Qin Junyao's eyes flickered slightly. She smiled and stood up, walking to Grandma Qin's side. "Grandma, the soup in the kitchen is ready. We need to send it to Grandpa Hou."
Just as Grandma Qin was about to ask what soup it was, she suddenly remembered and clapped her thigh.
"Hua Niang, you two entertain yourselves. Grandma has an appointment and is leaving now."
Hua Niang glanced between Qin Junyao and Grandma Qin, then bowed and saw them off.
"Yaoyao, what happened?" Grandma Qin asked Qin Junyao in a low voice after they left the house.
"Yan Song said a strange convoy went to our house. My father and second uncle are probably in the fields, and only my mother and second aunt are home."
"Did Dengzi Tui go?"
Qin Junyao nodded. "He went. My mother wouldn't open the door, right?"
Grandma Qin narrowed her eyes. "Your mother will definitely open the door."
Qin's mother not only opened the door but also invited them into the courtyard.
"Drink some water quickly. My husband hasn't come back from the fields yet. Please wait a moment."
Sui Ren sat by the stone table in the courtyard, scanning the layout of the Qin family's home.
There were three tiled houses facing south, with gaps between each. It seemed they could be made into homes for three families by building walls.
The vegetable patch in front was enclosed by a wooden fence, separating it from the chickens roaming in the yard.
The livestock pen was large, indicating many large animals. He had heard the sound of pigs when he first entered the yard, and there were rabbits in a corner.
They truly were not lacking in grain.
Sui Ren picked up a porcelain cup. "Thank you, Sister-in-law. They say our Yangshu Village is blessed with talented people and abundant resources. I wonder if we can buy suitable land here."
Qin's mother poured another cup of water for Sui Ren's attendant. "There are still quite a few empty plots in the village. You should be able to buy some."
Sui Ren put down the cup without drinking. "That's good. Sister-in-law, may I take a look at the vegetable patch? It looked so lush and green from a distance, truly delightful."
"Of course. They are just ordinary vegetables for daily consumption, nothing special."
Sui Ren stood up and walked towards the vegetable patch. Through the gaps in the fence, he thought he saw watermelons.
Before he reached the fence, Dengzi Tui arrived with people at the Qin house.
"Madam Qin, do we have guests?"
Qin's mother smiled and replied, "Yan Song is here. He's come to our village to buy land and build a house."
Sui Ren turned around and nodded at Dengzi Tui. He had already seen what he wanted to see and no longer moved forward.
"The Sui family wants to buy land in this small village?" Dengzi Tui had seen the family crest on the carriage at the entrance and knew they were the Sui family members mentioned yesterday.
Sui Ren folded his opened fan and smiled at Dengzi Tui. "Your General has settled here, so it's not strange for me to want to build a house in this village."
"I am Sui Ren of the fifth branch of the Sui family. And this strong man?"
Seeing Sui Ren's polite demeanor, Dengzi Tui felt a pang of dislike.
He casually cupped his fist. "Yan Song, Guard of the Salt Army."
Sui Ren nodded. This was the lackey of Zhao Liangcai that Hua Guduo had mentioned.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, the two sat by the stone table in silence.
Qin's mother, feeling it inappropriate to stay in the courtyard, walked to the main entrance to wait for Qin's father to return.
Qin's father did not return first, but Qin Junyao and Grandma Qin did.
"Mother, Junyao, why are you here at this hour? Don't get heatstroke in this hot weather."
Grandma Qin frowned at the carriage by the entrance and walked closer to Qin's mother, asking in a low voice, "What did you say to the person who came?"
Qin's mother was unsure why her mother-in-law was asking, but she truthfully told her about her conversation with Sui Ren. After all, they hadn't spoken much, and she remembered it all.
Grandma Qin also asked what Sui Ren had done, and Qin's mother answered each question.
Inside the Sui family's carriage, Qian Duo, through a gap in the lifted curtain, glared hatefully at Grandma Qin and the grandmother-granddaughter pair, Qin Junyao.
Why were they living better and better, while she was about to retrace the steps of her previous life?
Everything was supposed to be calculated, but there was the Qin family, and Qin Junyao, this variable.
Seeing the wind blow through Qin Junyao's clothes, revealing the bulge of her abdomen, Qian Duo clenched her fist even tighter.
If you won't let me live, then let's all die together.
Qin Junyao and the others waited for Qin's father to return before entering the courtyard together.
As Dengzi Tui made introductions, Qin Junyao observed Sui Ren. Grandma Qin focused on Sui Ren's facial features and that fan.
After they introduced themselves, Sui Ren, Qin's father, and Dengzi Tui went inside to state their purpose. He wanted to inspect the land, and he also wanted to buy grain.
"Don't worry, Village Chief Qin. Our Sui family's grain store is honest and treats everyone equally. We will definitely offer a fair price."
"I inquired on the way here. Our Yangshu Village has had a great harvest, especially the Village Chief Qin's family."
Qin's father smiled at Sui Ren. "Boss Sui, the land I cultivate is not much, and besides, I've already sold all my grain."
Sui Ren fanned himself, thinking of the granary in the courtyard. "Sold it? To whom did you sell it, Village Chief Qin?"
"I sold it to my daughter."
Mentioning Qin Junyao, Sui Ren tapped his fingers on the table.
"So that's how it is. Then please, Village Chief Qin, inform the villagers that I am sincerely willing to buy grain. Each dou will be..."
While the people inside were discussing grain prices, Grandma Qin, sitting outside, kept her eyes fixed on the entrance. Qin Junyao tilted her ear, listening intently to the conversation inside.
"Yaoyao."
"Oh dear, Grandma, you scared me," Qin Junyao patted her chest. She was listening so intently that she almost lost her soul from fright.
"Why are you jumping? Did you figure anything out about that fellow surnamed Sui?"
Qin Junyao pondered for a moment. "He doesn't seem like a good person, and I feel uncomfortable when he looks at me."
"Tsk," Grandma Qin clicked her tongue. "He's not a good person at all. Look at his large nose; he's destined for wealth, but his lips are thin; he only cares about himself."
"Having money but only thinking of himself, tsk tsk."
Qin Junyao listened further to the conversation from inside and turned to Grandma Qin. "Grandma, he's not a good person just because of that?"
"Of course, it's not just that. He also has hollow cheeks and four-white eyes."
"Four-white eyes?" Qin Junyao heard a new term.
Grandma Qin took a sip of water and explained to Qin Junyao. "Have you heard of 'white-eyed wolf'? 'White-eyed wolf' refers to four-white eyes."
"When a person's eyeballs are black in the middle and white around, like a cross-eyed person, showing only one side of the white of the eye, it's called one-white eye. Most of us, showing white on both sides, are two-white eyes, and there's no major issue with that."
"Three-white eyes, in addition to the left and right, show white above or below. Four-white eyes show white all around."
"Such people are ruthless and vindictive, extremely difficult to get along with, and not suitable for association."
Qin Junyao suddenly understood. No wonder she felt something strange about Sui Ren. Whether he was smiling or not, he always squinted his eyes.
So it wasn't a lack of muscle strength in his eyelids, but rather that he didn't want people to notice he had four-white eyes.
Just as Qin Junyao was about to ask Grandma Qin how she discovered Sui Ren had four-white eyes, Grandma Qin continued, "Did you see that fan of his?"
"I did. It wasn't a paper fan, but a silk fan. It's the first time I've seen a folding fan used by a man made of silk."
"And did you see the fan pendant?"
Qin Junyao nodded. She had seen it. The beads were tortoiseshell, but she didn't recognize the one hanging at the very bottom.
"It's not surprising you don't recognize it. I only saw it once with my young lady. That is a turtle's head, the skull of a turtle."