Chapter 456: Chapter 456: Adding to Zhao Jianing’s Troubles Chapter 456: Chapter 456: Adding to Zhao Jianing’s Troubles Gao Jiefang said, “You should think of another solution, but if you want your niece’s phone number, I can inquire about it for you.”
Zhao Changlin, desperate due to illness, replied, “Alright, then please trouble the party secretary to ask for me.”
As Luo Qiao was walking back, someone called from the public phone, “Luo Qiao, you’ve got a call, and you’re just in time.”
Luo Qiao answered the phone: “Hello, who’s this?”
Gao Jiefang said, “Luo Qiao, it’s me, Gao Jiefang.”
Luo Qiao replied with a smile, “Party Secretary, do you need something from me?”
Gao Jiefang explained the situation at Zhao Changlin’s home and mentioned Zhao Changlin’s idea, then asked, “Do you have the contact information of Zhao Pulin’s sixth daughter? I’ll let him contact his niece directly.”
Luo Qiao laughed instantly. She was somewhat aware of Zhao Jianing’s situation. Following Ning Xueling to Capital City, Jianing never even entered the Luo Family’s door and went straight to stay in a hostel.
Later, she moved into a rented house with Ning Xueling, and after Xueling remarried, Jianing moved in with the Wei Family. Luo Siyuan had told her all this over the phone, and she heard that the mother-daughter duo had a tough time at the Wei Family’s place.
The three children had developed strange temperaments during their time in the countryside, all very selfish, speaking with hostility to anyone as if the whole world wronged them.
They would frequently trip up Ning Xueling and Zhao Jianing, so their life in the Wei Family could be described as living through fire and water. Moreover, Zhao Jianing never went to school, shouldering all the household chores every day.
Wei Zixiong, aside from trying to smooth things over, never intervened; Ning Xueling was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The children somehow found out that Xueling was their father’s first love and blamed her for all the mistreatment they believed their biological mother suffered from Wei Zixiong.
Ning Xueling now dreaded going home after work, always the last to leave. But if she returned late, Wei Zixiong bombarded her with questions, suspecting her of improper conduct. If her answers were unsatisfactory, she would be tormented that night.
After enduring grievances with nowhere to vent and not daring to provoke the three Wei children, she took out her frustrations on Zhao Jianing. Hence, Jianing’s days at the Wei household were likely no better than at the Zhao Family’s.
In the past, although the Zhao Family Sisters did not get along and fought daily, Jianing could feign weakness and avoid chores, still having meals every day. Now at the Wei house, she not only had to clean and cook but also endure the children’s bullying.
In her midnight reveries, she cried countless times, cursing fate for being so unfair and wondering why her life had to be so bitter. But with her residency still in Qingshan Village and depending on the Wei Family for food, drink, and shelter, she had no other options.
Even if she now wanted to return to Qingshan Village, the Zhao Family Sisters might not let her in. Hence, without having found a new place to go, she had no choice but to endure and subsist at the Wei household.
Luo Qiao said, “Party Secretary, I’ll give you Zhao Jianing’s contact information later. I’m in Ji City right now and need to make some inquiries in Capital City first.”
Gao Jiefang replied, “Alright, alright, please look into it, and let me know if you get any information; thank you for your trouble.”
Luo Qiao laughed, “No trouble, no trouble at all.”
After hanging up, Luo Qiao thought it might be fun to add a little trouble to Zhao Jianing’s life.
She immediately called her fourth brother and asked him to find a way to get the phone number of the public phone next to the Wei household. She also told him she’d be taking the train back to the capital city tonight before hanging up.
She hurried home to get things in order. She started cooking rice and took out a grass carp, one she had previously stored in a space she found down south after encountering a large reservoir and collecting plenty of fish and shrimp.
She cooked “sauerkraut fish,” stir-fried leek and eggs, and prepared a cold dish of shepherd’s purse. As she finished cooking, Lu Yichen and Stone entered the yard one after the other.
Lu Yichen said, “Qiaoqiao, this afternoon I just ran into that comrade-in-arms, and he said his restaurant will open in about a month and a half. Will the vegetables from your place be ready for harvest by then?”
Luo Qiao replied, “No problem, when I come back at the end of May, he can take a look first. There’s no rush to make a decision; it all depends on whether he has a good eye.”
Stone brought over water and said, “Brother, wash your hands.”
After washing his hands, he asked, “Sister, are you still taking the late train tonight?”