Chapter 33 Zhu Shi Notices

The next day, Qin Laotai got up and made breakfast on her own. She didn’t call Qin Zimu and Qin Ruo.

Instead, she wrapped two pastries in a handkerchief and snuck out.

Qin Ruo, who had spent the night in the space, saw Qin Laotai’s sneaky actions through the space.

Especially when she saw Qin Laotai looking at a basin of water, smiling one moment and then pretending to adjust the silver hairpin in her hair the next, Qin Ruo’s expression was indescribable.

Qin Laotai didn’t know that her actions were being watched by Qin Ruo.

She went out happily and headed straight for the village head.

Wherever there were people, she would go.

Last night, when Qin Ruo came back with a cart full of things, many people had seen it.

Now, seeing Qin Laotai, they all came up to greet her and try to get close to her.

Although everyone couldn’t see clearly what was in the cart last night, the partners from the Datong Township Grain and Oil Store had personally delivered it.

There was only one possibility: the Qin family had bought enough grain and oil.

“Old lady, have you made a fortune recently? Why did you buy so many things all of a sudden?”

An impatient woman couldn’t wait any longer and asked directly.

“What fortune? My girl went to Taihe County yesterday and happened to meet a noble lady’s mama who was out buying things. The old lady from that family and my girl got along well, and she was so happy that she gave us some things…”

“It’s nothing, nothing at all!”

Qin Laotai raised her chin, her eyes scanning the crowd before she said loudly.

While saying it was nothing, she deliberately adjusted the hairpin on her head several times.

“A noble lady? My goodness, your Qiuxi girl is really capable.”

“The wild game Quixi hunted must have sold for a lot of money, right? What did she hunt in the back mountain?”

“Old lady, did you find out? What kind of family is that noble lady’s? I heard they eat meat every meal…”

The people surrounding Qin Laotai asked, each one talking over the other.

Qin Laotai saw that no one had noticed the hairpin on her head, and she was suddenly unhappy.

She pulled a long face and suddenly didn’t want to talk anymore.

She had come out to show off, but these people were all focused on her family’s business, asking questions about everything. What was this?

Did she really not see what these people were up to?

“How much money can you make from wild game? If you could really make money, wouldn’t you all have encouraged your husbands to go up the mountain long ago?”

“The things that girl brought back were all gifts from the kind-hearted noble lady.”

Qin Laotai put her hands on her hips and returned to her usual “don’t mess with me” demeanor.

The people in the crowd secretly cursed Qin Laotai for being a cunning old fox. They had talked for so long and she hadn’t said anything.

If their husbands could hunt, would they need to listen to the old woman surnamed Qin? They would have all rushed to the back mountain long ago.

“Hey, old lady, this hairpin on your head looks like silver? Is it real?”

One of the women finally saw the hairpin in Qin Laotai’s hair and asked sourly.

“What real or fake? Qiu… Ruo girl brought it back as a gift for me. It was a gift from the noble lady in that mansion. Oh, the noble lady was so enthusiastic, my Ruo couldn’t refuse.”

Qin Laotai pretended to sigh calmly, then took out a handkerchief from her bosom, wrapping two pastries in it.

She showed them to everyone, took a bite, and continued to speak slowly.

“The old lady in that mansion is a kind person. She even had the maids in the mansion make some pastries and send them back to my girl.”

“You know, these things look quite precious, but they don’t fill you up. I don’t understand what those noble people are thinking. If it were me, I wouldn’t be willing to spend this money. Meat is so much tastier.”

Everyone: “…”

Old Lady Xie had shown off enough. She raised her head, her back straight, and went home with a satisfied heart.

“Disperse! Disperse! That old woman doesn’t tell the truth. I don’t believe any of this noble lady stuff. I think Qin Quixi must have found something good in the mountains and sold it for a good price.”

“Everyone is just focused on making money for themselves, and they don’t care about others.”

Someone spat at Qin Laotai’s back, their words laced with bitterness.

The others dared not respond.

That Qin family girl had said that Tian Shi’s good days were over, and she had really gone blind.

Wang Laoer’s family didn’t get any benefit and ended up paying five taels of silver.

Even Zhu Shi, who was known for her domineering and aggressive nature, hadn’t gotten any advantage. Zhang Dahua, who had tried to take advantage yesterday, had been beaten.

Now, hearing Qin Laotai say that even a noble lady had taken a liking to her, although Qin Laotai’s words seemed half-true and half-false, everyone had seen the pastries and the silver hairpin in her hair.

According to Qin Laotai’s nature, even if she had money, she wouldn’t be willing to buy such things.

That hairpin must have been worth several taels of silver. How could the Qin family afford it?

Could it be that the Qin family had really befriended a noble lady this time? So, did the Qin family girl have divine protection?

The people of Changhe Village had an innate reverence for ghosts and spirits.

They all had their own thoughts and soon dispersed.

As for Zhu Shi, she hadn’t slept well all night after hearing people say that the Qin family girl had brought back a cart full of things.

She had wanted to use the excuse that she had been kicked by Qin Ruo and injured to go to the Qin family and demand compensation for medicine.

But she was afraid of the fierce Qin Laotai and didn’t have the courage to go alone.

She wanted to wait for Zhao Dala to come back and go to the Qin family together.

Zhu Shi, who hadn’t closed her eyes all night, couldn’t sit still in the morning.

Zhao Dala hadn’t come back for several days, and Zhu Shi hadn’t really cared.

Now, she couldn’t wait any longer. She didn’t want to wait.

Burning with jealousy all night, she got up and didn’t even make breakfast.

Knowing her son’s usual habits, she rushed to the neighboring village to find the people who often hung out with Zhao Dala.

When she arrived in the neighboring village, Zhu Shi didn’t find Zhao Dala. She asked the people who often hung out with him, and they said they hadn’t seen him in days.

Zhu Shi immediately felt uneasy. The more she thought about it, the more wrong it felt.

Her son usually hung out with these people, and they all said they hadn’t seen him. Where could her son have gone?

Could it be that Wang Jiaojiao was telling the truth? Did her son really go into the mountains with Qin Quixi?

If it was true, that slut had come back, and her son…

It had been four or five days since her son left home.

There were wolves on Humpback Mountain! Qin Huaizheng had been taken away by a wolf.

Zhu Shi couldn’t care about extorting money from the Qin family anymore. Thinking that her only precious son might still be in danger on Humpback Mountain, she couldn’t calm down.

She trembled all over and stumbled towards Changhe Village. She had to go find Wang Jiaojiao and get to the bottom of it. Had her son really gone into the mountains?

She tripped and fell several times along the way, but Zhu Shi didn’t care.