How I Tamed My Wolfish Husband Back in 80s-Chapter 19 - Clever_1

19: Chapter 19: Clever_1

19 -19: Clever_1

The movie ended, and the group left with a sense of longing.

They started off discussing the movie content, and as they talked, Dong Lamei pulled Li Qiao to the front, purposefully trying to find out how much savings their family had by the end of the year.

Qin Jin sensed trouble brewing.

The fool would surely spill everything.

Dong Lamei may seem sensible, but she was actually sneaky, knowing full well Qin Jin was unwilling to marry Li Qiao, yet she forcefully demanded a dowry of 101, symbolizing that Li Qiao was one in a hundred.

One cent less would be unacceptable.

This caused Qin Jin to borrow money from everywhere.

After the old woman took the money, whenever outsiders asked about it, she downplayed Li Qiao’s reputation, saying it was already good enough that someone was willing to marry her, so why needed a dowry?

When others heard this, they all thought she was a good person and competed to meet with Li Jinhua for matchmaking.

If it weren’t for Li Qiao’s face, Li Jinhua’s inappropriate touch with him would have spread throughout the commune, and she probably wouldn’t be able to marry off in this lifetime.

But Li Qiao’s response was unexpected, “I’m not too clear about grandma’s accounting, but I heard people in the village say that the wedding cost a lot, and we owe a pile of debt outside.

If we had any money, it should be used to pay off debts.

Is the dowry you’re taking meant for Jin and I’s married life?

It originally should have been placed in her chest for her to bring back to her marital home.”

But when she rifled through the chest, aside from a few cheap sheets, there were only two quilts.

Nothing else.

At her words, Dong Lamei was stunned, and after a long pause, stammered, “The dowry…

Isn’t the dowry meant for me and your father to live on in old age?

Your elder and second sisters didn’t bring their dowries back either.”

Li Qiao thought about it and it did make sense, Dong Lamei was a stepmother, but she still raised the original family and provided for their education.

They didn’t have a pension, and they indeed needed money for steady support.

She uttered an “oh” in response.

Li Qiao didn’t pursue the matter, and Dong Lamei regained her confidence, starting to talk about how much other families’ daughters gave for New Year presents.

Li Qiao felt uncomfortable inside, what did she mean by this?

Was she insinuating that her gifts were too little?

At that time, Qin Jin was away, and the team was idle, hardly making twenty cents a week.

Considering their family’s circumstances, the meat and eggs prepared by grandma were extravagant, and she believed she had done enough to meet etiquette.

She couldn’t help but say, “Then why didn’t you marry me off to one of their men?”

Dong Lamei: “….”

Qin Jin felt both annoyed and amused, she was complaining about him being poor.

Once he had money, he’d throw it at her face every day, leaving her dizzy and blinded.

“Sister, Brother-in-law Jin is still here,” Li Jinhua whispered a reminder.

Li Qiao looked back, Qin Jin and his friends were talking and laughing from a distance, not paying attention to her.

She flashed him a smile, but said, “He can’t hear us.” Otherwise, with his temper, he’d have already started cursing.

…

At the three-way intersection.

Qin Jin’s friends invited him for drinks, but Li Qiao quietly told him it was too cold to sleep alone, and she needed him.

Qin Jin refused to go for drinks immediately.

He had to keep his wife warm at night, as leaving her to get cold would mean he’d have to take care of her, which was both worrisome and costly.

After saying goodbye to Dong Lamei and a few others, Li Qiao walked home side by side with Qin Jin.

There was no one around, and she took the initiative to hold his hand again.

He pulled away, “Weren’t you just complaining about me being poor?”

Li Qiao: “….” Could he have been listening with perked ears?

She put on a thick face and reached out again, “Just kidding, don’t be mad.”

The young man turned his face away haughtily but did not pull his hand back.

A glint of triumph flashed in Li Qiao’s eyes.

She moved two steps closer to speak, but Qin Jin covered her mouth and pointed to the left front.

Li Qiao saw one person motionless being dragged on the ground by another from behind, with both hands latched onto the armpit area, resembling a criminal dumping a body on a TV show.

Qin Jin pulled her down to crouch, using the roadside weeds to shield their figures, “I’ll go check, see if it’s a robbery and murder.”

Li Qiao wouldn’t allow it, “Too dangerous, what if the other person has a knife?

Furthermore, you’ll leave footprints if you go over.

If it’s indeed robbery and murder, and you fail to catch the criminal, you could easily become a suspect.”

Even though she was a witness.

But relatives can’t take part in testifying, right?

Even if his innocence could be proven, he would still have to be detained for a while.

She said, “We better go back to the village and call for help.”

Qin Jin’s eyes showed approval, “I didn’t expect you to be so smart.” But sometimes you’re especially dumb.

Li Qiao smiled with pursed lips, and after the two of them had agreed on a strategy, the figures ahead had already disappeared.

After heeding her suggestion, Qin Jin didn’t plan to go and check; since everyone at home and the neighbors were asleep, he didn’t talk to anyone about it.

Li Qiao thought about calling the police, but there wasn’t a single telephone in the entire village.

Unless she went to the police station in person, it was dangerous to bike in the dark, and walking there was too far.

And if it turned out not to be a murder, it could be considered filing a false report.

There would be a penalty, right?

Li Qiao went to sleep with a heavy heart and overslept the next day.

When she woke up, it was already broad daylight.

She was alone in the room, so after tidying up and washing up, she didn’t see Qin Jin in the yard and asked Old Mrs.

Qin.

“Why do you care?

He’ll come back when he’s hungry,” she said.

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.

Qin Jin entered the yard with his hands in his pockets, looking casual, and started gossiping, “Have you heard?

Feng Guanggun beat up his young wife, her face is all bruised and swollen.

It’s said that she wasn’t a virgin when they married.”

Li Qiao didn’t comment.

If he ever abused her, she swore she’d run so fast even if he used a dog he wouldn’t be able to find her.

Old Mrs.

Qin sympathetically said, “If he doesn’t want her, can’t he just send her back?

Why beat her?”

Qin Jin: “Which man would want someone else’s leftovers?” It was just him; when the little wife cried, it hurt him, it pained him.

The moment she reached out her hand to him willingly, he was so happy he couldn’t even sleep.

Ah, what a loser!

Old Mrs.

Qin: “No one forced him to pick her up.

Being an old bachelor, he should be secretly pleased to have a wife.

Why be so picky?”

Li Qiao laughed; she really suspected that Old Mrs.

Qin must have graduated from a feminist class.

After the meal, Li Qiao quietly discussed calling the police with Qin Jin.

“Still thinking about that?” Qin Jin told her that he had climbed a tree early in the morning to look through binoculars and saw no trace of anything from last night’s spot.

Perhaps it was too dark, and the villagers were playing around; they didn’t see clearly and misunderstood.

Li Qiao still felt uneasy inside.

Who would drag someone away while just playing around?

Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve.

Old Mrs.

Qin took out the ink and red paper and asked Li Qiao to write a few couplets.

“I used to write them, but these past two years my eyesight has gotten so blurry, I’m getting old.”

Determined to buy Old Mrs.

Qin reading glasses with the red envelopes she would collect after the New Year, Li Qiao silently unfurled the red paper, cut it, dipped the brush in ink, and wrote three couplets.

She also wrote a few “fu” characters.

Old Mrs.

Qin watched and kept praising how beautiful the writing was.

“Qiaoqiao must have practiced for many years, huh?

Handsome and talented, my grandson really lucked out.”

Qin Jin was not convinced: “Grandma, praise all you want, but why put me down every time?

You make me feel completely unconfident.”

Old Mrs.

Qin chuckled, “Self-praise is no fun, you need others to praise you.”

Qin Jin: “….”

Li Qiao laughed out loud; he’d need to move elsewhere if he wanted a good reputation.

Li Qiao was hanging the couplets when Peng Chunhua walked in, her hand on her waist.

Old Mrs.

Qin teased, “Now that you’re pregnant, you’ve got that pregnant glow all of a sudden.”

Peng Chunhua laughed, “Exactly, ever since the doctor confirmed it, I feel like my stomach has gotten heavier.

Just this morning, my mother consulted a fortune-teller, and it’s a boy.

When will you have one, Qiaoqiao?”

“When the conditions at home are better, I guess.”

“There are just three of you; how much better do you want the conditions to be?

Having more kids is how you create better conditions,” Peng Chunhua said.

Li Qiao, feeling unable to communicate with Peng Chunhua, politely smiled, and cleaned up the brushes and ink on the table.