Chapter 61

Chapter 61 – Brother and sister share the spoils (2)

“Dad won’t get angry.”

Chu Peng thought deeply. With his mother staying at home, how could his father get angry? He would only think that the money was taken away by his mother, and he would quietly swallow that pain.

Chu Qiao understood. She glanced at her younger brother and secretly slandered him. She had never known that this younger brother was so greedy and treacherous before. She even thought that he didn’t care about the material attractions of the world, which was free of worldly care.

Sure enough, he was someone who will be a big profiteer in the future.

They didn’t even notice that after sharing the money, the estrangement feeling between them faded. Chu Peng helped her tidy up the bookshelf. She turned over all the books, and finally found the medicinal diet book in the corner which had many wormholes.

The book had a sheepskin cover and was lacquered in black. The pages inside were yellow and brittle. Chu Qiao carefully opened the book, and a musty smell made her choke her nose. But it was indeed the ancestral medicinal diet book that had been passed down by the Chu family.

“What is this?” Chu Peng was very curious. Just from looking at the cover, it didn’t look like an ordinary book.

“This is the ancestral medicinal diet recipe that has been passed down by the ancestors of the Chu family. I will give it to you when I have copied it.”

Chu Qiao didn’t hide it. The Chu family actually had a rule of passing on men and not passing on women. But it was just before the liberation. Now the Chu family has been divided. The first branch’s family had gone overseas. The only one who stayed in the country was Chu Yuanzhi, the concubine son. The offspring of the first branch also mixed quite well abroad. In the previous life, they would return to invest. But they looked down on Chu Yuanzhi, so they didn’t come over to contact as relatives.

Chu Peng took the book and flipped through it. It was really a recipe. He immediately lost interest and returned it to Chu Qiao. “You don’t have to give it to me, you can take it.”

He had no interest in cooking. So it would be better to just give it to Chu Qiao.

“How did you know there was this book?” Chu Peng was even more curious about this.

“Dad had mentioned about it before, you were still young at that time.”

Chu Qiao explained it casually and then said, “Don’t tell your mother and Xu Bilian about this book. It’s our Chu family’s thing.”

“You can just keep your mouth to yourself.”

Chu Peng snorted, he turned around and went back to the room, but the corners of his lips were slightly raised. He touched the four banknotes in his pocket and was in a good mood.

He could go buy a few more books that he had been interested in for a long time.

Chu Qiao returned the bookshelf to its original state, and happily collected seven banknotes. At this time, the purchasing power of 70 yuan was still very strong. Later, she would go to the department store to buy some pieces of cloth to make new clothes. After all, it was uncomfortable to wear Xu Bilian’s old clothes.

The white dress she wore yesterday had been washed. When she saw the old cotton underwear, Chu Qiao frowned. She had to buy two sets of better underwear. Now she really couldn’t stand these old and shabby clothes, especially the underwear. In the previous life, even if she was an aggrieved rich wife, she was still a rich wife. She has good materials in life. 

After putting on the light green dress, Chu Qiao looked at herself in the mirror. Her skin was white and beautiful, and the green color made her skin look whiter than the white dress. Her skin was originally cool white and wearing a green dress complemented it. She was definitely worthy of the words “a lotus flower breaking the surface”1. She smiled at herself in the mirror and touched the 70 yuan in her bag. Chu Qiao was in a very good mood.

1A lotus flower breaking the surface (idiom) : surpassingly beautiful (of a young lady’s face); describes a naturally gorgeous woman.

Before going out, Chu Qiao knocked on the door of Chu Peng’s room. This kid also closed the door at home during the daytime. Anyone who wanted to go inside, had to knock at the door, otherwise he would get annoyed. Chu Qiao suspected that her brother was alone in the room, reading some books that were unsuitable for children, that was why he acted like a thief.

In fact, Chu Peng still cared about his older sister, but he disliked the stupid and timid version of Chu Qiao in the past, thus got very disappointed in her. He hated this feeling and as time went by, he became more and more disappointed because she didn’t do anything to confront it.