1970s: My childhood sweetheart ran away, and I turned around and married the wildest chief.

Back on the first floor, you can find shops selling clothes, shoes, and basic household items such as fabrics, face cream, and cooking oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and so on.

Qiao Wanqing said to Lu Mingyue and Lu Mingyu, "Do you two have anything you like? Go pick out some clothes too. And Qiya, you go too, I'll pay."

Lu Mingyue quickly waved her hand, "No need, sister-in-law, we have our own clothes to wear."

Lu Mingyue did have enough money to buy clothes. They received subsidies for going to university, and her parents also gave her some living expenses. Lu Mingyue's university life was quite good, and she would occasionally earn a little money herself!

How could she possibly ask her sister-in-law to buy them clothes? Besides, Qiao Wanyan was watching from the side; she wouldn't dare, lest she cause her fourth brother to be looked down upon.

Qi Ya quickly waved her hand, "Sister-in-law, I have clothes to wear. I eat and dress well at home, so I don't need to buy any more."

Qiao Wanqing laughed and said, "Go ahead and choose what I'm told. I've made a lot of money lately, so I'm buying you all some clothes to celebrate. Later, I'll go to the children's clothing section and buy some new clothes for my two little ones too."

Lu Mingyue and Lu Mingyu's eyes lit up at the same time. "Sister-in-law, how did you earn that?"

Zhang Yu, who was standing next to him, also held his breath and listened.

Qiao Wanqing casually said, "I published a children's book, which sold quite well, and I received a considerable amount of royalties."

Lu Mingyue and Lu Mingyu were both very interested. "Should we submit it directly to the publisher?"

Qiao Wanqing nodded, "Yes! If you want to write any articles, you can submit them directly to the newspaper. I didn't submit to the newspaper, I submitted them directly to the publishing house. My father's acquaintances didn't serialize them in the newspaper, they were published directly."

"Children's books are inexpensive, contain little content, and have relatively low costs. Once the publisher has read them, they are published directly and are selling very well. If you want to write, simple articles will definitely be submitted to newspapers. If it is a novel, it will basically be serialized in newspapers first to see how the market is. If it sells well, then a publishing house will publish it."

Lu Mingyue nodded. She knew a little about it. She had submitted some short stories to the newspaper before, but not many. She did receive some royalties, but her studies were too demanding, and she was too busy to continue writing.

Lu Mingyu was unaware of these things; he had never written them and didn't know if he had the ability.

Qiao Wanyan said sarcastically, "Since children's books are so cheap, it must be hard to make a lot of money, right? Would you even earn enough to buy all this furniture?"

Qiao Wanqing glanced at her. "My maternal grandfather is an overseas Chinese. All his children have come back and are now investing in factories in the south, you know? I've lived with them for so many years, and now he has so much foreign exchange in his hands, how could I possibly lack money?"

Qiao Wanyan: "..."

She could hardly believe it. "Your maternal grandfather's family has returned to China? And they've even invested in building a factory?"

Qiao Wanyan really didn't know about this. After all, she didn't have much say in the family, and she wasn't involved in the usual decisions. She hadn't achieved anything in recent years, and her salary was only enough for her own pocket money. She couldn't be said to have made any contribution to the family. She was basically not informed of any major family events.

Qiao Wanqing nodded, "Yes, they've already gone south."

Qiao Wanyan fell silent. Although she lived in Beijing, she knew some things. Overseas Chinese seemed to be quite wealthy, and she had heard from her friends that they were highly regarded.

Although she had no experience with these things and didn't know much about them, she did know about foreign exchange.

Thinking of this, she felt a little jealous of Qiao Wanqing. The Xu family was really rich and doted on Qiao Wanqing. With such a wealthy maternal family, even if Qiao Wanqing did nothing in her life, she would probably live a life of wealth and honor.

She wasn't so lucky. The Qiao family didn't have much money and were very strict, never letting her spend money extravagantly. As for her maternal grandfather's family... they were even worse off than hers!

At Qiao Wanqing's request, Lu Mingyue, Lu Mingyu, and Qi Ya all went to pick out clothes they liked. Qiao Wanqing paid, handed the children to Lu Mingyue, and let the others take them to the children's clothing section. She looked at a few dresses still hanging in the display case, and the styles were quite nice. She then said to Qiao Wanyan beside her, "Those dresses are quite pretty, do you like them?"

Qiao Wanyan was taken aback, not understanding what her cousin meant.

She glanced at the dress hanging there; it was indeed very beautiful, but just by looking at the material, she knew it was very expensive, and she probably couldn't afford it with a month's salary.

She didn't speak, but her eyes said it all. Qiao Wanqing then said, "If you like, pick one out too, I'll pay for it."

Qiao Wanyan was even more shocked now. "You're giving me a ride?"

"Okay, just one item, you pick one yourself."

Seeing her standing there motionless with a strange expression, Qiao Wanqing pretended to be angry and said, "Just choose what I told you to choose. What's wrong? You think we're going to never speak to each other again after a few words?"

Qiao Wanyan's face immediately lit up with a smile. Yes, they were cousins. Although this cousin had lived in the Xu family for a longer time, she was still a girl from the Qiao family, just like her.

"Then I'll choose! You said you paid, so you can't go back on your word."

Qiao Wanqing rolled her eyes at her and didn't say anything.

Qiao Wanyan happily went to pick out clothes.

She had her eye on two pieces, both quite expensive, and couldn't bear to part with either of them. Looking at Qiao Wanqing, she said, "Sister, I like both of these. Buy me both! You even gave Lu Mingyue one, I'm your own sister, can't you give me both?"

Qiao Wanqing curled the corners of her lips into a smile, but there was a hint of coldness in her eyes, though Qiao Wanyan didn't notice it.

"Okay, then you can take two!"

Qiao Wanyan was overjoyed, "Thank you, sister!" She turned around and picked out another silk scarf.

Two dresses and a silk scarf, costing 150 yuan, were all high-end items. Qiao Wanqing paid for them, which made Qiao Wanyan extremely happy. She took Qiao Wanqing's arm, her face full of sisterly affection, completely forgetting the initial confrontation.

Seeing her like this, Qiao Wanqing smiled and said, "I'll head back first. I have children at home, and I can't stay out too long. If you two still want to go shopping, you can go by yourselves. You don't need to come with me."

Qiao Wanyan hadn't had enough of shopping yet, so she nodded and said, "Okay, Zhang Yu and I will shop around some more."

Qiao Wanyan handed the bag of clothes to Zhang Yu to carry, and then followed Zhang Yu to go shopping sweetly. Qiao Wanqing watched their backs, the corners of her mouth curled up, and then turned to go to the children's clothing section to find her child.

Over the years, she has rarely had any open conflicts with the two families. The most powerful person in the Qiao family is her eldest uncle. How could she possibly do anything to Qiao Wanyan just because of a few words?

Aside from Xu Yanran, who has always targeted her, very few people in either the Qiao or Xu families know that she dislikes them.