you, to give to Mr. Feng’s family." She pointed to the parents of Feng Fugui and Feng Kui. The Qin family still owned land, but no one was home, so the two families took turns tending to it.

At harvest time, they did not receive any benefits.

It wouldn’t be good to show up empty-handed now.

She put the snacks into his bicycle basket and sat on the back seat, holding a large bag.

.....

After half an hour, they arrived at Feng Family Village. The villagers greeted Li Qiao from a distance.

"Haven’t seen Qiaoqiao in a long time. Your parents said you had come back, why didn’t you visit the village until now?"

"I’ve been busy with work and had no time. Now that I’m on holiday, I immediately came to visit you all." Li Qiao replied, taking out the snacks she had prepared in advance from a cloth bag and gave a package to each person.

The almost transparent packaging bag contained candies, red dates, and two boiled eggs.

Qin Jin was surprised. When had she prepared these little gifts?

"Oh, you even have eggs. Didn’t you just finish your postpartum month in the city?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? Does Qiaoqiao’s figure look like she’s had a baby?"

"Then why the eggs?"

Li Qiao laughed: "It’s to thank you for looking after our family."

"Oh, it’s nothing, we’re just doing what we should."

The villagers became more pleasant after receiving the gifts: "When you’re not at home, we will definitely take good care of your house and land."

"Thank you."

"Why be so formal with fellow villagers?"

After a brief exchange with the villagers, Li Qiao parted ways, and Qin Jin said, "When did you prepare the candy and eggs?"

Li Qiao: "While you were refunding the ticket." The eggs were from the company’s distribution, and since one person couldn’t finish them all, it was better to boil them rather than let them go to waste.

After passing the crossroads, Li Qiao and Qin Jin agreed to meet up at their respective homes and then split up.

One carried the snacks to Feng Kui’s family, and the other went to Feng Fugui’s family.

Feng Kui’s parents were very enthusiastic:

"Why bring things again, you’re too polite." While hosting Li Qiao, they inquired about Feng Kui and his spouse’s situation in Beijing.

"They’re fine. Jin mentioned they might come back in a few days."

"Jin is here too?"

"Yes, he’s at Fugui’s house." Li Qiao said.

"Daxue sent a letter two days before the heavy snow through your grandmother. I had someone read it to me, and she said she’d made nearly three hundred yuan. I asked Fugui’s mother how much Maimiao had made, and she said they didn’t know and hadn’t received any letters. I suspect those two are deliberately not telling. You’re educated and wouldn’t deceive us. Is there really that much money? How much did Maimiao earn?"

"It’s all Jin’s salary. I don’t understand and haven’t asked, but it should be the same, right? I mean, if they did the same work, the wages shouldn’t be different," Li Qiao said evasively.

She was actually the one who had set the salary.

It seemed that they had settled the account as she had said.

But settling it all at once indicated that they didn’t want the person anymore.

"Oh, how’s Daxue doing at work? She’s lazy and gluttonous at home, didn’t she hold you back over there?" Feng Kui’s mother asked.

"She’s doing fine." Li Qiao was ready to leave: "Uncle, auntie, you must be busy, I’ll be going now."

"Eh, take your time."

The couple stood up to see them to the door.

Li Qiao returned to the Qin family first, and as she approached the door, she ran into Peng Chunhua, who was out with her child.

Li Qiao was shocked. Although Peng Chunhua looked a bit unkempt and unhealthy during the New Year, she had been in good spirits, her eyes lively as she spoke. Half a year had passed, and she seemed to have aged a decade.

Her clothes were filthy, a stark contrast to when she had just married into the family—it was like she was a completely different person.

Was it childbirth that had done this to her?

It was truly frightening.

Just as the thought of childbirth crossed her mind, she immediately suppressed it.

Peng Chunhua was also sizing up Li Qiao, wearing a type of ponytail that rural people typically wouldn’t know how to make.

She wore a simple, loose white short sleeve that covered down to her thighs and a pair of black leggings, which widened slightly at the ankle, revealing a bit of her ankle bone.

On her feet were a pair of white shoes.

The edges of the shoes were muddied.

Her complexion was fair and flushed with natural rosiness, making her quite striking.

She looked completely out of place in the surrounding environment.

College education must be nice.

Dressed so clean and pretty, she felt somewhat ashamed of herself, "When, when did you come back?"

Li Qiao replied indifferently, "Just got back." She turned to fish for her keys to unlock the door.

Peng Chunhua stepped forward, getting close to her and said, "Qiaoqiao...."

Li Qiao was taken aback by her behavior and, in a split second, got a clear look at the child in Peng Chunhua’s arms.

The child was not bad looking, but there was a chunk of flesh missing above the left side of the mouth, exposing the flesh-colored gums.

Peng Chunhua noticed the change in Li Qiao’s expression. Her eyebrows lightly furrowed in apparent distress. Sensing an opportunity, she immediately requested help to take the child to Beijing for treatment of his mouth.

The child she had found earlier, she heard that Li Qiao not only bought cloth to make clothes for him but also bought formula to feed him.

She cared for him even better than if he were her own.

She surely wouldn’t refuse to help this time, right?

Li Qiao felt particularly sorry for the child. It was better to have surgery when young because the scar would fade as they grew, but if left till later, the child would likely have an obvious scar. She said, "I can’t help you with this, but you can take the child into the city and apply for assistance from the relevant departments."

Peng Chunhua clung to Li Qiao’s wrist like a lifeline, "How do I apply? Tell me, please."

Li Qiao felt a slight pain and instinctively twisted her wrist.

Peng Chunhua immediately let go, "I’m sorry, I got too excited, Qiaoqiao, just tell me how to apply, I could kneel for you." As she spoke, she was about to kneel.

Li Qiao quickly stepped back, "Don’t pull that with me, I’ll tell you how." She then explained the application process in detail to Peng Chunhua.

That’s what she heard others in the team talking about.

Peng Chunhua was grateful and apologized for her previous misdeeds. "I was naive before, and now I’m getting what I deserve. My mother-in-law threw one of my twins away, and this one is deformed."

Her life was too hard.

Li Qiao nearly spoke up to comfort her but then thought of Peng Chunhua’s past behavior and her heart hardened again, "I only feel sorry for the child in your arms." It wasn’t right for children to bear the consequences of adults’ mistakes.

Moreover, Peng Chunhua hadn’t committed any heinous acts; she was just a little sneaky.

It was Yu Feng who had done the deed of throwing away the child.

However, it turned out to be better for the child. After Xu Feng finished his studies, she had inquired about the child’s well-being. The child was growing well, had learned to walk, and could even say simple words like "daddy" and "mommy."

"Eh." Peng Chunhua quietly wiped her tears and walked away desolately.

Li Qiao also entered the courtyard, which was still quite clean. Her sister and the Feng Fugui family had keys to both the Qin family’s main door and the storage room; she didn’t know who had cleaned the place.

The main room had not been lived in for a long time and smelled strange.

She opened the windows to air out the room. The bedding was damp, and Qin Jin must not have cared for it when he left, as some parts had grown moldy.

If the weather was good tomorrow, she would take apart the quilt cover to air out the cotton filling.

She then entered her grandmother’s room, which didn’t smell odd. She locked it up again.