How I Tamed My Wolfish Husband Back in 80s-Chapter 451 - 453: Fulfilling the Vow_1

Xu Feng: "Do you mean we should make private inquiries to see if anyone has been trafficked here and then gone missing?"

Li Qiao: "Yes. Transportation is inconvenient, and who would come to our place for no reason? If we rule out the locals, then it must be brides from other places, and if a bride from another place goes missing, the villagers will only ask the husband, ’Where’s your wife, haven’t seen her for days?’ If the husband says she ran away, the villagers won’t care. Some even help search and chase after her. Don’t know if you’ve heard about this."

Xu Feng: "I’ve heard of it, but I hadn’t thought in that direction. I’ll discuss this angle of investigation with my colleagues next door. When will you be returning to Beijing? If you’re not in a hurry, stay and help us."

"You can call me if you have any questions." Li Qiao left his number: "Call this number to reach me directly."

"Alright."

"...."

......

Xu Feng was busy with his report, while Ma Ling wandered around carrying a child.

Li Qiao: "Aren’t you tired?"

"A bit, but I just feel like holding him. He’s so handsome, if he were a girl, he’d totally bewitch countless men in the future."

Li Qiao laughed: "You’re thinking way ahead."

Around noon, Ma Ling called Li Qiao over to the cafeteria for lunch.

As Li Qiao just stepped out of the office, Qin Jin appeared within sight, the child waving at him: "Daddy."

"Hey, here I come." Qin Jin ran over with a beaming smile.

Ma Ling: "I didn’t notice it while caring for the child just now, but he really looks a lot like your partner, it’s just like a matter of being larger or smaller."

Li Qiao chuckled: "You just noticed?"

While greeting Ma Ling, Qin Jin took the child: "Thank you for taking care of him."

"No trouble at all." After Ma Ling responded to Qin Jin, he said to Li Qiao: "I’m going to eat now. Come visit when you have time."

Li Qiao said okay.

Then he headed outside with Qin Jin.

Li Qiao: "Have all those people been sent away?"

Qin Jin: "Yeah."

Li Qiao: "Were any of them unqualified in the physical examination?"

Qin Jin: "Several, but I’ve already spoken to them privately, none are relatives of your elder or second sister."

Li Qiao let out a sigh of relief, thankfully not.

The elder sister would have been easy to handle, but if it were the second sister, she’d undoubtedly complain behind his back about not wanting to bring people.

......

After lunch, Li Qiao began to inquire about the location of Gorge Mountain Temple.

Qin Jin looked down slightly: "Do you really need to go?"

Li Qiao: "Didn’t you say there was a temple here?" Does he know something? But he probably doesn’t, she hasn’t revealed anything.

Qin Jin fell silent, leading her through seven twists and eight turns.

Li Qiao’s feet were sweating: "Jin, aren’t we there yet? It’s so far, I should have taken a ride."

"We’re almost there." Qin Jin’s mood was somewhat downcast.

Li Qiao didn’t notice, and roughly half an hour later she saw the temple.

It was exactly as she remembered it.

Could this place be a gateway connecting two worlds?

Her heartbeat inexplicably quickened, and reflexively, she snatched the child over: "Let me hold him."

Qin Jin: "....." Is she really going to leave? And take the child with her? Doesn’t she care about him at all?

Li Qiao stepped into the gate, the furnishings inside the great hall were no different from the one she remembered worshipping in.

Only there weren’t many worshippers.

She prepared to donate some money for burning incense oil and to buy some more incense.

When she turned around, Qin Jin was out of sight.

She walked out of the great hall and saw Qin Jin standing still. "Jin, what are you doing?"

It was then that Qin Jin stepped forward.

Li Qiao: "Do you have a hundred yuan?"

Qin Jin: "Yes."

Li Qiao: "Donate it for me, and buy a bundle of incense sticks as well."

Qin Jin hesitated before complying.

After contemplating, Li Qiao placed the child in his arms and picked up the incense sticks.

The child wanted one too.

Li Qiao looked at the Matchmaker Temple, then at the child beside her, feeling the ways of fate to be wondrous.

She took out the incense stick in her hand and gave him one.

Then, she took a few steps forward with the child, knelt down with sincerity to pray and fulfill her vow, while the child in Qin Jin’s arms imitated her, looking straight ahead and bowing deeply.

After Li Qiao finished offering incense, she did the same for the child.

Qin Jin kept his eyes on her.

Li Qiao found it strange that, after the incense offering, she was still there.

Couldn’t she go back?

She felt relieved yet conflicted within her heart. If she stayed here forever, what about her parents?

"Qiaoqiao?" Qin Jin saw her zoning out and called out to her.

Li Qiao lifted her head, "Hmm? Do you want to offer incense?"

Qin Jin smiled, and his hanging heart settled. He could recognize that woman from a glance; the one in front of him was still his Qiaoqiao. "I asked for wealth, not for a romantic fate."

"....."

......

On the car ride home, the child snuggled in Qin Jin’s arms and fell asleep, and Li Qiao, tired from walking away, leaned on Qin Jin’s shoulder and drifted off unknowingly.

She had a dream.

In the dream, she returned to the day she went to offer incense with her cousin.

She hadn’t time-travelled. After leaving the temple, she bumped into a young man who looked exactly like Qin Jin,

He was dressed simply, with a tall and lean figure.

A group of people around him laughed.

She took a closer look.

Grandma was there too, and also her grandfather, whom she had never met, as well as her father-in-law and mother-in-law.

"Bumping into a pretty girl at the Matchmaker Temple, Jin, that’s destiny," said Old Mrs. Qin in the dream, smiling.

The Qin Jin in her dream appeared much more mature and colder than the one she knew, with a slight frown on his brow, "Grandma, don’t joke."

Old Mrs. Qin teased, "I am not joking, young lady. How old are you? Are you in college? What’s your WeChat?"

The version of her in the dream was also blushing profusely.

Then her world shook.

When she opened her eyes, Qin Jin was beside her, holding the awake child, and patting her shoulder gently, "Qiaoqiao, we’re home."

Li Qiao came back to her senses, looked at the old minibus, the simple rural scenes, and stood up from the seat to disembark.

Qin Jin: "Qiaoqiao, if you’re sleepy, you can sleep more once we’re home."

Li Qiao covered her mouth, yawning softly, thinking about the impressively vivid dream, "I just dreamt about you, and also about grandpa, father-in-law, and mother-in-law. Your whole family was visiting the Matchmaker Temple."

Qin Jin chuckled with his eyes curved, "That’s absurd."

Li Qiao laughed as well, hoping it was true – that another version of herself hadn’t time-travelled and could continue being with her parents. Moreover, she would meet Qin Jin, and his entire family would be there. "Because it was just a dream. Although in the dream, you seemed to be a few years older than now." He looked about twenty-four or twenty-five.

More charismatic than now.

Perhaps a successful person.

Because he had no girlfriend, could his relatives have taken him to pray to the gods and Buddha?

"Really? A few years older than me, you might not fancy me," said Qin Jin.

Li Qiao retorted, "That’s not necessarily true."

"....."

After arriving home, Li Qiao didn’t feel like napping anymore and sat in the yard, watching the sunset with the child.

Qin Jin was packing up: "The child’s clothes seem a bit small; should we leave them behind?"

Li Qiao: "Sure, he has more clothes than he can wear anyway. What time are we leaving tomorrow? Did you tell those people to bring their own bedding?"

Qin Jin: "I did. Just don’t know how many heard me."

Next door, Yu Feng passed by and saw through the gate that Qin Jin was tidying up inside the house. She went home and said to Peng Chunhua, "The Qin family next door is leaving tomorrow. They earn over a hundred a month. Your aunt Cuiying’s family used to be worse off than us, and this year they are even planning to build a tiled house. Your relationship with the Qin family has improved. Why not strike while the iron is hot and let them take you with them? I will definitely take good care of your child."

Peng Chunhua replied coldly, "Who would trust you? You can follow them if you want; nobody will stop you, but I won’t go." Although she didn’t have a hundred yuan, earning fifteen or sixteen a month back home was already quite good.

Why leave her child and home behind?

"You wasteful woman! You don’t even know how to make money when you can," Yu Feng pointed at Peng Chunhua’s nose and scolded her.

"....."

......