Chapter 8: Malice

Luo Qiao hurriedly exited the space, thinking she would come back in the evening to explore it properly.

At dusk, Lu Yichen returned. He knocked on the door, entered, and handed Luo Qiao a household registration booklet. Luo Qiao took it in surprise and said, "Thank you. I didn't expect it to be processed so quickly."

What Luo Qiao didn't know was that this household registration booklet was not easy to obtain, especially since she was a minor setting up an independent household. It was only because Lu Yichen had pulled strings and used his connections that it was processed for her.

Lu Yichen didn't know why he felt such an urge to get it done for her quickly; he was just afraid that if he waited, something might change.

Fortunately, Lu Yichen had gone to handle the matter himself that afternoon. If he had waited for the brigade leader to have time to do it, who knew how long it would have taken.

Lu Yichen said, "Tomorrow, the village will send someone to help you tidy up the educated youth dormitory. If you're feeling better tomorrow, you can go over yourself and choose which room to stay in."

Luo Qiao said gratefully, "Thank you, Brother Lu."

The two had just finished speaking when they heard someone coming in. Lu Yichen said, "Aunt Gao is here."

Lu Yichen introduced her to Luo Qiao: "This is Aunt Gao from the brigade leader's house. She has been the one taking care of you."

Luo Qiao said gratefully, "Auntie, I've caused you trouble."

Meanwhile, at the Zhao family's house, Zhao Pulin's older brother Zhao Changlin, sister-in-law Liu Fang, younger sister Zhao Chunli, and brother-in-law Jia Mingshan were gathered together, discussing Luo Qiao.

Zhao Changlin said, "Such a big matter, and you made a decision without even discussing it with us. Yesterday, in front of the whole village, you accepted money from the Luo family and promised to take care of Luo Qiao.

How is it that after one night, you've changed your minds? You've even made it known to the whole village that you don't acknowledge Luo Qiao. What if the Luo family comes back to see her one day? How will you explain this to them?"

Gao Suhua said, "Big Brother, if the Luo family valued her, they wouldn't have left her in the village. Our family already has six daughters; we really don't need another one. Besides, we truly can't afford to raise her."

The Zhao family's younger sister, Zhao Chunli, asked, "Second Sister-in-law, is Luo Qiao really not a child of the Zhao family?"

Gao Suhua replied, "Of course not. At the time, I had gone into labor prematurely, and the baby was incredibly weak. Plus, after I found out it was another girl, I didn't have the heart to care for her, and she didn't survive.

Your second brother had gone back to the village to borrow an ox cart to pick us up. Just then, the couple in the same hospital room abandoned Luo Qiao. I thought, if it really came down to it, we might as well raise her.

But before I could even tell your brother, the Luo couple spoke up and said they wanted to swap for a daughter to raise. That’s how the children were swapped."

Zhao Chunli said, "So that means the Luo family doesn't know that Luo Qiao isn't a daughter of the Zhao family?"

Gao Suhua said, "Mm, they don't know."

Zhao Chunli said, "Second Sister-in-law, you are foolish. Luo Qiao is already fifteen. In another two or three years, she could be married off. Besides, a girl that big can help the family with chores."

Gao Suhua said, "Forget it. Didn't you see that child? She's as thin as a stick. And she lost so much blood yesterday, she almost didn't make it. The doctor even said her body is extremely weak; even if she recovers, she won't be able to do any heavy labor.

Fortunately, the doctor said yesterday that she had a head injury and shouldn't be moved, which is why we didn't bring her back. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been so easy to get rid of her."

Zhao Chunli thought her second sister-in-law was a bit dim and couldn't do the math.

She glanced at her older brother and sister-in-law in the room, then whispered, "Second Sister-in-law, let me tell you, there's a family in Beipo Village looking for a wife for their son who has a broken leg. They're offering fifty yuan! If you bring her back and raise her for a few days, you could turn around and make fifty yuan."

Gao Suhua was tempted. She glanced at her husband sitting to the side, then looked at her sister-in-law and asked, "Is that for real?"

Zhao Chunli said with some annoyance, "How could it be fake? I just heard about it a few days ago. That family just wants an obedient girl who can take good care of their son."