The Sweetness of the Seventies-Chapter 41 - Slightly Advantaged_1
Chapter 41: Chapter 41: Slightly Advantaged_1
Chapter 41 -41: Slightly Advantaged_1
Qi Shuli seeing that these people were not being overly aggressive, felt slightly relieved.
In this matter, he was at fault.
As long as he could muddle through today’s affair, he wouldn’t lose face.
“It’s good that you’re not angry,” Qi Shuli said with a smile, like a good-natured person.
“You haven’t eaten yet, have you?
Come to my house for a meal.”
Qi Shuli invited Niu Dajun, but as for Qi Xiaoyan and He Tiantian, being from the same village, they could go home to eat, and he didn’t need to extend his invitation to them.
Niu Dajun’s job was respectable, and now he was a city dweller; if his eldest daughter could land such a match, she’d never have to worry about food and drink for the rest of her life!
Having a son-in-law who was employed by the state would indeed give him great prestige!
“No, thanks, it’s getting late, and I should be heading back,” refused Niu Dajun, turning to leave the village office, not wanting to get too close to Qi Shuli.
After working outside for a few years, his intuition told him that Qi Shuli was full of schemes, and then there were his two daughters with dark, sallow complexions, spattered with spots, staring at him and giggling foolishly.
If they were to trap him, he’d have nowhere to cry; he definitely didn’t want to go to Qi Shuli’s house.
“Then come over for a meal another day,” Qi Shuli said, seeing Niu Dajun, He Tiantian, and Qi Xiaoyan off.
After leaving the village committee, Qi Xiaoyan spoke softly, “Brother Dajun, my father said not to leave tonight and to come to our house for dinner, my father has something to discuss with you.”
Niu Dajun looked at the sky; the road from here to the county town was all mountain trails, indeed not suitable for riding a bicycle back.
Encountering the leader’s father and having been detained by Qi Xiaoyan, if he didn’t go, he would seem ungrateful.
“Alright then, I’ll impose on you tonight,” Niu Dajun said cheerfully.
It just so happened that he had a bottle of good liquor in his bag, a welfare gift from his workplace, so he wouldn’t be arriving empty-handed.
He Tiantian had been busy all day and was a bit tired.
Moreover, now that Niu Dajun was going as a guest to Village Chief Qi’s house, she didn’t need to follow along.
Besides, she was eager to get home to check for a reply from her parents and Huo Yingjie.
“Thank you for today, Comrade Niu, I’ll make sure to repay you another day,” said He Tiantian, planning next time to send one of the preserved rabbits or pheasants home as thanks for Niu Dajun’s help.
With a connection like Niu Dajun, she wouldn’t have to worry about receiving letters that Qi Jianguo had someone else imitate the handwriting.
Qi Jianguo might be somewhat capable, but that was limited to playing his tricks in the village; in the county town, he was nobody!
“No need to be so formal, just call me Brother Dajun, like Xiao Yan,” Niu Dajun said.
The girl seemed quite pitiable, so young and having left her hometown to come here, and she was Xiao Yan’s friend.
He would take better care of her in the future.
He Tiantian certainly wouldn’t refuse an opportunity to get closer to Niu Dajun and nodded with a smile, “Then thank you, Brother Dajun.”
“Tiantian, come to my house for dinner too,” said Qi Xiaoyan, now that there were just the three of them, and it felt somewhat inappropriate not to invite He Tiantian.
“I won’t go,” He Tiantian waved her hand, “I haven’t been home all day, and I don’t know how Grandma Qi is doing, plus I just got a letter and can’t wait to read it.
You know how much I miss home.”
Hearing He Tiantian say this, Qi Xiaoyan didn’t press any further.
If she were in He Tiantian’s shoes, she too would be eager to get home and read her letters.
“Alright then, I’ll come see you tomorrow,” Qi Xiaoyan said, “Don’t worry, now that Brother Dajun is helping, you’ll get your letters handed to you in person from now on.”
“Mm-hmm,” He Tiantian nodded, this was indeed her biggest gain today.
Qi Xiaoyan took Niu Dajun home, while He Tiantian turned the corner and headed back to Third Grandma Qi’s house.
Upon seeing He Tiantian return, Third Grandma Qi’s face lit up with a smile and said, “You’re back finally, it’s already dark outside, don’t stay out so late in the future.
It’s not good for a girl to be outside when it’s too late, unlike boys.”
He Tiantian had received the letter today and handed it to Niu Dajun.
She was overjoyed and said crisply, “Grandma Qi, I’ll remember that—come home when it gets dark and not loiter outside.
By the way, Grandma Qi, have you eaten dinner yet?
If not, I’ll go and make something right now.”
“I’ve already eaten.
I left you two vegetable pancakes and a bowl of rice porridge in the pot, still warm.
Hurry up and eat,” Third Grandma Qi said with a laugh.
She hadn’t seen this girl during the day and had actually missed her quite a bit, worried that something might have happened to her outside.
Having lived together for nearly a month, Third Grandma Qi grew increasingly fond of He Tiantian.
Although it wasn’t the same as having her own granddaughter, she had developed genuine affection for her.
He Tiantian served herself the rice porridge and ate the cornmeal vegetable pancakes.
Her rumbling stomach finally quieted down.
After cleaning up the bowls and chopsticks, He Tiantian went back to her room to read the letters.
Seeing the pasty traces on the envelope, He Tiantian felt disgusted inside.
These letters had indeed been opened and read by someone else.
Considering she had no direct relationship with Qi Shuli, the person who read her letters must be Qi Jianguo.
Just as she heard in the voice recorder, Qi Jianguo had been interested in pursuing her from the first time he saw her.
But his methods were despicable and disgusting, having deceived He Tiantian for a lifetime. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
She definitely had to avenge this wrong.
However, successfully getting the letters back this time was a small victory!
He Tiantian took out scissors, cut open the envelope, and directly snipped off the part with the pasty seal.
These were precious items to He Tiantian; she didn’t want them tainted with anything associated with Qi Jianguo.
He Tiantian opened Huo Yingjie’s letter first, not because he was more important than her parents, but because she was worried whether the two letters had been switched by Qi Jianguo.
She had an agreement with Huo Yingjie, but forgot to set one up with her parents.
He Tiantian carefully checked the letters against the agreement.
The last character of the first paragraph was “天” (sky), the last character of the second paragraph was “甜” (sweet), and the last character of the third paragraph was “喝” (drink).
Put together, they formed “天甜喝”, and by changing the order and tones, it read “He Tiantian”.
Upon seeing this, He Tiantian smiled.
This was indeed a letter from Huo Yingjie.
In the letter, Huo Yingjie said that her parents’ situation had been settled down; they were only suspended for investigation, not taken out for public criticism.
The Huo Family was currently trying to transfer her parents to a calmer place, and she shouldn’t worry.
The letter also mentioned that he would be going to the Weapons Research Institute the day after mailing the letter and would write to He Tiantian once more with his new address when he settled at work.
In conclusion, he asked He Tiantian to take good care of herself and keep well, and he would send her money once he started receiving a salary.
The reply from her parents was cryptic, but He Tiantian understood the meaning behind their words.
Luckily, she had burned those letters before; the people who came to search her home hadn’t found anything.
Coupled with the deep self-criticisms her parents wrote, the inspection team was satisfied.
Although they couldn’t work, at least they weren’t suffering.
The letter also said that most of He Tiantian’s belongings had been mailed to her, and for those items she didn’t need, she could give them away as favors to others.
All those items were indeed what she needed now.
Many of the clothes were unnecessary but very clean and could be given away.
However, in the countryside, giving gifts also required great care.
One misstep could lead to resentment, so she needed to be cautious.
