——Qiao Village——
“Aiyo! All these big and small packages—another parcel for Old Village Chief Qiao’s family, right?”
“From the Capital again! Looks like it’s from the Qiao family’s Shu girl!”
“That Qiao Shu girl is really filial! It’s only been how long since she got married, and she’s already sent so many things back home!”
“You bet! I remember it hasn’t even been a month since the last parcel. Now she’s sending more stuff home.”
“I recall the last parcel was already huge, but this one’s even bigger. Who knows what good stuff is inside this time!”
……
Old Master Qiao heard from the villagers that the postman had brought another large parcel to their village, so he knew it must be from his little granddaughter.
Though he still felt a bit hesitant in his heart—less than a month since the last parcel, so why another one so soon?
But he also understood that in the village, the only one capable of sending such a huge parcel was his little granddaughter—no one else had that ability!
Sure enough, when he arrived at the postman’s spot, he heard the postman calling his third daughter-in-law’s name.
Of course, he also heard the other villagers sighing over how filial and sensible their family’s Qiao Shu was, and how she’d married into a top-notch family.
Especially when the onlookers saw him arrive, they crowded around him, praising his good fortune in having such a filial granddaughter like Qiao Shu.
Though the villagers envied and praised him like this, Old Master Qiao stayed clear-headed. Even with all the village folks hyping him up, he couldn’t open the parcel in front of them just to show off!
After all, wealth should not be revealed!
This mindset proved entirely right after the Qiao family carried the parcel home, closed all the doors and windows tight, and opened the parcel Qiao Shu had sent from the Capital!!!
Looking at the beautifully packaged fine cigarettes and liquor, the high-end medicinal ingredients like Ginseng Deer Antler, the large gold bangles and gold necklaces—it shocked the Qiao family members so much they couldn’t recover for a long time.
The previous parcel had at least been some Capital specialties, clothes, daily necessities, and the like—relatively ‘cheap and common’ items, all in all.
But this time! These things were way too precious!!!
“Oh my goodness, did Shushu empty out the Feng family’s entire fortune and bring it to our home?”
Eldest daughter-in-law Xu Cui’s eyes gleamed as she stared at the parcel’s contents, especially coveting those shiny large gold bangles and gold chains.
She looked like she wanted to slip the gold bangles, gold chains, and gold rings right onto her own hands.
Seeing these fine things that should have originally been hers, Xu Cui’s heart ached. This marriage with the Feng family was supposed to be for their family’s little Hui!
“Isn’t that right! Qiao Shu seems so proud, but she actually does things like using her husband’s family’s stuff to subsidize her own family…”
Second daughter-in-law Xu Laidi looked at the parcel of treasures with full envy in her eyes. She secretly resented the Qiao elders’ bias—the Feng family was such a great match, yet they hadn’t thought of her daughter.
Instead, they’d married off the youngest Qiao Shu, whose age matched the least with that Feng son.
So as she spoke, she took a passive-aggressive jab, alluding to how her mother-in-law often scolded her for sneaking family stuff to subsidize her own family.
The two elders of the Qiao family had no time to deal with their daughters-in-law’s little schemes!
After all, this parcel of treasures was just too precious!
For the moment, their attention was fixed on these valuables, all of them worrying in their hearts: if the Feng family members found out their little granddaughter had sent so many precious things, would they take it out on her?
Qiao Chang and He Meijun’s thoughts were also on their precious daughter, so they ignored the others’ sour remarks.
Looking at this parcel of valuables, they grew even more worried about their treasured daughter. Both wished they could sprout wings and fly to her side right away.
Soon, sharp-eyed He Meijun spotted what looked like a letter tucked among the pile of valuables.
“It looks like a letter!”
He Meijun quickly pulled the letter out from the heap.
Seeing that the handwriting on the envelope wasn’t her precious daughter’s, she felt a bit disappointed at first. But soon, upon spotting the signature on the envelope, her eyes lit up, and she perked up instantly.
“It’s from Feng Xiao! That Feng family boy sent a letter!”
He Meijun said with some excitement in her voice.
The moment they heard Feng Xiao’s name, the whole Qiao family perked up with interest.
After all, Feng Xiao was the regiment commander Qiao Shu had married!
“Third daughter-in-law, read it quick—what does the letter say?”
If Old Master Qiao and Old Lady Qiao could read, they would have snatched the letter from He Meijun’s hands to read it themselves first.
Under the Qiao family’s urging, He Meijun read the letter aloud.
Once the letter was read, the wives from the other branches grew even more envious and jealous of Qiao Shu for marrying into the Feng family with such a great match.
But the Qiao family relaxed their worries about Qiao Shu because of the letter.
“So these things were personally bought by that Feng Xiao kid, not something our Shu girl wanted to send. He’s really thoughtful.”
“No wonder—Shushu’s last parcel home was less than a month ago, so how could another one come so soon? Turns out it was our son-in-law who sent it.”
“Feng Xiao’s a good kid! So considerate and thoughtful. Our Shushu really married a good husband!”
……
Seeing the Qiao family all praising Feng Xiao, He Meijun—as Qiao Shu’s mother—said nothing.
She just gripped the letter from Feng Xiao even tighter.
Because Feng Xiao had thoughtfully explained the ownership of these items in the letter and fairly allocated shares for everyone.
So the Qiao family didn’t need to squabble over who got what.
In the end, after everyone in the Qiao family divided up the parcel of precious gifts according to the letter’s instructions, they all returned to their rooms satisfied.
Of course, though the wives from the eldest and second branches coveted the largest share going to He Meijun and her husband.
They also understood that since it was a gift from their son-in-law, the third branch naturally took the biggest portion.
Bang!
Qiao Chang happily hugged a pile of gifts bought by his son-in-law as he returned home, only to find his wife seemed off in mood.
“Wife, what’s wrong? Why do you look unhappy?”
“Hmph! What kind of son-in-law is he? That kid and our daughter aren’t even married yet! No marriage certificate!”
He Meijun snorted coldly and spread out the letter in her hand.
“That Feng family boy says our Shu Shu hasn’t reached legal age yet—still a year away from getting the certificate—so they haven’t registered the marriage.”
Earlier in front of the Qiao family, He Meijun hadn’t wanted her sisters-in-law to see her as a joke, so she hadn’t read that part aloud.
She’d only read the suitable bits.
Of course, she also skipped Feng Xiao’s ‘sweet nothings’ promising to treat them as parents and to love and cherish their Shu Shu.
“Hmph! That kid calls us Mom and Dad in the letter, vows to treat our Shu Shu well and cherish her, but they can’t go to the civil affairs bureau for a certificate—fine, but couldn’t they at least hold a wedding banquet there? The letter doesn’t mention it, so they definitely didn’t!”
By this point, He Meijun’s eyes reddened with anger. She felt her little daughter had been wronged—traveling so far to marry into the Feng family, only for them not to register the marriage or even hold a proper banquet. What was her little girl doing, living there all vague and unclear like that?
Qiao Chang realized the reason upon hearing this. Though he felt a bit angry at first, he thought it over and saw it as a good thing.
“Wife, I think not registering or holding a banquet is actually pretty good! Think about it—if they split up later, our daughter would still be on her first marriage! Remarrying, she’d still be an unmarried maiden! How great!”
Hearing her husband say this, He Meijun suddenly had a realization and saw the bright side!
“Husband, you’re right! No certificate, no banquet—great! Our daughter is still an unmarried maiden! Later, when we make money with Boss Ji, we’ll find her a better match and give her the grandest wedding!”
“Heh, yes, yes—just like Boss Ji said, our Shushu is so great. Marrying a thirty-year-old man and becoming a stepmother—how wronged! We can’t let that Feng family kid buy us off with some sugar-coated bullets!”
“Mm! These things—once we make money later, we can buy as many as we want!”
……
Poor Feng Xiao had no idea that his efforts to curry favor with his father- and mother-in-law had backfired spectacularly. No matter how many gifts he sent, his flaw of being thirty with two kids couldn’t salvage his impression with Qiao’s parents. And because of a rival he didn’t know about whispering in their ears, he faced even more disdain from them…
While Qiao’s parents were plotting to find a better match for their little daughter.
Things livened up in the Qiao eldest branch too because of Feng Xiao.
“What did you say?! Feng Xiao personally picked gifts for everyone in our family and politely wrote us a letter?!”
Qiao Hui, who had just returned home, stared at the items her mother proudly showed off and learned they were from Feng Xiao—her whole self fell apart!
Impossible! This had to be fake! After all, this was something that never happened in her previous life! Forget Feng Xiao sending gifts to the Qiao family—last life, he hadn’t even sent her any!
But what made Qiao Hui even more broken was still to come! Because… Qiao Shu’s letter was about to arrive too—that Courtyard House worth a full sixty thousand yuan, right next to the Forbidden City—enough to make her eyes red with jealousy and rage!