The younger sister mistakenly identified her brother when visiting relatives and was kissed by the c

"Who told you I didn't find a job?"

Qiao Xinxin, holding an enamel teacup, leaned against the octagonal table, arms crossed, and leisurely interrupted her.

She looked at Qiao Mingzhu with a half-smile, and seeing the other woman's originally smug face instantly turn from sunny to cloudy, she felt all the fatigue from work today disappear and her mood become even more cheerful.

"Wh...what?"

Qiao Mingzhu's smile froze instantly, and her voice involuntarily rose eight octaves, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on: "You found it?! How is that possible?!"

"Why is that impossible? Finding a job isn't that hard!"

Qiao Xinxin blinked her innocent big eyes, her smile sweet yet hurtful: "Maybe it's because you only graduated from junior high school and your education level isn't high enough, so you feel there aren't many jobs you can find? I have to thank my parents for that. No matter how poor we were, they sold everything they owned to support me through high school."

Both of them knew perfectly well that the "parents" Qiao Xinxin was referring to were not Qiao Shouguo and Qin Fangfang at all, but the Bai family from the countryside!

Qiao Mingzhu's fake smile was almost cracking, her back teeth were clenched tightly together, and she felt an uncontrollable and intense resentment towards her biological parents!

Wasn't the Bai family so poor they couldn't even afford to cook?!

Why waste money to send a little girl like Qiao Xinxin to high school?!

If they hadn't provided the money, Qiao Xinxin would be an illiterate person who couldn't even read a single character!

Where can they stand here and swagger around like that?!

Qiao Xinxin took a sip of water to moisten her throat, and looking at Qiao Mingzhu's almost exasperated expression, she continued to slowly add insult to injury: "Otherwise, how could I have found such a good job so easily? And as a sales clerk in a state-owned pharmacy in the city center."

"Medicine... from a state-run pharmacy?!"

Qiao Mingzhu could hardly believe her ears. Her pupils constricted sharply, her eyes widened like saucers, and her voice trembled with a sharp edge. "How could this be?! No, I mean, sister, you're just a high school student, and you haven't studied medicine. Can you handle working at a pharmacy? How could they possibly hire you?!"

"What's so difficult about that?" Qiao Xinxin chuckled, her tone as relaxed as if she were talking about what to eat for dinner. "I'm just a pharmacy clerk, not a doctor sitting in a clinic prescribing medicine. As long as I can read, understand the symptoms corresponding to the medicines, and can do the math, that's enough."

At this point, Qiao Xinxin sighed with feigned regret, "Little sister, if only you had studied more back then. If you had gone to high school, you would know how valuable a diploma is these days! The director saw my diploma and hired me without saying a word. My basic salary is thirty yuan a month! And that doesn't even include the monthly commission and bonuses."

After saying that, she picked up her cup and drank water, and in the instant she lowered her head, the corners of her lips couldn't help but turn up wildly.

Thirty yuan?! And there's a commission?!

Qiao Mingzhu felt as if she had been stabbed in the chest, and even breathing became difficult!

She clenched her fists tightly on her knees, her sharp nails almost piercing her palms.

The jealousy that was growing wildly and spreading was like a venomous snake, tightly coiling around her heart and almost making her lose her mind!

That idiot Qiao Xinxin, how come she suddenly became so sharp-tongued after just one trip home?! And she keeps bringing up her high school diploma—so what if she went to school a few more years? What's she so smug about?!

Qiao Mingzhu's mind was extremely dark. Her eyes, which she usually pretended to be innocent and pure, were now filled with undisguised jealousy and hatred.

What gives her the right?!

Her parents doted on her and pulled a lot of strings to get her a job as a receptionist at a guesthouse!

This is a respectable job that doesn't require you to be exposed to the wind and sun!

She was always proud of it; her fixed monthly salary of twenty yuan made many girls in the compound green with envy!

But what makes Qiao Xinxin so special?!

How did a country bumpkin with no connections or background manage to land a high-paying job for thirty yuan so easily?! And he's even a head taller than her!

Want to climb over Qiao Mingzhu's head? Dream on!

Qiao Mingzhu bit her lower lip tightly, lowering her eyelids to hide the malice in her eyes.

It's just a job, what's there to be so smug about?! The Zhou family doesn't need that little bit of money at all!

Once she convinces her parents and older brother to let this brat marry Zhou Liguang, that cripple who can't even walk, in her place, she'll see how this brat will still brag to her then!

Marrying a disabled soldier who is partially paralyzed and having to take care of him every day, her life was completely ruined!

Once they're married, she refuses to believe the Zhou family will allow this brat to dress up and go to work every day! Let Qiao Xinxin and that good-for-nothing be tied together for life and rot in the mud!

"Qiao Xinxin, don't be so smug... You're destined to be trampled under my feet for the rest of your life."

Qiao Mingzhu stared intently at the tips of her shoes, lost in her dark fantasies, and couldn't help but let out a very low, venomous murmur through her teeth.

"What are you saying?"

Just then, the door was pushed open, and Qiao Lijun, dressed in military uniform, strode in.

He looked up and happened to see Qiao Mingzhu with her head down, muttering to herself as if she had suffered a great injustice. Qiao Lijun's heart melted instantly.

His precious daughter is always so well-behaved and adorable, so gentle and kind. Even when she is wronged, she only dares to secretly mutter to herself that it must be Qiao Xinxin, that jinx, who bullied her again!

"N-nothing!"

Upon hearing Qiao Lijun's voice, Qiao Mingzhu trembled violently, like a frightened bird.

She abruptly raised her head, her face instantly turning deathly pale. Terrified that her brother or that brat Qiao Xinxin had heard her vicious curse, she quickly squeezed out two tears and frantically shook her head: "Brother, you're back... I really didn't say anything..."

Like a startled fawn, Qiao Mingzhu hastily withdrew her resentful gaze, lowered her head, and nervously twisted the hem of her floral dress.

She looked away helplessly, her voice barely audible, "It's nothing really... I was just wondering what I should do in the future?"

As she said this, she slowly raised her head.

That face, which had originally been filled with malice, had now seamlessly switched to a weak and pitiful appearance.

Tears welled up in her eyes, her brows furrowed, and her small face was filled with helplessness and fear, as if a gust of wind could blow her over.

When she looked at him like that, Qiao Lijun's heart clenched instantly.

Without a second thought, he immediately stepped forward, pulled Qiao Mingzhu into his arms, and sharply glanced at Qiao Xinxin, who was watching the scene unfold. He angrily tried to soothe her, saying, "What happened? Tell me! Did someone bully you? Don't be afraid, I'll take care of it for you!"

Hearing this all-encompassing statement, Qiao Mingzhu felt as if she had finally found an outlet, and could no longer hold back the grievances and bitterness in her heart.

"Brother, Brother Li Guang, he..."

"Waaaaah..."

Before Qiao Mingzhu could finish speaking, she covered her face and burst into tears. Her petite body trembled, like a child who had suffered a great injustice, and she nestled into her elder brother's broad arms.

The loud crying and commotion in the living room immediately alerted Qiao Shouguo and Qin Fangfang, who were resting in the inner room on the first floor.

"Oh dear! What's wrong? My darling, why are you crying like this all of a sudden? Please don't scare your mother!"

Qin Fangfang, shuffling in her cloth shoes, rushed out in a great hurry.

Seeing her beloved daughter crying uncontrollably, she felt a pang of heartache and her features scrunched up. She snatched her daughter from Qiao Lijun's arms, pulled her into her own embrace, and used a handkerchief to wipe away her tears.

The way she acted was as if she wanted to offer her daughter the best of everything in the world and suffer even the slightest injustice for her.

With her eyes red and swollen, Qiao Mingzhu looked at her eldest brother with his furrowed brows, then at her mother with her eyes full of pity and her father who walked out with a sullen face. Finally, she sobbed and choked out her "worries".

"I...I went to the Zhou family today. I don't know why, but ever since Brother Li Guang was injured in the line of duty, he's like a completely different person..."

Qiao Mingzhu clung tightly to Qin Fangfang's clothes, tears streaming down her face. "Dad, Mom, I'm so scared... His temper has become so strange lately. Every time I visit him, he stares at me with those gloomy eyes. Last time... last time I went to get him some water, and he actually..."

At this point, Qiao Mingzhu seemed to feel an unbearable urge to recall the incident, her body trembling violently with fear. She then cried out in terror, "He actually smashed the enamel cup on the ground! Boiling water splashed everywhere! I'm so scared, Mom! I don't want to marry the current Li Guang anymore; I want the gentle Li Guang from before..."

She looked up at her mother and older brother with eyes that were almost pleading and hopeful, her voice trembling with brokenness: "I'm afraid... I'm afraid that if I really marry him, he'll beat me and bully me when he's in a bad mood. I'm so scared. Why has he become so cruel?"

After saying that, she seemed to have exhausted all her strength, buried her head deeply in Qin Fangfang's arms again, and burst into tears.

The sound of crying was so heartbreaking that it brought tears to the eyes of anyone who heard it.

Qiao Lijun's large hand landed on his sister's thin back, patting it gently again and again.

The pity in his eyes was almost tangible. The thought of his precious daughter being treated so roughly by a crippled man ignited a fire of rage in his eyes. He clenched his fists and roared angrily, "Who does Zhou Liguang think he is! How dare he treat you like this?! It's not like you caused him to break his leg and become crippled on a mission, so why is he taking his anger out on you? How dare he?!"

Watching their daughter's desperate cries and listening to their eldest son's furious roars, Qiao Shouguo and Qin Fangfang fell into a deathly silence.

In fact, if they had a choice, how could they, as parents, bear to let their daughter marry Zhou Liguang now?

Before Zhou Liguang was injured, he was one of the top talents in the compound, a battalion commander in his early twenties with outstanding abilities and a bright future!

The Zhou and Qiao families were well-matched, and this childhood betrothal had aroused the envy of many.

But that's not possible now!

The child was seriously injured, his leg was broken, and he will never be able to stand up again. He has become a completely useless person who can only use a wheelchair!

How could they send their precious daughter, whom the Qiao family had cherished and raised with utmost care, into such a hellish place of serving others and tending to their every need?!

"My dear daughter, don't cry. Mom knows you've been wronged. Don't be afraid, Mom will find a way..." Qin Fangfang's heart ached, and tears streamed down her face. She turned to her husband anxiously and shouted, "Old Qiao! Say something! Are you really going to just stand by and watch our Mingzhu suffer?!"

Qiao Shouguo sat in a grand chair next to the octagonal table, his brows furrowed in a deep knot.

After thinking for a long time, he finally spoke in a heavy voice, "Mingzhu, don't worry, Dad will find a way to arrange your marriage with Liguang."

He's racking his brains trying to come up with a solution, but he's completely at a loss and doesn't have any good ideas.

The Zhou and Qiao families have been old friends for many years, and the marriage was arranged by the two families' fathers some years ago.

Now that Zhou Liguang has become disabled while on a mission for the country, the Qiao family is turning around and breaking off the engagement.

If word gets back to the compound, how will the Qiao family face anyone?

Your spine will be broken by others!

Just as the atmosphere reached a stalemate and the family was filled with gloom, Qiao Lijun, who had been silent all along, suddenly had a sinister glint in his eyes.

He suddenly turned his head, his gaze fixed on Qiao Xinxin, who was standing to the side holding a teacup, and abruptly said, "Isn't there Qiao Xinxin here?"