The Qian family mother and daughter’s conversation was clearly heard by Qian Duo, who sneered inwardly. Zhao Liangcai was no longer the person they remembered.
She now realized she had approached Zhao Liangcai using the wrong method, but she wasn't sure what had gone wrong.
At least, her previous plan of using her beauty to make Zhao Liangcai fall for her first, and then using the information she knew in advance to make him dependent on her, had failed.
“Madam, Miss Zhao, Miss Qian, the rabbit is roasted,” a subordinate of Zhao Liangcai handed a rabbit, blackened and skewered on a branch, to the three people sitting there.
“What is this?” Zhao Rui asked the subordinate, looking at the roasted rabbit with its paws still hairy.
“Dinner.”
“Dinner?” Zhao Rui’s voice rose an octave.
“Yes, we don’t know how to cook, only how to roast rabbits. We eat this too,” the subordinate pointed to two other rabbits still on the fire.
The rabbits’ paws were also hairy. These rough men weren’t particular about their food, so no one ate the rabbit paws, and they were too lazy to peel the skin off.
Seeing that the Qian ladies didn’t take the rabbit, the subordinate simply stuck the branch with the roasted rabbit into the ground.
The roasted rabbit stood on the ground like a small black flag.
It had been going well for the two groups to join forces. Now, because of these three women, they had to eat roasted rabbit and might even be punished when they returned.
Zhao Liangcai’s subordinates were already dissatisfied with the Qian ladies after lunch.
The key to this was Zhao Liangcai’s attitude towards his wife and daughter, which gave them the courage to offend people.
“Mother, we’re back! There’s soup!” Fuzi ran ahead, followed by Zhao Liangcai and his subordinates, who were carrying bowls.
Zhao Liangcai was carrying two bowls of wild vegetable and mushroom soup, while his subordinates held a stew of roe deer meat and potatoes.
Qian shi nodded, seeing the soup and dishes in their hands.
Just as she was about to say something, Deng Zi walked quickly past her to his brothers.
Then, in front of Qian shi, he invited his brothers to start eating.
Qian shi’s group only had Zhao Liangcai’s two bowls of soup. Zhao Liangcai took a flatbread and drank one bowl himself, leaving only one.
This process was extremely fast. Qian shi and the other two watched helplessly as the fragrant delicacies entered other people’s mouths.
“Mother, drink your soup. Sister Qin gave me a lot of mushrooms,” Fuzi, seeing his older brother already eating, called out to his mother to eat.
Zhao Rui secretly nudged Qian shi. Qian shi smiled and stroked Fuzi’s face, “You’re so good, did your Qin sister only give you this bowl of soup?”
“Yes, my brothers helped catch the roe deer, so they have meat to eat. I helped pick mushrooms, so I have mushroom soup to drink. Mother, try it, it’s delicious.”
Fuzi believed that his bowl of soup was earned by his own hard work and didn’t envy others having meat to eat at all.
“Then, what about that bowl?” Zhao Rui couldn’t help but ask Zhao Liangcai about his bowl.
“Brother also helped catch the roe deer, but Brother wants to drink the soup I made and doesn’t want meat,” Fuzi said, then tilted his head and giggled at Zhao Liangcai.
Zhao Rui looked at the green, refreshing mushroom and wild vegetable soup dotted with a little oil in front of her, then at the roasted rabbit flag stuck in the ground, and smelled the aroma of roe deer meat from behind. Tears slowly filled her eyes.
“Mother~~” Zhao Rui whined pitifully and couldn’t help but cry.
She had been doted on since childhood, never suffered hardship, and grew up with pampered hands that couldn’t do chores.
Now her clothes were dirty, her hair was dirty, her legs hurt, her stomach was hungry, she had been scolded and beaten, she was so pitiful.
“Rui’er, Rui’er, don’t cry, mother will find a way, mother will find a way,” Qian shi hugged her daughter distressedly and comforted her.
Fuzi looked at his mother and sister hugging each other, bit his lip, lowered his head, and moved closer to his brother.
He felt that his mother truly cared for his sister and wasn’t happy about the soup he had earned.
“Eat quickly, it won’t be good to drink when it gets cold,” Zhao Liangcai reached out and tapped Fuzi’s head, not looking at the mother and daughter.
He found it amusing in his heart. Crying now? It’s just the beginning.
Qin Junyao, who was also holding a bowl and drinking soup, broke out in a sweat. The soup made from the mushrooms she picked was too delicious.
“Big sister, eat meat. If you don’t eat now, there won’t be any left,” Qin Erniu gnawed on a bone and reminded Qin Junyao, who was constantly drinking soup.
“Second brother, you eat. I like drinking this,” Qin Junyao had a bite of roe deer meat when the meal was ready, but it was a bit fishy. The soup was better.
“You’ll be hungry in the middle of the night if you eat like this. Hurry and eat a piece,” Qin Erniu tried to put food on Qin Junyao’s plate, but she dodged it.
She wouldn’t eat even if she was hungry; she just wanted to savor this delicious mushroom soup.
“Doctor Sheng said they will enter the mountains to collect medicinal herbs tomorrow and stay for a day. Sister-in-law, let’s go pick more mushrooms too, since Yao Yao likes them so much,” Qin Ershen put a piece of meat on Qin Xiaoyu’s plate and said to Qin Mu.
“Alright, tomorrow.”
“Miss Qin,” Qian shi’s voice sounded at the same time as Qin Mu’s.
“You’re eating? Miss Qin, Fuzi drank the soup and wants to eat meat, I was thinking…”
“Don’t think about it. Using children to get your way, if you want to eat, pay with money. One tael for vegetarian dishes, two taels for meat dishes, clearly priced, no cheating.”
Only Qin Grandma would speak like this.
“Two taels, right?”
“No ‘right.’ You’ve already paid for what you’ve eaten and used with wheat. Now it’s a fair transaction,” Qin Grandma didn’t give Qian shi a chance to speak. Eat it if you want, or don’t.
Qian shi remembered her daughter’s tear-streaked face.
She would buy it!
Qin Grandma was happy this time. This was a good business.
She personally got up and opened the lid of the pot. Inside were a vegetarian dish and a meat dish. Ignoring Qian shi’s expression, she took the five-tael silver note.
“Tsk, third brother, look how much this is. We don’t have change, so we’ll keep it for now to settle the debt next time,” Qin Grandma handed the silver note to Qin Sen, and gave Qian shi a rare smile.
Qian shi’s cheek twitched as she looked at the dishes in the pot. They were specially left for her. Fine, very fine.
After confirming the amount of money, Qin Grandma kindly asked Qin Da Niu to escort Qian shi back, so that she wouldn’t cheat them if she fell halfway and they couldn’t handle it.
With six taels of silver in the account, Qin Grandma’s evaluation of Zhao Liangcai immediately changed. This little god of death was good and fun to play with.
Sheng Yining watched the whole process and moved to Qin Junyao’s side, saying that her guess was correct. General Zhao was retaliating against his stepmother with a slow and steady approach.
Qin Junyao drank her soup and could only nod; she couldn’t add anything. This girl could be a storyteller instead of a doctor; she had a good imagination.
Tired from a day of work, they had a full meal at night. Everyone except those on watch went to bed early to rest.
Qin Junyao also entered her space to work.
She selected some long branches from the donkey cart, trimmed them with a knife, and inserted them next to the cucumber seedlings. After watering, she noticed that the cucumbers grew at a visible speed.
It seemed that the expansion of the space had shortened the growth time of plants.
As the cucumbers grew on their own, Qin Junyao carried a bucket and watered them.
When she saw the three plants she had planted next to the cilantro earliest, she began to doubt that the plant growth time had sped up.
These three plants had always been only knee-high, with unattractive flowers, and bore small red fruits. When the small red fruits fell to the ground, new seedlings emerged.
Qin Junyao had watered these three plants many times, but they neither grew nor died. They repeatedly flowered and fruited, and she didn’t know what they were.