Things were put away. Grandma Qin asked the Hou family to go back, and after Mother Qin gathered everyone who had gone out, she started to roam around the house.
She needed to know what was there and what was missing.
Qin Junyao, carrying a large bundle, went to see Qin Sen.
“Third Uncle, are you doing better recently?”
“My eldest niece is back, I’m much better. Where’s your grandma?” Qin Sen leaned on the kang, looking less pained than when Qin Junyao had left.
Qin Junyao glanced outside, “She’s in the kitchen.”
“Does your uncle’s body still hurt?” Qin Junyao asked Qin Sen as she untied the bundle.
“It still hurts, but it’s much better than before. Junyao, thank you.”
Qin Junyao smiled slightly, “As long as you remember my kindness and don’t look at me with suspicion all the time, come and see what I’ve brought back.”
Brushes, ink, paper, inkstones, a stack of books, a set of carving knives, and several pieces of Qingtian stone were laid out on the kang one by one.
“What is this?” Qin Sen didn’t know what Qin Junyao intended to do with these items.
“I’m acting first and reporting later. My mother and my second aunt are doing well with their snack stalls. They have good tempers and optimistic attitudes. My father and my eldest brother are honest and hardworking, but they are a bit simple-minded. It’s better to focus on farming first.”
“Then, this is for you.” Qin Junyao pushed the items on the kang towards Qin Sen.
“Seal carving. It’s what I can think of that’s suitable for you to do, Third Uncle. One of these books is about seal carving, two are calligraphy copybooks, and the rest are primers for learning.”
Qin Sen touched the items on the kang one by one with his hand. “Eldest niece wants me to learn to carve seals and test for official position?”
Qin Junyao waved her hands repeatedly, “No, no, no. My ideas are not important. Your own ideas are what matter. However, after this winter, you will be like a normal person. You can’t go begging all your life.”
After speaking, she sniffled, smelling the less-than-pleasant odor in the room.
Qin Sen was stunned by his niece’s words at first. Then, looking at Qin Junyao’s actions, he covered his forehead and laughed. As he laughed, he started to cry.
To be like a normal person, he had always wanted to be like a normal person.
Qin Junyao looked at her third uncle, who was sobbing on the kang. He was only eighteen years old, an age full of vitality, yet he had to lie on the kang unable to move every winter.
“What are you crying about?”
With Grandma Qin’s appearance, all the touching and emotional sentiments vanished.
Qin Sen took a while to compose himself and got up. His already dirty face became even dirtier.
“Mother, it’s nothing. I won’t have this illness next year.”
“Hmph. What you’re drinking now isn’t medicine, it’s money. How can it not get better? There’s hot water here, wash yourself. I bought you a mask.”
Upon hearing his mother’s words, Qin Sen clenched his fist. After hesitating for a moment, he nodded. Sudan Fiction Network
Qin Junyao thought that she would finally get to see Qin Sen’s true face. What kind of appearance was so unbearable to behold?
Mother Qin and the others hadn’t returned yet, so the three of them sat together and chatted more.
“By the way, Third, did your second brother bring back any seeds?” Grandma Qin was asking about the seeds of Cistanche deserticola.
“He did. He exchanged some for grain. My second brother will be back the day after tomorrow and won’t leave again. He’ll start working on the sixth day of the new year.”
Grandma Qin nodded. It was good that he was back. With the return of her second son, all three sons of the Hou family would be back. With four capable men, it would be easier to deal with others taking Cistanche deserticola from their family.
Qin Sen held a piece of Qingtian stone, rubbing it. Seeing his mother lost in thought, he turned to ask Qin Junyao.
“Eldest niece, my two sisters-in-law sell food, my eldest brother and Da Niu farm, and I study. What should your second brother do?”
He knew that Qin Junyao was relatively close to Qin Er Niu in the family. Since Qin Junyao could consider a future for him, who often doubted her, why would she forget her second brother?
“This is just my personal opinion, and you don’t have to follow it. But regarding my second brother, I do have a small suggestion.”
Qin Sen sat up straight. “Tell me.”
“Learn martial arts.”
Upon hearing the words “learn martial arts,” Grandma Qin gave Qin Junyao a big roll of her eyes. “Are you rich enough to burn money? The wealthy study literature, the poor practice martial arts. Learning martial arts requires a good body. The expenses alone could empty the family.”
“If Er Niu were to take a master, he would still be disliked by the master. How much tribute would he have to pay for someone to willingly teach him diligently?”
“Grandma, why would I be disliked by a master? I want to learn martial arts.” Qin Er Niu appeared at the doorway at some point, having heard Grandma Qin’s words completely.
“Learn what nonsense! I heard Xiao Yu say that a certain old woman took the family’s meat. You can’t even defeat an old woman, so what are you learning?”
Qin Er Niu walked into the room and stood opposite Grandma Qin. “Grandma, that Sun Pozi came with people. My third brother, Hou Si Shu, and I combined couldn’t defeat them.”
“Hmph, that depends on whether you know how to fight. You all only know how to use brute force and not your brains.”
Qin Er Niu couldn’t refute Grandma Qin’s words. When it came to fighting, they really didn’t have as many tricks as Grandma Qin. The key was that his grandma would stoop to any level; she would use any tactic to win.
Gradually, Father Qin and Second Aunt Qin returned home. Qin Xiao Yu, having returned from somewhere unknown, hid behind Qin San Niu and secretly observed her grandmother’s expression.
“Everyone’s back. Xiao Yu said that the Zhou family sent meat, and the old woman from Fu Zi’s family took meat. Who can explain and tell me the whole story from beginning to end?”
With Mother Qin’s main narration and the supplements from others, Grandma Qin and Qin Junyao learned the whole story.
This matter started with Zhao Liangcai.
He knew that the village’s grain had been confiscated, and every family was short of food. He also didn’t have much grain stored in his own residence.
Therefore, he and Suo Zi ordered one hundred sheep from a sheep farmer. Besides eating them himself, he could also reward his subordinates.
He privately wanted to get closer to the Qin family by sending them sheep.
Unexpectedly, Zhao Liangcai suddenly received news and had to rush to Xicheng. Fu Zi, unwilling to be managed by his mother at home, begged Mr. Zheng to take him out to play, and Grandma Ma followed them to take care of them.
Thus, the person in charge of the Zhao family became Madam Qian.
Zhao Liangcai could only entrust the matter of the sheep to Suo Zi’s family. As the end of the year approached, they would send a sheep to the Qin family every few days. The people in the camp also sent rabbits to the Qin family, and they would bring a few sheep along.
This matter was then known to Madam Qian.
Zhao Liangcai had not allowed her to manage the household and had even reduced her allowance compared to before. Madam Qian, in order to maintain her good image, often had to support villagers who came to ask for favors.
Therefore, she set her sights on the Qin family, who received sheep for free.
After the Zhou family sent two sheep to the Qin family, she sent Sun Pozi with her retainers to the Qin family to demand the sheep.
Using the excuse that the sheep were gifts from General Zhao to his subordinates and were sent to the wrong household, they not only took away the two sheep but also all the preserved meat from the house.
“Useless! All of you are useless!” Grandma Qin was so angry that she stood on the kang and cursed.
“If the sheep can’t be kept, fine. But that meat is our family’s. Can we let others snatch our own things?”
“Are you all looking at Yao Yao buying meat so readily and thinking you can all rely on her for a living from now on?”
“If there’s no more, should we ask Yao Yao to buy more?”