"Could I possibly mistake your voice?"
Qin Yi stepped forward to help, his face still as gentle as ever, "How many tis have I told you? If you want to go up the mountain, you should do it in broad daylight. At night there are too many wild animals, and if anything happens..."
"I’m very familiar with the mountain, what could possibly happen?"
Her brows furrowed, "It seems like there are more and more wolves on the mountain. I hope there’s enough food this sumr so that these wolves don’t descend, otherwise..."
If these wild beasts were to descend, her newly built house would be the first target.
"Haven’t we already raised the height of our courtyard wall? Those wild beasts wouldn’t be able to get over a wall that’s several ters high!" Qin Yi reassured her with a soft smile.
Looking at his familiar and gently refined face, Su Pan’er managed to shake off the inexplicable feeling she had just experienced.
It must have been a misunderstanding on her part.
She turned and entered the house, coming out again with a boning knife in her hand, "I’ll skin these wolves first! You help marinate this at."
It was already sumr, and if they didn’t salt this ga, it wouldn’t last very long.
"Ok."
Qin Yi hurriedly stepped forward to help.
The couple worked together efficiently, and even though there were two pieces of Wild Ga, they were quickly processed.
After hanging the last piece of at to air dry, Su Pan’er noticed the brightly lit area at the foot of the mountain and couldn’t help but shake her head.
"I had originally killed several wolves, but then I heard the sound of a gong coming from the foot of the mountain, so I hurriedly descended, taking only these two pieces of Wild Ga. I have no idea what the village chief lost that made him so anxious!"
"That’s right! It’s very strange that anyone would dare to cross soone like the village chief."
A flash of amusent flickered in Qin Yi’s eyes, but he didn’t elaborate.
The next day, before dawn, Su Pan’er stuck to her habit and went for two laps around the wall of the new house. Looking at the nearly six-ter-high wall facing Deicide Mountain, she reasoned that it should be thickened a little, plus, so other preparations were necessary.
Heading back the way she ca, she sprinkled so of the dicinal powder she had hastily mixed the night before. The dicine would not harm humans but was particularly repelling to flying and crawling insects. When they get a whiff of it, they would scurry away.
As the weather was becoming hotter, even though she wasn’t afraid of insects, the bites of mosquitoes were hard to protect against. Plus, they could carry various diseases like malaria. It was better to get rid of them from the source.
As daylight gradually fell over them, she ran into a few early-rising craftsn and exchanged greetings with a smile.
Having just arrived at the T-junction, she noticed Mrs. Qin-Zhang, carrying a spade and heading for the intersection. Seeing Su Pan’er, she imdiately perked up!
"Hey there, where are you going so early?"
Su Pan’er had a strong impression of her. As soone who was able to knock Mrs. Qin-Li down, she was no one to ss with.
"Auntie, what kind of question is that? There’s only one way out of here. Obviously, I ca from the direction of the new house."
"Heh heh, that’s right."
Seeming to realize that her question was a bit strange, Mrs. Qin-Zhang quickly changed the subject, and after a burst of laughter she said, "Speaking of which, I have to congratulate you. In no ti at all, you’ll have soone extra in your household calling you sister and serving you."
That’s it. No ambiguities. Su Pan’er was fuming at her insinuation-
"Auntie, what are you implying?"
"Oh my! What are you talking about, niece? Everyone within a ten-mile radius knows about this! Besides, Su Yue’er is your first cousin. Like the legendary E Huang and Nu Ying, both serving the sa husband. Isn’t that the most wonderful thing?"
"Shut up! How can you even dare to spread such baseless rumors?"
Su Pan’er was completely enraged!
Even though people had gossiped about her behind her back, no one had ever dared to confront her with such rumors directly.
But now this old woman had dared to say these things right to her face. The audacity!
"What do you an, baseless rumors? Everyone knows, all that’s left is for the bridal palanquin to be sent... oh! Surely you’re not being kept in the dark about this? I should be punished for my loose lips!"
Mrs. Qin-Zhang hastily covered her mouth, not daring to say another word, and quickly retreated!
Even though Su Pan’er knew full well that it was nonsense, she still felt extrely frustrated and infuriated!
Quickly returning ho.
Qin Yi, Ke’er, and Zhou Ning were sitting at the table having breakfast. Seeing Su Pan’er coming in, Qin Yi gestured for her to join them, "Pan’er, you’re back! Hurry up and have so breakfast. Aunt Zhou just cooled this porridge with well water. It tastes really good."
"I’m full!"
’Eat? I’m full of anger, why the hell would I eat anything else.’
With a stern face, she went into the bedroom to get so clothes and then into the bathroom for a shower.
’Full? Where could she possibly have eaten?’
Qin Yi thought about it, sensing that sothing was off, but not quite being able to put his finger on it.
Faint sounds of water could be heard from the bathroom, Qin Yi shook his head, brushing off that strange feeling.
"Zhou Ning, I need to talk to you about sothing."
He suddenly rembered that he had promised Pan’er sothing last night. After quickly eating the food in his bowl, he put it down.
"Hmm? What is it, Third Brother?"
Zhou Ning responded kindly, filling his bowl with porridge again.
At his age, he needed to eat more to grow. His appetite was huge – enough to match two grown people!
Qin Yi took out an account book from his pocket and laid it on the table, imdiately catching the attention of Zhou Ning and Ke’er who were both still eating.
"This is a list of the Wild Ga you’ve hunted so far this month. Including the food that Aunt Zhou has been cooking for us for a month, it amounts to six taels and eight coins. Let’s round it up to seven taels. Here you go!"
As he said this, he reached out and handed Zhou Ning the money.
Zhou Ning was taken aback and quickly finished the porridge in his bowl before putting it down. Without missing a beat, he started to refuse, "That won’t work. We agreed before that we would trade our work for the dicine. We cannot accept your money. Please, take it back."
"Zhou Ning is right, we can’t accept this money."
Aunt Zhou, who up until that point had been doing chores in the kitchen, also ca out, wiping her wet hands on her apron, "Back when Doctor Su treated , he didn’t charge a single penny. How could we possibly take your money now? Please, take it back!"
"That’s not right. Treatnt is one thing. The wages and paynt for the Wild Ga that you’ve provided have to be paid. To quote a saying, clear accounts make good partners. Zhou Ning is not little anymore, it’s about ti to start planning for his marriage. Having so money on hand is a good thing. Take it!"
At this point, Su Pan’er, who just finished a quick shower and ca out, stuffed the money into Zhou Ning’s hands without saying a word.
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