"Why are you yelling? Stand aside, you have no right to speak," Grandma Qin said irritably, annoyed that Qin Junyao had interrupted her lecturing her daughter-in-law.
"Eldest daughter-in-law, are you only thinking of sending half a rabbit now that the Hou family has bought us grain seeds?"
"Grandma, can't we discuss this while sitting?" Qin Junyao couldn't help but interject.
Qin Xiaoyu, kneeling, tugged at Qin Junyao's trouser leg, urging her not to speak. Grandma wasn't too angry yet, but if she truly got angry, she would hit people with things.
Hearing Qin Junyao's words, Grandma Qin suddenly stood up from the kàng, pointing her finger at Qin's mother, who was kneeling on the ground, "Sit and talk? Your mother has been kneeling on the ground for more than ten years, did she listen to what I said?"
"Anyone with eyes can see that the Hou family benefited from our family. They escaped all the way here without losing even their young great-grandson. Not only did they avoid military service, but three of them went to collect salt and earned nine hundred wen in a month."
"Buying us grain seeds was their way of repaying a favor. If you don't let them repay it, do you want them to owe it until they're in their coffins?"
Qin Junyao listened, dumbfounded. Was this how some people reasoned?
"Grandma, Old Uncle Hou brought his family of thirty-odd people and followed us all the way. They guarded and protected us along the journey. Isn't that a favor we should remember?"
"If others owe us, we must repay them. If we don't repay others? Grandma, doesn't that sound a bit unreasonable?"
"Besides, that half a rabbit was given by Fuzi."
Grandma Qin put her hands on her hips, paced a few steps, and pointed at Qin Junyao, "Rebellious, rebellious, you know nothing."
With that, she was about to hit Qin Junyao, but Qin's father stepped forward to block his mother.
Qin Sen also stood up and shielded Qin Junyao.
This was not the same elder niece as before. If his mother really hit her this time, she might not be able to keep this elder niece.
Qin Junyao calmly helped Qin's mother and her elder brother and younger sister up and led them out of the room, which made Grandma Qin even more agitated inside.
"Junyao, Xiaoyu, let me go. We have to let your grandma vent her anger. It's not that she begrudges that half a rabbit, it's that she resents me for not telling her," Qin's mother said with a choked sob, wanting her daughters to let go.
"Then why didn't you tell my grandma?" Qin Junyao let go and asked directly.
Without waiting for Qin's mother to answer, Qin Junyao said the answer herself, "Because if you had told her, Grandma wouldn't have agreed."
Qin's mother could only respond with a low sob.
The differences between people were evident in this matter.
Grandma Qin believed in taking advantage whenever possible, and favors did not exist.
If you help me, it's because you want to; if I help you, it depends on my mood; if you repay me, it's natural; if I repay you, it's impossible.
Qin Junyao was clear about money matters, and favors were separate.
Qin's mother was simpler: no one owed her anything, and she wouldn't feel comfortable even if she got a needle for free.
In the end, Qin's mother apologized to Grandma Qin, and the matter ended with Grandma Qin scolding her.
Seeing Qin's mother like this, Qin Junyao felt very uncomfortable. She didn't want to delve into the specific reason for her discomfort. Feeling restless, she took a basket and went to the mountaintop where she practiced the qin every morning.
The sunset forming a fiery cloud did not improve her mood. Sitting on the mountaintop, Qin Junyao habitually took out her qin case from the basket and began to play.
The clear notes of the qin made Zhao Liangcai and his brother, who were sitting on a large rock eating cucumbers and watching the sunset, dare not move rashly.
Fuzi, perched on Zhao Liangcai's shoulder, whispered in his brother's ear, "Brother, I'm scared."
Zhao Liangcai pulled Fuzi into his arms and gently patted his back.
Fuzi felt Qin Junyao's anger. Her anger seemed to be amplified tenfold through the qin music, and he felt as if he was being burned by the flames of rage.
Zhao Liangcai was almost stirred to the depths of his own emotions by the qin music. Fortunately, his younger brother in his arms constantly reminded him not to lose composure.
The negative emotions were vented through the qin music, and Qin Junyao calmed down considerably.
She looked up at the sun, which was about to set, and the villagers returning from their farm work. The music in her hands changed.
A soothing, tranquil melody flowed out. The joy and lightness of returning home after arduous labor made Fuzi leave Zhao Liangcai's embrace and sit back on the rock, nibbling on a cucumber with his feet dangling.
Zhao Liangcai's tensed muscles also relaxed. He leaned back on the rock, feeling a bit sleepy. Qin Junyao's qin music was more effective than any medicine he had taken. He made up his mind.
Qin Junyao, completely calm, returned home. Upon entering the room, she did not see Qin Xiaoyu's admiring gaze in the dim light and knew she had to accelerate her plan.
Around the Mid-Autumn Festival was the time to plant winter wheat. The Qin and Hou families had to clear land, plow, irrigate, and then sow.
Irrigation was a big problem. Most families in the village dug water cellars in suitable locations at the foot of the mountain to store water that flowed down from the mountains during rain. This was not only for use during droughts but also for convenient irrigation.
There were three wells in the village. During summer droughts, the water level of the wells would drop, and using well water for irrigation was prohibited.
Even if it were allowed, for irrigating a few mu of land, the long distance and slow water retrieval from the wells made water cellars closer and more convenient.
Without water cellars, the Qin and Hou families planned to cultivate less land this year, to understand the differences between here and their hometown, and to prepare for cultivating more next year.
While everyone was working, Qin Junyao secretly swapped half of each family's seeds with seeds from her space. She hoped these seeds would have a high germination rate and high yield, just like in her space.
She worked with them during the day and planted grain in her space at night.
Qin Junyao's current proficiency with farm tools would make anyone disbelieve that less than a month ago, she didn't even know that edamame and soybeans were from the same plant.
On the Mid-Autumn Festival, the fifteenth of August, Qin Lin returned home on leave. His skin was tanned dark, making his birthmark less noticeable.
The half sack of salt he brought back was enough for the Qin family to eat for half a year.
Qin Lin inquired from his fellow workers about the common winter vegetables here. There were only potatoes, sweet potatoes, and radishes; cabbage was rare.
This salt could be used now to pickle some preserved vegetables or to buy some cabbage in about a month to make sauerkraut.
Seeing so much salt given for free, Grandma Qin happily told Qin's mother to stew the air-dried rabbit. Despite her happiness, she still did not give Qin Junyao a pleasant look.
After everyone had finished asking Qin Lin their questions, Qin Junyao spoke to her second uncle alone.
"Second Uncle, what is the financial situation of the families of the people you worked with to collect salt?"
"They all seemed well-off, many of them eating fine grains," Qin Lin replied truthfully, thinking of those who did little work but ate a lot.
This was roughly what Qin Junyao had expected. Replacing military service with salt collection, without providing food or wages, meant that only families with sufficient means could afford to support one or even two people who ate for free.
"Second Uncle, do you all cook your own meals?" Qin Junyao asked again.
Qin Lin nodded.
Then Qin Junyao asked about the distance to the salt lake and the approximate number of people who collected salt together. With clear answers, she felt more confident.
The Mid-Autumn Festival was celebrated with a reunion dinner, and the next day, before dawn, Qin Lin went to the assembly point. There were special carriages to take them to the salt lake.
Qin Junyao also took a carriage to Salt County alone.