I Got Rich in Period Fiction

Chapter 23: Chapter 23: Well Water Does Not Offend River Water Chapter 23: Chapter 23: Well Water Does Not Offend River Water Two days later, Qiao Qingyu guessed that Director Xie had finished planting all the cabbages and she rode her bicycle straight to Tenghai Research and Experiment Base.

At the same time, after four days on the road, Qiao Zhiyuan and his group finally arrived at the Qiao Family Team.

Since they had with them valuable bottles and seeds, which weren’t there when they left, Qiao Zhiyuan dared not let the truck drive too fast.

Not to mention the poor road conditions and the truck breaking down twice along the way.

Thus, even though they traveled overnight, they only reached the Qiao Family Team on the morning of the fifth day.

Captain Sun was incredibly anxious, spending his time every day not busy waiting at the village entrance and looking at the Yellow Sand Road. Today was the same, his heart filled with anxiety—Qiao Zhiyuan had been gone for over a week and still hadn’t come back. Could something have happened?

But just as he was fraught with worry, far away at the end of the road, a large truck slowly approached the village.

Captain Sun immediately became extremely excited and ran all the way to greet it.

Behind him followed the villagers who had risen early…

Qiao Zhiyuan and Accountant Zhang’s return was indeed a triumphant one, so they were warmly welcomed, especially by Captain Sun, who was particularly happy because, thanks to Qiao Zhiyuan’s influence, they got the seeds without spending money.

This saved them thousands of yuan.

An old woman spotting the big bottles containing the seeds, her eyes gleaming, said, “Captain, give me one of those bottles. I’ll use it to pickle vegetables…”

Qiao Zhiyuan wasn’t angry but responded with a smiling, “Alright, one big bottle for twenty yuan.”

“Good gracious, twenty yuan? Why don’t you just rob us…”

Everyone laughed heartily, seemingly in disbelief.

Accountant Zhang seriously warned, “Stay back everyone. There’s a deposit on the bottles; if one breaks, you’ll owe twenty yuan.”

Captain Qiao might have said this to scare them, but since Accountant Zhang was the one who spoke, the people took it seriously, and indeed, they stopped crowding around the truck, though many still lingered from a distance.

It was heard that Qiao Qingyu had helped procure these corn seeds, which reportedly yielded three thousand kilograms per acre and matured in ninety days.

The old farmers who had grown crops all their lives didn’t believe it at all, scoffing at the idea. They thought it was definitely something Qiao Zhiyuan had done just to glorify his niece.

Currently, the highest-yielding corn seeds produced just over a thousand kilograms per acre and took more than a hundred days to mature.

They required meticulous care, not to mention resistance to disease, lodging, drought, and flooding.

But when they saw the full kernels of corn contained in the glass bottles, their hearts wavered.

Perhaps the packaging played a role, as the grumbling and cool remarks had noticeably lessened. However, a few women still made jokes about Qiao Qingyu—albeit indirectly. But surprisingly, the first one who lost his temper was Accountant Zhang.

He raised his voice, “All of you shut up! From now on, anyone who dares to gossip or speak ill of Qiao Qingyu behind her back had better not blame me, Old Zhang, for being rude!”

Qiao Zhiyuan was moved, it seemed like the spicy noodles and large buns hadn’t been wasted, but his niece had indeed done her part.

A few of the old crones, of course, weren’t convinced as they were the usual troublemakers. With their hands on their hips, they wanted to start cursing, but they didn’t expect Captain Sun to glare at them and say, “Get back to work now! Move away from here. Each bottle of these seeds costs hundreds of yuan. If anyone damages them and causes a loss, I will make them pay for all the damages!”

Cursing was one thing, and fighting another, but when it came to paying money—everyone was poor.

Thus, these people backed off a few more steps.

And so, under the careful handling of a group of strong laborers, the corn seeds were stored in a small warehouse at the team headquarters.

Afterward, the truck took back the things Qiao Qingyu had sent home for her family.

Uncle Qiao’s wife knew her husband had come back, but she had no intention of going out to see him. Her heart was filled with hatred; for days, she felt as if she was suffocated, unable to breathe. All the money she had painstakingly saved for over a decade, a total of eighty yuan, had been given away to that old fool for Qiao Qingyu.

Qiao Qingyu was the calamity, the root of all troubles for the Qiao family. As long as she was there, the Old Qiao family would never have peace.

She did not dare to curse her dead, yet she felt her presence was a disaster.

The next moment, she saw the main gate being pushed open. She was initially hanging clothes and then saw her husband entering the yard with packages big and small. The Old Qiao family had separated, though her father-in-law and mother-in-law still lived with them.

Naturally, Grandma Qiao came out leaning on her cane, and upon discovering that the rice cakes, dairy candies, and two sacks of fabric were all from Qiao Qingyu, the old lady immediately burst into tears.

Uncle Qiao’s wife didn’t believe it one bit. She thought it must be her husband who had spent money and then credited it to Qiao Qingyu.

But she didn’t dare say anything, only forcing a smile as she greeted him.

No one noticed her facial expression or mood; everyone was happy to have something to share.

Since the gifts were from Qiao Qingyu, Qiao Genbao’s family was surely going to claim the larger share.

Thus, Qiao Genbao carried home a heap of items, especially two bottles containing flower and dandelion seeds. He first carefully arranged the seeds before packing the rice cakes and dairy candies into paper bags. He took some of the fabric they received, stuffed it into a carry bag, and went to his father-in-law’s house to pick up his wife and children.

He figured once his parents cooled down, he needed to hurry and bring his family back, or else he wouldn’t sleep peacefully.

Then there was his worryingly young brother who, unknown to their parents, had gone to the South; they thought he was still studying.

Unexpectedly, his sister had finally become sensible.

The village was still buzzing with talk, but nobody mocked Qiao Qingyu. After all, she not only lived well herself but also helped the team obtain seeds without cost.

This proved Qiao Qingyu was capable!

And Qiao Zhiyuan had organized the work well, distributing everything clearly, then rode his bicycle to the neighboring village.

He took nothing with him except for two dairy candies in his pocket.

With so many children at home, he could only keep two; he dared not take more. Han Xianglan looked gentle but was stubborn; she wouldn’t accept anything from the He Family.

Meanwhile, in a low thatched cottage in Liuhe Village next door, the tall Qiao Zhicai occasionally looked outside, guessing it was about time for his elder brother to return.

He had no idea how the trip had gone or how his beloved Qingyubao was doing.

Just the thought that he was the one who had harshly driven his daughter out of the Qiao Family Team twisted his heart like a knife.

Torn between his wife and his daughter, and the detested He Family people, he was truly in a dilemma.

But just then, he saw his elder brother pedaling eagerly towards him, and he excitedly went out to meet him.

And inside the house, Han Xianglan laboriously propped herself up in bed.

A mother worries a thousand miles away!

Having raised a particularly beloved daughter who married not only someone far away but also into the He Family added to her concerns.

Decades had passed, and she harbored no hatred for anyone, including He Shan.

But she knew the He and Qiao families should have nothing to do with each other.

Yet now, the situation was embarrassingly complicated…