Chapter 20: Do I Need to Pick a Day to Hit You?

Before long, a man in his forties came out. He was short and lean, with a tobacco pipe clenched in his mouth.

Qiao Jianguo was a gambler known for miles around, nicknamed Qiao Pai Gow.

Lu Xiangnan had strongly opposed marrying into such a disreputable family. But the betrothal had been made in childhood, and he believed a person should keep their word. Besides, Ma Xiuyan had detested Qiao Ni and wanted her out of the house so badly that she hadn’t asked for a single cent of bride price.

Under Liu Chunhua’s threats—one moment her heart hurt, the next her head—Xiangnan had reluctantly married Qiao Ni.

They’d been married more than half a year, but he’d visited only once, on the customary return visit after the wedding. This was his second time.

“Well, a rare visitor!” Jianguo spoke with the loose, mocking manner of a street hoodlum, as if deliberately needling Xiangnan.

Then he looked at Qiao Ran. “You wretched girl, you remember to come back at last? I thought you’d forgotten the father who brought you into the world and raised you.”

On the way here, Qiao Ran had imagined the joy of seeing family and the excitement of reunion. She hadn’t imagined cold remarks and an even colder welcome.

Did this family simply favor sons over daughters?

“Dad, it’s the holiday,” Xiangnan said. “Qiao Ni and I came to visit.”

Seeing the mooncakes and liquor on the handlebars, Jianguo’s expression softened. He nodded. “All right, come in. We’ll have the women make a couple of dishes, and you and I can have a drink.”

Arm in arm, Qiao Ran and Xia Xiaoqi followed Xiangnan inside.

The layout differed from the Lu house. At the Lus’, the entrance led into the kitchen, with rooms to the east and west, a traditional north-to-south arrangement. Here the entrance also led to the kitchen, but the two rooms beyond connected as inner and outer rooms.

The furnishings were sparse: two low cabinets with peeling paint and little else. The place could only be called shabby.

The three had barely crossed the threshold when something flew toward Qiao Ran and Xiaoqi.

Qiao Ran caught it with quick hands.

It was a wooden board used to wind thread, thick and hard enough to raise a huge lump if it struck someone’s head.

“Are you all right?” Xiangnan turned to her. The man who was usually unruffled sounded almost nervous.

Qiao Ran smiled. “My hubby’s learned to care about me.”

His ears reddened. He turned away and ignored her.

On the bamboo mat covering the kang, a boy of twelve or thirteen pointed at her and cursed. “Jinx! Jinx! Who said you could come back to my house? Get out!”

A classic little brat, without a trace of manners.

He’d probably grown used to bullying the body’s original owner. Today Qiao Ran would teach him a lesson on her behalf.

She weighed the thread board in her hand. Good. Heavy enough.

Without hesitation, she threw it back. It struck the boy in the chest with a dull thud.

Perhaps stunned by the pain, he froze for several seconds before letting out an irritating howl.

Ma Xiuyan rushed from the inner room. “Xiaolong, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

“Qiao Ni hit me!” The boy was twelve or thirteen, yet he cried until snot ran down his face.

Xiaoqi wrinkled her nose in disgust. “There, there, don’t cry. You look really ugly when you do.”

Qiao Yulong cried even harder, looking uglier still.

Like a madwoman, Xiuyan lunged at Qiao Ran, shouting, “You worthless burden! You wretch! You dare hit my son? I’ll tear you apart!”

Xiangnan blocked her.

“Xiaolong went after Qiao Ni first,” he said. “Qiao Ni may not be your own daughter, but she’s called you Mom for more than ten years. Even if you’d raised a kitten or puppy, you’d feel something for it.”

Ha! So she really was a stepmother. No wonder she’d greeted them that way.

Wait. Who was he calling a kitten or puppy?

Qiao Ran wrinkled her nose at the back of Xiangnan’s head.

He was 187 centimeters tall and a little on the thin side. Though he resembled a scholar too frail to hurt anyone, he held Xiuyan so firmly that she couldn’t break free.

Furious, Xiuyan cursed. “You husband and wife are ganging up on us? Pah! And you call yourself a teacher? All that schooling went straight into a dog’s belly. You’re helping this worthless girl bully my son. I’m telling you, this isn’t over—”

Smack! The room fell silent.

Xiuyan held her cheek, a handprint rising on it, and stared at Qiao Ran as if she’d seen a ghost. “You… you dare hit me?”

“So what if I do? Do I need to pick a special day?”

She’s mad. Qiao Ni has gone mad.

The thought flashed through Xiuyan’s mind. The girl who once spoke like a buzzing mosquito, whom she could abuse at will, had dared lay hands on her.

“Qiao Jianguo, your daughter hit me! At my age, being struck by her! I don’t want to live anymore!” Xiuyan wailed.

They’d been inside only a few minutes, and already two people were crying.

Xiaoqi looked at her best friend with admiration. Amazing!

Xiuyan wasn’t the only one shocked. Jianguo had witnessed it all in disbelief.

He knew his daughter’s character: she was so meek that anyone could push her around.

Was she acting so boldly because Xiangnan was backing her? But he’d heard Qiao Ni and her husband didn’t get along.

After a couple of puffs on his pipe, Jianguo asked coldly, “Did you come back for the holiday or for revenge? You’ve stirred up such a fuss that even the chickens and dogs can’t rest—”

Before he could finish, Xiaoqi interrupted. “Uncle, who is the chicken and who is the dog?”

Jianguo choked on his words. He stared at her with eyes like spinning yo-yos for a moment before asking, “I haven’t even asked. Who are you? Who let you into my house?”

“She’s my husband’s younger brother’s wife,” Qiao Ran said. “I brought her.”

“You don’t have the final say in this house.” Trying to recover his dignity, Jianguo glared at Xiaoqi. “Get out! You’re not welcome here.”

“If I left just because you told me to, I’d lose face.”

Xiaoqi always spoke slowly, and with her harmless-looking face, she seemed sweet, soft, and easy to bully.

Truthfully, without Qiao Ran protecting her, she was quite easy to bully. But with her best friend there, she dared swagger wherever she pleased.

After all, her friend was a fighting champion and a shooting champion who could take on three opponents at once.

However angry Xiaoqi made Jianguo, she was a guest. He could only turn his fury on Qiao Ran.

“You’ve gone too far! You think marrying up means you can ignore your father? You need a beating.”

He raised his hand to slap her, but Xiangnan caught his wrist.

“Dad, let’s talk this through.”

Xiangnan didn’t look fierce, either in build or appearance. Yet when he spoke with a stern face, he somehow inspired fear. Perhaps it was a teacher’s natural gift.

Unable to break free, Jianguo withdrew his hand in annoyance. “Xiangnan, you’re an educated man. Tell me how we should settle this. Your wife hit mine. Give me a fair answer.”

To be honest, Xiangnan thought Qiao Ran had been wrong to hit someone, especially an elder.

He looked at Qiao Ran, then at Xiuyan, and said rather helplessly, “Mom, you should apologize to Qiao Ni.”