Chapter 10: Being Targeted

Luo Qiao said, "Auntie, I’m so grateful that you’re willing to help me. I will work hard to live a good life and try my best not to cause any trouble for our village."

The brigade leader’s wife gave a few more instructions before leaving. She still had to head to work soon, so she told Luo Qiao to rest for another two days and recover her strength before starting work.

Luo Qiao had brought her bundle with her when she arrived, so she was now settled in Qingshan Village.

What comforted Luo Qiao the most was that there was a well in the educated youth courtyard, which saved her from having to go out to fetch water just to keep up appearances.

Gao Suhua hadn't slept well all night. She felt that what her sister-in-law said made sense; if they took the girl back to raise for a few days and then married her off to someone, they could get a sum of money in return.

So, on the way to work after breakfast, she said to Zhao Pulin, "Dear, I think Chunli is right. We should bring that girl back."

Zhao Pulin replied, "Don't listen to Chunli's nonsense. We already signed an agreement in front of the brigade cadres and the villagers. Aren't you afraid of being laughed at?"

Gao Suhua said, "What's there to be afraid of? We'll just say we felt bad for the Luo family and took her back to raise her. After a while, we'll say we found her a family with good conditions. She's just a little girl; what would she know?"

Zhao Pulin said, "Our family won't do such immoral things. Didn't you hear Chunli say that the son of that family on the North Slope has a broken leg? Luo Qiao is still so young. If the villagers find out, how will we ever show our faces?"

Gao Suhua curled her lips and said, "We just won't tell the villagers, that's all."

Zhao Pulin was getting angry. "The North Slope brigade isn't far from here. Do you think the villagers are all fools?"

Gao Suhua pondered to herself that she would go to Lu Yichen's house after work at noon. She didn't believe that the little girl wouldn't be tempted once she heard they wanted to take her back.

Meanwhile, the Luo couple, who had taken Zhao Guibao home, returned to the city and changed his name to Luo Bin the very next day when they registered his household status.

Luo Tianming and Feng Hui discussed having Luo Bin return to school for classes, but Luo Bin refused point-blank, which infuriated the couple.

The Luo family had only recently returned to Jishi after being rehabilitated from the farm. Luo Tianming’s family of five and his older brother Luo Tiancheng’s family of seven were living in the courtyard returned by the government; there were too many people and too few rooms.

Luo Bin had to share a room with his uncle’s two sons, and he was extremely unhappy about it. The city wasn't even as spacious as the countryside, and he had discovered that the other children in the Luo family didn't really like him.

If it weren't for the fact that the food was better than in Qingshan Village and Jishi was livelier than the village, he would have already made a scene to go back to Qingshan Village.

Luo Qiao hadn't rested all morning. After seeing off the brigade leader’s wife, she closed the courtyard gate, went into her room, locked the doors and windows, and entered her space.

She first searched the underground warehouse for some seeds and planted a small amount of each. This wasn't difficult for her, a wood-element ability user; she had done plenty of farming and forced-growth work back at the base in her previous life.

Now that her ability level was too weak, she could only honestly farm in the space. She had only managed to plant about half a mu after working all morning; this body was truly too weak.

Seeing that she had planted everything she needed to, Luo Qiao finished her work and prepared to make some food to properly nourish this body.

She took some rice from the warehouse up to the kitchen, intending to boil a pot of fragrant, thick rice porridge, and then make some garlic eggplant and "Di San Xian" (stir-fried potato, eggplant, and pepper). Although there was plenty of vegetable oil in the warehouse, this body couldn't handle anything too greasy yet.

She found two small porcelain jars to pickle some spicy cucumbers and sweet-and-sour radishes, keeping them on hand for future meals.

Just as she finished tidying up and was about to leave the space, she heard someone knocking on the main gate. Luo Qiao quickly exited the space, calmed herself down, and then walked into the courtyard to ask, "Who is it?"

Writing books is not easy; it needs to be cherished!~~~

(End of chapter)