Chapter 11: Lu Qiaoge's Twenty-Nine Rules

Old Lu could only nod in agreement. Meng Xia breathed a sigh of relief, temporarily brushing off the matter of Qiao Ling.

But if she didn't have a job, and the educated youth office found out, they might force her to be sent back. Or perhaps, should they introduce a suitor to Qiao Ling?

Lu Qiaoge glanced at them and knew exactly what the old couple was worrying about.

They were worried about having a "medicine jar" in the family, and worried about the pile of people at home without formal jobs.

They were even more worried that their two daughters couldn't even land temporary positions.

The Lu family ate their lunch in the courtyard outside.

Although the courtyard wasn't large, it was still more spacious than the house.

The couple hadn't seen the old matriarch and their daughter for a long time, so naturally, they missed them.

Yesterday’s small fish were already gone, so Su Hui made the ones Lu Qiaoge caught today into braised small fish and steamed a pot of rice.

Meng Xia specifically explained to the old lady, "We only eat rice once a month; we usually trade the rest of the rice for cornmeal. We just happened not to trade it this month, so we steamed it all."

Old Lady Lu sighed, "The harvest back home hasn't been good these past few years, otherwise I could have brought some grain back."

Old Lu quickly said, "Mom, I’ll buy you some white flour steamed buns tonight. The buns at our military factory canteen are delicious and affordable."

Lu Qiaoge nodded in agreement.

The big buns at the canteen were truly delicious.

Lu Qiaoling tugged at Lu Qiaoge and said softly, "Second Sister."

Lu Qiaoge swallowed a piece of braised fish and turned to ask, "What's wrong?"

"Are you... are you angry with me?"

Lu Qiaoge looked at the cautious Lu Qiaoling. Even though there was only a year between them, a sister was still a sister.

She smiled, "I'm not angry."

Lu Qiaoling immediately brightened up, "I didn't know there were so many candidates. Even if they gave it to me, I wouldn't be able to do it. Everything I said back then was just out of anger." She then couldn't help but ask curiously, "Second Sister, what happened with Qi Shuang and Yao Kai?"

Lu Qiaoge replied, "It's hard to say, but I did help Old Lady Li find her gold ring."

The Lu family members couldn't help but widen their eyes.

Old Lu asked in surprise, "How did you help Old Lady Li find it?"

Lu Qiaoge recounted what happened after she left the military factory gate and went straight to the Qi family's house.

Everyone listened with great interest.

Lu Zhiguo’s eyes shone as he said, "Second Sister, I have a feeling you have a real chance."

Old Lu remembered something and asked Lu Qiaoge, "Did you see Representative Qin at the gate?"

Lu Qiaoge nodded, "Yes, I did. I even thanked him."

Old Lu breathed a sigh of relief, truly feeling that his daughter had become sensible.

After lunch, Lu Qiaoge helped Su Hui clean up, then took the tabby cat and headed out, planning to see if there were any unexpected gains.

Unexpectedly, she ran into the naughty swallow that had returned from scouting for news.

The swallow followed her, trembling, until it landed under a tree.

It was afraid of cats.

Especially the cats here, which loved to squat in trees to catch and eat birds.

The naughty swallow told Lu Qiaoge: [The brigade leader of Guzitun made a verbal agreement with a canteen in the city to grow early-harvest leafy vegetables, such as spinach, chives, cabbage, and lettuce. Not only did the brigade headquarters plant them, but the commune members also planted quite a lot in their own homes. Unexpectedly, the canteen manager was suddenly transferred away, so the agreement was voided. Aside from what the members ate themselves, the vegetables were basically fed to chickens and ducks...]

Lu Qiaoge was a bit surprised.

Ever since she could hear the inner voices of animals, no animal had ever expressed such a long message.

She pondered for a moment and decided to run an experiment.

So, she said in her heart to the tabby cat: [Flower, do you want to eat fish again tomorrow at noon?]

The tabby cat was stunned for a moment, but immediately said: [Want to eat, want to eat, want to eat.]

Lu Qiaoge understood; she could actually communicate with these animals in her heart.

The reason she could hear such a long passage earlier was perhaps because the information the swallow saw was directly received and interpreted by her.

Not to mention, this was really good news. Lu Qiaoge smiled and took out a pinch of millet, "You eat this first. How about when I pass by the Qi family's gate, I let your wife come out to eat?"

She didn't use her inner voice to communicate with the swallow; she needed to experiment with that a few more times.

Besides, there was nothing strange about a person talking to an animal.

The fed swallow was overjoyed. It didn't have to look for bugs today. Although millet wasn't its staple food, it hadn't eaten it since it could remember.

Lu Qiaoge kept her word. When passing by the Qi family, she left a pinch of millet at the gate, then continued strolling with the tabby cat.

When she turned into the tube-apartment area, she actually saw Duan Xiaoxiang. The woman had recovered quickly and was already leaning against the doorway, chatting and eating melon seeds with several older women without a care in the world.

Seeing Lu Qiaoge, she seemed to want to say something, but seeing Lu Qiaoge’s mocking expression and remembering her sharp tongue, she turned her head away.

After the person left, she curled her lip, "She’s already had her engagement broken, yet she still has the nerve to come out and show off."

One of the older women couldn't help but scoff.

Duan Xiaoxiang frowned, "You old lady, who are you scoffing at?"

The older woman stood up. She didn't think of herself as old and wasn't happy about being called an old lady.

She patted her clothes, "So what if the engagement was broken? Can't a girl with a broken engagement come out to see people? Duan Xiaoxiang, your thinking is too backward."

Duan Xiaoxiang was so angry she turned and went into the house, slamming the door with a loud bang.

The few chatting women felt it was boring and followed suit, leaving.

Since Lu Qiaoge had transmigrated, her strength-based superpower had followed her, along with excellent hearing.

She had heard Duan Xiaoxiang’s mocking words clearly.

Just as she was wondering how to deal with Duan Xiaoxiang, she unexpectedly ran into Old Lady Wu from the First Neighborhood Committee, who was inspecting hygiene. She said very politely and obediently, "Hello, Leader. May I report a matter regarding hygiene to you?"

Old Lady Wu was very happy to be called a leader, but she modestly said, "I'm not a leader, but I can certainly handle reports regarding hygiene. Go ahead."

Lu Qiaoge pointed to Building 45, "There is a female comrade over there eating melon seeds, and she’s spitting the shells all over the ground."

Old Lady Wu’s expression changed, and she hurried over there. When she saw the ground covered in melon seed shells, she shouted angrily, "Our First Neighborhood Committee is competing for the hygiene model title this month! Whoever ate these melon seeds, come out and clean them up! Don't wait for me to come to your door; it won't look good for you."

Lu Qiaoge hadn't gone far, and she heard this clearly.

Soon after, she heard the sound of Duan Xiaoxiang arguing with Old Lady Wu from the neighborhood committee.

Lu Qiaoge curled her lips and leisurely led the tabby cat forward.

Lu Qiaoge prepared to focus on observing the vegetable consumption of the employees in the military factory family quarters.

With multi-faceted development, perhaps she could land a job on the public payroll.

Thus, she headed toward the grocery store with the tabby cat.

——

The next morning, Lu Qiaoge was summoned to the neighborhood office.

Both Qi Shuang and Yao Kai were there.

A gloomy-faced Yao Kai had agreed to the divorce. As the final mediator, Lu Qiaoge naturally had to be present.

They say it's better to tear down ten temples than to break up one marriage.

The neighborhood office cadre tried to persuade them for a long time with earnest words.

However, both were firm.

So, they agreed.

Before leaving, a haggard-looking Qi Shuang praised and complimented Lu Qiaoge profusely in front of the neighborhood office leaders.

She even quietly pulled Lu Qiaoge aside to thank her for the twenty-nine...

Although the word count is low, I’m still asking for collections and recommendation tickets. Also, I noticed the words "urge for more" at the end of the article. My dears, click it and be happy forever!

(End of chapter)