From Runaway Bride to Global Queen

Chapter 58: Chapter 58: No Family Members Allowed

The fireworks festival in Capital City is famous across the nearby provinces.

At the end of May or the beginning of June each year, there is a grand fireworks festival held in Capital City.

The fireworks festival, also known as the Firework Exhibition, is an event where fireworks manufacturers from all over the world bring their innovative products to showcase and sell.

Over the years, each fireworks festival has featured particularly outstanding fireworks, such as last year’s “Starry Sky” and the previous year’s “Magpie Bridge,” both of which were very creative designs.

Qiao Yi was learning how to make fireworks, but she couldn’t handle these tiny granules at all. She couldn’t create many varieties and only knew how to make the simplest kind.

“Just look at what you’ve made, my little grandson lost interest in such things when he was three years old!”

Several people were sitting in the courtyard, with Qiao Yi having a pile of small paper tubes at her feet, filling them with materials in the correct proportions to make the simplest of firecrackers.

Lu Yanchuan, who was sitting next to Qiao Yi, had several paper tubes at his feet that were many times larger. As soon as Lu Yanchuan sealed his tube, an old man with a white beard snatched it away to examine closely.

“Just look at Yanchuan, he learned in just one morning and already does it better than you have in years!”

The old man with the white beard humphed through his nose, bluntly claiming Lu Yanchuan’s freshly made firework for himself.

Qiao Yi wrinkled her nose; she didn’t understand why she couldn’t manage this pile of sulfur and saltpeter.

“Grandpa Ding, you can’t just favor the new and get bored with the old! Initially, you said I was exceptionally talented and that I could inherit your mantle!”

Qiao Yi, unsatisfied, threw away the materials in her hand and piled all the small paper tubes at Lu Yanchuan’s feet before running over to act coquettishly with the white-bearded old man.

The white-bearded old man laughed heartily as he pulled Qiao Yi towards the house.

Ding Xingluo, the chairman of the Fireworks Association and a national inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of fireworks.

Qiao Yi skipped class in middle school to watch the fireworks festival, where she got lost and happened to meet Ding Xingluo, who was making firecrackers. After chatting with the old man, they found they got along well, and the old and young acquaintances were made.

Every year during the fireworks festival, Qiao Yi would come to keep Grandpa Ding’s company. Initially, Grandpa Ding was astounded by her ability to learn how to make the simplest firecracker in less than half an hour.

However, Grandpa Ding never expected that after more than a decade, Qiao Yi still only knew how to make that one type of firecracker, which disappointed him for quite some time.

Feng Siyu and Han Lewen were making fireworks in the courtyard. According to Grandpa Ding, anyone would be more intelligent than Qiao Yi.

They both successfully made firecrackers, which earned them Grandpa Ding’s praise, causing Qiao Yi to roll her eyes even more.

Qiao Yi originally did not plan to bring Lu Yanchuan along with her, but upon hearing that she was going to meet Ding Xingluo, he insisted on joining her.

Who knew that Grandpa Ding and Old Mr. Lu were old friends and were familiar with Lu Yanchuan, and Grandpa Ding took the opportunity to scold Qiao Yi again using the topic of Lu Yanchuan making fireworks.

Soon, only Lu Yanchuan and Qiao Xin remained in the courtyard, with Lu Yanchuan taking over the materials that Qiao Yi was working on, which caused them to waste more time.

Qiao Xin had adamantly insisted on coming along; in front of Qiao Benqing and Zhao Wenjing, Qiao Yi didn’t want to fall out with Qiao Xin so quickly, so she had to bring her along.

As she watched everyone else finish their work, Qiao Xin noticed that Lu Yanchuan was focused on the task at hand and not paying her any attention. After looking around, she quietly packed all the leftover materials into her bag.

When Qiao Xin finished sealing her own firework, she took it and sat down next to Lu Yanchuan with a plop.

“Yan…”

Before Qiao Xin could finish calling his name, Lu Yanchuan stood up and walked into the house with a tray.

“Lu Yanchuan! You stop right there!”

Qiao Xin threw the firecracker she held and ran over to grab Lu Yanchuan’s arm to stop him from walking away.

Lu Yanchuan raised his hand to shake off Qiao Xin, then stepped back a few paces, distancing himself from her.

Qiao Xin stumbled a few times from being pushed away, then turned back to look at Lu Yanchuan with a mix of grievance and disbelief.

“You, how could you treat me like this!”

Lu Yanchuan didn’t want to bother with this woman whose mind seemed troubled, and he walked around her to continue heading inside the house.

Watching Lu Yanchuan’s retreating figure, Qiao Xin’s face reddened as if she had been slapped in the face.

These past few days at the Qiao Family, no matter how hard she tried, Lu Yanchuan seemed completely blind to her presence, his heart only filled with that bitch Qiao Yi!

She even stripped naked and lay in Lu Yanchuan’s blankets, only for him to go call Qiao Yi over after seeing her!

Is Qiao Yi really that great! What does she have that I don’t!

“Bleh—”

Qiao Xin suddenly felt a wave of nausea, clutched her chest, and rushed to a large tree nearby, where she held onto the trunk and retched.

Qiao Yi accompanied Old Mr. Ding to inspect the venue for the evening’s fireworks display.

More than a decade ago, Grandpa Ding was still able to personally host the fireworks display, but now as the Chairman, he was merely a figurehead, the infirmities of old age taking their toll.

Along the way, many of Grandpa Ding’s students and disciples greeted him, and upon arriving at the main venue, Qiao Yi’s gaze was immediately captivated by the huge firework cannon in the center.

“Girl, we’re short of someone to light the fireworks tonight, want to give it a try?”

Ding Xingluo saw that Qiao Yi seemed quite interested and said with a chuckle while stroking his whiskers.

Qiao Yi’s eyes lit up. Since getting to know Grandpa Ding, she had been the one to light the big axel fireworks every year. She hadn’t done it for the past two years, and she really missed that feeling!

“Can I? Xiaoding won’t come over to fight me for it again, right?”

Qiao Yi was already eager to try, wishing she could immediately set off that gigantic firework as tall as herself.

After walking around the venue, Qiao Yi realized that someone seemed to be missing.

“Where’s Qiao Xin? Didn’t she follow?”

Qiao Yi looked left and right, indeed there was no sign of Qiao Xin. Knowing that she came chasing after Lu Yanchuan, where on earth had she run off to in such a short time?

After failing to find her despite a thorough search, and calls going unanswered, Qiao Yi simply stopped looking. After all, Qiao Xin was a grown person and was unlikely to get lost.

Several people accompanied Old Mr. Ding back to the Ding Family home, where Grandpa Ding went to take an afternoon nap. Feng Siyu and Han Lewen dragged Qiao Yi into a corner to torment her.

“We agreed not to bring family members, how come you brought one! Believe it or not, I’ll use your family member as a firework!”

Feng Siyu pinched Qiao Yi’s arm hard, thinking about how Gu Ting looked so reluctant when Qiao Yi left the house, now she really wanted Qiao Yi to taste that feeling!

Han Lewen didn’t have a family member, but she wasn’t keen on being the third wheel, so she pinched the other arm of Qiao Yi, relentless until she could get a clear explanation for their sake.

“Let go, let go! I’m dying here!”

Yiyi screamed and flung off the two mischief-makers, then roared and charged at them, beginning her own revenge.