A woman in her thirties was peeking in furtively outside Zhao Qinglan's house.
"Sister-in-law, how do we send this letter?"
Wu Mei saw the envelope in Zhao Qinglan's hand and said clearly: "There is a mailbox in the grocery store. You may not have noticed it last time."
"Yes, I really don't remember."
"I'm just going to buy something, let's go together."
"Okay, then I'll go back and bring a basket to see what I can buy."
As soon as Zhao Qinglan came out of Sun's house, she saw a strange woman looking outside her house.
"Who are you looking for?" she asked as she walked past.
The woman was startled when she saw her, and said quickly: "I'm not looking for anyone, I'm just passing by to take a look." After that, she turned around and trotted away.
Looking at her retreating back, Zhao Qinglan frowned.
No matter how I look at this woman, I feel strange.
After thinking for a while, she couldn't figure out the reason, so she shook her head and went into the house to get her things.
When she came out again, Wu Mei also asked.
"I just heard you talking to someone, what happened?"
"There was just a woman standing outside my house looking in. I asked her who she was looking for and she said she was just passing by."
Wu Mei was surprised when she heard this. "Passing by?"
"Sister-in-law, people from outside our family area can't easily come in, right?"
"Of course. Although we are just a family area and not a military camp, not just anyone can come in. Only people who live here can come and go freely."
Zhao Qinglan thought about it, otherwise what would the sentry guarding the gate be used for?
If you look at it this way, that woman also lives in the family area?
Maybe next time she sees her again, she can ask Sister-in-law Wu Mei to see who that woman is.
When the weather gets cold, fewer people are willing to come out, including children, who always run around outside to play.
They arrived at the grocery store without meeting anyone along the way.
After buying some things, Zhao Qinglan also put the letter into the mailbox.
Once the letter was sent, she could rest assured and wait for a reply.
She also thoughtfully included stamps and a pound of national food stamps in the envelope.
Even though she and Xiaofang from the village were friends before, they had not kept in touch for several years, and they had to rely on others to do household chores, so it would be best to give them something.
This person was short-handed, so Xiaofang took her food stamps, so she could probably spend more time.
It's not that Zhao Qinglan has never thought of writing a letter home directly, but after she wrote the letter back, it was still unclear whether the letter would reach her sister's hands as soon as possible.
If other members of the Zhao family saw it first, they would have alerted the enemy.
On the way, Wu Mei also asked Zhao Qinglan where he wanted to send the letter, but Zhao Qinglan only said his hometown.
Wu Mei also said that she did the right thing. She was married so far away, so she couldn't tell her family that she was safe. If she was in a hurry, she could go to her house and call her.
Li Huai didn't mention it much about the bad relationship between Zhao Qinglan and her natal family, so Wu Mei didn't know about it either.
Zhao Qinglan had no intention of explaining this kind of private matter for a while.
What to do next, let’s wait until she sees Xiaofang’s reply.
The atmosphere at home, where Zhao Qinglan is concerned about, has not been good these days.
She took her children and flew away with Li Huaiyuan, and several members of the Zhao family had no choice but to return without success.
Not bringing anything back, the old lady was naturally unhappy, and the first person to bear the brunt was Boss Zhao.
Mr. Zhao didn't dare to reply when his mother scolded him, so when he returned home, he took out all the anger on his wife and children.
Especially his wife, who was complained that she only gave birth to a few girls, made him unable to hold his head high in his own family and even in the whole village.
Zhao Qinglan's mother, besides crying, she didn't say a word in rebuttal.
As for Zhao Qinglan's two younger sisters, they have become accustomed to it over the years. Although they feel aggrieved for themselves and their mother, they dare not resist their biological father.
I originally thought I could get a lot of benefits from my eldest granddaughter, but in the end I got nothing.
Mrs. Zhao, Mrs. Zou, was also very angry. She cursed Zhao Qinglan countless times overtly and secretly.
He also said that Zhao Qinglan, her sister, and the two remaining losers should be married off as soon as possible in order to save some losses for the family.
Yes, this is a huge loss in Zou's opinion.
Zhao Qinglan's two younger sisters were also frightened after hearing what their grandmother said, and hurriedly asked their mother for help while Boss Zhao was away.
It's a pity that they don't get any hope. If their mother, Mrs. Sun, could have made the decision for them, she would not have seen the most capable eldest daughter marry Wang Dahai, a widower, and become a stepmother.
With no hope of help, Zhao Qinglan's younger sister Zhao Qingju said desperately: "Second sister, what should we do?"
Zhao Qingzhu was not desperate, looking at the roof with dull eyes.
"Little sister, tell me, why doesn't the eldest sister take us with her?"
I found out that Zhao Qinglan had remarried a young officer and left for another country.
Zhao Qingzhu and her sister were unspeakably envious.
But when it comes to resentment, we can't even talk about it.
They are both the underappreciated daughter and granddaughter of the Zhao family. They know how hard life is in this family.
Speaking of which, the eldest sister is still the best person in the family to them, even better than their mother.
Before the eldest sister got married, she was the first to suffer the scolding and suffering.
It's just that they are used to being cowardly and have never done anything to help the eldest sister.
…
In the Wang family, Mrs. Wang failed to instigate mischief, and she was still uncomfortable.
In the past few days, she had been burning in her heart because of her son's divorce, and this collapse was getting more and more serious.
If Mrs. Wang fell down while Zhao Qinglan was still there, she would have been busy attending to her.
But now, Zhao Qinglan is gone.
Wang Dazhi has to go to work, and Wang Xiaofei and his sister have to go to school, so the job of serving others can only fall on Old Wang.
Ever since Zhao Qinglan entered the Wang family, everyone in the Wang family has become a hands-off shopkeeper.
There is nothing easy about serving people. In just two days, Old Man Wang lost weight due to fatigue.
The rest of the Wang family was not happy either.
Before, there was Mrs. Wang in the family who did the cooking and laundry. Now that Mrs. Wang has collapsed, there is no one left to help her.
Do you expect Wang Dazhi to do laundry and cook?
Doing laundry is out of the question.
I almost burned down the house while cooking.
In the past, when Wang Dazhi was the workshop director, he and his family would just eat together in a state-owned restaurant for a few days.
However, the family's savings were taken away by Zhao Qinglan, and he is now an ordinary worker and his income has dropped sharply.
He was reluctant to even go to a state-owned hotel.
The family is in a state of chaos every day because of these trivial matters in life, and there is no peace left in the past.
In just a few days, the Wang family has experienced earth-shaking changes.
And all this is just because Zhao Qinglan is missing.
It was also at this moment that Mrs. Wang, his wife, and Wang Dazhi began to regret vaguely.
If they had known earlier, if they had known earlier, they should have been nicer to Zhao Qinglan.
Regret is regret, but it doesn't stop them from cursing Zhao Qinglan and her daughter every day.
Seeing her son coming back in disgrace, Mrs. Wang, who was lying on the bed, suddenly called her son in.
"Mom, please stop tormenting me, okay? I'm tired." He started to get impatient as soon as he came in.
Mrs. Wang was a little sad, but she still had to give her son some advice.
"Dazhi, although Zhao Qinglan divorced you, Xiaoduo is still a child of our Wang family, and her surname is Wang."
Wang Dazhi's eyes lit up when his mother reminded him.
Yes, Zhao Qinglan is so precious to her daughter.
If he gets Xiaoduo back, Zhao Qinglan will have a weak spot in his hands, so he won't let him control it.
The more he thought about it, the better this idea seemed to him.