The Female Cannon Fodder With Boundless Merits
Chapter 317 - 321: The Altered Life (3)

Chapter 317: Chapter 321: The Altered Life (3)

Qiao Xiaohong, frustrated after running back to her parents’ home, dragged a small stool over to sit right at the front door of the house, occasionally craning her neck to look outside.

As darkness fell, she still hadn’t seen a glimpse of Su Mo’s figure. Her pride wouldn’t let her return on her own.

Inside the house, Mrs. Qiao had already called everyone over for dinner, and Qiao Xiaohong, huffing with anger, also started to make her way there.

Qiao Xiaohong picked up an empty bowl, but before she could fill it with rice, Mrs. Qiao stopped her with a ladle.

With narrowed, displeased eyes, she looked at her eldest daughter, "Why have you run back here again? We didn’t prepare your dinner."

Qiao Xiaohong glanced into the pot—a big pot of vegetable porridge, not too thick, but surely it wouldn’t hurt to have one more mouth.

"Mom, when Su Mo comes to pick me up, I’ll let him give you several cents for my meal expenses. That should be alright, right?"

With an unhappy face, Qiao Xiaohong breached her mother’s blockade, scooped a ladle of porridge from the pot, poured off the liquid on top, and kept the grains at the bottom in her spoon.

She repeated the process several times until her bowl was full.

Mrs. Qiao, seeing a chance to gain a little something from her son-in-law, didn’t make a fuss about it.

Seeing Qiao Xiaohong’s actions, she said nothing.

It’s just some porridge, after all. Several cents could buy a small piece of meat; it was a good deal.

Qiao Xiaohong slurped her way through half of the porridge, then handed the rest in the bowl to Qiao Xiaoxiao beside her.

"Xiaoxiao, share this with Xiao San and Xiao Si."

"You eat it, sis. We’ve got our own."

"What you guys have can hardly be called porridge—it’s just water... Listen to me, eat it. I’m going home with your brother-in-law later, the house won’t be short of my share of food."

Qiao Xiaoxiao stirred the soup in her bowl, which had just a few grains of rice, and seeing the eager looks from Xiao San and Xiao Si, thought about how much better off the Su family was and how her sister wouldn’t be left hungry there.

Without arguing, she took the bowl.

After dinner, Qiao Xiaohong pulled Qiao Xiaoxiao into a room and started complaining non-stop.

"Tell me, why should Su Li, a girl, be treated better than everyone else, being pampered like a precious pearl?"

"We’re all girls, yet you, Xiao San, and Xiao Si are barely getting enough to eat, and she gets to eat good food every day, even watermelon today..."

"Watermelon, you know, that’s an expensive treat. She’s clueless, too. The older ones work all day and don’t eat as much as she does. Can you blame me for being angry?"

"I really don’t know what everyone else in the family is thinking, raising her so delicately and fair, practically raising her for someone else’s family..."

Qiao Xiaoxiao quietly listened to her sister’s complaints for quite a while before asking in confusion, "Has she never refused?"

"Just like in our house, the good stuff always goes to Xiao Wu first because eventually, the household will have to rely on the boys."

Qiao Xiaohong: "Exactly. Uncle’s family has no sons, just Su Li, a girl, so in the end, they’ll have to rely on several nephews. But he just dotes on his little girl... Su Mo is a fool too. He gets unhappy when I tell him about it, saying he likes to spoil his sister."

A flicker of envy crossed Qiao Xiaoxiao’s eyes, and she moved her lips, not sure what to say.

Qiao Xiaohong talked on and on, then suddenly remembered something, stretched her neck to look outside, and asked quietly, lowering her voice, "The other day, you went with Su Li to the college entrance exam. How do you feel you did? Can you outdo Su Li?"

Qiao Xiaoxiao thought for a moment, nodded vigorously, then shook her head, leaving her sister confused.

Qiao Xiaohong pressed her eagerly, "So can you outdo her or not?"

Qiao Xiaoxiao hung her head low, "Before the exam, Su Li helped me highlight the key points. I think I did well...but not as well as Su Li, probably. She spent more time reviewing than me."

Upon hearing the first part, Qiao Xiaohong’s face lit up with joy, but before her smile could fully bloom, it faded away as she heard the rest.

Seeing this, Qiao Xiaohong quickly offered a word of comfort, "Sis, you shouldn’t always be like this, brother-in-law will be unhappy."

To be honest, Qiao Xiaohong couldn’t lie to herself and say Su Li wasn’t good.

She was able to learn to read and write, deceive her parents, and attend the college entrance exam, all thanks to Su Li.

It was just that the contrast was too striking, and she did feel a deep-seated jealousy towards Su Li.

But her jealousy was buried deep inside, unknown to anyone, unlike her sister who couldn’t help but show it.

As the two sisters whispered in their room, Mrs. Qiao outside the door slammed it with a thunderous bang.

"Come out, all of you, what are you hiding in your room for? As lazy as dead donkeys, you don’t even know to do some work after a meal, what’s the use of raising you?"

Qiao Xiaoxiao hurriedly took the rag from Mrs. Qiao’s hand, "Mom, I’ll wipe the table, you rest."

Mrs. Qiao caught her breath heavily and looked at Qiao Xiaohong with suspicion, "Why hasn’t your son-in-law come over yet, you didn’t cause some big trouble at the Su Family, did you?"

"No, what trouble could I cause?"

A mother knows her daughter best. Seeing her eldest daughter’s guilty demeanor, Mrs. Qiao shouted, "Why else hasn’t your son-in-law come yet? You didn’t argue with him, did you?"

She was already counting on the money from him, planning to buy some local chicken eggs tomorrow to nourish Xiao Wu.

Boys need to eat well, especially when they’re growing.

Qiao Xiaohong was also becoming anxious inside. Looking outside, it had grown completely dark, and time was getting late. Why hadn’t Su Mo come yet?

Previously, whenever she got angry, her man would follow right behind.

Although she wouldn’t say it out loud, she actually felt satisfied.

It proved that she was valued by her man, and even though Su Li had a part in this, Qiao Xiaohong would never admit it.

The look on Mrs. Qiao’s face grew increasingly unpleasant, and Qiao Xiaohong, despite her anxiety, was powerless.

She glanced at the door many times, but no one appeared.

Could it be that Su Mo was really angry?

And Su Li, why didn’t she try to mediate? Could she really stand by indifferently seeing her brother and sister-in-law upset because of her?

Mrs. Qiao couldn’t keep face any longer, having anticipated that the money would slip through her fingers, and with hands on her hips, she burst out in a tirade.

"Qiao Xiaohong, you think you’re something, huh? Don’t think that just because you’re married off, I can’t control you anymore. Get to work right now."

"Once you’re done with the work, just scram. We don’t keep freeloaders in this house."

"You’re the eldest sister but instead of helping your brothers at home, you dream of draining us dry. If I knew earlier...."

If I knew, if I knew, Qiao Xiaohong could guess exactly what her mother was about to say next.

Unable to bear it, she retorted, "This month, you’ve taken quite a bit of money from me, just for eating a bit..."

Before Qiao Xiaohong could finish her sentence, Mrs. Qiao turned around, grabbed the broom from the corner, and started swinging it at Qiao Xiaohong, "How dare you talk back... I’ll teach you to talk back...."