Chapter 18 Plotting Mischief

Qin Ruo could guess Qin Ziyan’s little thoughts. She had already noticed him watching the show from the back of the crowd on the mountain. As the eldest son of the family, with both parents deceased, Qin Ziyan had not fulfilled any family responsibilities. When his family was questioned and threatened, he chose to stand by and watch, hoping for chaos. Only someone like Qin Ziyan could do such a thing.

Fortunately, Qin Ruo didn’t care about Qin Ziyan, including Qin Laotai. It was better to rely on herself than to hope for others.

Qin Ruo wasn’t interested in dealing with the petty matters of Qin Laotai and her grandson, she returned home and started making dinner, Qin Zimu was responsible for starting the fire. The wooden lock that Qin Laotai had hung on the kitchen cabinet was nothing to Qin Ruo, she opened it in a few seconds. Was this to prevent thieves? She was even guarding her own home. Could Qin Ziyan eat, but she couldn’t?

Qin Ruo didn’t care about that, she had to cook white rice and eat meat. Tomorrow, she would sell these hunted animals, plus the reward from the officials, she would have money.

Qin Zimu was starting the fire, stealing glances at Qin Ruo from time to time. If a day ago, Qin Zimu was still nervous about Qin Ruo’s grand cooking, now he was gradually getting used to it. The white rice was delicious, the wild chicken and mushroom soup was fragrant, and the rabbit meat was also very tasty. Qin Zimu was in a good mood, he felt like he had fallen into a nest of fortune these past two days.

At dinner time, seeing the same dishes as at noon, and the almost empty rice bag, Qin Laotai wanted to say something but held back. She was hoping that Qin Ruo would sell those hunted animals tomorrow and exchange them for money to buy new winter clothes for Dalang. Qin Laotai was calculating how much money she would have left after buying new clothes for Dalang, in addition to the reward from the officials and the money from selling the wild game.

Dinner at Wang Lizheng’s house was not so peaceful. Losing five taels of silver for no reason, who could be happy about that? The Wang family hadn’t split up yet, if it wasn’t for fear of his mother, who would use the same old routine of crying, making a fuss, and hanging herself to attract gossip, Wang Lizheng wouldn’t want to deal with Wang Laoer and his son at all.

Looking at Wang Laoer and his son, who were acting like fools, and Wang Laoer’s wife, who was constantly cursing the Qin family, Wang Lizheng had a headache.

“Laoer’s wife, shut your mouth! Laoer, Fugui, you two be quiet too. Don’t cause any more trouble, otherwise don’t blame me for being rude.”

“Can’t you use your pig brains to think before you act! If you had done it cleanly, I wouldn’t say a word. But you were caught red-handed, do you think I’m living too comfortably?”

Wang Lizheng silenced Wang Laoer’s wife and reprimanded Wang Laoer and his son mercilessly.

“As for the five taels of silver, Laoer, you figure it out yourselves! Don’t expect me to clean up your mess.”

Wang Lizheng was increasingly angry, Wang Laoer’s family was all troublemakers, even his own niece was no good. With his position as headman, he had indeed gained a lot of benefits over the years. But it was all done in secret, he knew the saying “a big tree attracts the wind”. This wasn’t the first time Wang Lizheng had cleaned up the mess for Wang Laoer’s family, before, because of his position as headman, he could still suppress them. Now, it had reached the officials. Wasn’t that tantamount to putting evidence of his improper conduct as headman on display? Thinking of the official’s words today, Wang Lizheng trembled.

Wang Lizheng was angry at the Qin family for not giving him face, and even more angry at Wang Laoer and his son for being reckless.

Hearing that they had to pay the silver themselves, Wang Laoer and his wife both stood up in a hurry.

“Brother, where do I get the money…”

“Brother…”

Seeing Wang Lizheng’s gloomy expression, they dared not speak. They were still a little afraid of their elder brother’s methods. So they kept using their eyes to signal Wang Pozi, who was sitting beside them, to help them out.

Wang Pozi had been listening to Wang Lizheng’s reprimand of Wang Laoer, and she couldn’t take it anymore. She stood up and pointed at Wang Lizheng, scolding him angrily.

“Eldest brother, what are you saying? Those are your own brother and nephew!”

“If it wasn’t for that bitch from the Qin family jumping out, there wouldn’t be so much trouble. I say we should teach the Qin family a lesson. Don’t let that bitch think she can get away with anything!”

“You are the headman of Changhe Village, are you afraid of her? We can’t swallow this loss, the Qin family should pay the five taels of silver.”

Wang Pozi waved her hand to interrupt Wang Lizheng, she already had a plan. Her son was the headman, here in the mountains, far from the emperor, the Wang family was the sky of Changhe Village. The villagers, who dared to oppose the Wang family?

She, a poor, smelly girl from the Qin family, dares to provoke the Wang family. If we don’t teach her a lesson, she’ll think Changhe Village belongs to the Qin family.

Wang Pozi thought dealing with the Qin family was a piece of cake. She glared at Wang Lizheng, secretly cursing her eldest son for being a coward.

“That little bitch dared to cheat us out of our silver? Tomorrow I’ll go find her. Are we afraid of the Qin family? Big brother, you’re overthinking.”

Wang Jiaojiao slammed the table, her face full of anger. She and Qin Qiuxi had never gotten along. Qin Qiuxi was a pushover, no matter how harsh she spoke, the little bitch never dared to retort.

She found it unbelievable that the Wang family had been tricked by Qin Qiuxi. She thought Qin Qiuxi was just using her mouth to make trouble during the Zhu family incident. As for what happened at the Tian family, she had heard rumors, but didn’t take it to heart. Tian was just unlucky, she happened to be bitten by a poisonous insect. She didn’t believe Qin Qiuxi had the ability to make anything come true just by saying a few words.

Wang Jiaojiao thought it was because she hadn’t personally intervened, if she had, she guaranteed Qin Qiuxi would beg for mercy.

Wang Pozi gave Wang Jiaojiao an approving look. Seeing her parents and brother nodding frantically, Wang Jiaojiao became even more proud.

“Fine! I don’t care! Do whatever you want.”

Wang Lizheng looked at his chaotic family and felt his heart sink. There was no hope! There was no hope!

At this moment, Wang Lizheng had a strong urge to split the family. He had no appetite for dinner and went out.

Wang Lizheng’s wife, Chen, wanted to stop him but couldn’t. She couldn’t say a word in this situation. Although her husband was the headman, she never had any say in the family. Seeing Wang Lizheng go out, she got up and silently followed him.

As soon as Wang Lizheng left, Wang Laoer’s wife rolled her eyes and went to Wang Pozi’s side, flattering her by massaging her shoulders.

“Mother, I say you’re the one who manages the house well, those five taels of silver…”

“What are you in a hurry for? Eldest brother will naturally solve the silver issue.”

Wang Pozi waved her hand impatiently, interrupting Wang Laoer’s wife. She was quite pleased with Wang Laoer’s wife’s words. Wang Laoer had always been smooth-tongued and good at pleasing people, Wang Pozi had always favored Wang Laoer’s family.

“Mother, our eldest brother is a stubborn fool. We don’t lack silver, but he insists on pretending to be poor, associating with commoners all day, it’s beneath our Wang family’s status. How many years have passed? What are we afraid of? I say we should take out that money…”

“Laoer, shut your mouth!” Wang Pozi’s face changed, she sharply interrupted Wang Laoer.

Then Wang Pozi and Wang Laoer’s family huddled in the main room for a long time, discussing how to deal with the Qin family.

Finally, they all smiled knowingly, especially Wang Jiaojiao, whose joy was evident on her face. She could already see Qin Ruo’s imminent misfortune.

Imagining Qin Ruo’s miserable fate, Wang Jiaojiao was in a good mood.