Chapter 7

In the morning, when Qin Qingman and the others went to the town, the weather was very good. Not only was the sky a clear blue, but there was no snow or wind. However, the return journey was different. The good weather changed just like a child’s face—suddenly and unpredictably.

Heavy clouds covered the sky, and the wind started to pick up.

Once the wind blew, everything changed. The temperature dropped sharply, and snowflakes began to drift down from the sky.

The driver urged the horses to go faster.

The horses sensed the change in the weather too, their hooves shifting restlessly, moving even faster than on the way there. As a result, Qin Qingman buried her head in her thick scarf, even turning her back to shield herself from the wind.

Zhu Hongxia felt uneasy. The thought that her attempt to deceive Qin Qingman had failed, and with it, the children’s future prospects, made her even angrier.

She couldn’t directly say anything to Qin Qingman, so she just muttered a few curses about the bad weather.

But as soon as she opened her mouth, a mouthful of cold wind rushed in, and with her face pale, Zhu Hongxia obediently shrank her body and lowered her head even further.

The snowy weather made them hurry, and they actually arrived at Kaoshan Village a few minutes earlier than when they left for the town.

As soon as Qin Qingman got off the carriage, she ran straight home. She had been out for half the day and wasn’t sure how Chuchu was doing at home.

Though children in the countryside could usually take care of themselves from a young age, just thinking about Chuchu’s height still made her a bit worried.

Seeing Qin Qingman run off so quickly, Zhu Hongxia couldn’t catch up to her or attempt to deceive her anymore. She could only exchange a few words with Qin Xiang before heading home herself.

As soon as she entered the door, she saw her three sons lying on the kang, not moving, which only fueled her anger. She shouted, “Caiyun, Caiyun, are you blind? Can’t you see I’m back? Why haven’t you given me a bowl of hot water?”

“Mom, my sister isn’t home.”

When she saw Zhu Hongxia getting angry, Qin Jianjun answered, but didn’t get up.

All the household chores were usually handled by Qin Caiyun, and he had never once poured hot water for Zhu Hongxia, nor had he ever thought of doing so.

“Where did that useless girl run off to now? And she hasn’t even started making lunch. She’s spoiled rotten.” Zhu Hongxia muttered angrily as she began preparing lunch. Her dissatisfaction with Qin Caiyun grew, though she had no idea that her daughter would give her a huge surprise.

At the Qin household, after Qin Qingman left, Chuchu obediently sat by the stove to study.

He was reviewing and reinforcing the characters Qin Qingman had taught him the day before. He was only five years old, too young to be in school, and couldn’t write the characters yet. So, instead of wasting paper and ink, he used a wooden stick dipped in water to trace the characters on the ground.

With each stroke, he carefully compared his writing to the characters Qin Qingman had taught him.

The little boy practiced writing with great seriousness. By the time he realized it, his neck was sore and the sky had darkened. Hearing the wind outside, Chuchu became worried about Qin Qingman. Just as he was about to open the door to check the outside, he heard a sound at the gate.

Chuchu immediately smiled.

At the same time, Chuchu waddled over with his short little legs to open the big door.

“Sister!” As soon as the door opened, the child rushed toward Qin Qingman, who was just about to enter.

“Don’t come over, I’m cold. Go pour me some water, and I’ll wash my hands first.” Qin Qingman said, stopping Chuchu from leaping into her arms as soon as she entered the door. She also assigned him a task.

“Okay.”

Seeing Qin Qingman, all of Chuchu’s worries disappeared, and he happily went to pour the water.

He poured cold water.

Qin Qingman had just come back from outside, and her hands were certainly freezing. In such a situation, hot water was not suitable for washing hands. Normally, cold water, even if it felt icy, was the best choice for washing hands because it helped to warm the body and promote circulation more effectively.

After washing her hands, Qin Qingman finally asked the little one who had been following her, “What did you eat this morning?”

“Roasted buns!”

Chuchu, looking up at Qin Qingman, smiled brightly.

Seeing the child’s smile, Qin Qingman’s mood also lifted. She took off her cotton-padded coat and sat in front of the stove to warm herself. The heat from the stove chased away the cold she had brought back from outside. “Are you hungry? Sister made some corn porridge for us.”

“I’m not hungry.”

Chuchu shook his head seriously, but his eyes were full of admiration for Qin Qingman.

When their parents passed away, he was still young and didn’t remember much, but his memories of Qin Qingman were the clearest. While his sister had cared for him before, it was nothing compared to the attention she gave him now.

At least, the previous sister had never taught him how to read.

Thinking of learning to read, Chuchu grabbed Qin Qingman’s hand and wanted to show off what he had learned. However, since the characters were written in water, they had already disappeared without a trace due to the heat from the stove.

Seeing the surprised and slightly pouty expression on his face, Qin Qingman couldn’t help but smile.

She squatted down and encouraged him, “Write it again for me to see.”

“Okay.”

Encouraged, Chuchu’s little face turned a bright red, making him even cuter. He grabbed the stick, dipped it in water, and began to trace characters on the ground again. This time, he didn’t refer to the model characters Qin Qingman had taught him.

Qin Qingman watched carefully as Chuchu wrote, observing the strokes and the order of his writing.

She didn’t point out any mistakes immediately but waited until the child finished and looked up at her with sparkling eyes. Then, she reached out and gently patted Chuchu’s soft head, praising him, “You wrote them all correctly. It seems you’ve been studying hard.”

“Hehe—”

The child laughed, both happy and a little embarrassed.

Qin Qingman gave Chuchu’s soft hair another affectionate tug before she took his small hand in hers and patiently taught him how to write each character correctly. Mimicking the motions wasn’t truly learning.

Chuchu was very smart, and after Qin Qingman showed him how to write the characters three times, he had completely memorized the correct strokes.

“Alright, these few characters you’ve definitely practiced long enough. Let’s stop for now and make lunch.” Qin Qingman said. She knew that learning wasn’t something that could be rushed, and remembering the nutrition Chuchu had missed before, she didn’t want to push him too hard.

“Okay.”

Chuchu was very obedient in front of Qin Qingman. He immediately tidied up the stick and followed her to help out.

Though he couldn’t do much, he could handle things like holding chopsticks or carrying a bowl.

This made Qin Qingman’s heart ache for the little one.

With plenty of firewood at home, the temperature inside the house stayed comfortably warm, at least in the teens Celsius, which was the most comfortable temperature.

After eating, the siblings sat by the window, holding frozen pears, gazing out at the snowy landscape.

The snow was falling even heavier, and the wind was stronger. The world outside had become a vast, blurry white expanse. Fortunately, the wooden houses in the northeast were built using entire logs, and the walls had insulation layers, which helped them withstand the severe cold.

Chuchu took a bite of the icy, frozen pear, his round eyes squinting with delight.

“Sister, I saw Caiyun cousin going to the town this morning.” Chuchu suddenly said, catching Qin Qingman off guard.

“How do you know she went to the town?” Although Qin Qingman had seen Qin Caiyun in the town, she was still surprised that Chuchu, such a small child, had noticed.

After all, people who have something to hide wouldn’t go around telling others their bad deeds.

“Sister, I saw Sister Caiyun sneak onto Aunt Zhang’s ox cart right after you guys left. We only have one road leading to the town, and the direction Sister Caiyun went was the same as the road to the town.”

Chuchu was quite sharp, able to analyze the situation for himself.

“My Chuchu is really smart.”

Qin Qingman praised him while gently patting his head, feeling more certain that Qin Caiyun would try to make something of herself with Liu Hechang. But none of this had anything to do with her; she had never pressured Qin Caiyun or tried to lead her in any particular direction.

As expected, things turned out just as Qin Qingman had guessed.

Someone wanted to climb the social ladder, to leave the poor countryside, and to become a leader’s wife.

After Zhu Hongxia and the others left, Qin Caiyun found an excuse to take Aunt Zhang’s ox cart to the town. She arrived just twenty minutes after Zhu Hongxia and the others, but she had already managed to confront Liu Hechang at his doorstep first.

Qian Aimin still helped her, revealing everything about Liu Hechang that was public knowledge, though he kept some of the more secret details about Liu’s previous marriage to himself.

After a night of contemplation, Qin Caiyun ultimately decided to take action.

Even though Liu Hechang was over twenty years older than her, had four children, and was on his second marriage, his position as the president of the farm workers’ union was real. As long as he had that status, she could throw caution to the wind.

Once she had a child of her own, she would be in charge of the household, not anyone else.

Qin Caiyun was tired of being treated like a servant at home. After giving it a lot of thought, she followed behind Zhu Hongxia and the others to the town, and with her intelligence, she managed to find Liu Hechang first.

When she saw Liu Hechang with his slightly protruding belly, she felt disgusted, but in the end, her desire for power and a better life pushed her to take that final step.

Qin Caiyun wasn’t foolish—she didn’t want Liu Hechang to take advantage of her without acknowledging their relationship. So she very strategically chose her timing. Just as she lured Liu Hechang into her embrace in the house, his youngest daughter returned home from school.

The twelve-year-old girl was still innocent but became immediately wary when she saw a strange woman in the house, especially one in her father’s embrace.

The little girl immediately started shouting, and soon, the neighbors upstairs and downstairs overheard.

To avoid a scandal, Liu Hechang had no choice but to explain that the woman was his future fiancée, and that their families had already agreed on the marriage, which would happen soon.

This declaration was, in essence, Liu Hechang admitting to his relationship with Qin Caiyun.

Qin Caiyun didn’t lose out and was satisfied with having taken Qin Qingman’s potential match for herself. Moreover, with the heavy snowstorm, it was impossible for her to return home, so she simply decided to stay at Liu Hechang’s house. Of course, she slept in the same room with Liu Hechang’s youngest daughter that night.

During her limited time at Liu Hechang’s house, Qin Caiyun took excellent care of his entire family.

From cooking to preparing foot baths, Liu Hechang was thoroughly satisfied.

Looking at the youthful, vibrant Qin Caiyun, Liu Hechang pushed aside the vague image of Qin Qingman and, in the face of the admiration shining in Qin Caiyun’s eyes, felt as though he had regained the vitality of his youth.

—o—o—o—

The next day was not only a sunny day but also completely calm with no wind.

After spending the night with Liu Hechang, he was worried that Qin Caiyun’s parents might accuse him of misbehaving.

So, he hurriedly brought a lavish gift, arranged for a matchmaker, and found a cart to return to Kaoshan Village with Qin Caiyun.

At Zhu Hongxia’s home, it was bustling early in the morning.

When they saw Qin Caiyun, who was blushing and following Liu Hechang, Zhu Hongxia and her husband were so shocked that they almost spat blood.

What was going on?!

They hadn’t even planned for Qin Qingman, and now their own daughter was involved with Liu Hechang!

“Uncle, aunt, I’m here to propose marriage today. Yesterday, Caiyun was at my house…” Liu Hechang, being quite shrewd, quickly realized that Qin Lei and Zhu Hongxia were displeased with his age.

Thinking of the younger and gentle Qin Caiyun, he deliberately made his intentions clear. If they weren’t afraid of losing face, they could yell all they wanted.

Upon hearing Liu Hechang’s words, Zhu Hongxia rolled her eyes and almost fainted.

Qin Lei didn’t dare to block Liu Hechang at the door any longer.

If the man said something inappropriate, they would lose face in the village, and it would be hard for them to show their faces in Kaoshan Village.

Terrified, he hurriedly greeted Liu Hechang with the proper courtesy, inviting him into the house.

Before entering, he shot a fierce glare at the troublemaking Qin Caiyun.

Qin Caiyun didn’t care at all. Clinging to Liu Hechang, she believed that her influence and position in the family would soon rise.

With a smug look, she glanced over at Qin Qingman’s house.

It was quiet next door, with no one in sight in the yard. This made Qin Caiyun feel a sense of helplessness, as if she were punching a cotton pillow—there was no impact.

But in reality, Qin Caiyun was overthinking. Qin Qingman, who already knew Qin Caiyun’s nature, had been watching the situation next door all morning. She had already seen the scene of Liu Hechang and Qin Caiyun leaving together through the window.

When she saw that Qin Caiyun had indeed hooked up with Liu Hechang, she finally felt relieved.

Some people valued rotten wood as if it were a treasure. As long as they didn’t regret it in the future, that was enough.