Chapter 75.2

When the Wan family entered Kaoshan Village, many people saw them.

The timing happened to coincide with the team clearing snow from the roads in the village as they finished their work.

Everyone was about to return to their own homes, having worked all morning, doing physical labor, and feeling both tired and hungry.

But when the crowd turned around, they saw the Wan family carrying large gifts.

“Hey, aren’t these relatives of the Old Qin Family? It’s been over a year since we’ve seen them. What made you remember there were relatives from your family in Kaoshan Village?”

Some people, seeing Wan Mingxi and the others, began to mock them.

These people had also gone to the Hongqi farm to fight, so they knew a bit about the enmity between the Qin Qingman family and the Wan family.

Even those who hadn’t fought knew how unscrupulous the Wan family was.

So, as soon as one person mocked Wan Mingxi, another person spoke up, “Isn’t this the Old Qin Family’s brother-in-law? I heard your family had already moved to the Hongqi farm. You’ve been gone for over a year and never informed the Old Qin Family. Why suddenly come to visit today? Is the sun rising from the west?”

“Could it be that you heard Qin Qingman’s doing well in her marriage and decided to come around?”

“I heard that when the old Qin couple had their memorial day, none of the Wan family visited. Now, suddenly, you come, could it be because you see the Qin family doing well and want a piece of the pie?”

“I heard that you, the Wan family, followed the wrong master and are having a tough time at the farm. Now you come to Kaoshan Village; could it be that you’re planning to plot against the Qin family? After all, the Qin family has someone who’s now a Colonel in the Military Unit.”

“Yeah, Old Wan family, you didn’t come today with good intentions, did you?”

Recently, Qin Qingman had gotten along well with the people in the village, and as soon as they saw the Wan family, everyone immediately became alert. Their words were filled with subtle probes and mockery directed at the Wan family.

The Wan family immediately turned red with anger.

Although their meaning was clear, having it directly pointed out was like a slap in the face.

“Qin Qingman’s uncle, if I were you, I’d say you shouldn’t even bother coming. If I were you, I’d be too ashamed to show my face. Look at you, when Big Sister and Brother-in-law passed, you didn’t even acknowledge your two nephews. Now that your family’s down on its luck, you see that your nephew is doing well and come around to cause trouble. You’re really shameless.”

The people of Kaoshan Village not only had strong fighting skills but also knew how to hurl insults and hurtful words.

They nearly drove Wan Mingxi and the others to the brink of anger.

Wan Lin was the angriest.

As a young woman, she had never suffered such humiliation or been spoken to in such a manner.

Wan Mingxi and the others didn’t know how to respond to the people of Kaoshan Village and could only walk with stiff faces toward the Qin family. At worst, they’d just ignore these barbed comments, dismissing them as jealousy from these people who envied that the Wan family had such good relatives.

“Qin Qingman’s uncle, we have to say, we really admire your family’s shamelessness. With your thick skin, we can’t even learn it, nor would we want to. Hahaha—”

Someone laughed.

Others joined in the mockery, “That’s right, Qin Qingman’s uncle, your family has taken opportunism to the extreme. You really think Qin Qingman and her brother would forgive you? If I were Qin Qingman, I’d use a broom to chase you out of the village, so you wouldn’t dirty our land.”

“Exactly, you’re despicable. When Qin Qingman and her brother were struggling, you didn’t lend a hand, but now that they’re doing better, you come crawling to get in good with them. You’ve got no shame, no self-respect.”

“We have no respect for you.”

Most of the snow-clearing team in Kaoshan Village were young people, sharp-tongued, and they didn’t hold back in their harsh words towards the Wan family.

This immediately angered the Wan family, but they couldn’t argue back.

Because everything the villagers said was true.

Moreover, the Wan family could also hear the villagers’ protective tone toward Qin Qingman. With a glance exchanged between them, Wan Liang and his parents were even more determined not to give up on their pursuit of Qin Qingman.

They had already reached a dead end at the Hongqi farm. They had endured countless taunts and torment, so these few harsh words from the people of Kaoshan Village didn’t faze them. They could easily ignore them, pretending they hadn’t heard anything.

Wan Mingxi and Wan Liang chose to endure and move forward in silence.

Wan Lin, however, was furious and couldn’t hold back. She retorted, “This is our family’s business with the Qin family, what does it have to do with you? If you have the guts, go and get involved with Qin Qingman too! If you don’t, shut up. Stop staring at us with envy, getting so twisted because of it.”

“Envy you?”

Hearing Wan Lin respond, someone immediately fired back, “What would we envy about you? Envy your shamelessness, or envy your thick skin? You can’t even make a living at the Hongqi farm, and you still don’t know how to be modest. What kind of relatives are you? Anyone who has people like you in their family is really out of luck.”

“Exactly, you say we’re jealous? Do you have any shame, Wan family? Even though Qin Qingman isn’t blood-related to us, she’s one of us from Kaoshan Village, whether alive or dead. We have a natural bond with her.”

“You think we’re like you, always scheming for profit? Always calculating how to take advantage of others? It’s no wonder you’ve ended up like this. Frankly, you deserve it.”

“Yeah, you deserve it.”

“You’ve taken everything from the Qin family, used them, and now you’re bullying them? Heaven’s not blind—what’s happening to you now is retribution. You deserve to eat dirt and do all the filthy, tiring work.”

“Don’t worry about our relationship with Qin Qingman. That’s our business. You all must be really bored. The emperor isn’t in a hurry, but the eunuch is. You’re rushing to act like eunuchs, but no one’s going to thank you for it. Why bother being so clever?”

Xu Lianhua, seeing her daughter being bullied, couldn’t suppress her anger any longer.

“Who are you calling a eunuch?”

The people from Kaoshan Village were enraged.

“Whoever’s anxious is a eunuch!” Wan Lin wasn’t backing down. With Xu Lianhua supporting her, she became even more vocal.

“A young unmarried girl knows what a eunuch is?”

“Maybe she knows better than we do!”

If Wan Lin hadn’t retorted, the people of Kaoshan Village would have just mocked them and moved on. But since the Wan family still acted high and mighty despite their current situation, many people couldn’t stand it and began to lash out at them.

After all, the snow-clearing team not only had male comrades, but also several married female comrades who had come to replace their families in clearing the snow.

The married women weren’t concerned at all about arguing with an unmarried girl.

In any case, it wasn’t their reputation on the line.

This stirred up a lot of noise. One person spoke out, then another, all defending Qin Qingman and her brother.

Qin Qingman had learned that the Wan family came to Kaoshan Village to apologize through Sanmu, who had come to deliver the message.

Sanmu, at four years old, was healthy and taller than his peers, even taller than the five-year-old Chuchu. He had originally gone to call his father home for dinner, but when he saw a group of people surrounding the Wan family and arguing in the center of the village, the little guy quickly turned around and ran to Qin’s house.

Qin Qingman hadn’t expected that before the Wan family could even come to upset her, they were already being blocked by the villagers in the village center.

She gave Sanmu some nuts and two pieces of White Rabbit milk candies before putting on her padded coat.

Before leaving, she told Chuchu, “You stay home with Dudu. I’ll be back soon.”

“Got it, sis.” Chuchu, holding Dudu, reluctantly watched Qin Qingman’s figure disappear. He also wanted to go and see the commotion.

“Qin Qingman, remember to tell my dad that my mom said he should hurry home for dinner,” Sanmu, now distracted with his new playmate, decided not to bother calling his father back for dinner and entrusted the message to Qin Qingman instead.

“Sure, I’ll pass it along.”

Qin Qingman smiled, waved to Sanmu, then wrapped her padded coat tightly around her and walked toward the village.

“Chuchu, do you want to go see the commotion?” Sanmu, being a restless child, noticed Chuchu’s desire to go out and casually asked.

“My sister told me to stay home.” Chuchu glanced at Sanmu.

Sanmu was one of the playmates Chuchu got along with best in the village, and he trusted him.

“Your sister just wants you to take good care of the little puppy. How about we secretly take a distant look?” Sanmu reached out to touch the wolf cub in Chuchu’s arms. He was just like his father—unable to resist reaching out to touch anything he found interesting.

The wolf cub wouldn’t even let Chuchu touch it, so it definitely wasn’t willing to let Sanmu touch it.

Turning around, the little tail immediately swung back fiercely.

“Smack—” A crisp sound of a whip echoed.

Sanmu and Chuchu both looked at the hand that had caused the incident.

The wolf cub was still a small pup, so even though it could be fierce, its strength wasn’t great. This time, it only managed to make Sanmu’s hand a little red.

“Dudu doesn’t like strangers touching it.” Chuchu quickly held Dudu tighter, worried that Dudu would leap out and bite Sanmu.

Although the wolf cub hadn’t grown its teeth yet, it was already feisty. If it couldn’t deal with Sanmu, it would likely take out its frustration on him. To ensure a peaceful night’s sleep, Chuchu had to prevent any possible conflict between Sanmu and Dudu.

Upon hearing Chuchu, Sanmu glanced at Dudu with regret.

Then his eyes brightened. “Chuchu, let’s go out and take a look. The village is so lively. There are so many people gathered around. It must be really interesting.”

Sanmu was a curious child, and Chuchu also liked to gather gossip.

After some hesitation, Chuchu finally agreed to go out and take a quick look.

Since they were going out, they had to make sure Dudu was settled. Chuchu remembered Dudu’s mischief last time and felt a headache coming on. A wolf cub that could climb onto the roof beams would definitely cause trouble if left alone at home.

“Let’s just take it with us. After all, the little puppy can’t run too far.”

Sanmu had seen the wolf cub once and knew how short its legs were.

“Aw woo woo—” Dudu sensed that Chuchu was about to go out. Not only did it howl, but all four of its paws tightly gripped Chuchu’s clothes, and its head burrowed straight into Chuchu’s arms.

It was clearly preparing to follow them out.

“Alright, bring it along,” Chuchu finally made the decision.

Wrapping up in thick cotton clothes, Chuchu tucked Dudu into his arms. Fortunately, the cotton clothes were large enough, so the wolf cub could still fit inside.

This was Dudu’s first time going out on a snowy day.

Its plump body only allowed its round little head to peek out from Chuchu’s collar, curiously observing the outside world.

“Don’t make trouble. If you do, I won’t take you out next time.”

Chuchu closed the door and windows before heading out with Sanmu. Before leaving, he even gently patted Dudu’s bottom as a warning.

“Wuwuwu—”

Dudu dismissed Chuchu’s warning, its round, curious eyes taking in the new world.

It was all snow and ice, with many houses scattered around. These houses were completely different from the ones it had seen when living in the mountains. It could also smell a lot of different scents—some pleasant, others not so much.

The various smells mixed together, making its nose uncomfortable.

The wolf cub secretly rubbed its nose against Chuchu’s collar, then sneezed a tiny sneeze, immediately attracting two pairs of eyes.

“Dudu, you can’t make any noise, or Big Sister will find out about us.”

Chuchu whispered to the wolf cub.

Dudu arrogantly lifted its head, then quickly snatched the White Rabbit milk candy from Chuchu’s palm and popped it into its mouth.

“Chuchu, you’re so good to your dog,” Sanmu looked at the wolf cub with envy and jealousy. The White Rabbit milk candy that Qin Qingman had given him, he had never wanted to eat, but now Chuchu was feeding it to a dog. In that moment, Sanmu almost wished he were a dog in the Qin family.

Chuchu nearly got goosebumps from Sanmu’s gaze. He pushed Sanmu’s face away a little and explained, “My sister said eating too much candy will give you worms, so I gave it to Dudu. Dudu hasn’t grown teeth yet.”

He said it more to reassure himself.

Chuchu knew very well that if he didn’t give the wolf cub candy, it definitely wouldn’t cooperate with him.

This was the old saying: If you want to catch a wolf, you must be willing to spoil the child.

When Qin Qingman arrived at the center of the village, there were layers of people surrounding the area.

She didn’t immediately walk into the crowd, but instead stood quietly in place, listening for a while. With the verbal clash between Wan Lin and the villagers, she soon understood why the Wan family had come, and why Wan Lin had followed.

It was too easy to guess. Wan Lin wasn’t very deep, and a few harsh words were enough to make her lose some of her reservations. Though she was still being held back by Wan Liang, Qin Qingman knew who she was dealing with.

In her past life, she had dealt with countless people, and just from a slight hint from Wan Lin, she knew that the Wan family’s visit wasn’t only about changing their situation on the farm. They were also calculating how to get someone from the Wei Ling Military Unit involved.

They had seen that she had married someone from Wei Ling, and were now envious, hoping to marry Wan Lin off to a soldier.

Qin Qingman couldn’t help but smile.

Wan Lin was a very proud person who looked down on most people, and she had been spoiled by the Wan family, developing a bit of a princess syndrome. 

She always thought everyone should revolve around her.

Therefore, Qin Qingman would absolutely not introduce people like Du Hongyi to Wan Lin. Du Hongyi and his friends deserved better girls, not someone like Wan Lin, who had princess syndrome but wasn’t truly a princess.

Yes, Wan Lin was indeed a snob.

Living among such people, how could she expect anything good?

“Make way, make way, Qingman’s here!” Someone with sharp eyes spotted Qin Qingman’s figure.

Instantly, the once lively scene fell completely silent.

Everyone turned to look at Qin Qingman.