Chapter 139

Chapter 139

"Friends from the provincial capital?" Hearing the mention of the provincial capital, Bai Xiuxiu was reminded of Wang Qinghe's unknown biological parents.

"Hmm, according to Xiao Zhang, they were entrusted by someone to come here and look for someone," Wang Qinghe said while cooking, addressing his wife.

Bai Xiuxiu perked up. "Could it be that they're looking for you?"

Wang Qinghe didn't particularly care whether they were looking for him; he would proceed according to his own plans.

"If they are, would you go back with them?" Bai Xiuxiu looked at her husband, curious.

This matter was beyond her ability to predict.

After all, nothing like this had happened in her previous life.

She couldn't be sure what lay ahead.

Wang Qinghe tossed the last piece of wood into the stove and gazed tenderly at his wife and the two children playing on the bed. "We'll live our own lives. If they really come looking, I'll only accept benefits, not risks.

I have no familial ties with them, and we've never even met.

Even if we meet in the future, who knows how it will turn out?

I don't even know if they have other children.

Xiuxiu, we'll just live our own lives."

There was a hint of pleading in Wang Qinghe's tone.

Bai Xiuxiu understood his meaning—perhaps he feared she might want him to recognize his biological parents?

After all, Wang Qinghe never refused her requests.

Thinking about it, Bai Xiuxiu echoed him: "I'll follow your lead on this. I don't think recognizing them would make our lives much better than they are now. I'm content with our current life. As long as we're together with our two children, we can still have a good life."

Wang Qinghe realized that his wife was speaking very wisely today.

He was so pleased he didn't know how to respond.

That evening, Wang Qinghe stewed a rabbit he had caught the day before and made an egg drop soup. The aroma of steamed rice filled the house.

In the neighboring courtyard, Zhou Jiaojiao watched with a dark expression as her family took half of the forty yuan she had brought home today, leaving her with twenty, which amounted to four yuan per person.

She had worked hard all day and only got four yuan!

"Alright, let's eat. We'll have something nice today. Second daughter-in-law, steam some rice and fry some eggs," Wang Shoucheng felt quite generous.

Liu Xiaoe, who was named, resignedly went to cook, her heart full of unspoken grievances.

As she left, Liu Xiaoe touched her belly, wondering why she hadn't conceived yet.

When would she have a son?

"Dad, Mom, we're back." Outside, Wang Qingqi and Wang Qingfu stumbled in.

Zhou Jiaojiao had returned early today, and when they entered the room, she was shocked.

The two men, already bruised from their earlier beating, looked even worse now.

Her husband's face was swollen like a pig's head.

"What happened to you two?" Wang Shoucheng was furious upon seeing his sons beaten again.

"Those people, we told them we'd give them money, but they insisted we were lying to avoid getting beaten. They said they'd hit us every day until we paid," Wang Qingqi said, feeling bitter. When had he ever endured such treatment?

Before the eldest brother moved out, whenever anyone in the family was bullied, the eldest brother would take care of it.

Wang Qingfu was in too much pain to speak.

He truly blamed Old Fifth for his misfortune; he would settle this score with him.

Wang Shoucheng also felt a surge of anger: "Fine, give them the money, but tell them that if they keep hitting you, even a rabbit will bite when cornered. If they won't let you live, you won't let them live either.

The case isn't closed yet. Even if we can't live like this anymore, we can't let them continue to beat you.

Tell them that.

They assume we won't risk losing our jobs, but we need to be more assertive.

Once they get the money, they won't want to escalate things further."

Wang Shoucheng was ready to fight back; the family had been too unlucky lately.

"Will it work?" Wang Qingqi, beaten and scared, lacked courage.

"Why wouldn't it? Dad, I'll go with Second Brother and my husband. The person helping us in the black market is an old classmate of mine, and he has some influence now," Zhou Jiaojiao thought that if she handed over the money herself, those people might suffer.

Anyone trying to cheat her wouldn't get away easily!

"Fine, then Old Fifth's wife, you go with them. Third daughter-in-law, go to the Zhangs' and bring Old Man Zhang here to treat Second Brother and Old Fifth," Wang Shoucheng called out to Zhao Cuihua.

Zhao Cuihua, who had been enjoying the drama, was unhappy at being summoned.

Old Fifth's wife wasn't crippled; why couldn't she go instead?

However, no matter how unwilling she was, she only complained in her heart, as she still had her eyes on Zhou Jiaojiao's money.

After all, she had just taken four yuan from her; she couldn't turn around and deny it now.

Once everyone had left, Wang Shoucheng glanced at his wife.

"Old woman, is the person you mentioned today reliable?" Wang Shoucheng pondered that the matter of abducting the children needed to be handled immediately.

The eldest couple was becoming increasingly vigilant.

"Don't worry. I've asked my brother-in-law for help, and he said he would find someone in the county. It's very reliable. When the time comes, neither of those two brats will be able to come back, and we'll get the money too. We can split it evenly with them, and it'll be very secure."

Zhao Guifen spoke with excitement.

The eldest son and his wife were thorns in her side.

Every time she saw the eldest, she was reminded of what she and her husband had done years ago, and she felt afraid.

As the eldest grew up, her fear only increased.

Later, when the eldest got married, his wife was disobedient, which fueled Zhao Guifen's hatred for them to the point of boiling over.

As long as she could see them suffer, she would feel relieved.

Wang Shoucheng thought about having to give half the money away and felt pained.

But if they wanted to avoid getting implicated, there was no other way.

It would be best if something happened to the eldest and his wife, so the family wouldn't have to repay any money, and he wouldn't have to worry about anyone coming to look for the children or hold him accountable.

How wonderful would that be?

Unfortunately... it wasn't easy.

They would have to take it step by step.

Wang Shoucheng thought with some regret.

"Did they say when they would make their move?" Wang Shoucheng asked the most crucial question.

"They said they would act tomorrow. I've already told them that the people next door go to work at the brigade every day. The best time would be when they return from the brigade." Zhao Guifen spoke with excitement.

Wang Shoucheng also found this plan reliable.

"That's good. Once we get some money back, our lives won't be so hard. Every time I need money now, I feel scared." Speaking of this, Wang Shoucheng regretted giving the money to those two rascals from the provincial city.

Early in the morning.

The Wang family had just woken up, and Zhao Guifen had just called the second daughter-in-law to prepare breakfast when she saw a cart parked outside the neighboring courtyard, loaded with quite a few things.