"I'll go help my mother."
Qiao zhiqing immediately ran out.
She claimed she was helping Lin Chunying, but instead gave her own towel to Qin Huai first.
Seeing him covered in sweat and looking rather disheveled, she only thought her man was incredibly handsome.
Sweat and bronze skin were a testament to his manhood and responsibility, adding to his handsome face's masculinity.
Knowing that Qin Huai was shy, Qiao zhiqing resisted the urge to tease him and simply stuffed the towel into his hand, saying, "This is what I used at home before.
You can use it to wipe your face later."
Qin Huai looked up and met her smiling expression. Realizing that she must have finished talking with Qiao Weiguo, his eyes flickered.
Their eyes met.
Qiao zhiqing suddenly blinked and whispered, "I've already appeased my dad.
He said he wants to have dinner with your parents tonight, just to go through the motions."
Looking at her sly expression, Qin Huai felt a surge of tenderness in his heart.
"Okay, I'll go tell my parents in a bit."
"Well, there's no rush. We'll go together after we finish eating." Qiao zhiqing hadn't met her father-in-law yet, and since she was going home with Qin Huai anyway, she figured she might as well go together.
After she finished speaking, she hurried to the kitchen to help Lin Chunying.
Lin Chunying first asked her what she and Qiao Weiguo had talked about, and when she learned that they had reached an agreement, she immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Qiao zhiqing then asked in confusion, "Where's Grandma? Did she go to Uncle's house to deliver something again?"
"Um."
Whether you ask or not, it doesn't really matter. If Lu Xiufen isn't home, she's definitely at her uncle's house. This is an unspoken understanding among the family
However, Qiao zhiqing was very happy to see this result today.
She immediately went back into the house, took out the braised pork she had packed and handed it to Lin Chunying, saying, "Mother, heat this up."
"Oh my, why is there so much meat?" Lin Chunying had only cooked four scrambled eggs since she saw Qin Huai eating there.
This was the highest standard of entertaining guests in this era.
Of course, occasionally there might be some meat at home when things are good, but she took the meat from yesterday to Qiao zhiqing, so there's no meat left at home, and all we can do is fry eggs.
"Don't worry about where it came from, just heat it up and add it to your lunch."
Lin Chunying frowned and immediately pushed the meat back, saying, "Take this meat back and eat it with Qin Huai. I've already cooked enough dishes; adding this will make it too much."
"Not much, not much. It's hot now, it'll spoil if we leave it until tonight." Seeing that Lin Chunying wouldn't let it heat up, Qiao zhiqing simply took matters into her own and poured the meat directly into the pot.
Lin Chunying felt a pang of heartache upon seeing this, and immediately began to lecture Qiao zhiqing.
"Now that you're married, you need to learn how to manage your finances. Save money on unnecessary things. Like this braised pork, try not to eat it if you can avoid it, it's so expensive!"
Qiao zhiqing was displeased upon hearing this.
"What? I can still eat meat every now and then at home, but now that I'm married, I can't even eat meat anymore? What kind of logic is that?"
Seeing her greedy expression, Lin Chunying angrily reached out and tapped her forehead.
"I didn't say you couldn't eat it. If you're craving it, you can come to me and I'll try to get it for you. I'm just worried... you've only been married for a short time, and if you eat meat every day, Qin Huai might think you're greedy."
"He dares?!"
Qiao zhiqing straightened up and immediately glared.
Just then, I caught a glimpse of a figure flashing past the door.
Seeing that Qin Huai had heard her, Qiao zhiqing immediately shoved the spatula into Lin Chunying's hand, "Mother, I'm going to the outhouse."
As she spoke, he immediately chased after him and quickly cornered Qin Huai, who was carrying a bucket of water, against the wall.
Seeing that he was still carrying water, Qiao zhiqing frowned. "Didn't my father say that the garden was already watered and you don't need to water it anymore?"
Meeting her questioning gaze, Qin Huai blushed slightly.
But then I remembered what she said in the kitchen.
After calming himself down, he suddenly looked up and said with a determined expression, "Qiao zhiqing , I will make sure you eat meat every day."
"Huh?" Qiao zhiqing blinked.
Realizing belatedly that Qin Huai had overheard her and Lin Chunying's conversation, she burst out laughing.
That fair and delicate face, when she smiled, was like a hundred flowers blooming.
Qin Huai stared at the person in front of him, feeling as if everything around him had disappeared.
I couldn't help but be captivated by it.
Then, a soft cough came from the side, "Dinner's ready. Hurry up and wash your hands and come inside, or the food will get cold."
When Qiao Weiguo saw the two of them coming over, he thought they were up to no good, but he was surprised to hear these words.
His gaze fell on Qin Huai with satisfaction, paused for a moment, and then turned and left.
Qiao zhiqing was cornered by her own father, still with Qin Huai, and instantly felt like she'd been caught cheating.
She stuck out her tongue and quickly said to Qin Huai, "I'm going back first, you should hurry up too."
"Mm." Qin Huai nodded.
He watched her go inside before picking up the bucket and going into the kitchen. He carried it back and forth twice to fill the water tank before going inside.
Qiao zhiqing, Qiao Weiguo, and Lin Chunying were already at the dinner table.
When Qiao zhiqing saw him come in, she immediately waved to him and patted the seat next to her, "Come on, sit here."
Qin Huai steeled himself and walked over, sitting down properly.
Like all sons-in-law meeting their fathers-in-law for the first time, there was a noticeable sense of restraint.
Qiao zhiqing found it amusing and couldn't help but glance at Qiao Weiguo's position opposite her.
Deep down, she was also worried that her father would make things difficult for Qin Huai... then she definitely wouldn't be able to resist protecting her man.
Fortunately, Qiao Weiguo did not make things difficult for Qin Huai until the meal was over, and even took the initiative to wash the bowl.
Qin Huai couldn't let his father-in-law wash the dishes, and immediately tried to take over, but Qiao Weiguo dodged him, saying, "Your mother has something to say to you, just listen in the room."
After saying that, the person left.
Qiao zhiqing looked at Lin Chunying with a puzzled expression. She saw Lin Chunying take out a white bundle embroidered with small pink flowers from the very back of the Kang cabinet and unfold it in front of the two of them.
"This is the dowry I prepared for Qingqing. I didn't expect her to get married so soon, so I haven't prepared everything yet. Please take it back first, and I will make up for the rest as soon as possible."
Then, Lin Chunying took out five more ten-yuan bills.
"This 50 yuan is a token of our appreciation. Please take it and use it for your daily life."
Qiao zhiqing felt her eyes starting to burn again.
Before she could speak, Qin Huai interjected, "Mother, we'll take the things, but you can take the money back. We have enough money to spend."
Lin Chunying's eyes were also red.
"There are many places where we need money to make a living. Here, take this."
As she spoke, she got off the kang (a heated brick bed) and tried to stuff the money into Qiao zhiqing's pocket.
Qiao zhiqing stepped back and refused.
Just as the two were shoving each other, a hunched figure suddenly appeared at the door.
As soon as Lu Xiufen entered the room, she saw Lin Chunying stuffing money into Qiao zhiqing's hand and immediately rushed over to grab her hand.
"So you're really something, slipping money to this good-for-nothing while I was away. I told you, this family would be ruined by you two sooner or later, but Weiguo wouldn't believe me. Now that we've caught you red-handed, let's see how you try to deny it!"
"No..." Lin Chunying was about to explain.
Lu Xiufen ignored her completely and immediately shouted at the top of her lungs towards the door, "Everyone come and see Look at this spendthrift in our family..."
"Mother, what are you making a scene about now?!"
Qiao Weiguo suddenly appeared at the door.