Huang Yifang perked up immediately upon hearing this, and grabbed Qiao Meili to her feet. She used a lot of force, and Qiao Meili, who was already in pain from the fall, was in even more pain now, gasping for breath. Huang Yifang was an impatient person and couldn’t wait a moment longer, so she grabbed her arm and urged her on.
“What’s your plan? Don’t lie to me, just tell me.”
“Give me a moment to catch my breath,”
Qiao Meili thought to herself that this Sister Huang really had a short temper. Anyway, she wasn’t in a hurry, and she also glanced at the crowd of onlookers.
In a short while, more people gathered to watch the spectacle; they were all family members from the residential compound.
Fortunately…
Xiao Heng wasn’t here, otherwise people would think she was up to no good.
Qiao Meili secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then looked down at the ground, searching for something.
“Stop pretending,” Zhang Miao scoffed. Anyway, as long as Liang Qiong didn’t tell the truth, what could anyone do to her?
Qiao Meili ignored him and bent down to search the ground. Suddenly, her eyes lit up.
“Found it!”
Everyone was extremely curious and couldn’t help but follow her.
Qiao Meili bent down and stopped next to a pair of black cloth shoes, reaching out to pick up a peanut from the ground beside her.
“That’s it, the little girl choked on this peanut,”
Zhang Miao felt incredibly guilty and retorted defiantly, “Whatever you say, I could say this peanut accidentally fell into the yard!”
Qiao Meili ignored her and looked at the boy beside her with the peanut in her hand. “If I remember correctly, when Commander Zhang’s daughter spat out this peanut, it was facing your direction. You should have seen it very clearly.”
Seeing this, Huang Yifang rushed up to the other party, “Zhang Ze, Qiao’s sister saved your sister. You can’t let good people feel disheartened. Tell the truth quickly.”
Zhang Ze clenched his fists tightly. The boy, who had already grown tall and slender, had his eyebrows furrowed in a deep frown.
His gaze swept over the members of the Zhang family one by one, finally settling on Qiao Meili’s delicate face.
His thin lips were pressed tightly together.
Seeing his expression, Qiao Meili wasn’t in a hurry. Instead, she looked at the boy and spoke slowly and deliberately.
“I know what you’re worried about, but you have to understand that if something like this happens once, it will happen again and again. Are you sure you can protect your sister’s safety every time?”
Zhang Ze’s expression changed upon hearing this.
The best way to attack someone is to break down their psychological defenses. Simply put, it’s about attacking what they care about.
Staring into Zhang Ze’s eyes, Qiao Meili’s words suddenly became stern.
“Your sister is still so young. If something really happens to her, you will live with guilt for the rest of your life. She is so cute. When she was born, you must have loved her very much, holding her soft body and vowing to be a good brother and protect your sister for the rest of your life…”
“Enough!” Zhang Ze shouted, clenching his fist.
He was on the verge of a breakdown, his eyes red as he glared at Zhang Miao.
Zhang Miao was frightened by her nephew’s imposing manner and shrank back in fear.
However, it was too late. Zhang Ze stretched out his hand and pointed at her.
“It was her! She fed my sister peanuts. My sister choked and almost choked to death. She’s the murderer!”
Zhang Miao was unwilling to admit it, especially after such a commotion with so many people watching. By the time she wanted to refute it, it was already too late.
Huang Yifang wouldn’t give her that chance. “So, it really was you! You hurt someone and then turned around and bit them back. How can you be so vicious at such a young age!”
“that is,”
“So that’s what happened. We were almost fooled.”
“So, the way Deputy Commander Xiao’s wife was just doing that, was she really trying to save someone?”
“Probably so. Zhang Bao’er recovered as soon as she spat out the peanuts.”
“Sigh, Liang Qiong is the same. Someone saved her daughter, and she didn’t tell the truth.”
“You know perfectly well that her family is in trouble, Commander Zhang wants a divorce, and she’s not having an easy time either…”
The family members started chattering away, their voices rising and falling, and they managed to dig up all the secrets of the Zhang family.
Huang Yifang already knew quite a bit, but Qiao Meili only had a vague understanding. She guessed that something was wrong with the Zhang family. After hearing the general outline and piecing it together, she finally understood why Liang Qiong was silent.
As a woman herself, she didn’t understand, but what was even more disgusting now was Zhang Jianshu.
Qiao Meili’s beautiful eyes swept over.
As things progressed to this point, Zhang Jianshu knew things were going badly, but he reacted quickly and pushed Zhang Miao, who was standing next to him.
“What’s wrong with you? Since you accidentally fed Bao’er peanuts, why are you afraid to tell the truth? I’m your own brother, what can’t you tell me? You even made me misunderstand Deputy Commander Xiao’s wife. Luckily, she’s smart and wasn’t misled, otherwise how would I explain it to Deputy Commander Xiao?”
His words shifted all the blame onto Zhang Miao, making himself appear completely innocent.
Huang Yifang scoffed, disregarding any difference in social status, “Shameless!”
Zhang Jianshu was quite something; he acted as if he hadn’t heard anything and pushed Zhang Miao again, saying, “What are you standing there for? Apologize now.”
Zhang Miao’s face was full of resentment, and she almost bit her lip until it bled. The person she least wanted to bow down to was Qiao Meili, but she had to apologize to Qiao Meili.
She was so aggrieved; her face flushed red, then turned deathly pale.
“sorry,”
His voice was barely audible, as if he hadn’t said anything at all.
Huang Yifang pursed his lips, thinking to himself, “He usually speaks quite loudly, so why is he so quiet now?”
Qiao Meili had no intention of letting the other party off the hook. After all, she had offended them, so it wouldn’t hurt to make a little more of a fuss. She might as well have a quick and decisive end to it and deal with the consequences later.
“Speak louder, I can’t hear you.”
Zhang Miao was furious and rushed to see Zhang Jianshu.
Zhang Jianshu cursed inwardly, but he knew it was inconvenient for him to speak out. After all, the girl was a woman, and it was one thing for her to lose face, unlike him, who held a position and couldn’t afford to damage his reputation and image.
Therefore, I just pretended not to see it.
Zhang Miao felt utterly dejected, but she knew there was no other way. She closed her eyes and humiliatingly apologized.
Qiao Meili was satisfied, but then she grimaced and clutched her back, crying out in pain, “Ouch, my back! I don’t know if I hurt it by falling down here. I’m still young, I don’t want to be crippled!”
After taking a couple of steps, she cried out in pain again, “My leg hurts too, I don’t know if I twisted it or broke it… Ouch, my whole body hurts!”
Hearing her cries, Huang Yifang felt heartbroken. “Commander Zhang, everyone saw that you pushed Qiao’s daughter. How could you, a grown man, hit a weak woman so hard? How could you be so shameless?”
Zhang Jianshu knew in his heart that although he had used force, it was not enough to cause any fractures.
It’s nothing more than Qiao Meili using this as an excuse to make a fuss.
But what could he say in front of so many people?
He could only shut his mouth in frustration.
So, Qiao Meili cried out “Ouch!” and “It hurts!” all the way home.
She was determined to let the entire family compound know that she had suffered a great injustice!
Huang Yifang helped her sit down on the stool. “How are you? Does it hurt a lot? This Zhang Jianshu really doesn’t know his own strength. He said he would take you to the clinic, but you didn’t go. Are you sure you’re okay?”
Qiao Meili peeked outside and whispered, “It hurts, but not as much as you think.”
Huang Yifang finally realized what was happening and slapped her on the shoulder, saying, “You brat, you even lied to me, didn’t you?”
Qiao Meili laughed, “What else can I do? If I don’t cry out in pain, everyone will just think that Zhang Jianshu pushed me and nothing happened. Wouldn’t I have taken that push for nothing? Besides, if I make a scene like this, everyone will only remember that I kindly saved Commander Zhang’s daughter, and that Commander Zhang hit me without asking any questions. And then…”
Huang Yifang was listening with great interest when she suddenly stopped, and pressed on, asking, “What else?”
Qiao Meili slumped her shoulders, looking aggrieved. “Of course, it’s for Xiao Heng’s benefit. What if he finds out I caused trouble on my second day in the family compound and kicks me out in a fit of anger?”
Huang Yifang’s heart skipped a beat, and she realized that made sense.
Zhao Zhao was finally happy to have a mother, but her joy lasted less than a day…
No, she can’t allow this to happen.
So when Xiao Heng and Lei Guotao returned from training for lunch, the first thing they saw was Huang Yifang in the Xiao family’s courtyard.
Lei Guotao asked, puzzled, “What are you doing here?”
Ignoring her husband, Huang Yifang launched into a tirade against Xiao Heng, recounting the events of the morning. She specifically mentioned that Zhang Jianshu lacked any sense of martial ethics, as a grown man had bullied Qiao Meili, a weak woman. Poor Qiao Meili’s small frame couldn’t withstand the blow; she cried out in pain and shed a whole bucket of tears.
Xiao Heng felt increasingly uneasy as he listened, his face darkening like water.
He walked past Huang Yifang and strode into the house.
Huang Yifang was worried and wanted to follow him in, but Lei Guotao quickly grabbed her and pulled her into his own house.
Lei Guotao asked in a low voice, “Are you telling me you’re lying?”
Huang Yifang denied it, saying, “Why would I lie to you? If you don’t believe me, go ask other people in the family compound. Many people saw it. It was Zhang Jianshu who bullied Qiao’s sister.”
Lei Guotao immediately sensed something was wrong, but no matter how he asked, Huang Yifang insisted that Zhang Jianshu was the one who bullied him, which annoyed him greatly, yet he had nowhere to vent his frustration.
Qiao Meili had heard Huang Yifang’s voice long ago, but she pretended not to know and continued cooking in the kitchen.
Having finally seized an opportunity, she certainly couldn’t miss it. She was determined to make Xiao Heng cherish her, which would also lay a solid foundation for their long-term life together.
Xiao Heng strode over and snatched the spatula from her hand. “What time is it? Instead of resting, you’re still cooking?”
Qiao Meili said softly, “Then you’ll be back for dinner, right?”
Imagine a wife who is injured but still manages to cook for you despite her injuries. What man wouldn’t feel sorry for her?
What’s more, this is a woman who never cooked before and has a delicate appearance.
Xiao Heng’s heart melted completely. He bent down and picked the person up in his arms.
Qiao Meili let out a soft cry, then threw down the spatula in her hand and hooked her soft arms around the man’s neck.
Xiao Heng’s body trembled, and he almost couldn’t walk.