Qiao Xin burst out laughing. She’d thought her mother was going to say, when you’ve spent it all, ask me for more. Turns out it was ask the Fu family.
“Okay, Mom. I’ll do everything you say.”
She tucked the money away into her trouser pocket.
Seeing this, Yang Xiuying was not reassured in the slightest.
“No, that’s not safe, putting money in your trouser pocket like that. I’m going to sew a pocket into your underwear tonight.”
Yang Xiuying didn’t just sew a pocket into her underwear that night. She sewed two pockets into the front of her bra as well.
The next morning.
Qiao Xin was dragged out of bed by her mother and put on the bra that had been hastily made overnight. She felt absolutely dead inside.
Two thousand yuan was exactly two hundred datuanjie notes. Even split across three locations, her already full bosom looked even fuller. Even a loose white shirt couldn’t hide that wealthy capital.
She cupped her chest with both hands, trying to get Comrade Yang Xiuying to change her mind. “Mom, stuffing money here is really uncomfortable. Can we put it somewhere else?”
“Somewhere else? No. These two spots are the safest. If it’s uncomfortable, bear with it. You’ll be at the army tomorrow.”
Yang Xiuying was firm. There was no room for negotiation.
“Alright, hurry up and get ready. I’ll make breakfast. We still have to catch the train after we eat.”
Qiao Xin raised her wrist and checked her watch. Seven thirty in the morning. The train was at nine. An hour and a half left. Should be enough time.
She washed her face and brushed her teeth at a leisurely pace, then combed her hair in front of the mirror.
Today she’d deliberately dressed plainly and styled her hair conservatively, two thick braids hanging down over her chest. But even so, her beauty was hard to conceal.
She grinned, and the girl in the mirror grinned back. Red lips, white teeth, bright eyes, and a charming smile. Even the gauze on her forehead didn’t detract from her looks one bit.
Hehe. Love it, love it!
“Xinxin, come quick! Breakfast is ready!” Yang Xiuying’s loud voice rang out.
“Coming, Mom!”
Qiao Xin answered, gave the pretty girl in the mirror one more sweet smile, and then walked out of the room.
Breakfast was wontons Yang Xiuying had made by hand, cooked with seaweed and egg drop. Very savory.
Qiao Xin finished the whole big bowl and wiped her mouth. “Mom, you make it so delicious.”
Yang Xiuying suddenly looked a little forlorn. “You’re so picky, and you’ve eaten my cooking since you were little. What if you get to the army and can’t stand the food there?”
Qiao Xin wanted to comfort her. But the moment she opened her mouth, her mother had already comforted herself.
“But it’s fine. If you really can’t stand their cafeteria food, have Fu Mingzhe cook for you. And if his cooking isn’t good either, just eat out every day.”
Qiao Xin silently closed her mouth. Her mother really was something else.
Yang Xiuying cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks, then got ready to walk her to the train station.
Qiao Xin didn’t have much luggage. Just one bag, one net bag, and one army-style satchel.
Yang Xiuying was worried she wouldn’t be able to carry too much on her own, so she’d only packed some changes of clothes. Everything else would be mailed later.
In the army satchel were her personal items: face cream, lipstick, hairpins, earrings, and other small things, plus an important letter of introduction and a dozen or so yuan in change.
The net bag held two lunchboxes, a box of Rooster biscuits, a packet of glutinous rice strips, and two apples.
Inside the lunchboxes was the food Yang Xiuying had prepared: braised eggs, braised dried tofu, braised pig head meat, and cold noodles.
“It’s still hot out, so this stuff won’t keep. You need to finish everything in both lunchboxes today.”
“Tomorrow morning, just make do with the biscuits and apples. You’ll reach Kyoto by mid-morning. Once you get off the train, you can have a proper meal…”
By the time mother and daughter carried the luggage out the door, Yang Xiuying was still chattering, still giving endless instructions.
The moment they stepped outside, they ran into Fu Mingyue at the door. She was holding a luggage bag and standing there with a sour face, clearly waiting for Qiao Xin.
Seeing the mother and daughter, she didn’t even greet them. She walked straight up and shoved the bag into Qiao Xin’s hands.
“Here. My mom wants you to bring this to my second brother. I’m telling you, this is for my second brother, not for you. Don’t you dare open it or mess with it on the way.”
Qiao Xin rolled her eyes dramatically. She was asking for a favor and still had that arrogant attitude?
And no manners at all. Not greeting her was one thing, but she didn’t even say hello to her mother, an elder. Was this the Fu family’s idea of upbringing?
In that moment, if not for wanting to put her mother at ease, she truly wouldn’t want to go to the army at all.
She’d decided. She’d go take a look at the army first, then come back and say it wasn’t a good fit. Then she’d come home, find some small business to run, and live a peaceful life with her mother.
She’d treat it as fulfilling the original host’s filial duty, and completing this mother-daughter bond for herself as well.
She glanced at Fu Mingyue, didn’t take the bag from her hand, and walked around her.
Yang Xiuying didn’t like rude people either. She tilted her head up and followed around as well. As she passed Fu Mingyue, she even turned her nose up and gave a light, deliberate humph.
Fu Mingyue was stunned for a moment, then her face flushed red with anger.
She couldn’t vent her anger on Yang Xiuying, so she furiously turned on Qiao Xin.
“Qiao Xin, what do you mean by that? You dare ignore me?”
Qiao Xin didn’t even turn her head. Her voice was sweet and clear.
“Oh my, whose dog isn’t leashed properly, running out to bark so early in the morning?”
“Qiao Xin, who are you calling a dog?”
Qiao Xin turned her head, her brows and eyes curving. Her voice was soft and sweet, not the least bit aggressive, but her words could choke a person to death.
“Whoever answers me is the dog.”
With that, she pulled Yang Xiuying away with long strides.
Fu Mingyue was so angry she stamped her feet. “Qiao Xin, what are you so smug about? My second brother doesn’t even like you. He already has an excellent partner in the army. Just you wait, you’ll be sent back home in disgrace.”
“You still want to marry my second brother? Dream on! My second brother would never marry a worthless woman like you…”
When the figures had turned the corner of the alley and were no longer visible, Fu Mingyue finally calmed down. But the fire in her heart wouldn’t subside.
She looked down and saw the luggage bag still in her hand. That bitch Qiao Xin hadn’t even taken it to bring to her brother. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got.
“Ahhhh…”
She let out a few furious screams, then stormed home in a huff.
Over on the other side, once Qiao Xin and her mother had turned the corner of the alley, Yang Xiuying looked at her with a strange expression.
“Girl, why are you so tough today?”
“When am I not tough?” she blurted out.
Yang Xiuying pursed her lips. “You’ve never been tough before.”
Qiao Xin raised an eyebrow. “Go on, tell me more.”
At the mention of this, Yang Xiuying got irritated. She shot her daughter an exasperated glare.
“You and Fu Mingyue were classmates. She always used her brother’s connections to bully you at school. You always swallowed your pride and even gave her the nice things I bought you to curry favor with her.”
Qiao Xin blinked her big, innocent eyes. “So I used to be that stupid!”
“Exactly, stupid…”
Yang Xiuying joined in the criticism, but then something felt off. She looked over with a worried expression.
“Girl, you really don’t remember anything from before?”
Qiao Xin’s eyes flickered. She touched the wound on her forehead. “Maybe I hit it too hard yesterday. Except for remembering you’re my mom, I really don’t remember much else.”
Hearing this, Yang Xiuying let out a sigh of relief.
“As long as you remember I’m your mom, nothing else matters.”