Chapter 11: Coming to the Door

The person outside the courtyard did not speak, but upon hearing someone come out, they continued to knock on the gate.

Luo Qiao walked a little closer and, peering through the crack in the gate, saw who was outside. She asked, "Aunt Zhao, is something the matter?"

Seeing that Luo Qiao wouldn't open the gate, Gao Suhua said angrily, "Open the door, you wretched girl."

Luo Qiao replied, "If you have nothing to say, Aunt Zhao, I’m going back inside."

Luo Qiao was not about to indulge her. This Gao Suhua was no simple character; for a rural woman to be capable of swapping children, she was inherently a person without morals and driven by selfishness. Nothing good could come of her showing up at this hour.

Having finally managed to distance herself from the Zhao family and establish an independent household registration, she had no desire to have any further dealings with them.

Seeing that the wretched girl was quite vigilant, Gao Suhua said, "Luo Qiao, your Uncle Zhao and I thought about it all night. Even though you aren't our Zhao family's daughter, we did promise the Luo family that we would take good care of you. Now that your health is poor, your Uncle Zhao and I have discussed it and decided that we would feel more at ease if we brought you back home."

Luo Qiao sneered inwardly and said, "There is no need to trouble yourself, Aunt. I can take care of myself. Since you are not my biological parents, I don't want to be a burden to you. I have things to attend to inside, so I’ll be going now."

Without waiting for Gao Suhua to say anything more, Luo Qiao had already retreated into the house. She would have to be a fool to believe Gao Suhua’s nonsense; she was not the original owner of this body.

After returning to the house, Luo Qiao listened to the commotion outside. Hearing Gao Suhua leave while cursing and swearing, she let out a mocking laugh, thinking that there was no telling what kind of bad idea Gao Suhua was cooking up now.

Seeing that it wasn't too late and confirming that it was safe, she entered her space again. She first drew a bucket of water and tidied up the kitchen. She couldn't bear to waste the leftover water, so she carried it out and watered the patch of land she had planted that morning.

Aside from malnutrition, this body had no major ailments. She believed that before long, she would be completely transformed.

She brought in some straw from behind the bamboo building, thinking that it probably wouldn't burn for long. She decided that if it didn't work out, she would go up the mountain later to gather firewood and store it in the space.

For now, she could only eat light meals, so she decided to drink some porridge to settle her stomach. She took out some rice and boiled a thick pot of porridge, enough to last for several meals.

Once the porridge was ready, she ladled a large bowl out to cool, then poured the rest into a large basin and sent it to the underground storage room. Whenever she wanted to eat later, she could just scoop some out, and it would still be warm, saving her the trouble of reheating it.

She stir-fried some eggplant with minced garlic and a dish of "Di San Xian," ate it with the porridge, and then exited the space.

She boiled a large pot of water in the kitchen and scrubbed the entire room clean again. Luo Qiao had a slight touch of obsessive-compulsive cleanliness, so she felt uncomfortable if things weren't tidy.

The houses at this educated youth site were made of mud bricks on the inside and stone on the outside, but they were covered with small black tiles, which were much better than the thatched roofs of some families in the village. Moreover, these houses had been built in the sixties, so they were considered quite good by village standards.

The courtyard where Luo Qiao lived was the one previously occupied by female educated youths. The courtyard next door, where the male educated youths used to live, was currently empty. Luo Qiao was quite satisfied with this, as living alone made it more convenient for her to do as she pleased.

In fact, many families in the village had their eyes on these houses, but the brigade cadres had stated that they either had to pay a lump sum to buy them or pay rent by the month. When the villagers heard that they had to pay to live there, none of them were willing to spend the money, which was how Luo Qiao managed to get such a bargain.