Dragon Raja: I practiced Naruto ninjutsu next to Lu Mingfei.

She also knew that since Zhou Xinqing left, the boss had actually wanted to fire her for a long time because she was always distracted and made a lot of mistakes.

But the problem now is that Ma Qianyan doesn't remember why she jumped off the building.

Because after Gu Ran saved her, he hypnotized her, making her forget about jumping off the building.

So to this day, she doesn't remember why she jumped off the building, nor has she ever seen Zhou Xinqing.

Could she be sleepwalking in broad daylight? But sleepwalking can only happen while asleep, and she should be awake in broad daylight!

"Sigh!" Frustrated, Ma Qianyan had no choice but to start looking for a job these past few days. Fortunately, she already had work experience, so applying for a job at a milk tea shop shouldn't be too difficult.

But... reality is rather cruel. Although it's not difficult for her to work at a milk tea shop, she has applied to so many milk tea shops these days and found that their treatment is too poor. Not only is the salary six or seven hundred less, but the working hours are also long!

She didn't know that her previous high salary was partly due to the fact that the milk tea shop was located on campus, which provided a relatively stable customer base, and partly due to Zhou Xinqing's support. The boss paid her more because Zhou Xinqing often patronized the shop.

Moreover, the school becomes quiet around 10 o'clock, so it closes for the day at 10:30.

Nowadays, working at a milk tea shop means dealing with a diverse clientele, so the salary is unlikely to be high. Secondly, the work hours are until midnight, and some late-night food stalls are open all night, making it impossible to work as easily as before.

So Ma Qianyan was in a dilemma. She felt like she was being taken advantage of if she did this kind of work, but if she didn't do it, her remaining money would only last for two months.

Two months later, she could no longer afford to pay the rent.

"If Zhou Xinqing were still here, I would definitely ask her for help and she would help me find a better job." Ma Qianyan thought of Zhou Xinqing again, but Zhou Xinqing should be suffering in northern Myanmar right now!

"It's all Zhou Xinqing's fault. She's so easily fooled. If she hadn't been tricked, the boss probably wouldn't have fired me out of consideration for her!"

At this point, Ma Qianyan still blamed others for the problem. She didn't even consider that if she hadn't deliberately failed to warn Zhou Xinqing, perhaps Zhou Xinqing wouldn't have been abducted to northern Myanmar to suffer.

Ma Qianyan now knows that making assumptions is useless, so she should obediently continue looking for a job tomorrow, trying to find one closer to home to save on transportation costs. That way, she can accept even a lower salary.

dong dong——

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

Chapter 364: Evil people have their own trials and tribulations

"Who is it?" Ma Qianyan wondered to herself.

She lay on the bed for a while without saying a word.

Just then, the knocking sounded again.

"Who is it?" she asked at this moment.

"It's me, Ma Baoguo. Qian'er, please open the door."

When Ma Qianyan heard that familiar voice, her heart skipped a beat, and goosebumps rose all over her body.

It was her dad!

Why did he come to our door?!

Ma Qianyan was surprised and, for a moment, hugged the blanket, afraid to move.

"Open the door now! Do you want me to be embarrassed in front of everyone?" Ma Baoguo shouted from outside.

"Qian'er, open the door quickly, it's your mother, Yang Guifang."

Just as Ma Qianyan remained unmoved, another voice came.

Ma Qianyan was on the verge of a breakdown. Why were her parents here? And they even managed to find her house without any clues.

Her home is a small partitioned room converted from a large warehouse. The rent is not expensive, but the downside is that the soundproofing is not good.

Because she had just spoken, and knowing there was no way to hide now, she had no choice but to walk to the door and open it.

Before opening the door, she still clung to a sliver of hope, thinking it was someone's prank, deliberately pretending to be her parents to scare her.

But when she opened the door and saw two familiar faces, her illusions were shattered.

Ma Baoguo, wearing a military overcoat, looked at Ma Qianyan with a gloomy expression and walked into the house.

After he entered the room, he didn't care whether he was dirty or dusty. He went straight to his daughter's bed, took out a pack of tobacco from his pocket, moistened the tobacco paper with his saliva, and started rolling the tobacco.

Ma Qianyan opened her mouth, but ultimately didn't dare to stop her father from smoking, so she could only let him be.

Yang Guifang, wearing a gray-brown padded coat, entered the room and looked around at Ma Qianyan's room, which was about 15 square meters. She praised, "The place you live is not bad. Oh, there's even a toilet. That kind of thing is a rare item in our village."

She asked Ma Qianyan with a smile, "Is there hot water available 24 hours a day?"

Ma Qianyan nodded: "Yes, it's powered by gas. As long as there's gas, there's hot water."

Is gas expensive?

"It's quite expensive; a can delivered to your door costs over a hundred yuan."

"Oh, so you're willing to spend it. Looks like you've made quite a bit of money, haven't you?" Yang Guifang stared at Ma Qianyan with a half-smile.

Ma Qianyan opened her mouth, thinking that her two months' salary was almost equivalent to her and her husband's annual income.

"Not much, just enough to keep us from starving," Ma Qianyan said.

"I don't think so. I see you've gained weight in your face. You're all plump and fair-skinned. You must be eating well." Yang Guifang reached out and rubbed her daughter's cheek.

Ma Qianyan shook her head, shook off her mother's hand, and asked, "How...how did you find this place?"

This was what she was most curious about.

Yang Guifang said, "Oh, your junior high school classmate, A-Gui, said he had seen you before and gave us the detailed address, so we came here."

Ma Qianyan thought for a long time but still couldn't figure out who A Gui was, because she didn't think there was anyone named A Gui in her junior high school class.

Moreover, the address provided is far too detailed. You should know that it takes at least 30 hours to get from their hometown to Shanghai by slow train, and then they have to transfer to the subway at the train station. How could two people from the mountains know how to take the subway?

"You...you didn't come on foot, did you?" Ma Qianyan asked.

“No, we took a taxi here,” Yang Guifang said. “Agui said we could just take a taxi when we got to the train station, and he even paid the fare for us…”

So who exactly is this Ah Gui?

Ma Qianyan was completely bewildered. "I have no grudge against you, why did you bring my parents here to harm me?"

"Alright, enough chit-chat." Ma Baoguo exhaled a puff of smoke, then flicked the ash onto the ground. "Come back with us; we've arranged a marriage for you."

"I...I'm not going back!" Ma Qianyan mustered her courage to refuse. "I...I don't want to get married yet!"

“Getting married early and settling down early, what’s wrong with that?” Ma Baoguo took another puff of his cigarette. “We’ve already found a good family for us, someone from our village who lives nearby. In the future, our whole family can take care of each other.”

"From the same village? Who is it?" Ma Qianyan asked subconsciously. In her memory, everyone in the village was extremely poor. Who could afford to marry her?

You should know that her parents are both greedy people; they wouldn't let her get married easily without at least 20,000 yuan.

Yang Guifang then happily said, "It's Zhao from the village entrance. He made a fortune doing business outside and is willing to give 40,000 yuan to marry you."

“Ah Zhao…” Ma Qianyan was stunned, “That Ah Zhao who’s almost forty years old…”

She sat on the bed as if in a daze, then suddenly thought of something and said, "He never leaves the village all year round, and he couldn't get married before because he didn't have money. How come he suddenly has 40,000 yuan to get married? Dad, Mom, you haven't been scammed, have you?"

Yang Guifang laughed and said, "What are you lying about? He has already paid half of the deposit. He's just waiting for you to come back and marry him. Then he'll give you the remaining 20,000 yuan as a bride price. With this 40,000 yuan, our family can build two more houses, so your two younger brothers will have a place to live in the future!"

"Then...then what about me!" Ma Qianyan wanted to cry but couldn't. "What will I do in the future? Have you thought about my future?"

"Of course there is! I'm doing this for your own good!" Yang Guifang said matter-of-factly. "Hasn't Ah Zhao found a way to make money? Do you think you'll live a hard life after you marry him?"

“But I…” Ma Qianyan looked at her little house. Although the room was small and could not compare to the mansions on TV, it was still her little house, where she had freedom.

She's grown accustomed to the hustle and bustle of Shanghai. The idea of ​​her returning to that impoverished mountain village, marrying a man in his forties, and staying there forever is simply impossible.

"I...I won't go back, I won't go back!" Ma Qianyan shouted like a madwoman.

"You bastard!" Ma Baoguo took off his shoes and slapped Ma Qianyan's buttocks a few times with the soles. Because the room was too small, Ma Qianyan had nowhere to hide and dared not hide.

Ma Baoguo continued, "I've already accepted the betrothal gift and deposit. Do you want me to go back on my word and embarrass myself? Pack your things and come back with me!"

"I...I won't go back!" Ma Qianyan cried out hoarsely, "Even if I die here, I won't go back!"

She shouted those words with great courage, tears streaming down her face, filled with fear yet forced to resist.

“You…” Ma Baoguo’s face turned ashen.

"Alright, alright, let's talk this out. Why are you making such a fuss?" Yang Guifang looked around the house and saw a thermos. With her back to Ma Qianyan, she poured herself a glass of water.

"Come on, have some water. Look how you've been crying." She handed the water glass to Ma Qianyan. "Have some water to soothe your throat, and then I'll have a good talk with you."

"I won't go back," Ma Qianyan retorted while Yu Yong continued to argue.

"Okay, okay, have some water first, then we can talk," Yang Guifang urged her to drink water.

Ma Qianyan didn't think much of it, blew on it, and drank two sips of hot water.

Then, less than two minutes later, she suddenly felt dizzy, and the next second, she lost consciousness.

“Ah Gui was right, the child was being disobedient,” Yang Guifang said. “Luckily, he gave us this powerful sleeping pill, otherwise we wouldn’t know how to take the child back.”

"Alright, alright, enough chit-chat, go pack his luggage." Ma Baoguo lay on the bed and continued smoking.

Yang Guifang quickly and efficiently packed up Ma Qianyan's things, then looked curiously at the water heater in the bathroom, muttering to herself, "I wonder if we can take this water heater back with us..."

She didn't take the clothes off in the end, because she didn't know how; she just took Ma Qianyan's clothes and left.

When Ma Baoguo carried Ma Qianyan out of the house, it still attracted a crowd, because many people had heard the argument that had just taken place.

Fortunately, thanks to the reminder from the mysterious Ah Gui, Yang Guifang was prepared.

She took out her household registration book and ID card and explained to the onlookers: "This is my daughter. We are a family. My daughter had a mental problem before and jumped off a building. We are taking her home to recuperate so that she won't die out there."

Seeing that they were all her parents, and after verifying their ID cards and household registration, and considering that Ma Qianyan had indeed made the news for jumping off a building, everyone assumed that she had indeed lost her mind, so they stopped trying to stop her.

And so, without any awareness, Ma Qianyan was taken back to her hometown.

She hadn't yet considered what kind of life she would face after returning home.

If I had known this, why bother.

*……*……*

In the days following New Year's Day, Su Xiaoqiang was busy reviewing for her exams, as the exams were held earlier this year because the Lunar New Year was earlier than usual.

While she was busy with her exams, Gu Ran and Zhang Qiong, mother and son, returned to Binhai City to pay their respects to his father, Gu Tianyu, at the cemetery.

Gu Ran asked the cemetery management office for an iron bucket, and then burned some paper money and ingots inside. Although the people at Kassel College did not believe in these things, the ritual of worship could not be performed by burning paper money.

Zhang Qiong stood quietly in front of the tombstone. Although she was over forty years old, she looked like she was twenty-seven or twenty-eight. She seemed to be immersed in some kind of memory, and a smile always remained on her face.

"Your dad is actually a man of few words. He usually likes to stay in the laboratory and study firearms. By the way, you may not know that most of the firearms in Kassel College were designed and modified by your dad."