Chapter 4 Bare Walls

Her head still felt dizzy, so Qin Ruo simply lay down on the bed, closing her eyes and sorting through the jumbled memories in her mind.

The original owner’s family was the only hunter in Changhe Village. Her father was named Qin Huaizheng.

Qin Huaizheng knew some martial arts and was skilled at hunting. Every time he went into the mountains, he would bring back a good harvest, so their life was decent.

Qin Huaizheng had an elderly mother, Old Lady Qin, and two sons and a daughter.

The eldest was Qin Qiuxi, the original owner.

The eldest son, Qin Zian, and the original owner were twins, born a quarter of an hour later than her.

The youngest son, Qin Erlang, also known as Qin Zimu, had just turned eleven.

As for the original owner’s mother, Shen Shi, she passed away a few years after giving birth to Qin Zimu.

Since Qin Huaizheng went into the mountains to hunt three years ago and disappeared, the Qin family lost their main source of income, and their living standards plummeted.

Besides maintaining the family’s daily expenses, they also had to pay for Qin Zian, the scholar, which was a heavy burden.

The current Qin family could be described as having bare walls, and it wasn’t an exaggeration.

“Sister, Sister…” The shouts and knocks on the door interrupted Qin Ruo’s thoughts.

Qin Ruo got up from the bed, opened the door, and saw Qin Zimu standing at the door of her room, clutching his clothes, looking anxious.

“I, I boiled some hot water, do you want to take a bath, sister?” Qin Zimu gave Qin Ruo a flattering smile.

The deliberate flattery and cautious smile on Qin Zimu’s face revealed a maturity that didn’t match his age.

This made Qin Ruo feel particularly uncomfortable, and there was a hint of heartache, as if she saw herself in the previous world.

“Okay, I know.” Qin Ruo still had a straight face, throwing out a sentence and walking towards the kitchen first.

Seeing that Qin Ruo didn’t refuse, Qin Zimu was overjoyed and quickly followed.

Although the original owner was cold towards Qin Zimu, whenever Qin Zimu was bullied by the children in the village, the original owner would stand in front of him.

This was also the reason why Qin Zimu had always liked to follow the original owner.

When Qin Ruo came out after taking a bath, Old Lady Qin came back carrying several large bags of medicine.

Three doses of medicine cost a total of thirty copper coins. All the way here, Old Lady Qin’s heart ached.

She kept cursing Qin Ruo, the troublemaker, for wasting thirty copper coins.

Thirty copper coins could almost buy a pound of pork to satisfy her cravings.

“This medicine is for your head. Don’t let the wound get wet for the next few days. Take this bag of herbs and boil them yourself. There’s a lot of work waiting to be done, don’t even think about slacking off.”

Old Lady Qin was unhappy, threw the bags of medicine on the table, and started scolding Qin Ruo.

Qin Zian had finally returned home for a few days off, and she was hoping that Qin Qiuxi would go to the mountains and hunt more wild animals to nourish Big Brother.

Then she would make some food and let Big Brother take it with him when he left.

Qin Qiuxi had caught a cold a few days ago and had been resting for several days without going into the mountains. She finally went into the mountains and got injured.

Old Lady Qin even suspected that Qin Ruo had done it on purpose.

“I don’t need it!” Qin Ruo threw out a sentence and turned to leave.

Not to mention the medicine she had, even the hemostatic effect of the stone fern was good, she didn’t need the medicine Old Lady Qin had at all.

As for the medicine for treating the cold, she had collected it on the way back.

At this moment, Qin Zimu was in the kitchen, volunteering to boil medicine for her.

Listen to what Old Lady Qin said? She probably still thinks that the original owner was deliberately trying to slack off.

Qin Ruo could roughly guess what Old Lady Qin was thinking.

So she didn’t want to accept this favor at all.

The original owner’s death was not directly related to Old Lady Qin, but it couldn’t be said that she had nothing to do with it.

If Old Lady Qin had cared for the original owner a little more, she wouldn’t have let the original owner, who hadn’t fully recovered from her cold a few days ago, go out to fish to satisfy Qin Zian’s appetite.

At noon, Old Lady Qin was scared and lost face when Qin Ruo scared her by throwing the fish spear at her.

She felt that she was a step lower than her granddaughter, and she wanted to regain some face, but Qin Ruo didn’t even pay attention to her.

“You stinky girl, what are you throwing a tantrum at me for? I can’t even say a few words to you?”

This granddaughter was possessed today, constantly opposing her, making Old Lady Qin quite unhappy.

Qin Ruo ignored Old Lady Qin, finished the medicine Qin Zimu had boiled, and fell into a deep sleep.

But her dreams were filled with scenes from her previous life, executing various special missions, fighting, chasing, blood.

When she woke up again, it was already evening.

After a good sleep, Qin Ruo felt much better, finally free from the groggy feeling.

Meanwhile, Old Lady Qin had already prepared dinner.

She had even specially killed a chicken, determined to nourish her precious grandson.

After the conflict with Qin Ruo at noon, Qin Zian had been locking himself in his room, and he had also angrily refused to eat lunch.

It wasn’t until dinner was ready that Old Lady Qin coaxed and begged him, finally managing to coax him out of his room.

When Qin Ruo arrived at the main hall, Qin Zian was already sitting at the dinner table.

Seeing Qin Ruo, Qin Zian’s face turned cold.

Qin Ruo didn’t care what expression Qin Zian had. She was afraid that if she looked at this useless person for too long, she wouldn’t be able to suppress her urge to punch him.

On the table was a pot of stewed chicken soup, a plate of chives and boiled eggs, and a bowl of pickled cabbage.

This kind of food was only available when Qin Zian was home.

Qin Zian sat there without moving. Qin Zimu helped to serve the rice, his movements clearly showing that he did it often.

In front of Qin Ruo, Old Lady Qin, and Qin Zimu was a bowl of porridge made with some wild vegetables and brown rice.

But in front of Qin Zian was a bowl of pure white rice.

Old Lady Qin always said that Big Brother studied hard and couldn’t be hungry, so she would rather eat less herself and her family, but Qin Zian’s food couldn’t be neglected.

This was the only hope for the Qin family’s future, to bring glory to the family.

When the original owner was still alive, this was a common occurrence.

Today, with Qin Ruo, this meal was destined to be anything but peaceful.

As usual, Old Lady Qin picked up two chicken legs with her spoon and was about to put them in Qin Zian’s bowl when Qin Ruo extended her chopsticks to stop her.

She first put one chicken leg in her own bowl and gave the other to Qin Zimu.

It wasn’t that Qin Ruo loved chicken legs, she simply didn’t like Old Lady Qin’s behavior.

Looking at the chicken leg in his bowl, Qin Zimu was startled. He first looked up at Old Lady Qin, then secretly glanced at Qin Zian.

Seeing Qin Zian’s face, which was so gloomy that it seemed like water was about to drip from it, he immediately panicked.

Usually, whenever the family killed a chicken, the chicken legs were reserved for Qin Zian, and Qin Zimu never dared to hope for them.

Qin Zimu picked up the chicken leg and was about to put it in Qin Zian’s bowl.

“If you don’t eat it, I’ll throw it out to feed the wild cats.” Qin Ruo took a bite of the chicken leg, without even raising her eyelids.

Qin Ruo ignored Old Lady Qin’s surprised expression and Qin Zian’s gloomy face.

Qin Zimu held the big chicken leg, neither eating nor not eating, and simply put down his chopsticks.

“Qin Qiuxi, what do you mean? Are you deliberately trying to oppose me?”

Qin Zian, whose dignity and privilege had been challenged again, suddenly stood up and stared at Qin Ruo, his eyes filled with anger.

In Qin Zian’s eyes, this chicken leg belonged to him.

It had always been like this, and he didn’t think there was anything wrong with it.

“I caught the wild chicken, I can give it to whoever I want. You haven’t even collected a single piece of firewood, you’re a useless person who hasn’t earned a single copper coin for this family, what right do you have to say anything?”

Qin Ruo spoke coldly, she was disgusted by Qin Zian.

So she had no psychological burden when it came to saying harsh words.