Chapter 172

Chapter 172

Qi Yingying endured her temper, controlling her tone to avoid showing any anger.

"Wei Wei, did you go to the matchmaking meeting that your mother arranged for you? The father of the child is quite close to your father. When he heard you were looking for a partner, he told me about it. How did it go? Did you have a good chat?"

Qi Yingying sat down next to her daughter. But as soon as she sat down, the little girl who was sitting beside her suddenly threw her notebook.

Her foolish smile gradually turned into despair: "Who asked you to introduce me to a match? Because of you, the person I like has misunderstood me! Do you know that without him, I'd rather die? Are you my real mother? You're just a stepmother; you want me dead.

Let whoever wants to go on a date do so. Just don't bother me."

After saying this, He Wei went upstairs to her room and slammed the door shut. The sound echoed in the already quiet house, making it even quieter.

Qi Yingying's face turned ugly after being scolded by her daughter.

She then looked at her unmoving second son and sighed: "Your sister is immature, but He Cheng, can't you make your mother proud? You can't always be overshadowed by He Tian, can you? Look at how your father praises him every time he comes back.

If this continues, our family will..."

Before she could finish, her lying son sat up.

He didn't look much like his mother; he had a somewhat heroic appearance, probably more like his father.

Frowning, with dark eyes filled with irritation, he said impatiently: "Mom, are you going to nag forever? Lately, you either talk about the lost eldest son or Uncle Wang's He Tian.

Why is he better than me?

How does Uncle help him? How does Dad help him? Can't you understand me and at least get Dad to arrange a good job for me?"

"You!" Qi Yingying was speechless after being reprimanded.

She awkwardly shifted her gaze to her third son.

He Ming, who was eating canned food, choked: "Cough, cough. Mom, are you going to scold me too? I think I'm doing pretty well. By the way, Mom, do you have any money? Can you give me some? I want to go out for a while."

Qi Yingying felt suffocated by these three children upon returning home. She held back her tears and couldn't bring herself to refuse giving them money.

She took out fifty yuan: "Is this enough?"

He Ming grabbed it: "This is enough."

He then ran out of the house.

Seeing his brother get money, He Cheng wasn't about to be left behind: "Mom, why should only the money go to the third one? I should get some too. Even if I'm a bit older, you can't be biased, right?"

Qi Yingying felt cursed to have such children.

With no choice, she took out more money.

She and Old He earned decent salaries, but losing a hundred yuan at once still hurt, especially since the two boys would squander it.

She wondered what her lost eldest son was like. He must be more well-behaved than these three, given that he hadn't been spoiled.

Even though she hadn't raised him, he was still her biological child.

At least they were family. If he could succeed, she would gain face, and the other three would benefit too.

If he didn't succeed...

Old He also thought about the child. If they could find him, Old He could arrange a job for him, which could eventually be passed to the second son.

Although this might seem unfair, it would ultimately benefit the family.

Regardless, finding the child would be beneficial for both the family and himself.

Moreover, she missed the child.

Even if not as much as these three, he was still her own flesh and blood.

Qi Yingying's mind was in turmoil as she picked vegetables while thinking about finding her son.

As dusk approached, the villagers of Xiahe Village returned from the mountains with their harvests. Although the items were varied, the total amount was substantial.

The team leader had been waiting in the courtyard all morning. Seeing the abundance of medicinal herbs, his smile never faded.

"Good, good. Everyone worked hard today. Tomorrow, we'll head to the mountains early again. Let others in the village process and dry these herbs, then send them to the pharmacy in the county. Don't worry; we've consulted the commune.

Everyone just focus on finding more herbs in the mountains."

The team leader's words boosted everyone's morale.

In the crowd, Wang Laosan breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, there weren't too many items.

He wondered how Old Fifth's wife managed to find so many herbs in the mountains. It was strange that no one else could find as many.

So many people went up the mountain, yet they only collected this much.

It seemed that Old Fifth's wife was indeed not an ordinary person.

Wang Laosan's expression caught Bai Xiuxiu's attention as she recorded the herbs. She also thought of something.

So she walked over to Aunt Jinhua, who had come to help, and whispered a few words in her ear.

Aunt Jinhua was taken aback, not understanding what she meant.

"Aunt, the villagers didn't know they could gather so many herbs before, but now that they do, some might try to sneak out at night or early in the morning to collect them. If everyone wants to keep things for themselves, who will still be motivated to work together?

It's better to have a few people guard the mountain area, ensuring that no one hides anything during the day."

Bai Xiuxiu explained why she wanted someone to watch over the area.

Of course, if someone really wanted to hide something, they could, but she just wanted to prevent Zhou Jiaojiao from doing so.

Given the temperament of Old Wang's family and Zhou Jiaojiao's character, it was impossible for them not to secretly gather more herbs for themselves.

Zhou Jiaojiao probably considered everything in the mountains as hers; how could she be content watching others take it all?

After hearing this, Chen Jinhua also thought it made sense, even if it only helped a little.

Most importantly, going into the mountains at night was extremely dangerous.

Her husband organized this to improve the villagers' lives, and if anyone encountered danger because of it, he would be held responsible.

Wouldn't that be counterproductive?

Thinking about this, Chen Jinhua felt an overwhelming gratitude toward Bai Xiuxiu.

She kept patting Bai Xiuxiu's hand, tears welling up in her eyes: "Xiuxiu, you... you're such a good child. I don't even know how to thank you. Everyone is driven by their own interests, but you are thinking of me and your Uncle. I'll go talk to your Uncle Chen first."

Chen Jinhua hurried off to find the team leader.

Just as Chen Zhuangshi was about to address the villagers again after mobilizing them, he saw his wife running over.

"Why are you here?" Chen Zhuangshi frowned, wondering why his wife had come.