Zheng Sanqiao had no intention of making small talk with Chuxia and brushed her aside without a glance as she charged towards Luo Meiying, who was still pulling at Liu Meiqing's hair.
Chuxia, having steadied herself, secretly curled her lips and took two steps back.
Liu Meiqing caught this little move that Chuxia made, hoping not to get caught up in the fray, and immediately felt a pain in her heart and lungs.
Luo Meiying must have taken the wrong medicine; why else would she love to stand up for Chuxia, that cold-hearted and indifferent girl? But now, even though she was furious, she couldn't do anything to Chuxia. Her hair was being pulled by Luo Meiying, and with Shuanshuan in her arms, she could only wait anxiously for her mother-in-law, Zheng Sanqiao, to save her.
Unfortunately, when Zheng Sanqiao rushed over to her side, she merely snatched Shuanshuan away and had no intention of rescuing Liu Meiqing at all.
Without the burden of Shuanshuan, Liu Meiqing became much more agile. However, just as her hand was about to grab Luo Meiying, she forcefully stopped herself.
"Meiying, let go of your sister-in-law, let's talk this over nicely, Meiying, you must have misunderstood something about your sister-in-law, Meiying..." Liu Meiqing pleaded with her hands caught, and finally, Luo Meiying released her hair, still looking furious, "Try calling me Meiying one more time?"
The corners of Chuxia's mouth twitched almost imperceptibly, and then she seemed to casually turn her gaze to the corner of the room where a reed chicken was pecking at its feed...
"Mei... Xiaoqiu, I was wrong..."
Luo Meiying stamped her foot in anger, "It's not Xiaoqiu, it's Xiaoqiong, Luo Xiaoqiong!"
"Xiaoqiong, I'm sorry!"
"Xiaoqiong, calm down, your sister-in-law isn't very good with words, don't stoop to her level, thank you, auntie, if it weren't for you, our little Shuanshuan would be suffering now." Zheng Sanqiao quickly changed her tune, and after speaking, she glared at Liu Meiqing, "You're a mother, how could you let such a little baby take the broom strokes for you?"
"Mom, I was just confused at that moment..." Liu Meiqing said, looking eagerly at Shuanshuan who was being held in Zheng Sanqiao's arms, "Shuanshuan, come here, mom will hold you."
"Step aside." Zheng Sanqiao twisted her body, avoiding Liu Meiqing's reaching hand, and turned to Luo Xiaoqiong, "Xiaoqiong, come sit in my room for a while, I just fried some egg cookies the other day, they're really flaky, let me get you some to try."
"No need, I don't want to take Shuanshuan's snacks." Luo Xiaoqiong glanced at Lin Chuxia, who was still focused on the reed chicken, and lightly coughed, "Chuxia, what exactly happened just now?"
Lin Chuxia, who could no longer pretend to be an uninvolved bystander, turned around and reported everything that had happened earlier to Luo Xiaoqiong without any personal bias, with a faint smile as if talking about someone else's affairs.
"You gluttonous woman!" Zheng Sanqiao slapped Liu Meiqing on the head, "You know Chuxia is not in good health, and snatching her food, how can you stomach it?"
"Eldest Uncle's Wife, what are you talking about?" Lin Chuxia's face immediately fell, "What do you mean by snatching my food?"
Don't think she doesn't know that Zheng Sanqiao is just picking on Liu Meiqing in front of Luo Xiaoqiong, not willing to scold her but not content to scold her without some complaint, that's why she's deliberately nit-picking.
"Look at the Eldest Uncle's Wife, getting so flustered she misspoke. It's about stealing Chuxia's food..." Zheng Sanqiao's face was plastered with an ingratiating smile, "Chuxia, there are still a few sweet potatoes at the Eldest Uncle's Wife's house. Let me bring them to you so your mother can cook them for you tonight." Having said that, her gaze fixed intently on Luo Xiaoqiong's face.
"Take them," Luo Xiaoqiong waved her hand, "Chuxia has had such a scare, her health must be worse now. She needs to eat well to recover.
Also, my mother asked me to come and tell you that from now on, our family will give Chuxia an egg every other day to help her regain her strength. And you," she glanced at the others, "are not allowed to take it from her.
"We won't! We won't!"
Liu Meiqing and Zheng Sanqiao almost simultaneously declared.
As for the sweet potatoes Zheng Sanqiao brought over, Chuxia naturally wouldn't refuse them, but she definitely wouldn't place them where those two women could see and search for them. Having lived with them for so long, she was all too clear about their temperaments.
"You heartless thing, I stood up for you, and you just hide away and ignore me? See if I'll help you again in the future." After entering Chuxia's house and closing the door, Luo Xiaoqiong poked her in the waist to settle the score, of course, in a very low voice.
"If I came out to help you, how would I be able to live my life afterwards?" Chuxia said unhurriedly, and then added, "The key point is that I know they wouldn't dare lay a finger on you."
The family of the Eldest Uncle's Wife was not afraid of Luo Xiaoqiong, but her father Luo Gangshun, of course.
Luo Gangshun was the village secretary, holding the power of life and death over the four big team leaders in the village. And Lin Baojiang, Chuxia's uncle, happened to be one of those four leaders.
"Chuxia, why do I feel like you've become a lot more cunning than before?" Luo Xiaoqiong scrutinized Chuxia from top to bottom. "I feel like I understand you less and less. Before, you used to tell me everything, but now, you prefer to keep things to yourself. Sometimes I feel, coming to find you every day is like demeaning myself."
"People have to grow up, don't they? You wouldn't want me to stay naive forever, would you?" Chuxia paused, then sighed softly, "You know the situation my family is in. I don't want to live as freely and recklessly as you do, but if I really did that, my father and mother wouldn't be able to cope.
The family of the Eldest Uncle's Wife is always scheming to drive us out. How could I carelessly give them a reason to?"
"Enough, enough..." Luo Xiaoqiong waved her hand, changing the subject, "Chuxia, are you really going to change your name or not? I've changed mine so long ago, why haven't you changed yours? How about, I take my father's official seal and we both go to the police station together?"
Luo Xiaoqiong's original name was Luo Meiying, and she was Chuxia's childhood friend, growing up together from their bare-bum days. Half a year ago, after sneaking a peek at a novel, Luo Meiying felt that her own name was too rustic and decisively pulled Chuxia to change their names together.
After nearly three days of pondering, they finally came up with the names Luo Xiaoqiong and Lin Ziyi and then went home to discuss it with their families.
As expected, both their parents disagreed. Luo Meiying was more willful than Lin Chuxia, so while Lin Chuxia was still at home negotiating with her parents, Luo Meiying had already stolen her father's official seal and run off to the police station to change her name on her own.
After stealing the official seal, she did try to find Chuxia, but just as she arrived at Chuxia's doorstep, she heard Fat Auntie's voice and didn't dare enter, clutching the seal and fleeing instead.
Chuxia was infuriated when she knew Luo Meiying hadn't waited for her to change their names together as promised. Luo Meiying had a temper herself, and after an exchange of harsh words, the two ended up parting ways unhappily.