Chapter 405

Chapter 405

She didn't know many people in the county who could help with this kind of situation. The only person who could possibly help them now was Hu Tian.

But...

They had offended Hu Tian! They had taken over the stalls that he had his eye on. Now that something had happened, there was no way Hu Tian would help them.

"Honey, don’t just sit there! Think of something. If we get caught, we’ll be locked up forever!"

Wang Qingqi was filled with despair when he thought about his bright future possibly ending in reeducation through labor.

How could he be so unlucky?

Since he got married, he hasn’t had a single day of peace. Jiaojiao always stirred up something, causing trouble for the whole family. This whole black market mess is her fault!

It was her idea to take over the black market business.

Didn’t she realize we’re not equipped to handle something so risky?

Now, it was even worse. Dad was in trouble.

The more Wang Qingqi thought about it, the more resentful he became. He was about to speak.

But Zhou Jiaojiao spoke first, "What are you shouting for? Am I not thinking of a solution? I think the best solution is to go to Hu Tian, but this time, we’ll have to pay a price.

We’ll have to give him many of the recipes, the kind that we won’t be able to use ourselves in the future."

Jiaojiao felt cursed, knowing all this trouble stemmed from her father-in-law’s actions.

She didn’t know how many more messes she would have to clean up for this family.

Also, there was no guarantee they could get father-in-law out. If he couldn’t be brought out... At the very least, they should be able to see him and tell him not to expose the rest of the family.

He would have to take all the blame himself.

The rest of the family, at worst, would be implicated and have a bad reputation.

He must take the blame!

Just like how he made mother-in-law take the blame for those things back then.

"Forget about the cost! We need to fix this now!" Wang Laosi couldn’t care less about the price.

None of you have seen what really happened back then.

If you’d seen it, you’d understand why I’m so worried!

Wang Qingfu understood a bit when he heard what Zhou Jiaojiao said.

"Fifth Brother’s Wife, if you’re willing to pay the price, we’ll do whatever you need us to do."

Jiaojiao almost lost control and wanted to scold him when she heard Wang Qingfu’s words.

What did he mean by saying they’ll ‘listen to me’? Don’t they already have to?

Besides, no one in this family can help her with anything. They're all more trouble than they're worth!

What good does it do to make them listen?

Soon, she and Qingqi will be able to head to the provincial city.

Zhou Jiaojiao kept her dissatisfaction to herself.

After all, no matter what, they needed to get out of this mess.

Father-in-law is probably not getting out of this mess!

Thinking of this, Zhou Jiaojiao didn’t hide it from them: “Later, I’ll go ask Hu Tian for help. I estimate Dad might not be able to come out since he’s been caught.

There’s no explaining this away, so you all need to brace yourselves.

Don’t blame me if he can’t come out and you think I didn’t do a good job.

The urgent thing is to get us out of this mess.

If we can’t get Dad out, at least we need to make sure he doesn’t talk and rat on all of us.

I’m going to give Hu Tian some recipes, but you each need to pay me back—let’s say a hundred bucks per household.

I don’t want more than that, and you all don’t have it anyway.

This affects every single one of us! I’m not letting Qingqi and me take the fall alone.

Zhou Jiaojiao thought charging a hundred yuan per person was a raw deal!

Although many of these recipes were obtained from dreams, they were still her wealth.

If she didn’t know they were broke, she’d ask for more—but they’d likely just throw in the towel and refuse to pay.

Still, she couldn’t ignore this matter.

Even with all his connections, Hu Tian couldn’t get her father-in-law off the hook.

Zhou Jiaojiao’s attitude left Wang Qingfu speechless.

Fifth Brother’s Wife wasn’t being unreasonable, but it would still cost him four months’ wages.

“Anyway, you all must make it up to me, or none of us will get through this. Second Brother, you have two daughters, and Fourth Sister-in-law is pregnant.

It’s just me and Old Fifth who have no real attachments.

But it’s different for you all.”

Seeing that Wang Qingfu didn’t say anything, Zhou Jiaojiao knew he wasn’t thinking of anything good.

“Alright, I’m in. Second Brother, stop stalling—are you really ready to face the music?”

Wang Laosi urged Wang Qingfu to agree quickly.

His younger brother had already agreed, so Wang Qingfu couldn’t say no.

He could only agree: “Alright, it’s settled then. Fifth Brother’s Wife, you should go find someone soon.”

“Not right now—the black market’s blown up, and Hu Tian’s probably laying low. I don’t know where he is at the moment. We should wait till tonight when Qingqi and I head over to his place.”

"It's safer to go to their house."

Zhou Jiaojiao was anxious as she spoke.

"Why can't Hu Tian take the initiative to come find me? It would be beneficial for him too!"

Outside, He Youde and his father, He Quan, arrived at Old Wang's door. He Youde knocked on the door and politely asked, "Is anyone home?"

Inside the house, the already troubled family looked at each other in dismay.

Hearing the voice, Zhou Jiaojiao felt a surge of joy in her heart.

The voice sounded like He Youde.

"Don't mention the trouble our family is in when they arrive. If the He family finds out, they definitely won't be as easy to deal with as before," Zhou Jiaojiao warned the others in the family, worried they would take advantage of the situation.

Then she went to open the door.

When the door opened, He Youde felt a wave of disappointment as soon as he saw Zhou Jiaojiao.

Why is she here?

A woman should stick to cooking and doing laundry instead of meddling in everything.

If it weren't for her, they wouldn't be in this mess.

"You're here! I felt so happy this morning, thinking something good might happen. Do you already have good news for us, Uncle He?"

Zhou Jiaojiao looked at them expectantly.

He Quan was about to speak directly, but He Youde cut in, "This job isn't easy to find. Even though it's temporary, lots of people are competing for it.

We had no choice but to agree to this.

As soon as you get to the provincial city, you need to start working right away.

If you don't drive them out of the provincial city within three months, we will turn against you."

He Youde's cold attitude caused Zhou Jiaojiao's brows to furrow.

This old guy is really annoying!

Of course, she wouldn't let Bai Xiuxiu get away with anything in the provincial city.

If it weren't for trying to compete with Bai Xiuxiu and wanting to outdo her, her life wouldn't have turned out like this.

Why shouldn't she be just as good as Bai Xiuxiu?