Chapter 9

Liu Hechang looked at Qin Caiyun’s evasive gaze and then at the awkward expressions of Zhu Hongxia and her husband, feeling enraged.

He was so angry that he almost regretted the engagement he had just arranged with Qin Caiyun.

But his reason reminded him that he could not back out of the marriage.

As early as last night, when he had foolishly allowed Qin Caiyun to stay the night at his house, he had already crossed the point of no return.

Liu Hechang’s heart was churning with emotions.

He was angry and regretful.

Qin Caiyun was young and somewhat good-looking, but compared to Qin Qingman, she was like an ugly duckling—because the ugly duckling had lost the swan, he regretted it deeply.

His gaze towards Qin Caiyun’s family grew even darker.

The strange atmosphere immediately made Zhu Hongxia realize that Liu Hechang regretted his decision, but it was too late now.

Her daughter hadn’t returned home all night, and today, Liu Hechang had made promises about her son’s work at the dinner table, which meant that Zhu Hongxia couldn’t let Liu Hechang take advantage of them.

So, Zhu Hongxia smiled with her lips but not her eyes and reminded Liu Hechang, “Nephew, it’s getting late. You should head back soon. While it’s not far to the town from here, the road will be difficult if it starts snowing.”

Calling someone a bit older than herself “nephew” was a move Zhu Hongxia often used when it came to interests, as she could bend when necessary.

Liu Hechang certainly understood what Zhu Hongxia meant. He suppressed his dissatisfaction and shot a deep look at Zhu Hongxia and her husband, and at Qin Caiyun, who dared not look at him. He then left with the matchmaker and the carriage.

—o—o—o—

On the way back to town, Liu Hechang’s face was extremely dark.

The moment he saw Qin Qingman’s appearance, he knew he had been played—tricked by Qin Caiyun’s family.

As the president of the farm union, he had seen all kinds of tricks and storms, but he never expected to be so foolish at his age. He knew that anything that came too easily was suspicious, but he hadn’t anticipated such a big problem.

He could never swallow the humiliation of being tricked so easily.

Just wait!

“Mother… what should I do?” Qin Caiyun, at only eighteen, wasn’t very deep in her scheming. Facing the dark-faced Liu Hechang leaving, she was scared—scared that the power she had almost obtained would slip away.

“Aren’t you usually very smart? Why are you so stupid today?”

Zhu Hongxia looked at her nervous daughter and finally let out a little sigh of relief. She may have been a village woman, but she could easily understand her daughter’s thoughts—she had given birth to her and knew what her daughter was up to the moment she was born.

“Mother, I…”

Qin Caiyun regretted it. Deeply regretted it.

Why had she provoked Qin Qingman? Why had she caused trouble for her marriage?

Standing outside in the cold winter air, Qin Lei, who had been seeing off guests, already felt numb from the cold. He stamped his feet and impatiently said, “Shut up. Whatever you need to say, say it when we get home.”

As the saying goes, “Walls have ears.” Today, Liu Hechang had come to their house with a matchmaker, making it blatantly obvious. Surely, those with ill intentions had noticed, and there was no need for them to continue standing outside for others to gossip.

“Why aren’t you going back yet?”

Zhu Hongxia slapped Qin Caiyun’s back forcefully, her face full of disdain. Her daughter had grown up and developed her own ideas.

Now, she dared to dismiss her as a mother and take matters into her own hands to arrange her marriage. It was truly infuriating.

The slap brought Qin Caiyun back to her senses. She quickly lowered her head and went back inside.

At that moment, she no longer had the smugness she had displayed when provoking Qin Qingman. Now, all she could think about was how to get Liu Hechang to marry her.

Given the situation, she had no intention of letting Liu Hechang go.

The main reason was that she couldn’t let go. A girl’s reputation was particularly important.

She had appeared so prominently in the farm’s residential area yesterday and had even acted as if she were Liu Hechang’s fiancée, with so many workers witnessing her staying at the Liu family home.

Now, to give up would be a dead end.

Idle gossip could destroy her.

Zhu Hongxia’s family went inside to think of ways to trap Liu Hechang, while Qin Qingman next door was feeling disgusted.

She had seen the greasy look Liu Hechang had given her earlier, and it had truly sickened her.

“Sister, what’s wrong?”

Chuchu, who had been squatting by the stove with a stick dipping in water to write, immediately noticed something off with Qin Qingman and rushed over to her.

“It’s nothing, just cold.”

Chuchu was still too young, and Qin Qingman couldn’t tell her about Liu Hechang.

“Sister, I’ll get you some water.” Chuchu said obediently, shifting her focus to getting hot water. The child was too young to be suspicious and genuinely thought that Qin Qingman had gotten cold while fetching firewood earlier.

Taking the warm bowl, Qin Qingman didn’t waste Chuchu’s concern. She took a sip of the hot water, trying to clear Liu Hechang’s image from her mind, and spoke about something else. “Chuchu, do you know anyone in the village who has a half-grown dog?”

Recalling Liu Hechang’s despicable behavior from the original storyline, Qin Qingman knew she needed to prepare for the worst.

“Sister, except for the hunter’s family, nobody keeps dogs around here.” Chuchu said, her large eyes full of confusion as she looked at Qin Qingman.

Qin Qingman immediately understood what the child meant.

In this era, it was hard enough to feed people, let alone keep a dog. Dogs required a lot of food, and only hunters, who depended on the mountains, could afford to keep them.

Furrowing her brow, Qin Qingman thought deeply.

Despite the heavy snow sealing off the mountains, as long as the weather was clear and it wasn’t snowing, people still came and went from the mountain village. Every house had wooden fences that were about a person’s height, just enough to keep wild animals out but ineffective against those with ill intentions.

Right now, their family only consisted of her and Chuchu, and they didn’t have much strength to defend themselves. They had to find ways to protect themselves.

If they couldn’t keep a dog, they would have to keep something else.

“Chuchu, does anyone have geese?” Qin Qingman, though she had received the original owner’s memories, had been too busy making ends meet over the past year to pay attention to the village, while Chuchu, who was not even five, was much more well-informed.

Chuchu didn’t know why Qin Qingman asked, but she answered right away, “Sister, Aunt Ah Yun’s family has geese. Two of them, very big. If their wings weren’t clipped, they could fly.”

Seeing Chuchu extend her small, skinny hand and gesture to show the size of the geese, Qin Qingman smiled with satisfaction.

“Sister, the geese at Aunt Ah Yun’s house are really fierce. They’ll peck people! Even Liu Sangunzi, the laziest man in the village, got pecked—his legs were black and blue! If he hadn’t been quick to climb a tree, it probably would’ve been worse for him.”

Chuchu’s face brightened as he recalled the embarrassing story of Liu Sangunzi.

He didn’t like Liu Sangunzi, who was lazy, greedy, and easily intimidated. Liu Sangunzi often bullied the elderly and weak in the village, and Chuchu had been scared of him once.

If he hadn’t run fast, he was sure he would have been beaten by the man.

At first, Qin Qingman had only wanted to know who in the village had geese for guarding purposes, but seeing how Chuchu reacted, she immediately sensed something was wrong. “Chuchu, has Liu Sangunzi ever bullied you?”

Chuchu’s eyes widened in shock.

Qin Qingman’s expression instantly grew cold, and she found it difficult to feel any sympathy for the original owner now.

If a child couldn’t be protected, and the family couldn’t support them, it was a wasted life.

“Sister, Liu Sangunzi never bullied me, really. I’m fast, and when I saw him from far away, I ran. He couldn’t catch up with me.” Chuchu was both happy and anxious, trying to explain himself quickly in response to Qin Qingman’s sudden change in demeanor.

He was afraid that Qin Qingman would go after Liu Sangunzi.

Although Liu Sangunzi was lazy and often took shortcuts, he was a large man, very tall. Qin Qingman wouldn’t stand a chance against him, which was why Chuchu had never told her about it.

“I’m sorry, it’s my fault for not protecting you well enough.”

Qin Qingman’s heart softened as she held Chuchu close. She felt a surge of tenderness toward the thoughtful child and pulled him into her embrace.

With his small hands tightly gripping Qin Qingman’s clothes, and his rosy face pressed against her chest, Chuchu explained in a small voice, “Sister, you’ve protected me well, really well.” The child had seen all of Qin Qingman’s care and efforts. Without her, he might have starved by now.

Though still young, Chuchu was like a blank slate, and Qin Qingman could clearly see all his emotions.

A soft sigh escaped Qin Qingman’s heart, and she stopped dwelling on Liu Sangunzi. Instead, she returned to the topic of the geese.

Hearing that geese could guard the house, Chuchu’s breathing became faster, excited by the idea.

When his sister wasn’t home, he often worried that the aunts would come over again to “borrow” things, just like last time. He was too small and didn’t have the strength to chase them off. If the geese could help, that would be amazing.

The more he thought about it, the more excited he became.

Just as he was about to smile, his expression froze. He suddenly remembered something worrying. “Sister, the geese at Aunt Ah Yun’s house are really, really fierce. They don’t just peck bad people—they’ll peck us, too!”

Since Qin Qingman had thought of using geese to guard the house, she had, of course, also considered how to make them recognize their owner.

Qin Qingman gently stroked the worried little face of Chuchu and said, “We’ll feed the geese their favorite food, take care of them every day, and over time, they’ll recognize us as their masters. Once they recognize us, they’ll protect us.”

“But… but there’s so much snow, there’s no grass.” Chuchu said, knowing the geese’s diet well.

“Then we’ll feed them corn.” Qin Qingman replied, knowing that to gain something, one must give something in return.

At these bold words from Qin Qingman, Chuchu was so stunned that he didn’t know how to react.

Their family didn’t have much grain, and he didn’t want to waste corn on the geese!

“It’s okay. Some of the uncles still owe us grain. If it really comes to it, I’ll go to the town to buy some. I still have some grain coupons left, which I secretly saved up before.” Qin Qingman reassured Chuchu with a lie.

“Mm.”

Chuchu trusted Qin Qingman, and his worries immediately turned into determination. He urged Qin Qingman to hurry and get dressed, “Sister, hurry up! Let’s go to Aunt Ah Yun’s house and pick out some geese.” The child, with no playmates, was looking forward to the new additions.

But geese weren’t something you could just take whenever you wanted!

Qin Qingman gave Chuchu a gentle look, seeing his excitement, and grabbed two fabric ration tickets from inside the house.

Things that couldn’t be traded with money could only be exchanged for goods.

Ah Yun’s house wasn’t close to theirs. In the thick snow, the siblings wrapped themselves up like balls and slowly made their way through Kaoshan Village.

The weather was freezing, and the ground, already walked on by many people, was icy and slick.

Qin Qingman, carrying Chuchu on her back, tried her best to walk on the untouched snow. The snow came up to their ankles, but it was still steady.

After more than ten minutes, the siblings finally arrived outside Ah Yun’s house.

Before they could knock, the sound of geese could be heard from within the yard, and it was pitifully loud.

Qin Qingman immediately understood what was happening. Without bothering with formalities, she pushed open the yard gate and rushed in, shouting loudly, “Aunt Ah Yun, spare the geese!” At the kitchen door, a cleaver was swiftly coming down toward the goose’s head, the blade shining brightly under the sunlight.