"Um, you misunderstood. What I meant was... could you share some with me? I can trade with you!"
As she spoke, she held out the two sweet potatoes in her hand to Qin Qing, her expression showing no embarrassment or shyness whatsoever…
Qin Qing: "..."!
You want to trade two sweet potatoes for her rabbit meat? Even in modern times, no merchant would agree to that deal!
Then, seeing the woman's hopeful and expectant eyes, she suddenly smiled. Her ordinary cotton clothes couldn't hide the beauty that bloomed on her face at that moment, and even the woman in front of her was stunned for a moment.
The next second, a hint of sarcasm appeared in Qin Qing's eyes.
"Aunt Zhang, how much rabbit meat are you planning to trade for two sweet potatoes? Two pieces of meat? That's not worth it. Sweet potatoes can at least fill you up, but how long can two pieces of meat last... I'm not going to take advantage of this. You can go now."
After saying that, she prepared to close the door. After all, she wasn't stupid. After processing a rabbit, there was only so much meat left; the internal organs were inedible, and the pure meat was limited. What she made was just enough for two people. If she were in her shoes, she would be the fool.
Unexpectedly, the woman outside panicked and desperately tried to block the door with her hand. Fortunately, Qin Qing reacted quickly and stopped her. Otherwise, if the woman's hand had been caught, she would have had to pay some compensation!
Her expression hardened, and she reprimanded him sternly.
"Aunt Zhang, what are you doing? If I hadn't reacted quickly, your hand would probably be ruined!"
The sound quickly attracted the attention of other neighbors. Aunt Zhang was taken aback, then looked aggrieved.
"I know two sweet potatoes won't get you much meat, but my only son insists on eating them, and I have no choice! Life is hard enough already, and this is all the good food we have left. Please, trade with me!"
As she spoke, a hint of sorrow crept into her voice. Anyone who didn't know better would think that Qin Qing had stolen someone's grain and was now begging them to return it!
Qin Qing stood at the doorway, her expression calm and expressionless, her gaze cool as she stared at Aunt Zhang, remaining motionless...
She couldn't hold back her feigned grievances any longer, and finally smiled.
“Aunt Zhang, what are you saying? In this day and age, who isn’t struggling? Who isn’t living a hard life? My husband and I finally managed to catch a rabbit on the mountain. We haven’t had meat in ages, and today we were lucky enough to finally eat some. But before we even got a bite, you came over and asked me to give you some. I just want to ask you, haven’t we just met? I haven’t even met your son yet, have I? How can you have the nerve to ask me for meat? It’s meat!”
Upon hearing this, the surrounding neighbors nodded in unison, swallowing hard. Yes! That's meat! They wouldn't do it either!
Aunt Zhang looked guilty upon hearing this and whispered.
"I...I know, but my darling..."
Upon hearing this, Qin Qing frowned and rebuked him angrily.
"Aunt Zhang, you're wrong. You know the current conditions, so you should let your child get used to hardship and know what hardship is. Only then will he be able to endure hardship and rise above others! If you, as his mother, have to ask for everything he wants, let me be blunt: what will he do when you're old in ten or twenty years? So you must cultivate him from a young age so that he can succeed in the future!"
Aunt Zhang was a little confused. She hadn't been to school, and Qin Qing was saying too much, including things like "the poorest of the poor are the best of the best." She didn't understand any of it, but she did understand the last sentence and actually felt that it made some sense!
But something still feels off...
Qin Qing didn't give her a chance to pester him and quickly spoke up.
"It's cold outside, you should go back inside! You must tell him what I just said!"
After saying that, she closed the door and locked it securely before heading to the kitchen. She couldn't help but feel grateful for her foresight. In modern times, she was used to locking the door when she was home alone. So when she arrived in this village, she found that almost every household had a wooden gate with a fence and almost none of them were locked. She went to the blacksmith's shop, bought a chain, and then asked for a buckle before she could close the door.
By the time Aunt Zhang outside the door reacted, the person was already standing at the door! Looking at her son's expectant eyes and realizing that she still had those two shriveled sweet potatoes in her hand, she instantly felt disappointed and sad. Her heart ached, and she completely forgot what Qin Qing had said!
On the other side, when Qin Qing returned to the kitchen, Wang Yan had almost finished eating, but he still left her a lot of meat.
“What you just said makes a lot of sense, but I don’t think that person will necessarily listen. Eat up, the rest of the bamboo shoots have already been pickled, we’ll have pickled bamboo shoots tomorrow.”
Qin Qing nodded upon hearing this and once again threw himself into the great meat-eating ranks!
Seven or eight minutes later, there was another knock at the door. Qin Qing turned her head and looked through the window, confirming it was Aunt Zhang again. Suddenly, the meat in her mouth no longer tasted good…
"Ugh, so annoying! Even eating a meal can't give me a break!"
Wang Yan paused in his washing of the pot, then silently began to wipe his hands, before stopping Qin Qing, who was about to get up.
"You eat first, I'll take care of the food outside."
Qin Qing was taken aback upon hearing this, then nodded, still feeling uneasy.
"We're staying here this winter, so please don't cause any trouble..."
It wasn't that she was worrying unnecessarily, but what if Aunt Zhang really angered Wang Yan and they started fighting? She's a man who's killed countless people!
Wang Yan nodded and walked out calmly.
Qin Qing watched his retreating figure, then casually picked up a piece of rabbit meat and started gnawing on it. Wang Yan was always clever; this kind of thing shouldn't be difficult for him.
I'm thinking about it while I'm eating! Mmm, rabbit meat smells so good!
When the door was opened, Aunt Zhang was stunned for a moment. She didn't expect that it would be the male head of the household who opened the door this time! However, men are usually concerned about their image, so they certainly wouldn't make things too ugly.
So she started acting unreasonably and shamelessly, while the boy, who looked to be about ten years old, kept peeking inside. But as time had passed, the aroma of the rabbit meat had faded considerably...
Two minutes later, Wang Yan returned, and the two people at the door, one big and one small, also left without making a sound!
Qin Qing was surprised to see Wang Yan return so quickly.
"So fast? They actually left. How did you do that?"
Wang Yan smiled mysteriously.
Seeing this, Qin Qing didn't bother to find out anymore. After cleaning up the mess, Wang Yan washed the dishes while she went back to her room.
Seeing this, Wang Yan silently washed the dishes, thinking about what had just happened. His hand unconsciously touched his face, and he couldn't help but wonder, am I really that scary?
Recalling what had just happened, the woman was startled when she saw him, and her face turned quite pale. The little boy next to him was not afraid of him at first, but after he said a word, he was so frightened that he trembled and almost cried.
As for what Wang Yan said, only the three of them probably know.
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