Transmigration: A Farm Girl's Brocade

Chapter 29: Chapter 29: Outsmarting_1

Chapter 29: Chapter 29: Outsmarting_1

Qian Yixiu had just put down the mirror when she heard her little aunt shouting for dinner outside.

Finally, she could go to the main room to eat, and Qian Yixiu was overjoyed. She went to pull her little mother, but Cheng Yue’s tears came out, “Scared, won’t go out.”

The little mother was terrified and had never left her small room since she was injured.

Qian Yeejin also came in to persuade, “Mother, with your son here, no one dares to bully you.”

Cheng Yue still wouldn’t go out.

Qian Yixiu said helplessly, “Then mother should stay in the room and wait nicely, Yixiu will bring the food to you.”

Qian Sangui was also lying in bed unable to get up, so only Lady Wu, Qian Manxia, and the younger siblings Qian Yeejin had dinner in the main room.

The meal was very simple, sweet potato gruel, salted vegetables, and they even saved on cornbread.

Qian Manxia brought the broken bowl with gruel in it to Dashan’s face before she went inside to eat. There was no choice, the family was poor, and that bit of gruel was what everyone had saved from their own portion.

Dashan looked disdainfully at the bowl but still ate. Because it ran to the mountains out of gluttony, causing both its owners to be injured, the young master didn’t even want to bother with it now. So, although it was starving for the past few days, it didn’t dare to go to the mountain to forage and stayed obediently at home.

Seeing Dashan crouched at the door eating the gruel, Qian Yixiu recalled something that had bothered her for many years and said, “I don’t like the name Dashan, what kind of name is that for a female dog? It’s both vulgar and unpleasant.”

Lady Wu, without even lifting her head, said, “I think it’s a good name, it’s been used for six years, and we’re used to it. Why change it now?”

Qian Yixiu pouted and said, “In any case, Yixiu doesn’t like it.”

Qian Yeejin asked, “Then what name do you think is good?”

Qian Yixiu, who also suffered from a lack of creativity in naming, although she had long wanted to change Dashan’s name, couldn’t think of a good one. After thinking, she said, “How about Chouchou, what do you think?”

No sooner had her words fallen when Qian Manxia burst into giggles, and even Qian Yeejin, who had been feigning somberness for over half a month, also revealed a smile.

The always listless Dashan stopped eating the gruel too and raised its head, barking furiously at Qian Yixiu, quite impressively.

Qian Manxia laughed and said, “You see, not only do we disagree, Dashan is also unhappy about it. What a name, it’s hilarious.”

Qian Yixiu thought to herself that this was adorable! It’s just that they didn’t appreciate it. She pouted again and said, “If you don’t like Chouchou, how about Sister Doggy?”

Dashan barked furiously again. Seeing it was indeed very upset, Qian Yixiu had no choice but to let it be.

After lunch, Lady Wu went to the fields. After so many days of rain, the fields hadn’t been properly tended to. Lady Wu, just forty years old, was already slightly hunched, and half of her hair had turned white. Crow’s feet had crawled into the corners of her eyes, making her look like a woman of fifty.

Qian Yixiu felt extremely sorry for her young grandmother, who shouldered the burden of the entire family alone, dealing with the farm work and caring for a family of the infirm. She thought that once she had the capability, she would surely show her more filial piety.

After assisting Qian Sangui to eat breakfast, Qian Manxia finished tidying up the house and went out to wash clothes. The barely twelve-year-old girl, who would be attending primary school in her previous life, had to support Lady Wu and hold up the family. Despite it all, she never complained no matter how tough or tiring it got, always smiling merrily every day.

Before she left, she also praised Qian Yixiu, who was getting ready to scatter feed for the chickens.

Seeing the little girl’s radiant smile, Qian Yixiu felt even brighter on the inside and gave her a big grin as well, “Mmm, Yixiu is a good child, there will be eggs to eat by feeding the chickens.” After saying this, she shivered and shook off a bunch of goosebumps.

“Be careful not to cut your hand,” Qian Manxia cautioned.

The two hens in the chicken coop had not been sold or killed, solely because of their great contributions. Their frequency of producing two eggs every three days provided Qian Sangui with eggs to eat and saved their lives as a result.

Qian Yijin was sharpening his knife in the courtyard, dreaming of killing Fan Erhei. The boy was very upset, feeling like he was the only able-bodied man in the family, yet had not fulfilled his responsibilities to protect his mother and sister, letting them be bullied. He was truly useless. For the past half a month, he had been sharpening the knife almost daily, then standing at the entrance of the village with the cold gleaming knife in the drizzling rain, waiting for Fan Erhei.

Fan Erhei had been scared away and hadn’t dared to return to the village since.

Originally, when several households of the Qian family, along with Second Grandpa’s house, totaled over a dozen people, ran to the Old Fan’s House to demand justice, the Fan family was numerous and had many more adult men than the Qian family. The Qians dared not use their fists and could only argue with reason. Even though they had Dashan to back them up, the opponents were armed with poles, knives, and ropes, obviously prepared to deal with Dashan. Therefore, Qian Yijin had the leash tied very tightly, fearing that these people would take the opportunity to kill him.

Fan Erhei’s mother lay on the ground, screaming and rolling, saying she had no money to give. If they were capable, they could catch Fan Erhei and take the money, or it would be fine if they killed him—it was up to them.

In the end, it was only with Wang Lizheng’s intervention that the Old Fan’s House reluctantly handed over a sum of hundred wen money, which was not nearly enough even for a fraction of the medicinal soup expenses.

After feeding the chickens, Qian Yixiu came to the front courtyard and saw Qian Yijin still crouched down, sharpening his knife on the whetstone. His pretty little face was unusually serious, frowning, lips pursed, his small body moving rhythmically back and forth. Since the incident, Qian Yijin had lost his appetite and had no interest in mooching meals at other houses, and he had grown a little thinner.

Qian Yixiu thought that she couldn’t let the boy continue down the path of crime. So she stepped forward and called out, “Qian Yijin.”

“Call me brother,” Qian Yijin said without lifting his head. He was quite frustrated. Ever since his sister had been injured, not only had she become more articulate and stopped wetting the bed, but she also didn’t admire him as before. Even worse, she frequently addressed him by his full name.

Qian Yixiu rolled her eyes and then said softly, “Brother, think before you act. It’s clear even if you think with your toes, Fan Erhei absolutely wouldn’t dare to come back to the village now. You sharpen your knife every day and wait at the village entrance, can you really wait for him? Even if, by a long shot, Fan Erhei did come back, you’re only as tall as his chest—could you beat him? If he wounds you before you kill him, and you get hurt again, our family might as well not bother trying to make a living. We’d have to sell the land and the house and then go out and beg.”

After crossing over, Qian Yixiu would occasionally preach to Qian Yijin, and although the boy found it strange, he couldn’t figure out why.

Qian Yijin glanced at Dashan, “Then I’ll let Dashan bite him.”

“If Dashan attacks a person on his own, those people will have even more reason to kill him. Would you really be willing to let Dashan die?”

“Then what should we do, just let him get away with bullying Mom and Sister?” the boy said angrily, standing up and expertly running a finger along the blade’s edge.

Qian Yixiu squatted opposite him and said, “Of course, we can’t let him get away with it. But we’re too young now; we can’t beat him with brute force. We have to learn some real skills, and when we’re strong ourselves, we can not only get revenge but also ensure that no one dares to bully us.”

“So you’re saying we can’t take revenge now? I really can’t accept that,” Qian Yijin said dejectedly.

“It’s not that we can’t take revenge; if we do, we need to be smart about it, strike at the enemy’s weakest point…” Qian Yixiu said.

“Smart… do you have a plan?” Qian Yijin asked.

Thanks to Milan Two for the sachet, to book friends 151104144321502 and LifeLikeWater for the purses, thanks to Jian and Rose for the review tickets, and thank you for your comments and recommendation votes. Please continue to click, recommend, and collect; your support is appreciated.

There will be two updates today, the second update will be at noon.