Chapter 187

187 Offended Someone You Shouldn’t Have Offended

“Qin Qingfei, if you don’t want to go hungry, get out of the carriage quickly. Everyone’s waiting for you.”

Qin Xu also said gloomily, while Madam Wang quickly extended her hand to her daughter.

Qin Qingfei was still very afraid of her father. In comparison, her father loved her brother more and was somewhat indifferent to her. Therefore, her temper was mostly directed at her mother and outsiders. She never dared to vent it on her father.

She glared at Tang Tang fiercely again, then held her mother’s arm and got off the imperial carriage.

!!

“Since Second Uncle is going to hunt for rabbits, we won’t wait for you here. There are still many things to do at home.”

Da Bao also put away his defensive posture and asked his younger siblings to sit properly again. He then sat upright again.

Uncle Liu then whipped the carriage and brought the babies back to the village.

The second branch’s family watched as the carriage gradually drove away. Afterward, Madam Wang looked at her husband and timidly said, “Husband, are we… Are we really going to go to the field to pick vegetables? The new batch of vegetables hasn’t even grown yet.”

“The vegetables in the field have to be sold for money, why are you pulling them out?”

Qin Xu said impatiently, “There are wild vegetables all over the mountains. It’s not like you haven’t dug them up before. Where did you get all this nonsense from?”

Madam Wang immediately shut up after being scolded, and Qin Qingfei didn’t dare to speak either. Qin Qingyuan, on the other hand, asked him, “Father, we’ve never caught a rabbit before, and we don’t even know how to put down the noose. How are we going to catch a rabbit?”

“It’s okay if we can’t catch a rabbit, but we have to let people know that we went to catch a rabbit. That’s the most important thing.”

Qin Qingyuan nodded and said, “Father is using the ruse of injuring himself so that there is no need to beg Eldest Aunt to reduce the penalty. If Eldest Aunt is not afraid of being criticized behind her back, she should know what to do.”

Qin Qingfei’s eyes also lit up. Her reaction was always slower than Qin Qingyuan’s, so she didn’t realize it until he had pointed out Qin Xu’s intention.

“So that’s how it is. Father, let’s pretend to be bitter. When the time comes, if we can’t take out the silver, Auntie can’t force us to sell our house and land to make money!”

“Alright, let’s get to work. In order to act more well, we’ll only eat wild vegetables today. In order not to be hungry, follow your mother and dig up more wild vegetables.”

Qin Xu waved his hand and motioned for Madam Wang to take the brother and sister to dig for wild vegetables.

“Father, you’re not coming with us?”

Qin Qingfei asked again.

“In addition to wild rabbits and pheasants, there are also poisonous snakes and wolves on this mountain. I have to take care of your safety, so of course I can’t work with you! Alright, hurry up and go. It’ll be dark if you dawdle any longer!”

Seeing that Qin Xu’s patience was running out, Madam Née Wang quickly put an arm around Qin Qingfei’s shoulder and took her away.

Qin Xu also walked a few steps up the hill, but he only found a relatively flat place to sit down and lifted the hem of his robe to fan himself. He had no intention of helping at all.

Fortunately, the mountain range where the Qin Village was located was rich in natural resources. Wild vegetables could be found everywhere. Even if the Wang family taught their children how to identify wild vegetables while picking them themselves, their speed was still not slow.

Just like that, when the sky gradually darkened and smoke began to rise from the village’s kitchen chimneys, Qin Xu called his wife and daughter over.

“It’s almost time to go back, but I still need to dress up.”

As he spoke, he looked around and used his sleeve to wrap a handful of thorny weeds. He scratched Madam Wang’s arm a few times, immediately dragging out a few long blood marks.

Wang Shi gritted her teeth and didn’t cry out in pain. This was considered light compared to the punches and kicks she had suffered in the past.

“Qingyuan, Qingfei, you guys should clean up your clothes and face as well.”

Qin Xu looked at his son and daughter up and down and said in dissatisfaction. But when it was his turn, he held the grass and couldn’t bear to do it.

In the end, he just pulled the sharp thorns on the grass on his clothes a few times, making a scratch mark. Then, he rolled on the ground twice, dirtying his clothes and face.

Now, the family looked extremely disheveled. They were carrying a bunch of wild vegetables of all sizes and stumbling back to the village.

In the beginning, Qin Xu and his two children pretended to be tired, but later on, they were really tired. Although it was only two to three miles from the place where they got off the car to the village entrance, the three of them, who usually did not do heavy work, could not walk for such a long time.

Originally, Qin Xu wanted to ask Madam Wang to help him hold the wild vegetables in his hand, but he was afraid that others would see him, so he could only grit his teeth and continue to walk forward with the wild vegetables. As he walked, he kept muttering to himself.

When they finally arrived at the village entrance, everyone except Madam Wang was exhausted and panting, so there was no need to pretend anymore.

Some of them had just returned home from the fields, and some of them had just come out of the mountains. When they saw the four of them, they all looked at them in surprise.

Everyone knew that the second branch of the Qin family had accompanied Qin Shi to the court trial today. Now, only the second branch of the Qin family had returned, but Qin Shi was nowhere to be seen. Could it be that she had really been sent to prison?

“Second Lord Qin, what happened to you? Where’s your mother?”

A villager asked curiously.

“My mother! She’s old and muddleheaded and offended someone she shouldn’t have offended, and she’s already been ridiculed.”

Qin Xu didn’t continue. Madam Wang and the two children had sorrowful expressions on their faces. They lowered their heads and sobbed slightly.

“No way? Is Lady Qin really not just scaring you? Did she really send your mother to jail?”

The villager said in surprise. The other villagers who heard the news were also shocked.

Although the bailiff came to summon Qin Shi, everyone thought that Mo Ruyue would show mercy in the end. They didn’t expect that she would actually send the person to prison.

“The Old Master said that our family still has to pay a fine of ten taels of silver. Otherwise, my wife, my two children, and I will not have a good life in the future. We can only live a normal life when the fine is paid.”

Qin Xu’s voice was choked with sobs, his tone carrying a bit of pain and a bit of grief.

“So, you’re in a corner now?”

The other villager had already noticed the wild vegetables in the hands of the second branch’s family, so he gave them a look.

“Yes, I said just now that we have to compensate the eldest branch with a few dozen taels of silver, but you also know that after we separated from the eldest branch, our family’s land has also been reduced by half, and we’ve even put in the new house. Even Qingyuan’s money can’t afford it, so where can we get so much silver?”

“That’s why I’m thinking of relying on the mountains to eat in the future. The wild vegetables and game in the mountains can fill our stomachs, and we can save a lot of money this way.”

Qin Xu took the opportunity to say what he wanted the villagers to hear.

“Husband, let’s hurry back. It’s getting dark and we still have to cook for the children. We haven’t had any food or water for a day. Even the adults can’t hold on, let alone the children.”

Madam Wang said at the right time.

“Alright, let’s go back. After we collect this autumn’s grain, let’s save a little. We still have to keep the rest to pay off our debts.”

Qin Xu immediately added a few more words. As the family of four gradually walked away, their voices gradually became inaudible.