Song Ruier lowered his head. He had originally wanted to give his new father some nice things, but he never expected that Qiao Lian'er would run away like this.
The oxcart glided along the uneven road, bumping and jolting from time to time. Qiao Lian'er felt like her bones were about to be shaken apart.
Seeing the sullen expressions on Song Lao Er's and Song Rui Er's faces, Qiao Lian Er laid the basket flat and peeled back the contents.
A large chunk of lean pork was exposed.
The father and son stared wide-eyed, and both swallowed hard.
They never expected that the Qiao family, who couldn't even afford oil, could afford such a large quantity of meat, almost entirely lean meat.
The more Song Lao Er thought about it, the angrier he became, and he slapped Song Ruier on the head.
"useless."
Qiao Lian'er smiled slightly, straightened the basket, and turned around.
She's not afraid to show these things. Are the Joe family's hunters just vegetarians?
“Dad, the Qiao family is so poor, how could they afford a big piece of meat? Even if they did buy meat, they would only buy fatty meat, and they would render oil while eating the meat,” Song Ruier said.
In the end, only a few scraps of meat remained after cooking, not enough for each person in the family to have two pieces.
Song Lao Er snorted: "Have you forgotten that the Qiao family stole three taels of silver the day before yesterday?"
Song Ruier suddenly realized, no wonder. He saw that there was not only that piece of lean meat, but also something else at the bottom of the basket, which took up at least most of it.
He immediately became disdainful, thinking that with such a small amount of wealth, instead of making proper plans, he was only concerned with enjoying himself. Soon, his three taels of silver would be gone, and he would have to try his luck on the mountain, but eight out of ten times he would come up empty-handed.
His choice was not wrong. The Qiao family was not only poor, but also short-sighted and had no future. They could only remain poor forever.
He shared his analysis with Song Lao Er, who also found it very reasonable.
"With so many mouths to feed in their family, they'll be gone after just a few trips to the street. And they're still so proud and showing off. Let's see how long they can keep up their smugness."
Old Qi remained silent the entire way, his heart heavy with sorrow and unwilling to speak. But as they neared their destination, he still gave Qiao Lian'er a few words of advice.
"Lian'er, you must never eat the poisonous mushrooms on the mountain."
“Yes, we don’t eat poisonous mushrooms,” Qiao Lian’er said.
When they arrived at her doorstep, she insisted on giving Old Man Qi a copper coin, but he resolutely refused and drove off in his oxcart.
There was a lot of noise in the courtyard. Qiao Lian'er glanced inside and saw that by the afternoon, the Qiao family had all returned.
Logically speaking, once they go up the mountain, they won't come down until it's almost dark.
Did we have a very fruitful day?
Qiao Lian'er went in carrying a basket on her back.
"Grandpa, Grandma, why are you both back?"
A quick glance revealed that everyone's faces were solemn, Old Man Qiao had his head down and remained silent, while Old Woman Qiao had a sorrowful expression on her face.
Her heart tightened.
"Who knew there would be miasma on Leigong Mountain? In a dense forest, we saw a wild roe deer. Your eldest uncle, second uncle, and Dayong chased after it, but they all collapsed one after another."
Thinking back to the situation, Old Mrs. Qiao pressed her chest with lingering fear: "Everyone quickly held their breath and dragged them out as fast as they could, carried them home, and then asked the village doctor to give them medicine. Only then did they slowly recover."
"My mind is still a bit muddled. They almost, almost—" Old Mrs. Qiao couldn't finish her sentence, tears streaming down her face.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
