157 Speculation

By the time Qiao Mei reached home, it was already dusk. Qiao Qiang was waiting anxiously at home and kept going to the entrance of the courtyard to look around. Logically speaking, if they had gone to the county city in the morning, they should be back by noon. He wondered why there was still no sign of them.

"Why hasn't Mei Mei returned after so long, sigh, seriously." Qiao Qiang paced around the courtyard anxiously.

The children watched Qiao Qiang but they did not know what was going on. The young Zhang Miao asked, "Grandpa, why do you keep going round in circles?"

Qiao Qiang smiled and said, "I'm not going round in circles. I'm just anxious. Your elder sister Mei Mei isn't back yet."

"Grandfather, don't worry. My mother also went with elder sister Qiao Mei so everything should be fine," Zhang Wei said.

Ever since Zhang Wei came to the village, his temper and personality had changed a lot. At first, he only knew how to say bad things about Li Gui, complained about others and he did not take care of his siblings. Now, he would help others in the village and even took good care of his siblings like the big brother he was.

Not long after, Li Gui returned with Qiao Mei on the bicycle.

"Grandfather! I'm back!" Qiao Mei shouted happily into the courtyard.

Qiao Qiang finally felt relieved. He smiled at Qiao Mei and said, "Come and eat. The food's ready and I'm just waiting for you to come back for dinner."

Zhang Wei secretly ran to Qiao Mei's side and whispered, "Elder sister Qiao Mei, you don't know this, but grandpa was so anxious to see that you were not back and he walked around the courtyard for the entire afternoon."

Qiao Mei smiled. She knew that her grandfather doted on her the most. If it were not for Old Madam Zhang and the others causing trouble and taking up so much of their time, they would not have returned only now, making her grandfather wait for them to come back and eat.

The whole family finished their meal happily. Qiao Mei sat in the courtyard and started to think about the extent of Qiao Yu's involvement in the matter today. She stared out the door steadfastly and did not even notice Qiao Qiang appearing behind her.

"What are you thinking about?" Qiao Qiang took a small stool and sat beside Qiao Mei.

Qiao Mei told Qiao Qiang everything that had happened today in detail. She also told him about how Qiao Yu had been freeloading at Li Gui's house for two days. When Qiao Mei finished, she lowered her head and pondered for a long while.

"Grandfather, do you think Qiao Yu was involved in what happened today?" Qiao Mei asked.

"I think we should pretend that nothing happened, but we have to be on guard," Qiao Qiang said as he looked at Qiao Mei.

Qiao Mei looked at Qiao Qiang, not understanding what he meant. Qiao Qiang continued, "You don't have enough evidence to say that Qiao Yu told the Zhang family all these things, so you can't accuse her wrongly. We have to be careful and not just take what they say at face value. But we still have to guard against Qiao Yu. She doesn't have much ability, but it will still be troublesome if she creates any problems."

"Grandfather is right. I'm leaving in two days. What if Qiao Yu comes to find trouble with you." Qiao Mei looked at Qiao Qiang worriedly.

"Hahahahaha, I'm afraid that Mei Mei has forgotten that grandpa used to be a soldier. Grandpa is old, but he can still deal with a little girl. Besides, she won't dare to find trouble with me," Qiao Qiang said.

"Yes, that's right. Grandfather is so capable, she definitely won't dare to come here." Qiao Mei felt assured that Qiao Qiang was safe at home. She was more worried about Li Gui. Not only was Qiao Yu looking for trouble there, but the Zhang and Li families might also go there to ask for money.

Qiao Mei told Qiao Qiang in the evening that she was going out for a walk after dinner when in fact, she was going to the brigade to look for Zhao Liang.

"Uncle Zhao! Is Uncle Zhao here!" Qiao Mei asked.

"Aye! Who is it!" Zhao Liang shouted from inside the house.

"It's me, Uncle Zhao. It's Qiao Mei. I'm here regarding something." Qiao Mei entered and saw Zhao Liang dealing with the village matters.

The brigade was basically in charge of everything and the team leader had to be aware of all the matters in the village. The team leader also had to mediate any disputes that happened in the village. Basically, as long as it was not an issue of life and death, the villagers could consult the team leader about anything.

"Qiao Mei, what's wrong? Did something happen in your family?" Zhao Liang asked.

"Uncle, I'm leaving next week to go to the capital to look for my husband. Please take care of my grandfather during this period." Qiao Mei had brought along two watermelons from her house for Zhao Liang.