Chapter 10: The Forgotten People!_1

A group of people stared in disbelief, their eyes almost bulging out!

Su Pan'er gave a cold laugh!

"Next time you gossip about others, make sure you're in a place with no one around to save yourself the humiliation of being confronted." As she spoke, she threw the rabbit in her hand!

It landed directly at Mrs. Qin-Li's feet, giving her a big scare!

The wild rabbits began to struggle in pain, and frantically scuttled around, kicking up dust from the muddy ground.

"Phew! You damned thing, you could have thrown it anywhere but you had to hit my foot, are you intentionally trying to embarrass me? I knew you were a fool, never up to any good…" Mrs. Qin-Li grumbled on.

Su Pan'er just shrugged, she hadn't thought of this aspect.

"Stop nagging! Are these worth forty coppers or not?"

Isn't it just forty wen?

When she makes a move, it's not difficult for her to get the job done!

Qin Yi let out a sigh of relief, joy spreading across his face, she came back safe!

Remembering the rumors about Su Pan'er's past; often being fooled and tricked into laborious tasks for free, and a few times almost being sold, but luckily she was strong and sturdy despite being a bit foolish, and had always managed to escape.

Qin Yi's lips curled into a relieved smile. He had just forced himself around the village despite his illness only to find her nowhere. It turned out she had gone into the mountains.

However, the next moment, his face suddenly turned black.

These wild rabbits are so plump, Pan'er must have gone to the outskirts of Deicide Mountain. He desperately wanted to strangle this idiotic woman. Doesn't she understand what danger is?

The sight of the succulent wild rabbits caused everyone in the courtyard, men and women alike, to salivate, their eyes gleaming like wolves.

Mrs. Qin-Chen quickly moved closer, picking up a rabbit to examine it from left to right, her face full of joy: "Oh my, these wild rabbits are really fat! Add some fresh mushrooms and tender bamboo shoots, and there will be enough for a big pot of braised dish tonight. We all are in for a treat."

Old Qin Qin Liangcheng had split from the Qin Family's main house many years ago and settled here, with his four sons and a daughter. Three generations together, nearly twenty people, crowded into one house for meals. Twice a day, they had mixed grain porridge and cone-shaped cornbread for supper. Rarely on festivals would they add a pound or two of meat, but with so many mouths to feed, everyone got no more than a slice or two, hardly enough to stuff one's teeth.

Especially after the third eldest contracted tuberculosis, there was hardly a trace of meat in the house. They even dared not put much green salt in their food, which had become unpalatably bland.

Yesterday, the third eldest got married, and she was hoping to feast, but the wedding was not held on a large scale. They only invited a few close relatives and the village chief, who occupied two tables. The meat dish was sent directly to the men's table, and she didn't even see any meat scraps.

Now that they saw meat, their mouths were watering uncontrollably.

"Eat, eat, eat, you all are such gluttons! Can't you go without eating for a bit? Get out of the way!"

Mrs. Qin-Li didn't bother with complaining anymore. She quickly got up and grabbed the wild rabbits. Upon closer inspection, these wild rabbits indeed were plump!

"Isn't the market day tomorrow? Take these rabbits to the market to make some money and buy some green salt, we are out of it at home."

A rabbit fetches 15 to 20 wen at the market, these five rabbits are worth at least 70 to 80 wen, and green salt costs 10 wen per pound, so they can get quite a bit, just enough to relieve their pressing need.

Are they going to sell it?

The joy on everyone's faces suddenly froze, and they looked at each other. Was the promised rabbit meat going to fly away just like that?

"Get out of the way, all of you, move!"

Amidst the stalemate, a petite young woman squeezed her way into the crowd.

She was only fifteen or sixteen years old, skinny like a refugee from Africa. She was dressed flamboyantly, a bright red festooning her head, covering more than half of it. She was wearing a big red and green dress. The black juxtaposed with green was truly a sight!

And that's not the end of it!

Her already dark face was coated with a thick layer of "white flour". Heap after heap of "white flour" was constantly falling off, yet her hairline and neck remained as black as charcoal. Astonishingly, there were two dollops of red blush on her high cheekbones and her thick lips were painted into a gaping red mouth, harmonizing with her green dress.

My lord! Is she trying to impersonate the God of Death or what?

Su Pan'er involuntarily took two steps back.

It's not your fault that you're ugly, but it's definitely your mistake to come out and play the role of the God of Death and scare people!

You might really frighten someone to death!

The figure before her held an air of smug arrogance; her chin was lifted high. With a blink, more powder from her face fell to the ground.

Her eyes lit up when she noticed the wild rabbit in Mrs. Qin-Li's hand.

She rushed forward, hugging Mrs. Qin-Li's arm tightly while shaking it repeatedly, "A rabbit... We could have rabbit meat tonight, right mom? I want to have braised rabbit. Can we? I want to eat..." Her call for her mother melted Mrs. Qin-Li's heart.

Mrs. Qin-Li genuinely loved her youngest daughter, embracing her gingerly to avoid injury and doting on her tirelessly.

It would be absurd to blame her for being anxious!

After giving birth to Qin Yu and Qin Xiao, she suffered health issues during the birth of Qin Yi. She wanted a daughter, but conception never happened. Years later, she finally became pregnant and gave birth to Qín Wan'er, fulfilling her wishes. Even when she became pregnant with Qin Bin afterwards, it did nothing to undermine Qin Wan'er's importance in her heart.

When Qin Wan'er was still young, she specifically visited a diviner in Guanli who prophesied a life of wealth and happiness for Qin Wan'er, suggesting she would marry into a prominent family.

This prophecy delighted Mrs. Qin-Li to no end!

From then on, she spoiled Qin Wan'er even more, not letting her suffer even the slightest hardship.

"Well... Why don't we braise one tonight and sell the rest at the market?"

If they butchered a wild rabbit and set aside half to make braised rabbit for the old man and Wan'er, they could salt-cure the remaining half with green salt and hang it out to dry, storing it for a long time. The rest could be sold for silver to buy more green salt. Mrs. Qin-Li's planning was precise.

"Mom, you're the best, you spoil Wan'er the most."

Qin Wan'er finally broke into a smile. Her eyes were naturally small, and they almost disappeared when she smiled. She wore a large red skirt with green colors which made her look even darker and thinner.

"Oh, you! If I don't love you, who will I love? The sun outside is unbearable, hurry back to your room and rest." Mrs. Qin-Li quickly ushered Qin Wan'er into the house.

She didn't quite understand why the child's complexion stayed so dark despite her efforts.

Qin Wan'er was indisputably overjoyed! No matter how many wild rabbits were butchered, she would always get her share. But the rest of the people in the yard were not content!

Just as Qin Yueshi was about to speak, her eldest grandson, Qin Gui, beat her to it.

"Grandmother, there are so many people in this family. One wild rabbit is barely enough to fill our teeth! I don't care, when it's time to eat the meat, I want an entire rabbit's hind leg."

With more than a dozen people in the family, if Qin Gui asked for a whole leg, what would be left for the others?

Immediately, more people started to speak up.

The whole place erupted into a babble, verging on an outright fight over the rabbit meat, as noisy as a bickering market with ceaseless disputes.

"Ahem...have you all forgotten something?"

Su Pan'er, who had been neglected by everyone for a while, coughed lightly and asked in a loud voice.

The bickering crowd suddenly fell silent, all heads turned towards her.

Su Pan'er slowly stepped forward, her eyes full of repressed anger stared at Mrs. Qin-Li who dared not move an inch.

She sneered a few times, casually snatched the wild rabbit from Mrs. Qin-Li's hand, lifted it and said, "This wild rabbit was caught by me, and it was also brought back by me. Have you ever asked me how I want the rabbit meat to be dealt with?"