Chapter 2

Today’s Qin Qingman not only dared to lift her head and look at people, but also dared to speak to the sharp-tongued Zhu Hongxia, saying, “Second aunt, my family has no firewood left. Could you please return the firewood you borrowed from us? If you don’t, my family will freeze to death.”

Originally, Zhu Hongxia had intended to continue with her evasive tactics or try to use words to pressure the thin-skinned Qin Qingman, but as soon as Qin Qingman clearly spoke, she couldn’t find a point to refute.

The onlookers’ gazes toward Qin Qingman became even more different.

“By the way, second aunt, I remember you also borrowed a hundred pounds of flour from my family. Considering that Chuchu and I are about to starve, could you kindly return both the food and the firewood?” Qin Qingman shook the cloth bag she was holding as she spoke.

Since she had come into this life, she had no intention of living the same humiliated life as the original owner.

“When did my family borrow flour from yours? Don’t make up nonsense!” Zhu Hongxia, who had been thinking about how to get the firewood back from Qin Qingman, was now caught off guard by the mention of returning food.

At this time, every family had little extra grain, and it was unthinkable to return borrowed food!

Qin Qingman had long known that Zhu Hongxia would try to avoid repaying, so she pulled out a piece of paper from her chest, waved it, and said, “Second aunt, when you borrowed the food from my family, you wrote a promissory note. It’s in black and white; I’m not making things up.”

“Impossible! When I took the grain, I never wrote any promissory note!” Zhu Hongxia argued indignantly.

Because she found a point to argue with, she said this loudly, so that everyone present could hear.

Faced with the self-incrimination, the onlookers looked at Zhu Hongxia as if they were looking at a fool.

Qin Qingman had been waiting for this moment. Seeing Zhu Hongxia’s inadvertent confession, she turned her gaze to the side, her expression respectful as she said, “Secretary, my parents are no longer here, and there is no elder to speak on my behalf. Today, I dare to ask you to seek justice and urge my second aunt to return the food and firewood to my family.”

Hearing Qin Qingman’s words, both Zhu Hongxia and the villagers turned their gaze toward her.

Then, they saw Zheng Anguo, the secretary of Kaoshan Village.

Zheng Anguo was no ordinary person. He was a retired soldier who had not only participated in the War of Resistance against Japan but also made significant contributions during the Chinese Liberation. He had always been a respected figure in the village.

Faced with the imposing Zheng Anguo, both Zhu Hongxia and the villagers felt guilty. The main reason was that Zheng Anguo held tremendous power and was an authoritative figure in Kaoshan Village. Yet, Zheng Anguo was known for his integrity, and even during these special times, there had never been any extreme or corrupt behavior in their village.

“Secretary…”

Zhu Hongxia, whose guilt had reached its peak, did not dare to look Zheng Anguo in the eye.

“Qin Lei’s family, how much grain did you borrow from Qin Qingman’s family?” Zheng Anguo, in his fifties, was in excellent physical condition. He would take a walk around the village every morning, and whenever he encountered any trouble, he made sure to intervene. Today, Zhu Hongxia had picked the wrong time to confront him.

“F… fifty jin.” Zhu Hongxia’s voice was barely audible.

“Speak up! How much do you owe?” Zheng Anguo’s sharp rebuke echoed. He wasn’t new to the scene—he had heard the entire conversation between Zhu Hongxia and Qin Qingman, and understood the situation clearly.

He hated being deceived more than anything in this life.

Zheng Anguo’s reprimand was so loud that it immediately frightened Zhu Hongxia, causing her to tremble and turn red in the face. She no longer dared to hold onto any hope of getting away with it and finally confessed, “I… I borrowed a hundred jin.”

Seeing that Zhu Hongxia had finally confessed, Zheng Anguo was satisfied. He then ordered, “Go get the grain and return it.”

“Se… Secretary, my family really doesn’t have much grain left. If we return a hundred jin, we won’t survive this winter. We’ll starve to death!” Zhu Hongxia gathered the courage to plead with Zheng Anguo.

Qin Qingman had finally found someone to make decisions, so she wasn’t going to let Zhu Hongxia off the hook so easily.

She stretched out her hand, which was red from the cold, wiped away the nonexistent tears at the corner of her eye, and spoke with a quiver in her voice, “Second aunt, if you don’t return the grain today, Chuchu and I really will starve to death. My family doesn’t have a single grain left. If you don’t believe me, you can go see for yourselves. I swear to heaven, if there’s even a single grain left in the house, I won’t have a good end.”

Faced with Qin Qingman’s oath, both Zheng Anguo and the villagers immediately found an explanation for her change in demeanor.

Even a rabbit will bite when cornered, let alone someone facing life and death.

Zhu Hongxia, who had plenty of excuses in mind, was now at a loss for words. Qin Qingman’s interruption not only left no one sympathetic toward her, but also caused the villagers, who had already lost patience due to her usual sharp-tongued behavior, to turn against her completely.

“Sister Hongxia, please have some mercy and be a decent person. No matter how poor your family is, is it worse than Qingman’s?”

“Yeah, Zhu Hongxia, your husband is still here, and you have several strong sons. Who’s not able to work? If you cry poverty, then no one in Kaoshan Village will have a decent life.”

“As the saying goes, ‘It’s only right to repay a debt.’ Zhu Hongxia, look at Qingman—just look at her fragile body. Can you really bear to not return the grain? She is part of the Qin family too. Even if you don’t have any compassion for the child, you should at least think about how her parents treated your family well when they were alive. Don’t be too excessive.”

In the cold winter, seeing how pitiful Chuchu was and how badly Qin Qingman had been treated, finally, some villagers spoke up in support.

Overwhelmed by the villagers’ accusations, Zhu Hongxia felt a sharp lump in her chest and was left speechless, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

These people spoke so easily, as if they were generously giving away others’ resources. It wasn’t their own grain they were talking about returning.

They simply moved their mouths and expected Zhu Hongxia to give back the grain, but how could it be done? It was the dead of winter, the fields had been covered by heavy snow, and there were no animals to hunt on the mountains.

Who wouldn’t cling tightly to their own hard-earned grain?

Facing Zhu Hongxia’s fiery glare, Qin Qingman knew it was time to stoke the flames.

Wasn’t it all about gaining sympathy and pretending to be weak? She could do that too.

“Second aunt, I’m hungry. Our family ran out of food last night.” a trembling voice suddenly rang out from outside the crowd as everyone was waiting for Zheng Anguo, the village chief, to make a decision.

Everyone turned toward the sound and saw the small figure of Chuchu wrapped in a blanket.

A thin blanket was tightly wrapped around the child, but it couldn’t hide Chuchu’s emaciated and yellowish face.

Seeing the malnourished child, the onlookers couldn’t help but curse Zhu Hongxia inwardly as a brute.

“Chuchu.”

Qin Qingman quickly rushed over to hold the child who had appeared unexpectedly. As she held Chuchu and the blanket, she finally felt a little warmth.

After such a long confrontation with Second Aunt, she had grown so cold that her body was trembling. If it weren’t for the motivation to survive, she would have already collapsed.

It was too cold—Northeast winters were just too cold.

“Sister, I’m hungry.” Chuchu gave the perfect assist with her pitiful words.

Seeing the poor pair of siblings, Zheng Anguo was enraged.

He hadn’t expected such injustice to occur under his watch, and his stern gaze immediately fixed on Zhu Hongxia.

“Qin Lei’s family, return the grain you borrowed from Qingman’s family right now. I refuse to believe that a hundred jin of grain can really starve your family.”

Faced with the furious village chief, Zhu Hongxia dared not resist.

“Secretary, please don’t be angry, we’ll return it right away.”

Just then, the door to Qin Lei’s house was opened, and Qin Lei appeared with his three children.

“Caiyun, take Jianjun and weigh the grain.”

Qin Lei had been inside listening to the commotion outside. He knew that with Zheng Anguo supporting Qin Qingman, there was no way to back out of returning what was borrowed, so he simply agreed to return it.

Eighteen-year-old Qin Caiyun glanced at Qin Qingman, then at Zhu Hongxia, before leading her youngest brother back into the house.

“Second uncle, the firewood should be returned as well. Chuchu and I were frozen awake this morning. We really don’t have any firewood left at home.” Qin Qingman said, knowing that if she had already offended people, she might as well offend them completely.

“Alright.” Qin Lei gave a fake smile in return.

Zheng Anguo was very pleased with Qin Lei’s timely response. He directed the people around him, “We’re all villagers here in Kaoshan Village. As villagers, we should stick together and help each other. Don’t just stand around watching the spectacle. Come on, help Qingman bring the firewood back to the Qin house. If there’s no firewood for the winter, it’s going to cost lives.”

“Secretary, you’re absolutely right. Let’s all lend a hand.”

The villagers, recalling how kind Qin Qingman’s parents had been when they were alive, quickly jumped into action under the secretary’s orders.

When there were many people working together, things got done faster. Within ten minutes, one-third of the firewood pile in Zhu Hongxia’s yard had disappeared.

Watching the villagers move like a swarm of ants, Zhu Hongxia tasted blood in her mouth.

In her fury, she bit down so hard that her molars started bleeding.

Just as her anger was boiling, her sharp eyes caught a fleeting figure in the distance.

Her mouth acted faster than her brain.

“Secretary Zheng, it wasn’t just my family that borrowed from Qingman’s family. Qingman’s aunt, third brother, and Fourth Brother’s family also borrowed goods. Since Qingman’s family is so hard up, if my family returns the goods, shouldn’t they return theirs as well?”

Zhu Hongxia had thought it through. Why should her family be the only ones to suffer? When everyone was benefiting, they all shared it. Now that things were tough, they should share the burden.

Seeing this, Qin Qingman was both surprised and delighted.

She hadn’t expected Zhu Hongxia to be so clever, even taking the initiative to make enemies on her behalf. Watching her, Qin Qingman couldn’t help but feel a little more favorable toward her, even though she hadn’t yet figured out the root cause of the issue.

Neither Zheng Anguo nor the other villagers had expected Zhu Hongxia to make such a move.

Both Zheng Anguo, who was overseeing the work, and the villagers who had just dropped off firewood at Qin Qingman’s house all turned their attention to the neighboring Qin household.

The brothers of one family lived close by, so naturally, they were neighbors.

The other Qin family members, who had been secretly paying attention to what was going on, saw Zhu Hongxia dragging them into this situation. They were all furious and ground their teeth in frustration.

If it weren’t for the presence of the village chief, they would have rushed out to tear Zhu Hongxia’s mouth apart.

“Qin Shu, Qin Shi, Jiang Linshan, all three of you come out here.” Zheng Anguo called out, though he hadn’t seen the Qin brothers yet. From experience, he guessed they must have been secretly watching from the shadows.

If they had the time to spy, then they should quickly repay the debts they owed!

When the village chief called them out by name, anyone who didn’t want to risk being targeted for small assignments in the future didn’t dare to stay hidden.

A few minutes later, everyone saw more of Qin Qingman’s relatives appear.

“Third Uncle owes my family sixty yuan, Fourth Uncle’s family owes two hundred jin of flour, Little Aunt’s Husband’s family owes three chickens, a hundred eggs, and thirty yuan.” Qin Qingman recited the debts clearly, having absorbed the memories of the original owner.

Upon hearing Qin Qingman’s words, the faces of all the Qin relatives turned grim.

The onlookers, however, had a different reaction. They looked at the Qin brothers, whose faces were flush and full, and then at Qin Qingman and her younger brother, who were pale and thin. The scales of sympathy immediately tipped in favor of Qin Qingman, and the gazes directed at the Qin brothers were filled with silent reproach.

“Secretary… Secretary, we really can’t pay it all back at once. If we could, we wouldn’t have dragged it out for so long.” Jiang Linshan, Little Aunt’s Husband, cleverly found an excuse for their unpaid debts.

It was also a complaint.

“Our family has nothing left, no blankets, no warm clothes, no firewood, and the grain is insufficient. I won’t force you all to pay back everything at once. We can deduct based on current prices. Whatever you can return, you should. If you can’t pay it all now, you can pay the rest next year.”

Qin Qingman had already calculated everything and had a plan ready to be spoken.

“I think we should do it this way. Pay what you can now.” Zheng Anguo gave his final decision.

Half an hour later, at the Qin family home, Chuchu was squatting in front of the warm stove, his eyes shining as he watched Qin Qingman wash her face with warm water. His eyes were full of admiration.

Today, he had been completely conquered by his sister.

Not only had they received new quilts, warm clothes, a lot of grain, and firewood from several uncles, but from this day on, they would no longer suffer from the cold or hunger!

Qin Qingman didn’t notice Chuchu’s gaze. She was too busy looking at her reflection in the mirror.

She had a gentle and beautiful appearance, and her peach blossom eyes sparkled brightly.

Qin Qingman hadn’t expected that the original owner’s appearance was identical to hers. If it weren’t for the fact that this body was several years younger, she might have thought she had crossed into the body of the original owner entirely.