Chapter 39: Jingwang

"What are you talking about? What do you mean I brought him here? He just came to do me a favor," Shen Qingyao said, anxious to explain.

"You don't know, that gossip at the entrance of the village was beaten up today just because she couldn't keep her mouth shut. But with the way she talks, she ruins a girl's reputation..."

Hearing Qiao Yufen start in like this, Shen Qingyao was already losing interest. "Alright, alright, Grandma, stop talking."

She pushed Qiao Yufen toward the door. Chen Zheng had just set the items down and greeted the old woman again.

"Come and have some water, young man. You must be tired, right?"

Chen Zheng smiled, revealing his canine teeth. "Not tired at all, Grandma. This little bit of weight is nothing to us."

Seeing that Chen Zheng didn't seem to have any bad intentions, Qiao Yufen didn't continue her story about the "gossip." Once inside, Shen Qingyao busied herself with putting things away, forgetting about Qiao Yufen and Chen Zheng for a moment.

By the time she heard the commotion and came over, Qiao Yufen was tugging at Chen Zheng, refusing to let him leave.

"Stay for lunch!"

"I really can't, Grandma. I have to go right away; I have things to do this afternoon."

The old woman simply played the rogue. "You're eating before you go!"

Chen Zheng looked troubled. "I really can't eat anymore, Grandma. I'm already full from all the water..."

Shen Qingyao glanced over; it looked like Qiao Yufen had forced an entire kettle of boiled water down him. It seemed it was up to her to save him.

Shen Qingyao stepped in to stop her. "Grandma, what are you doing?"

"Do you know? Chen Zheng’s father is from my village. What a coincidence!" Qiao Yufen shared the news eagerly, though Shen Qingyao couldn't fathom why she was so excited.

"Grandma, let Chen Zheng go. If he doesn't leave, my future husband won't have anything to eat. He’s in charge of the mess hall for him at the army base..."

Qiao Yufen was intrigued. "Oh, he’s the one doing the cooking?"

The grip on his clothes, which had been tight, loosened significantly after Shen Qingyao’s remark. Seeing that the tactic worked, Chen Zheng followed her lead.

"That's right, Grandma. Brother Jiang has a weak stomach; if he doesn't eat on time, it causes big problems. Please let me go back and get Brother Jiang his meal..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Qiao Yufen readily let go. Chen Zheng took two or three steps back, said goodbye, and took off running. Qiao Yufen chased after him, grabbing onto the vehicle to get the last word in.

"Then bring Jiang Yan and come eat at our place next time! Grandma will stew some red-braised pork for you!"

Shen Qingyao moved quickly, pulling Qiao Yufen’s hand off the vehicle. The change in Qiao Yufen’s attitude left her baffled.

Especially after Chen Zheng had left, Shen Qingyao was already turning to go back inside when she noticed Qiao Yufen still standing there, dazed. She couldn't tell what she was looking at, but Qiao Yufen kept rubbing her hands together.

As soon as Shen Qingyao looked at her, she heard Qiao Yufen praising Chen Zheng. "Look at that boy, how wonderful. No wonder he's from our Nanni Village."

"Are you praising Chen Zheng, or are you just praising Nanni Village?"

Qiao Yufen’s expression shifted, and she cast a sidelong glance at Shen Qingyao. "Isn't it the same thing?"

"One is loving the house and its crow, the other is a personal bias. Of course, it's different." Shen Qingyao crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "What is it, Grandma? Did you have a story in the village when you were young?"

"Go on with you!" Qiao Yufen suddenly raised her hand and gave Shen Qingyao’s arm a swat.

Shen Qingyao didn't feel any pain; she hugged Qiao Yufen, trying to get her to tell stories from her youth. Qiao Yufen refused to say much, but she couldn't hide the smile on her face. No matter how much Shen Qingyao begged, she wouldn't budge.

That’s fine, she thought. There’s plenty of time.

As soon as she walked through the door, Qiao Yufen saw a stack of envelopes. While she was wondering about them, Shen Qingyao placed them in her hands.

"Grandma, these letters are from Mom. They belong to you now."

"Tangtang wrote these?"

Qiao Yufen suddenly felt the weight of the items in her hands become immense. Her eyes turned red in an instant, but she couldn't bring herself to open the envelopes. Qiao Yufen didn't know many characters, but Du Tang knew quite a few. She had even joined a poetry society, and one of her poems had been published in a newspaper.

But there was no way to prove any of that anymore. The newspaper was gone, and the poetry society had long since disbanded. Sometimes, Qiao Yufen could only rely on her memory to confirm that she once had a daughter like that.

She traced every character on the envelope, her lips trembling. "Yaoyao, could you help Grandma see if there’s a letter with 'Nanni' written on the cover?"

Shen Qingyao searched through the stack and actually found one. She opened the envelope and read it to Qiao Yufen, word for word. Qiao Yufen listened, completely absorbed.

It was a poem, likely praising the beauty of spring. As she listened, two lines of hot tears fell from Qiao Yufen’s eyes. Shen Qingyao realized there might be something more to this poem.

"After your mother went to Beijing, she sent me many things—food, toys, daily necessities, too many to count. Later, she met Shen Dongsheng, and that’s when this poem..."

"If only I hadn't agreed to their marriage back then..."

Hearing these words, Shen Qingyao felt a heavy unease in her heart. She thought of Shen Mengyi’s behavior the previous night and recounted it all to Qiao Yufen.

Qiao Yufen couldn't make sense of it at first, until she thought of someone else. She suddenly patted Shen Qingyao’s hand, looking a bit agitated.

"Have you heard of a man living in town? They say everyone who goes to see him gets transferred to Beijing. People call him 'Jingwang'."

Good heavens, she thought, scammers really exist in every era. Shen Qingyao retorted, "Jingwang? What's next, Jing-Pekingese?"

"This Jingwang doesn't just see anyone. It's said that to see him once, you need this much." Qiao Yufen held up three fingers and shook them.

"Thirty yuan?" Shen Qingyao frowned. What kind of person was that expensive?

Qiao Yufen intentionally built up the atmosphere. "That's impossible! It's three hundred!"

"Why don't they just rob people?" Shen Qingyao rolled her eyes.

"Do you think Shen Mengyi and Wang Guihua planned this day long ago? Since they couldn't count on a regular job, they used this method?"

"There can only be one person transferred to Beijing. According to the factory’s requirements, if Shen Dongsheng wants to continue living in the compound and collecting the subsidy, then it works against you. Shen Mengyi, she..."

Shen Qingyao thought of the license plate. She had to investigate to know what Shen Mengyi was after. Since she needed someone to look into things, who should she turn to? In Qingtian Village, Xie Meiyi was the one who knew the most people!

She put down everything in her hands and rushed out again in a whirlwind.

"Grandma, I’m heading out for a bit!"

Qiao Yufen sighed. "Where are you going again? Aren't you going to read the letters to me?"

"I'll read them when I get back! Grandma, I have big business to attend to!"