The Abused Heroine Stops Pretending [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 87.1

Lately, the shop had been so busy that Tang Jing simply stayed there, sometimes skipping meals during hectic periods. When one of the young girls working at the shop mentioned this to Grandma Qin during a visit home, the old woman immediately decided to go to town the next day, bringing Xiao Yu along with her.

Tang Jing had just finished calculating a customer’s bill when she looked up and saw the two of them standing at the door. Surprised, she hurried over. “Grandma, Xiao Yu, what brings you here?”

Grandma Qin was visibly upset. “I heard you’ve been skipping meals when you’re busy. Don’t think just because you’re young, you can push yourself like this. When you get older, all sorts of health problems will catch up with you.”

Feeling guilty, Tang Jing glanced at the shop assistants nearby.

Grandma Qin huffed, “Why are you looking at them? I’ve made up my mind Xiao Yu and I are staying here for the next few days. She’ll help you sell clothes, and I’ll cook for all of you.”

Tang Jing had initially planned to brush it off, saying they could just buy food from next door, but remembering how frugal Grandma Qin was, she didn’t dare let her know that was how they usually ate. Quickly, she played along, “That’s great! I haven’t had your cooking in so long nothing else tastes as good.”

Xiao Yu stifled a laugh beside her, knowing full well Tang Jing was just sweet-talking Grandma Qin again.

To accommodate inventory or when it was too late to return home, Tang Jing had rented a few rooms in the residential building across from the shop. These weren’t just for her, they were also for the other shop assistants.

Traveling back and forth between the town and the village was time-consuming. On regular days, it was manageable, but during busy periods, they sometimes worked until nine or ten at night. It wasn’t safe for the girls to walk home in the dark, so staying in town was the better option.

Since Tang Jing couldn’t leave the cash register, she asked Xiao Yu to take Grandma Qin to their lodgings first.

After serving a few more customers, Xiao Yu returned and seamlessly joined the sales team.

By evening, when most families were heading home for dinner, Tang Jing and the others finally had a chance to rest. They had been on their feet since morning, barely eating a quick bite at noon and hardly drinking any water in the afternoon.

Just as they sat down to relax, Grandma Qin arrived carrying a food container. Over the past six months, the old woman had taken up daily walks and remained as spry as ever. Pushing the door open, she announced, “Come and eat, everyone.”

“Thank you, Grandma Qin!” The girls eagerly gathered around.

Since they were all familiar with Grandma Qin from village interactions, the assistants felt completely at ease around her.

Tang Jing ruffled Xiao Yu’s hair. “Come on, let’s go have dinner.”

Grandma Qin had made them meat sauce noodles. Since there weren’t any groceries at the rented place and she hadn’t been able to find the market, she had improvised with whatever ingredients were available.

As they ate, Grandma Qin asked, “How much longer are you planning to keep the shop open? The New Year is the day after tomorrow, and we haven’t even bought the New Year groceries yet.”

Tang Jing replied, “We’ll work one more busy day tomorrow, then officially close for the holiday.” She said this not just for Grandma Qin’s benefit but also for the assistants after all, every family needed time to prepare for the New Year.

“Good,” Grandma Qin nodded. “Then tomorrow, I’ll go buy some ingredients and cook everyone a proper meal so we can celebrate the New Year happily.”

“Thank you, Granny Qin!” the little girls chimed in unison before exchanging glances and bursting into laughter.

The shop was filled with cheerful chatter. Whenever customers arrived, Tang Jing would let the girls continue eating while she went to greet them.

Since there were only one or two customers, the girls remained seated.

After dinner, another wave of customers arrived, keeping them busy until eleven o’clock.

With the New Year approaching, many people were coming in to buy festive outfits, so business had been hectic lately.

After serving the last customer, Tang Jing locked the door and walked with Chi Yu toward the residential building across the street.

The streetlights illuminated their path as they strolled slowly, the cold wind making Chi Yu shrink her neck into her scarf.

Tang Jing adjusted the scarf for her. “Let’s hurry, it’s freezing out here.”

By the time they neared home, light snow had begun to fall, and judging by the weather, a heavy snowfall was likely overnight.

Granny Qin had already gone to bed, but she had left hot water in the kettle for them. After washing up and filling a hot water bottle, the two quietly slipped into bed.

In the single room, Tang Jing had hung a cloth curtain to partition off a small space, where the landlord’s double bed stood. A single bed was also in the room, where Granny Qin slept, leaving the double bed for the two younger women.

“Are you cold?” Tang Jing tucked the blankets around them and felt Chi Yu’s hands, finding them icy. She pulled them into her own embrace to warm them.

Chi Yu snuggled closer, nudging the hot water bottle toward Tang Jing so they could both share its warmth.

Tang Jing radiated heat like a small furnace, and soon Chi Yu grew so warm that beads of sweat formed on her forehead, making her want to kick off the covers.

“You’ll catch a cold like that,” Tang Jing warned, holding her back, afraid she’d expose herself to the chilly air.

Chi Yu whined in protest, insisting she was overheating.

Tang Jing scooted back slightly. “Is this better?”

Chi Yu sighed contentedly but soon missed Tang Jing’s warmth. Once she cooled down, she rolled right back into her arms.

Tang Jing teased her playfully, pretending to be annoyed. “What’s this? Didn’t someone just complain about me being too warm?”

Chi Yu grinned sheepishly, tugging at her clothes and coaxing her not to be angry.

“Earning my forgiveness won’t be easy,” Tang Jing drawled deliberately.

Chi Yu pressed closer, tilting her head up to look at her.

In a whisper to avoid waking Granny Qin, Tang Jing murmured, “Unless you give me a kiss.”

Emboldened by the darkness, Chi Yu’s heart fluttered. She wriggled upward and quickly pecked Tang Jing’s chin before retreating just as fast.

Tang Jing chuckled softly, pulling her closer. “Our Xiaoyu is so well-behaved.”

Given the time and place, Tang Jing settled for just that one kiss, letting the matter rest.

Naturally, the system deducted 20 points for this, after all, she wasn’t yet free to act as she pleased.

But earning a kiss from her senior was worth the loss. She could always earn the points back later.

The next day, everyone headed to the shop early and worked nonstop. Granny Qin brought them meals, and they took turns eating hastily before diving back into work.

By eight in the evening, Tang Jing closed the shop right on time.

Making money can wait; what’s most important now is to free up some time and have a meal together.

When they returned to their rented place, Grandma Qin had already prepared the meal, waiting for them to come back and eat.

At the dinner table, everyone chatted and laughed, filled with joy.

As the meal was about to end, Tang Jing handed out red envelopes to each person. “Wishing you all a happy New Year.”

The young girls’ faces lit up with big smiles upon seeing the red envelopes. “We also wish Boss Qin a happy New Year and prosperous business!”

After dinner, as it was already late, everyone stayed overnight. Early the next morning, they all set off together back to the village.

Tang Jing and the other two, however, went to the market instead.

It was the last day of the market, and the place was still bustling with people, adults with children, elderly accompanied by their children, entire families, it couldn’t have been livelier.

Afraid that the crowd might jostle Grandma, Tang Jing and Xiao Yu each took one of her arms and walked her through the stalls, buying anything that caught their eye.

Since they were now running a business and had money at home, and with the New Year approaching, Grandma Qin didn’t dampen the girls’ spirits with any discouraging remarks. Instead, she even joined them in picking out items.

“Grandma, this scarf looks nice on you. It makes you look younger,” Tang Jing said sweetly.

Grandma Qin was amused. “How can a scarf make someone look younger?” she retorted, but still let Tang Jing buy it for her.

By the end, their hands were full of bags. Luckily, they had brought bicycles, so hanging the purchases on the handlebars made carrying everything much easier.

Over the past six months, Chi Yu had also learned to ride a bike. To make her trips to and from the village more convenient, Tang Jing had bought her a ladies’ bicycle.

After shopping, the three headed back to the village. Tang Jing rode with Grandma on her bike, while Chi Yu followed behind on hers.

On the way back, they ran into some villagers. Nowadays, whenever people saw Tang Jing, their faces would light up with enthusiasm. “Nanshu is back!” they’d say.

Tang Jing’s thriving business in town was something everyone in the village had noticed. They genuinely admired her now, and some of the older generation had even stopped insisting that grandsons were more important than granddaughters.

Just look in this entire village, the one making the most money turned out to be a girl.

Grandma Qin couldn’t stop smiling the whole way back. Hearing others praise her granddaughter delighted her even more than being praised herself.

“Grandma, your wrinkles are showing from all that smiling,” Tang Jing teased.

“Go on,” Grandma Qin swatted at her playfully. “You’re always so cheeky.”

Chi Yu laughed and carried the bags inside.

Tang Jing had hoped for Chi Yu’s backup, but when she turned around, Chi Yu was already indoors.

Grandma Qin chuckled. “Even Xiao Yu won’t help you now. Serves you right for being so mischievous all the time.”

Since Chi Yu had joined their family, the household had become livelier than ever. More importantly, Grandma Qin noticed that her granddaughter smiled much more often now.

Back when she was with that girl from the Gu family, Tang Jing often looked troubled, sometimes even absent-minded.

But now, that expression was gone from her face even when business was overwhelming, she never showed that kind of distress again.

Grandma Qin believed it was all because of Chi Yu. Chi Yu was their family’s lucky star.

During dinner, Grandma Qin placed a few extra pieces of meat in Xiaoyu’s bowl and said with a smile, “Eat up, Xiaoyu. Ever since you came to our home, Nan has been smiling more.”

Chi Yu had initially wanted to urge Grandma Qin to eat some herself, but upon hearing this, she glanced at Sister Nan, whose lips were indeed curved upward at that very moment.

Tang Jing didn’t refute this point either. In fact, she even agreed wholeheartedly and added a few more pieces of meat to Xiaoyu’s bowl. “Xiaoyu is the hero here. Have some more.”

Chi Yu’s eyes grew slightly moist. Ever since arriving in this home, her heart had felt constantly warm. She had noticed all the care Grandma Qin and Sister Nan had shown her. Now, seeing their gentle smiles, she wiped away her tears and laughed, nodding emphatically as she ate the meat.

After dinner, fireworks began to light up the village. The children would run to whichever household was setting them off.

Earlier that day at the market, Tang Jing had bought a large number of fireworks. Thinking about how Xiaoyu had never had the chance to set off fireworks during past New Year celebrations, she wanted to make up for that regret. In her enthusiasm, she had ended up buying far too many.

“Erniu, Xiaoqiang!” Spotting a few kids across the river, she immediately called out to them. “Come over to Sister’s house to set off fireworks!”

Erniu, seeing the pile of fireworks in their yard, quickly rounded up his friends, crossed the bridge, and ran over. “Sister Nan!” he called out with unbridled excitement.

“Hey!” Tang Jing responded cheerfully, handing out fireworks to them. “Here, there’s enough for everyone.” Finally, she pressed a few into Chi Yu’s hands and said simply, “Xiaoyu, you too.”

Chi Yu had never played with fireworks before. In her faintest memories, her parents might have set some off when she was very young. She recalled sitting on her father’s shoulders, her mother gently steadying her from the side.

At the thought of this, Chi Yu’s eyes reddened.

“What’s wrong?” Tang Jing asked softly, bending down slightly when she noticed her subdued mood.

Not wanting to dampen the festive atmosphere, Chi Yu shook her head.

With so many people around, Tang Jing didn’t press further. Instead, she took Chi Yu along to set off the fireworks.

Gradually, Chi Yu shook off her melancholy and joyfully competed with Erniu and the others to light the fireworks.

Their lively gathering drew many villagers over to watch. Some elders gathered around Grandma Qin to chat, while the adults cracked sunflower seeds and talked among themselves.

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