Chapter 639 - Chapter 639: Best To Be Careful
Chapter 639: Best To Be Careful
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
“Qing Qing is a capable child. With her at home, we can go out to work without worry.”
Mrs. Zhou’s words made Meng Jiang come back to his senses and he averted his eyes.
“Big Brother Zhou, sit down for a while. I’ll go cook for all of you.”
“I’ll go with you. Zhou Xing said that my cooking skills are not good enough. I will take care of tonight’s meal. You and Meng Jiang can judge. Is it that brat who doesn’t know how to appreciate good things or is my cooking really that bad?”
Qing Qing smiled as she followed Mrs. Zhou to the kitchen at the back.
After she left, Meng Jiang took a sip of water before asking, “Where did this girl come from? Your relative?”
Zhou Xing shook his head and told Meng Jiang the whole story of how he met Qing Qing.
Meng Jiang’s brows were almost knitted together after listening. “How come you dare to bring someone with an unknown background into your house? What if…” He didn’t say so explicitly, but Zhou Xing understood. Back then, the Meng family also felt pity for Wang Furong and took her in, but they only received a painful lesson in the end.
Therefore, when Meng Jiang heard about Qing Qing’s background, his mood became very gloomy.
“I know. Don’t worry. I know what to do.”
Meng Jiang looked at Zhou Xing. Seeing that Zhou Xing didn’t voice any objection to his words but didn’t seem to want to say anything more either, he didn’t say anything else. It was fine as long as Zhou Xing knew what to do.
Soon, the piping hot dishes were served.
Tonight, Mrs. Zhou did not hold back and added more dishes for her family. She caught an old hen in the back courtyard to make soup, fried a few eggs, and made a bowl of wild vegetable salad. This meal would be considered extravagant even during the New Year.
After working the whole day, everyone was hungry. They could not resist swallowing a few times when they smelled the fragrant aroma of the chicken.
Meng Jiang was a little embarrassed. “Aunt, you’re too kind. I only came to have a simple meal, yet you slaughtered the chicken.”
Mrs. Zhou beamed happily. “You’ve lost quite a bit of weight. I feel sorry for you, so I slaughtered the chicken to give you some nourishment. Quickly have some.”
Mrs. Zhou then gave Meng Jiang a big drumstick and handed the other to Qing Qing.
However, Qing Qing refused to eat the drumstick. In the end, the two drumsticks ended up in Meng Jiang’s bowl.
The meal was a joyous one.
With Qing Qing around, Meng Jiang didn’t feel it was good for him to hang around in the Zhou family’s house for long. After exchanging a few pleasantries, he went home.
When Tian Niu saw Meng Jiang come back with a greasy mouth, she asked a few questions. Meng Jiang told her what happened.
Tian Niu’s reaction was the same as Meng Jiang’s, but she didn’t say much. She only went to take some eggs and half a bag of sugar and put them into the bamboo basket.
“Meat and eggs are so expensive. Regardless of whether this chicken was slaughtered for you or not, we can’t take advantage of them. I’ll send something over to Mrs. Zhou now. Your body has not regained its agility yet, so go back and rest.”
Meng Jiang nodded. He had matured quite a bit after experiencing so many things. He knew that his mother had taken his words to heart. She was probably going there to find out what was going on.
The Meng and Zhou families had been friends for more than twenty years. Meng Zi and Zhou Xing’s father were good friends. After Zhou Xing’s father passed away, the Meng family took good care of the Zhou family as they were worried that other people would take advantage of the Zhou family.
By the time Tian Niu returned from the Zhou family’s house, it was already two hours later.
Meng Jiang’s body was still weak, so he went to sleep after returning. There was only Meng Zi in the hall munching on dry food.
“Why did you come back so late?” Tian Niu put away the basket and poured Meng Zi a cup of hot water.
Meng Zi was now responsible for one of the sections of the road construction. He was busy outside during the day and was almost never at home.
“Mm-hmm. I heard from Jiang’er that you went to Sister Zhou’s house?”
Tian Niu nodded and sat down beside him.
“Mm-hmm. I went to take a look.”
Meng Zi had already heard about what happened from Meng Jiang.
“Tell me?”
Tian Niu shook her head. “Sister Zhou is a simple-minded person, but Zhou Xing isn’t stupid. He said that he had investigated the background of the girl called Qing Qing and secretly asked her father to hide in a corner to verify that she was his daughter, which he did. She had indeed come to the city a long time ago and didn’t suddenly appear recently.
“That girl’s father is indeed a gambler. He sold everything he could at home. Only when he couldn’t stand the hunger would he do odd jobs to fill his stomach.”
There were no officially approved gambling dens in Sky Alpha City, and none were allowed to operate. However, many people would gamble in private. If they were caught, they would be punished. However, because the punishment was not heavy, such behavior continued to exist.
“The girl was sold to the brothel more than half a month ago, but she ran away because she wasn’t willing to work there. Zhou Xing happened to bump into her. I’ve tested her, and she doesn’t seem to know martial arts, but I can’t be sure if she’s pretending. I’ve already reminded Zhou Xing, so I hope he’ll be careful.”
Previously, Tian Niu felt that she was quite accurate in judging people, but after Wang Furong’s incident, her confidence was gone.
Meng Zi frowned. “Let’s help them keep an eye on her too.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Mrs. Zhou wasn’t stupid. She understood everything Tian Niu said, whether explicitly or otherwise.
Previously, when Wang Furong turned out to be trouble, they all felt a lingering fear. Who would have thought that after staying in the Meng family for so many years, such despicable thoughts could still breed in her mind?
“Xing’er, do you think Qing Qing is really…” Mrs. Zhou liked Qing Qing very much and had even thought of making her her daughter-in-law. However, if there was a possibility that she might harm Zhou Xing, she would never allow it.
Qing Qing stood outside the hall entrance and listened to the conversation between the mother and son. Her heart gradually sank.
The next morning.
When Mrs. Zhou got up, she found that Qing Qing’s room door was open. Out of curiosity, she walked up and found that there was no one in the room.
She thought that Qing Qing had gone to the kitchen to do some work, so she turned around and went to the kitchen. To her surprise, the kitchen was dark and there was no one there.
Just as Mrs. Zhou was feeling puzzled, she heard a commotion in the front courtyard.
She headed there for a look and saw that it was Qing Qing who had returned with a large bundle of firewood on her back.
“Qing Qing, where did you go so early in the morning?”
Qing Qing answered with a smile, “I saw that there wasn’t much firewood left in the kitchen, so I thought I’d go and get more firewood.
“I’ve already made breakfast. Aunt, come and eat if you’re hungry. I’ve made multi-grain porridge and multi-grain pancakes.”
Mrs. Zhou was surprised that the girl had finished all the chores.
“It’s too dangerous for a girl like you to go out before the sky has turned bright. In the future, let Zhou Xing do these rough jobs, understand?”
Qing Qing smiled and didn’t reply.
After eating, Zhou Xing went out.
Qing Qing walked out of the house and stood in front of Mrs. Zhou.
Before Mrs. Zhou could say anything, Qing Qing knelt down and kowtowed three times.
“Gosh! What are you doing? Get up quickly.”
Qing Qing stood up after kowtowing and said, “Thank you, Aunt and Big Brother Zhou, for taking care of me. I know I shouldn’t stay any longer. This will only cause more trouble for all of you. Today, I’m bidding farewell to you, Aunt. I’m going back. No matter how despicable Father is, I can’t keep running away. I was not sensible before, but now I understand.”
“Your father…What if he wants to sell you again?”
Qing Qing wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. “It’s okay, Aunt. I’m not afraid anymore. I told him that Big Brother Zhou from the Peace-keeping Bureau would come to visit me from time to time. He wouldn’t dare.”
Mrs. Zhou was still a little worried, but Tian Niu’s words yesterday also made her fearful..