Chapter 126 Missing Meng Zhengcheng's Phone Call to Report the News

The old man stuffed the eggs into Qiao Changdong's arms and withdrew his hand before giving him a chance to refuse.

Qiao Changdong was afraid the eggs would break, so he had to hold them in his arms.

He said helplessly, "Old man, it was just a small favor last night, there was no need for that..."

"It was just a small favor for you, but I can't pretend nothing happened," the old man said earnestly.

As she spoke, she looked at Qiao Qiao with a smile and took out a baked egg from the side of the oven: "Here, little one, take this, it's freshly baked."

"Thank you, Grandpa Jiang. And Grandpa Jiang, my name is Qiao Qiao." Qiao Qiao accepted the roasted egg.

"Oh, good, Qiaoqiao, what a lovely name." Grandpa Jiang said with a smile.

He then looked at Xiang Dongyan and Pei Yiyang, who were standing beside the father and daughter, and realized that they were together.

He explained apologetically, "I'm afraid these eggs won't sell well, so I usually bake one at a time. Or, I can give you some roasted sweet potatoes instead; they're homegrown and very sweet."

“Okay, get us some.” Xiang Dongyan nodded naturally.

The old man took several roasted sweet potatoes that were cooked to a perfect firmness and packed them in a paper bag for the person.

He was relieved to see that the person accepted the money without saying a word and didn't insist on paying for it.

only.

Soon, he discovered that although the other party hadn't spent any money to buy it, they had given him an even larger sum of money.

Qiao Changdong slipped him an envelope.

"What is this?" the old man asked, puzzled.

“This contains five hundred yuan, which we pooled together for Jiang Min’s surgery. We’ll use the rest to buy the two kids some thick cotton-padded clothes and some good food for the New Year so they can have a good holiday,” Qiao Changdong explained.

He took three hundred.

He took two hundred from Dongyan.

Five hundred in total.

After deducting the cost of Jiang Min's surgery, the remaining money, if carefully managed, would be enough for the family of three to live comfortably for at least two or three years.

"This...this...how can this be done..."

The old man's hands trembled as he looked at the five hundred-yuan bills in the envelope.

He stared at the four men in disbelief, then, in a daze, tried to return the money.

But Qiao Changdong said, "Old man, this money is not for you. It's an investment for those two siblings. I saw it last night. There are a lot of certificates of merit pasted behind your door. I guess the children are good at studying and will definitely be successful in the future."

“Since the child can read, don’t let it be delayed. Even if you don’t think about yourself, you should think more about the child, right?”

After a pause, Qiao Changdong added, "If the two children get into university and have trouble with tuition fees, they can come to me for help."

Qiao Qiao hadn't expected this at all.

She looked at her father happily and gave him a thumbs up.

The old man's hand, which he had been determined to return after hearing this, froze in mid-air.

yes.

He's already this old.

Even if you don't think about yourself, you have to think about your two children.

This is five hundred yuan.

After deducting the cost of the child's surgery, there should be at least 300 left.

Putting everything else aside, at least it guarantees that the child won't have to worry about tuition fees for the next five years.

The old man eventually accepted it.

However, he was so grateful that he wanted to kneel down and kowtow to the four of them.

Qiao Changdong was speechless this time.

She looked at the people with a mixture of amusement and exasperation, pointing at Qiao Qiao and Pei Yiyang beside her.

"Grandpa, by kneeling like this, you're repaying kindness with enmity! You're clearly trying to shorten our child's lifespan!"

Qiao Changdong is usually very outspoken and this is his usual way of speaking; people who know him are used to it.

But the old man had never heard of such a thing before, and he turned pale with fright.

He waved his hands repeatedly, unable to speak.

"Alright, we'll accept the sweet potatoes and eggs. You should head home early, old man. It'll be even colder today as the snow melts. Don't end up getting sick instead of making any money outside; that would be a waste," Xiang Dongyan said.

Qiao Qiao then took out all the White Rabbit milk candies she had specially filled her pockets with before going downstairs and stuffed them into the pocket of the old man's army coat, which had countless patches sewn on it.

While handing it over, she said, "Grandpa Jiang, this candy is delicious. Give it to my sister and brother."

The old man felt as if his throat was stuffed with cotton.

He was rendered speechless.

It wasn't until Qiao Changdong handed the eggs to Xiang Dongyan that he picked up Qiao Qiao and carried her back to the hotel.

The old man didn't utter a single word.

She would lift her hands, which were covered in chilblains and cracks, and occasionally bump her head on Qiao Changdong's shoulder, waving goodbye to him. She would also wipe her red and already wet eyes from time to time.

Qiao Qiao rested her little head on Qiao Changdong's shoulder.

While mechanically waving goodbye to people, she was communicating with Xiaoyuan in her mind.

"Xiao Yuan, if Jiang Min had removed that tumor earlier, would he have been able to safely survive his death?"

That's the theoretical answer.

"theory?"

[The fear is that some unforeseen circumstances might force Jiang Min to undergo surgery three years later.]

The original storyline isn't so easily changed; otherwise, the master wouldn't be controlled by the world's laws in terms of words and actions.

"No, I have to stop this!" Qiao Qiao frowned.

She couldn't do something like knowing someone was going to die and not trying to save them.

Thinking of something, she turned to Qiao Changdong and said, "Dad, let's have our whole family come to the hospital for a physical examination before or after the Lunar New Year, during the winter vacation."

Coincidentally, Grandma Qiao's frequent headaches had made her somewhat uneasy.

If Jiang Min hasn't had surgery by the time she arrives, she'll drag him there and force him to have it removed!

Qiao Changdong naturally had no objections.

The four of them went into the hotel and then went to the cafeteria to order some easily digestible food.

As for the sweet potatoes the old man gave us, we can keep them on the road as dry food.

After the four of them finished breakfast and rested for about an hour, they set off from the hotel at nine o'clock in the morning to return to Hongfeng Town.

only.

Unbeknownst to the four, no sooner had they left than the hotel received a call from the Hongfeng Town Police Station.

The call was from Meng Zhengcheng.

Last night, Qiao Changdong called him from the hotel phone to let him know he was safe and sound, and that the matter was resolved and he didn't need to come pick him up.

Meng Zhengcheng left work at the normal time last night.

When I arrived at the police station at nine o'clock today, I heard from my colleague who was on night shift last night that several people came to the police station last night in military off-road vehicles, and they looked very intimidating.

A group of people came to the police station to retrieve some documents.

They also retrieved information from Qiaojia Village, saying they were looking for a little girl, aged three or four, who had been adopted.

Qiaojia Village has a total of 34 households, all of whom share the surname Qiao.

However, the only girl adopted in Qiaojia Village was only three or four years old. She was the only one in the entire village, and that was Qiao Qiao, who was adopted by Qiao Changdong.