The appearance of five rabbits brought great joy to everyone by the stream. Qin Erniu and the other boys surrounded the stool legs, asking where the rabbits were caught and if there were any more.
The women picked wild vegetables to prepare a meal, while the children played in the stream.
Zhao Liangcai searched for a while and finally found Qin Junyao and Axe, who were surrounded by horses.
Qin Junyao sat on the ground, clutching her back basket in a daze, while Axe continuously took grass from the basket to feed the horses.
"Brother, look, Xiao Fei and the others have eaten so much. Qin sister found so much grass for them."
"You must eat well, grow strong so you can carry me, and I want to grow strong too," Axe said, greeting his brother before continuing to feed grass to the surrounding horses and muttering to them. He didn't notice that the grass in the basket was decreasing.
Qin Junyao looked up and saw Zhao Liangcai. She got up, nodded, and was about to leave without a word, having emptied the grass from her basket.
"Miss Qin," Zhao Liangcai called out to Qin Junyao, who was about to leave.
Then, he took out the small brown rabbit from his embrace. "This is for you. I was a bit rude yesterday. Please forgive me, Miss Qin."
Forgive?
Qin Junyao didn't want to forgive him. Zhao Chui Zi had done it on purpose yesterday.
But.
The little rabbit was so cute.
Qin Junyao had no resistance to such fluffy animals.
She really wanted it.
"Brother, brother, give it to me, I want it, give it to me, give it to me," Axe looked at Qin Junyao, then dropped the grass in his hand and ran to Zhao Liangcai, reaching out for the little rabbit.
Zhao Liangcai lowered his head and gave his brother a meaningful look. Axe pretended not to see it and continued to hop, asking for the rabbit.
Qin Junyao looked at the tall man who couldn't do anything about his younger brother and suddenly found it amusing.
"Axe, I'll catch another one for you later," Zhao Liangcai said, crouching down to coax his brother, and quietly promised to catch two.
Whether Axe heard his brother's words was unknown, but his eyes were fixed on the rabbit in Zhao Liangcai's hand.
Seeing his brother crouch down, he suddenly lunged forward, snatched the little rabbit, and then ran to Qin Junyao.
"Qin sister likes it, I'll give it to sister," Axe, holding the rabbit with both hands and tilting his head, melted Qin Junyao's heart.
She rubbed Axe's little face and took the rabbit.
Zhao Liangcai, who was crouching there stunned, looked at Qin Junyao holding up the rabbit, said "Thanks," then grabbed his basket and left with Axe.
Watching the two walk away, Zhao Liangcai squatted on the spot and burst out laughing.
Qian Duo witnessed this scene from beginning to end, her hands clenched into fists.
Qin Junyao, holding the rabbit, became the most popular person among the children by the stream. She handed the rabbit to Axe, who then followed the Hou family's sons to play.
"Mom, is there enough wild vegetables?" Qin Junyao asked Qin Mu, who was blanching the rabbit meat.
"It's enough, but..." Qin Mu glanced around and then said to Qin Junyao, "But there's not enough chili."
"Is it okay if the dish is too spicy?" Qin Junyao remembered that after a long period of not eating, one needs to eat bland food.
Qin Mu waved her hand, "The chili is for the rabbit meat. We don't have much salt, and with so many people eating, we need to add more water. If there's less salt, it won't taste good, and adding some chili will make it better."
Qin Junyao listened intently.
Then she didn't understand.
In modern times, she had tried many times but never succeeded in cooking a dish. Now, she could only listen to Qin Mu and took out a few more red chilies from her back basket.
Seeing the chilies, Qin Mu looked around again. After confirming that it was only the Qin and Hou families around, she took the chilies.
Suddenly, the sound of a child crying came from their side.
Then, Qin Grandma walked over to Qin Mu, holding the ear of a small brown rabbit.
"This one will be cleaned and stewed as well. It's so small, don't cut it into pieces, stew it whole."
"Grandma, this isn't for eating," Qin Junyao quickly stepped forward and took the rabbit from Qin Grandma's hand, just as she had when she snatched it from Axe.
"If you don't eat it, what will you do with it?"
"Axe gave it to me, Grandma. You've made Hou Liang cry," Qin Junyao put the rabbit in the basket and pointed at the still crying child, who was the twin brother Axe had tricked.
Qin Grandma sat down on the ground carelessly and asked, "It's good for children to cry. Yaoyao, are you saying you want to raise it?"
"Yes, I'll raise it," Qin Junyao said affirmatively.
"Alright, I've never seen anyone raise a rabbit successfully. Go ahead and raise it. When it grows up, it can be another dish."
Qin Junyao now understood why Qin Grandma wasn't popular with the villagers; her words were truly unpleasant.
Fearing that Qin Grandma might still have her eye on the rabbit, she picked up her basket and moved away from the cooking area, thinking of collecting more firewood. She wanted to wash her hair.
"Sister Jun, I'm back," Sheng Yining hopped over to Qin Junyao. She had just taken her brother and grandfather to see the Ji Tou Huang Jing.
"How was it?" Qin Junyao asked about Sheng Yining's visit.
"My brother and I found a lot upstream, but they're a bit small. When they grow, we can come and pick them," Sheng Yining was happy that she could collect medicinal herbs again.
Qin Junyao was also very happy. If there were extras, she could dig them up and plant them in her space.
"Little rabbit, come out," Sheng Yining reached into the back basket and took out the small animal.
The poor rabbit, having been handled by so many people in such a short time, trembled and dared not move.
Sheng Yining found a blade of grass from the gaps in Qin Junyao's back basket and put it to the rabbit's mouth. She watched it eat with its ears perked up.
"Sister Jun, Qian Duo has been watching you," Sheng Yining's words made Qin Junyao pause. What did she mean by "has been watching her"?
Sheng Yining held the rabbit up to her eyes and said to Qin Junyao, "Look at me, then glance to your right, and you'll see her. Sister Jun, it really loves this grass."
Qin Junyao tilted her head slightly to the right and looked carefully. Indeed, Qian Duo appeared to be talking to Zhao Rui, but her eyes kept darting towards them.
She watched with such skill that Qin Junyao wouldn't have noticed if Sheng Yining hadn't told her.
"She was watching you when Sister Jun was talking to Grandma Qin. I saw it when I came back."
Sheng Yining was initially drawn by the child's cry, and then when she walked this way, she noticed a strange gaze, which led her to discover Qian Duo.
"How did Yuanyuan discover it?" Qin Junyao wasn't too concerned about being watched; in modern times, she was used to being stared at by most people and had become somewhat immune.
"Sister Jun, don't you remember?" Sheng Yining said, and a thin needle suddenly appeared at her fingertip.
Qin Junyao suddenly recalled. Sheng Yining had a cheerful round face. When she smiled, her eyes would not only form crescent moons but also a dimple on her left cheek, making her look like a well-behaved and cute little girl.
She had completely forgotten that this cute little girl had rendered one of the stool legs unable to move with a single move.
Qin Junyao gave Sheng Yining a thumbs-up. Then, when Qian Duo looked over again, she directly met her gaze.
Qian Duo was surprised for a moment, but then quickly nodded at Qin Junyao and smiled.