Educated Youth in the Countryside: She is the Village's Embroidery Queen!-Chapter 354: I Have No Conscience

By the time she arrived at the West Gate, Qiao Jun and the others were already there.

There were eight packages at their feet, of various sizes.

Seeing these packages, Yi Chichi hesitated, not wanting to go over, since the task seemed tough.

Qiao Jun and the others were chatting and hadn’t noticed her arrival. Just as she was about to turn and sneak away, Zhang Xiaoqin caught sight of her out of the corner of her eye and immediately called out, "Chichi."

She replied and walked over to the three of them, her gaze fixed on the packages.

"Are these all for Aunt Mu and Uncle Yaozi?"

"This one’s for you."

Qiao Jun handed her a package, "You’re leaving tomorrow, so we prepared some snacks for you to eat on the way."

Yi Chichi was overwhelmed with gratitude, "There’s something for me too!"

"Of course, after all, we’re good friends."

Zhang Xiaoqin grinned widely.

Yi Chichi nodded, "Good friends indeed. Thank you guys for the gifts; I really like them."

"You haven’t even looked at them yet and already say you like them? That’s too fake."

Qiao Jun playfully teased, which made Zhang Xiaojuan think he needed a smack. She pinched him and said annoyed, "If you can’t say anything nice, just shut up."

Qiao Jun winced in pain but dared not speak out.

Zhang Xiaojuan was satisfied with his reaction and turned to Yi Chichi, "Ignore him. Just treat him as if he’s mute."

"I can do that."

Yi Chichi replied smoothly, and from then on, Qiao Jun was conscientiously ignored by the three of them.

He stood there like a pillar, listening to the three girls chat, until Yi Chichi said, "Let’s go to the post office first."

Qiao Jun, "??? Why go to the post office?"

"To send these off."

She pointed to the packages and said helplessly, "You don’t really expect me to carry all this stuff back by myself, do you?!"

"They’re not heavy; I think you can manage."

He said earnestly, to which Yi Chichi responded with an eye roll, "It’s inconvenient, especially with transfers involved."

With so many packages to carry, she’d never get any sleep.

Given the current state of security on green trains, except for the Youth Special Express.

However, Youth Special Express was hard to come by.

So, even if it was a sleeper car, Yi Chichi opted to travel light.

Before Qiao Jun could say anything, Zhang Xiaojuan said, "Let’s send them together."

"Alright."

The post office was only a street away from the Friendship Store, not far at all.

Thus, Yi Chichi left the package with the snacks at the guard’s place and went to the post office with Qiao Jun and the others.

She filled out the address, and Qiao Jun and the others paid the postage.

Yi Chichi wanted to pay initially, but they firmly stopped her, insisting the packages were from them, so it wasn’t right for her to pay for shipping.

What could Yi Chichi do?

She could only follow their lead.

By the way, she sent Uncle Yaozi a telegram, mentioning Qiao Jun and the others sending the packages and the time of her train the next day, so Uncle Yaozi could plan to pick her up.

By the time they had everything settled and returned to the Friendship Store, it was already close to four o’clock, having taken more than half an hour.

"What are you going to buy?"

"Chocolate!"

Zhang Xiaoqin answered first, "I also want to buy canned meat."

Zhang Xiaojuan and Qiao Jun exchanged glances, one wanting to buy an imported watch, the other lipstick.

"Do you have foreign exchange coupons?"

"Yes."

Qiao Jun pulled out a stack of coupons from his pocket. Yi Chichi took a look and fell silent.

She had known that Qiao Jun and Zhang Xiaoqin came from affluent families, but this was still beyond her expectations.

Being able to casually take out so many foreign exchange coupons meant their family ranked high in Yangcheng.

As for inquiries...

Forget it, friendship is about sincerity, and the rest will come to light when necessary.

So, she waved at the three of them, "Let’s go, I’ll take you guys for a tour."

"Let’s go!"

The group of four entered the Friendship Store. Yi Chichi took back the package she had left with the guard. She intended to leave it at a counter inside, but unexpectedly ran into Gu Xinghua while going up to the second floor.

She casually handed him the package, "Uncle, could you please take this to the office for me? I’ll pick it up later."

Gu Xinghua took it as a matter of course, glanced at Qiao Jun and the others, and wondered how Chichi got involved with the third child of the Qiao Family.

While his mind was full of questions, his face showed none, "Friends?"

"Yes!"

Yi Chichi nodded, introducing both sides. Qiao Jun and the others greeted politely, following Yi Chichi’s lead in calling him uncle.

Gu Xinghua beamed, showing a big smile, "Great, let Chichi give you a good tour."

Saying this, he kindly asked Yi Chichi, "Got foreign exchange coupons?"

"Yes, they brought plenty."

That meant he had nothing to worry about.

The original intent of Gu Xinghua to support with some foreign exchange coupons was nullified. He slightly lifted his hand but put it down again, smiling, "Okay, you all go shop, I’ll go find Uncle Ning."

"Alright, take care, uncle."

The four of them waved goodbye to Gu Xinghua in unison, their expressions perfectly synchronized.

Gu Xinghua couldn’t help but chuckle, thinking to himself that indeed birds of a feather flock together, no wonder they could get along so well.

In a good mood, he took Yi Chichi’s package to Ning Jiandong’s office. Ning Jiandong was busy as ever, juggling phone calls, reviewing documents, signing where needed, and sending back what wasn’t right.

When he looked up after finishing, there was an extra package on his desk. He reached for it, "Is this for me?"

"In your dreams, this is for that kid Xiao Yi."

Gu Xinghua snatched the package away, placing it aside, "Don’t open it, or I won’t be able to explain myself."

Ning Jiandong withdrew his hand with a grumble, "I thought you had a change of heart and got something for me."

"I have no conscience."

Gu Xinghua quipped smoothly, grinning widely.

Ning Jiandong sensed something was off about him, puzzled, "Old Gu, did something good happen to you?"

"No."

"Then why are you in such a good mood?"

Without realizing it, Gu Xinghua, like he discovered a new continent, leaned over the desk conspiratorially, "Do you know who Xiao Yi’s friends are?"

"Who?"

Ning Jiandong knew Yi Chichi was taking friends shopping at the Friendship Store today, but not much else.

But since Gu Xinghua brought it up, it must mean they were special.

Sure enough, Gu Xinghua’s words confirmed his suspicions.

"The third of the Qiao Family and the second and fifth of the Zhang Family."

Ning Jiandong’s eyes widened, "Is it the Zhang and Qiao families I know of?"

Gu Xinghua nodded, and Ning Jiandong made an "oh" sound, promptly opening his drawer to get tickets.

"You want to send them tickets?"

"To network a bit."

He wasn’t shy about it, straightforwardly expressing his intentions.

Gu Xinghua’s mouth twitched as he reminded, "Do you really think, given the situation of the Zhang and Qiao families, they would be short of your little tickets?"

"They don’t need them, but that doesn’t stop me from offering."

Before the words were fully out, he was about to leave.

Gu Xinghua stopped him, "I advise you not to go. If you want to build connections, now’s not the time. Xiao Yi is there, and if you push too hard, it will put her in a difficult position."

You might not draw them closer, and could end up offending everyone.