"Why didn't you tell me immediately after you encountered such a thing! It's so dangerous! When I saw you last night, why didn't you say anything!" Li Gui said fearfully.
"Nothing happened to me. These are all small matters and I don't take them seriously," Qiao Mei said indifferently.
As if this could be considered a small matter! She could have lost Qiao Mei! If anything went wrong, what would she do! Although she could now support herself and the children in the capital, Qiao Mei was still her greatest source of support. If she did not have Qiao Mei, her life would completely collapse.
When Xia Zhe returned, how would she explain it to her son-in-law!
"No! I won't set up the stall anymore. I'll stay at home and watch over you!" Li Gui said firmly.
Qiao Mei quickly knocked on the table and said, "Get real! Nothing happened to me! Look at all of you. How are you going to support these children if you don't set up the stall? Didn't you say that you want to be self-reliant and buy this house from me?"
By now, Li Gui had enough money to cover the expenses of these children for two months in the capital. In two months, Qiao Mei would have given birth and then she would be able to go out and work again. She could set up a stall anywhere.
"But…" Li Gui was about to say something when Qiao Mei interrupted her.
"Just concentrate on your work. I still have elder sister with me!" Qiao Mei said as she patted Xia He.
Xia He immediately understood what it meant. She raised three fingers to the sky and said, "Auntie! I swear to you! I will definitely take good care of Qiao Mei! I won't leave her side!"
Seeing that Qiao Mei and Xia He were so insistent, Li Gui did not say anything else. She still intended to be more mindful and would go and see Qiao Mei whenever she was free.
After they spoke about what happened yesterday, Xia He went to look for Xia Wen to ask him about the situation. Today, Li Gui would rest at home and not go out to set up the stall. She would wait for Xia Wen to bring those troublemakers to justice before going back.
"I've already asked around. During this period of time, the government is supportive of the common people doing business on their own. Eldest brother is in charge of this area. Don't worry and just do it," Qiao Mei said.
Li Gui was completely relieved to hear this. She had always been worried about this matter. If she continued to set up her stall but Xia Wen could not catch those troublemakers and she caused trouble for the Xia family instead, then they might as well not investigate this matter.
There was happiness and laughter at Qiao Mei's house, but the Su family was about to have a hard time.
Old Madam Fan, Su Liang and his younger brother, Su Yang, originally lived in the house which Qiao Mei had bought over. At that time, each of them had a very spacious room. Now, they had to live in a small house allocated by Old Madam Fan's workplace unit. There was only one bedroom and one living room. Old Madam Fan's two sons slept in the living room and she slept in the room. The three of them were squeezed together and there was no space to move about.
Now that Su Liang had his arms and legs broken, it was inconvenient for him to move around and Old Madam Fan had to let him sleep in the room. She felt uncomfortable and very frustrated.
"Your elder brother was bullied so badly! Yet you're still playing at home! Hurry up and get lost and go to work!" Old Madam Fan gave Su Yang a hard kick.
Su Yang was famous for his nickname on this street and he was even very proud of it.
His brother, Su Liang, was called "Doggo" and he was called "Flower Thief". In comparison, his nickname indeed sounded better.
People had a reason for giving him this nickname. Almost every girl on this street had been bullied by these two brothers before. There were even girls who jumped into the well after being bullied!
Su Liang did not really dare to do anything drastic. He would steal one girl's underwear today and another girl's underclothes tomorrow. Sometimes, he would even secretly peep at girls when they were in the shower.
He was always doing such sneaky stuff. Sometimes, he would even steal eggs, white flour and noodles from other families. These things could not be bought even with coupons. Every household had a quota every year and ordinary families could not even get their hands on them!
Every time the victims went to argue with Old Madam Fan, she would scold them back and chase them out. She had scolded everyone on the street and no one was her match.
Su Yang dawdled for a long time before getting up to go to work. His job was actually Old Madam Fan's old job. Old Madam Fan had retired this year, so she had given her spot to Su Yang.
She had intended to pass it to Su Liang, but he felt that the work at the textile factory was tiring and the pay was too low. He might as well go out and play with his scoundrel friends! Those people could still give him some benefits sometimes.