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nLast year, there were also trucks that came by. A group of people got off and said that they were from the lecture troupe, here to tell everyone about the latest policies and they even distributed some food.

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n“What’s going on?” asked the old man smoking at the village entrance.

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nThe auntie beside him was plucking a withered vegetable leaf but her eyes were sharp enough to see Qiao Mei sitting in the front passenger seat. She exclaimed, “Isn’t that Qiao Mei from Qiao Qiang’s family? Is she sitting in the car?”

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n“What what? Qiao Mei is in the car?” asked Uncle Niu who was passing by.

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n“Let’s go over and take a look. I wonder what happened!”

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n“Let’s go take a look!”

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nThe group of people followed the big truck and more people gathered along the way until they reached Qiao Zhuang’s house.

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n“Wow!”

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nTo everyone’s surprise, as soon as the truck stopped, more than 10 men got down and rushed towards Qiao Zhuang’s courtyard.

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nWhat an aggressive manner!

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nIt was noon now. Qiao Zhuang and his family were resting in the courtyard after work. Big Auntie Qiao was washing vegetables in the courtyard while Third Auntie was burning firewood in the kitchen.

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nThe courtyard was very quiet.

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nThen about a dozen militiamen rushed into the courtyard, blocked the door and immediately surrounded the entire courtyard. Each of them had a gun strapped to the waist.

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nIt was clear from their imposing manner that these were not ordinary people.

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nAt this moment, even the usually fierce Qiao Zhuang was frightened. His legs were trembling and the cigarette in his hand fell to the ground.

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nThe few men from Qiao Zhuang’s family also all huddled against the wall.

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n“What… what’s wrong?” Qiao Zhuang’s lips trembled as he asked softly.

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nHe observed the people around him carefully.

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nThe current militia did not have a uniform so what they wore were their own clothes. These clothes were all patched up and did not look new.

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nThey looked no different from ordinary people except that they had guns strapped to their waists.

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nOther than soldiers, there were also bandits who carried guns, so he could not be sure of the identities of the people in front of him.

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nThe people in the courtyard heard his question but did not speak. Everyone looked at the door.

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nA person slowly got out of the front passenger seat of the truck at the gate.

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nIt was Qiao Mei!

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nQiao Mei got down from the truck and slowly walked to the center of the courtyard. The villagers at the door all exclaimed loudly and craned their heads to look inside.

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nNow was the time to watch the fun.

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nAfter the militiaman at the door saw Qiao Mei get off the truck and walk in, he immediately closed the door to block off the villagers’ views.

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nNow, the villagers could only stand at the door and peep in through the gap.

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nIn the courtyard, Qiao Zhuang was stunned when he saw Qiao Mei coming. After getting over the shock, he immediately reacted to what was going on.

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n“Second Grandpa, what are you busy with? Are you done with work?”

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nQiao Mei walked over slowly with a smile on her face. She looked at the Qiao family members in the courtyard and spoke.

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nThe moment they heard the voice, the terrified members of Qiao Zhuang’s family immediately came to attention.

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n“Yes, yes, work is done!”

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nQiao Zhuang quickly replied.

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nHis attitude this time was the best she had even seen. He even looked at her with a little fear.

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nQiao Mei smiled and nodded. She continued to ask with a bright smile, “I heard that you took something from my family?”

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nWhen Qiao Zhuang heard this, realization flashed across his eyes.

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nSo she was really here to ask for something!

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nBut how did she know that the things were at his house? Furthermore, she had made preparations in advance and brought such a large group of people to the courtyard.

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nIt was obvious that she had come prepared!

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nHowever, there was one thing that Qiao Zhuang could not understand. He had heard that Qiao Mei had set off early in the morning, Qiao Qiang was at home alone and neither of them asked anyone in the village for information.

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nThe two people who delivered the items yesterday had also boarded the train earlier and left the village long ago.

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nThen how did Qiao Mei know that the betrothal gifts were in their house?

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n“What is it?” Qiao Zhuang pretended not to know what she was talking about even as his eyes flashed with his thoughts.

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nIn this situation, even if these people surrounded his courtyard, he still did not want to hand over the things. Those were all good stuff.

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