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Yuan Jiaqi had never felt so remorseful before. He walked faster and faster, tears streaming down his face.

It was his fault, his desire for a little family affection, his blindness, his gullibility. He had been deceived, and he deserved it!

He walked, but it soon turned into a run. When he arrived home, he instructed the gatekeeper woman.

“From now on, when anyone from the Yuan family comes, drive them away! No need to inform me!”

Then he returned to his room and collapsed into tears. Qiao Mai, knowing about this, didn’t try to comfort him. Sometimes, people need to face reality.

The Qiao family, the Yuan family, and the Tian family were rotten at their core. There was no hope of reforming them. He shouldn’t have held out hope in the first place.

As a man, he should be content with providing for his family, especially now that he had Chuan’er.

He imagined the Yuan family changing for the better, but it was a futile hope.

His priority was to raise Chuan’er well and live a good lite.

He couldn’t know his place unless he suffered some setbacks.

He and his son were still living off her, wearing her clothes, and eating her food without even starting to repay her. Yet he still thought about helping the Yuan family with her assets.

No, she wasn’t going to let them take advantage of her like that.

The little bit of goodwill she had towards Yuan Jiaqi disappeared instantly.

He was far from meeting her expectations.

The four Yuan brothers had teamed up to deceive their younger brother. From that day on, Yuan Jiaqi severed ties with the Yuan family.

Since the Qiao family couldn’t benefit from Qiao Mai’s connections, they shifted their focus to the Liu family.

The Qiao family arrived at Liushu Town like bandits. However, neither Liu Dashan nor Madam Liu Qiao were intimidated by them. Both families clashed fiercely, having a brutal battle.

No one benefited much from this situation; the fight was intense, but luckily, there were no fatalities.

If it weren’t for the timely arrival of the village chief, the consequences could have been much worse, considering that the Liu family was weaker in comparison.

Upon investigation, it was revealed that the Qiao family accused the Liu family of benefiting from their daughter’s luck and demanded that their belongings be split in half.

Madam Liu Qiao disagreed, stating Qiao Mai had cut ties with them, and that the Qiao family had no relation to Qiao Mai whatsoever.

The audacity of their actions was beyond belief. Their daughter didn’t give their family anything, so they went to steal from another family.

Once the village chief understood the situation, he was prepared to send someone to report it to the authorities.

Seeing that things were not going well, the Qiao family, terrified, left without taking anything, feeling utterly defeated.

They were basically committing robbery. It would have been justified if the village chief had ordered them to be tied up and handed to the authorities.

They were greedy but not foolish.

While watching her husband injured in the battle, Madam Liu Qiao couldn’t stop crying. Just when their family was doing slightly better, the Qiao family came to cause trouble.

Liu Dashan didn’t mind much; rural people were tough. His slight injuries could be treated with some herbal medicine. As long as no one lost their limbs or life, it wasn’t a significant issue.

“Wife, don’t be angry. If they come again next time, I’ll take out my knife. Even if I kill them, we won’t break the law.’

“I’ll join you next time. The people from their families all came. We suffered because only Hai’er is in town.”

“It’s better that way.”

“Should we inform my niece about this?”

“No need. Don’t spread everything to that side. There’s no need to bother them.

Our family doesn’t have any major problems.”

The Qiao family’s visit to the Liu family was kept a secret for a few days. However, it eventually became known in Tianshui Town, and Liu Ye and Liu

Hai found out.

Taking some time off, they rode a cart back home.

Upon learning about it, Qiao Mai coldly snorted. She thought Qiao Shicheng’s family was foolish for daring to cause trouble at someone else’s doorstep. They were insane!

Did they think they could fish in troubled waters?

In a hurry, she sent two servants to fetch a 100-kilogram bag of white rice and ten kilograms of pork from her home. She had them deliver it to the Liu family.

At the same time, she posted a notice at her shop’s entrance.

She stated that the Qiao family was unrelated to the Qiao family in Lihua Village and had no association with them. If they dared to behave arrogantly and exploit others in the future, they would have to resolve it themselves. The Qiao family in town would not interfere.

This move quickly quelled any malicious intentions the Qiao family had towards her.

To her surprise, Qiao Shicheng seemed to genuinely consider this approach. Upon hearing about her posting the notice, he was nearly driven to anger. “This ungrateful wretch won’t leave us any room to survive!”

“Father, let’s be honest and live our lives peacefully. Don’t try to scheme against our younger sister anymore. She despises us. Do you think we can compete with her with our current family situation?”

“Our son is right. If she really wants to take revenge, our family might disappear overnight.’

“She wouldn’t dare. I’m her father!”

At this moment, Qiao Shicheng still considered himself Qiao Mai’s father.

On the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, snowflakes began to fall again. People were afraid of another snowstorm. If there were to be another blizzard, it would spell disaster for the crops.

Fortunately, it was just light snow, occasionally growing heavier. People’s hearts would race every time it snowed.

Qiao’s Small Eatery continued to operate as usual, providing free daytime water in the summer and hot, spicy meat soup in the winter for passing traders.

Everything is free to let the travelers rest and warm up in the small town, and of course, to buy some snacks on the side.

Large households that came by would usually buy sweet potatoes, popcorn, and fried rice cakes.

Qiao Mai’s roasted sweet potatoes were particularly famous; they had a clean outer skin, were soft and oily inside, and had a delicious golden color.

Popcorn and fried rice cakes were equally popular and sold out quickly.

The workers are also diligent. As soon as they see supplies running low, they immediately start preparing them.

Additionally, they offer items such as candied hawthorns, melon seeds, peanuts, chestnuts, tea eggs seasoned with five spices, and spiced quail eggs. However, rice cakes were not provided this year.

Vegetables sold well, but they were expensive. The bad weather didn’t allow for a rich harvest like in previous years.

Fruits were bought by the wealthier families. They would send their maids to buy some occasionally as it was really expensive.

The fruit juices were taken off the menu, but the milk tea continued to sell well and was highly popular.

Gradually, Qiao’s Small Eatery became like an inn, always crowded with people, whether they were traveling north or south. They liked to rest there, warm themselves, and chat.

As a result, news spread quickly from her place.

Winter came half a month early, catching Qiao Mai off guard. She hadn’t had the chance to make pickled vegetables, kimchi, or soy sauce.

She didn’t even bother making sausages, garlic sausages, red sausages, or canned luncheon meat.

She would take them out of her space whenever someone felt like having them to satisfy their cravings.

Qiao’s Small Eatery hadn’t introduced any new dishes this winter.

However, she took out the bamboo shoots piled up in a corner of her space, cleaned them, and placed them in the shop for sale.

But the northerners were unfamiliar with this food, and it didn’t sell well. Shopkeeper Niu came to see Qiao Mai with a worried expression.

“Boss, the locals don’t recognize this food.” “We had some southern visitors, didn’t we?”

“They don’t have the money to buy from our shop.”

“True. How about this? Get some large empty jars from the courtyard wall, clean them, and bring them inside. I’ll teach you how to pickle bamboo shoots. The pickled bamboo shoots can make soup and stir-fry, and they taste great.”

Shopkeeper Niu left. Qiao Mai realized she had a little over half a month left and needed to bring in some fresh products for the shop.

This year, she didn’t make sausages or canned luncheon meat. The meat shop’s business had declined significantly..