"Village Chief, what money?"
"Weren't these old houses of ours forcibly occupied? If we don't give it, they'll arrest us."
"That's right, the cave dwelling my family dug a few years ago was also given up. The village chief said if we don't give way, the Salt Guard will capture us to dig salt."
With Zhao Liangcai present, Village Chief Hao didn't dare to speak carelessly. He could only lower his head and run home to discuss the matter with his wife.
He hadn't expected that Zhao Liangcai, who usually didn't speak to the villagers, would actually come back to meddle in their affairs today.
Village Chief Hao had originally intended to watch the Qin family's misfortune, but now he had become the center of attention.
As he left, he took more than half of the villagers with him. The other half, seeing Zhao Liangcai present, dared not stay any longer. The children had also been taken away by their families.
However, it was Qin Grandma who clearly remembered which family belonged to whom. Her family's food wasn't eaten for nothing, and the jar wasn't smashed for nothing.
The Hou family helped pick up the scattered firewood brought back by Qin's father and others. Qin Junyao turned to help but was stopped by Zhao Liangcai.
She thought that money that wasn't hers couldn't be kept. The money she had just received would be returned in the blink of an eye.
She followed Zhao Liangcai to where Xiao Fei was outside the courtyard. Xiao Fei, seeing Qin Junyao, affectionately leaned over, his long horse face rubbing against Qin Junyao's left hand, asking for grass.
"Xiao Fei likes you a lot. Did you go to Yan County today?" Zhao Liangcai asked, gesturing on his face. Qin Junyao still had the "disguise" drawn by Qin Grandma on her face.
"Yes," Qin Junyao patted Xiao Fei's face and then said to Zhao Liangcai, "I have something for you."
Zhao Liangcai smiled. He also had something to give Qin Junyao.
Walking to Xiao Fei's side, Zhao Liangcai took a roll of tanned hide from the horse's back and handed it over. Qin Junyao also extended the hand holding the silver notes.
"I hunted a lone wolf before. The hide is ready, you can make a vest to wear. The wind in the northwest is harsh..."
"Returning your silver."
Zhao Liangcai's words were interrupted by Qin Junyao's silver notes.
When he took the hide, he had wondered what Qin Junyao would give him. He never imagined it would be silver notes.
At that time, Zhao Liangcai didn't understand why he had Qin Junyao sign an IOU for five hundred taels. Later, he figured it out.
He wanted Qin Junyao to always owe him. If she didn't sign, he would have Qin Junyao's beloved qin, thus maintaining a connection between them.
But Qin Grandma had clearly asked him if he had feelings for Qin Junyao, so why was she returning his money?
Zhao Liangcai tucked the wolf hide under his arm, took the silver notes, and examined them closely.
They were real.
"Where did you get so much money?"
"Earned it. If you take the money, give me the IOU," Qin Junyao's outstretched hand did not retract, and she continued to ask Zhao Liangcai for the IOU. She wanted to finish this matter quickly and go home; it was too cold.
Zhao Liangcai looked down at Qin Junyao's slightly pale hands from the cold and opened the wolf hide under his arm, flinging it over Qin Junyao's shoulders.
The hide wrapped around her, and with a single hand grab, Qin Junyao was tightly enclosed by the wolf skin, unable to move.
Too thin.
This was Zhao Liangcai's first reaction. He had seen that Qin Junyao was thin, but he hadn't expected her to be so thin.
"What are you doing? Zhao Liangcai, let me go!" Qin Junyao's struggles were useless.
Zhao Liangcai extended his right hand to prevent Qin Junyao from kicking him and asked, holding the silver notes in his left hand, "How did you earn it? How did you earn five hundred taels in such a short time?"
"I don't steal or rob. Did you need to manage money I earned legally and legitimately? Who do you think you are? Let me go quickly."
"Who am I? I am your future husband. Do you think I shouldn't manage it?" Zhao Liangcai worried that Qin Junyao had sold herself to earn this money.
He felt it wasn't the case but hoped it wasn't. However, he couldn't think of any legitimate way Qin Junyao could have earned it. This feeling was complicated.
Husband?
Qin Junyao was stunned when she heard the word. Then, she lifted her legs to kick Zhao Liangcai.
However, she had underestimated the man's strength. She didn't manage to kick him, but instead, he lifted her with one arm, and her feet left the ground.
"Second Brother, help me!"
"Second Brother!!"
With her feet off the ground, Qin Junyao's intelligence reasserted itself, and she shouted for help, perhaps the loudest she had ever been in her memory.
Zhao Liangcai hadn't expected Qin Junyao to suddenly call out. He panicked.
He quickly put her down, stuffed the silver notes into his pocket, and ran away with Xiao Fei.
"Zhao Chui Zi, stop! Give me back my things!" Qin Junyao threw off the wolf skin and chased after Zhao Liangcai. However, even with a pair of legs, she couldn't catch up with the man running faster and faster.
Zhao Liangcai heard Qin Junyao's shouts and looked back, waving, "See you tomorrow at the mountaintop where you play the qin."
"See my grandmother's leg!!"
Qin Junyao was going mad with anger. How could she have thought Zhao Liangcai, who was helping them, was a good person? He was just a lunatic.
A lunatic!!!
"Little Sister, who wants your life?" Qin Er Niu ran over with a cleaver and asked Qin Junyao.
He had been in the kitchen helping his aunt divide the pork when he heard the shouts and ran out. Qin Mother and others followed him.
Qin Junyao, panting, watched the man and horse disappear into the distance. Clenching her fists, she turned and said "beast" through gritted teeth before walking home.
Beast?
Qin Er Niu looked at Xiao Fei, who was running halfway up the mountain, and wondered if the big black horse, Xiao Fei, had bitten his little sister.
Back home, lying on the kang, Qin Junyao grew angrier the more she thought about it. How could she be so stupid? She was too stupid; there was no one more stupid than her in the world.
She closed her eyes and pretended to sleep, then entered her space to work and play the qin.
In the kitchen, Qin Mother, washing pig intestines, asked her youngest daughter, "Xiao Yu, is your sister asleep?"
Qin Xiao Yu was putting wood ash into the basin for washing pig intestines. "She's asleep, Mother. Are we eating meat tonight?"
"We'll save the meat for the New Year. This will be eaten when your second uncle returns tomorrow."
"No need to add more, it's enough."
"Oh," Qin Xiao Yu squatted down to help Qin Mother scrub.
"Mother, you can't give away food to others next time. I don't even have any to eat."
Qin Xiao Yu's words made Qin Mother pause in her movements. She couldn't make any promises to her daughter. She couldn't bear to see children beg her; she couldn't be heartless. She knew there was grain at home...
In another room, Qin Grandma was spreading the wolf hide left by Zhao Liangcai on the kang.
"Mother, this is General Zhao's. Shall we send it back?" Qin Sen leaned on the kang. Even though his room was the warmest, he still shivered occasionally from the cold.
"Send it back for what? He left it here, so it's ours. Besides, he'll be our grandson-in-law in the future. Can't I have a wolf hide?" Qin Grandma spread another cloth over the wolf hide and let Qin Sen lie on it.
"Mother, let me sit a while longer. If I lie down, I won't have the strength to get up."
"It's not suitable for Junyao to marry into the Zhao family. They are not of equal social standing."
Qin Grandma sat on the edge of the kang and patted her pants. "What equal social standing? Little Chui Zi also came from humble beginnings."
"Matching social standing is about rules and upbringing. If everyone is from humble beginnings, who would look down on whom? I haven't even complained that he has no parents."
"Besides, is Yao Yao an ordinary person? She was enlightened by a Bodhisattva. It would be his good fortune to marry her."
Qin Sen gave a weak smile. "Mother, do you really believe Junyao was enlightened by a Bodhisattva?"