In his sleep, a giant hand suddenly emerged from the black mist and grabbed Zheng Quchi's neck.
A harsh, menacing voice pierced her heart: "What you owe me, it's time to pay it back!"
ah--
Zheng Quchi suddenly opened his eyes, startled awake from his sleep.
I'm still shaken.
She quickly touched her neck.
Thank goodness, it was just a nightmare.
Although the man in the dream whose face was obscured was terrifying, it was by no means an ominous sign; at most, it was just a case of what you think about during the day manifesting in your dreams at night.
She patted her wildly beating heart, trying to reassure herself.
As dawn was breaking, Zheng Quchi, unable to sleep anyway, carefully got up so as not to wake Brother Sang and Sister Sang.
She prepared to draw up the architectural plans of the houses she had envisioned, but then realized that this was not a military camp, and there were no precious items like Xuan paper and ink for her to squander.
She truly understood the meaning of the word "poor".
She could only imitate the primitive people, first finding a flat stone, and using a charcoal pencil to design the house structure on it and record the data.
She's already a seasoned designer; she could work on these simple residential blueprints with her eyes closed.
Not long after, Brother Sang put on his coat and came out.
When he saw Zheng Quchi squatting on the ground writing and drawing, he relaxed and straightened his collar: "Why are you up? It's chilly in the morning, what are you doing squatting there?"
Zheng Quchi turned around: "Brother, where can we find loess around here?"
He immediately understood what she was going to do, and after thinking for a moment, he said, "The slopes of the low forest to the north are all yellow soil. People in the village who want to build houses go there to dig for soil."
"Okay, then I'll go find Brother Yang to borrow a bamboo basket and carry some yellow soil back."
Brother Sang stopped her: "I'll go borrow the stove to cook some sweet potato porridge. We'll eat something before we go out."
Seeing that he was holding her tightly and wouldn't let go, Zheng Quchi had no choice but to say, "Fine."
“I’ll go out and find someone for you in a little while. You… after all, you’re a woman, and you’ll eventually get married and have children. If you do too much of this heavy work and hurt your body, you’ll regret it later,” he admonished earnestly.
This was the second time Zheng Quchi had heard him talk about getting married. He knew that "Qing Ge'er" was a woman, but did he know who "Zheng Quchi" was?
She didn't know when the Mo family's "Zheng Quchi" replaced Sang Xuanqing, but "Zheng Quchi" didn't disguise herself, she just blackened her face and made herself ugly. She naturally looked like that. If she was replaced in the middle, wouldn't the Sang family have noticed anything?
Thinking of this, a certain guess flashed through Zheng Quchi's mind.
Suddenly, I realized that she might have been thinking in the wrong direction.
She believes that Sang Xuanqing and the Mo family's "Zheng Quchi" are two different people, and that Sang Xuanqing was replaced. But is it possible that... they were actually the same person from beginning to end?
Zheng Quchi decided to boldly ask, "Brother, have you ever heard of the name Zheng Quchi?"
Brother Sang paused for a moment, his expression somewhat strange: "Isn't this the pseudonym your parents gave you when you were little?"
Zheng Quchi's breath hitched.
That's really true.
Sang Xuanqing is Zheng Quchi's solid proof.
"What about the Mohists?"
"What's wrong with you?" Brother Sang looked around in a panic and pulled her into the house. "Be careful what you say. Your parents are dead, and we have no connection with the Mo family anymore. Remember, you must never mention the Mo family or the past again."
Zheng Quchi dug out another big melon.
She gasped.
It turns out that it wasn't just Sang Xuanqing who had a secret connection with the Mo family, but the entire Sang family had a significant relationship with them.
"Brother, you mentioned the deaths of Father and Mother. Is it related to the Mo family?"
“I don’t know, and don’t ask this question again.” Brother Sang’s face suddenly turned very ugly. To prevent her from going on and on about this, he said in a very stern tone, “Once the house is finished, it will be December soon, and the annual wedding procession in Fu County will begin. You must get married this year and can’t delay any longer.”
Zheng Quchi was still resentful about her current status when she suddenly heard the topic of marriage and she was dumbfounded.
"Big brother, I'm still young..."
“I’ve let you be willful for sixteen years, but I can’t let you continue to be willful. You must return to being a girl and marry into a good family this year.”
With an uncompromising tone and a limp, Brother Sang dragged his lame leg to the kitchen.
Zheng Quchi was left alone in the room, sighing deeply.
Brother, you probably don't know how much trouble your sister can cause, and you also don't know that she has long had intricate connections with the Mo family.
Right now, a pack of wolves and tigers are watching her hungryly from behind, ready to pounce and kill her at any moment.
If she were to revert to her female identity and marry at this time... she couldn't imagine whether her career would be ruined.
If Yuwen Sheng had given up on recruiting her because she was a woman... then her fate would have been predictable.
Therefore, even though her eldest brother was like a father to her, she had no choice but to disobey him.
Putting aside these troublesome matters, she continued to focus on building the house.
She carried loess back and forth in a basket several times, but when it was clear that the amount needed was far from enough, she felt that a person only has two hands, but there are too many things to do.
Even if I'm reluctant to spend the money, I have to ask for help this time.
She comforted herself, thinking that at least the building materials could be obtained from nature, and the only expense was the labor costs.
In fact, in Hegou Village, it's not customary to pay people to build houses. As long as food is provided, most villagers will be happy to help. However, Zheng Quchi thought that his family had very poor interpersonal relationships, so he decided to charge them two copper coins a day.
All the other party had to do was help her move loess, cut down trees, and make clay bricks, using some brute force.
She can do the rest of the carpentry work herself, such as windows, doors, roof beams, purlins, etc.
Brother Sang said she was going to the village to look for someone, but by noon the person still hadn't returned. Just as she was wondering about this, she saw a group of village women leading children, running towards her in a huff.
"Sang Xuanqing, come out here! You bastard, what right do you have to bully my child!"
As soon as Zheng Quchi looked up, he recognized the child of the leading village woman as the one who had bullied his youngest sister that day.
Seeing that the newcomers were hostile, Zheng Quchi's face immediately darkened, and she shouted in an even angrier voice than they were, "Perfect! I was just looking for you. Now that you're here, it saves me the trouble of looking for someone later."
They thought Sang Xuanqing would be scared and back down, but they didn't expect her to be completely unfazed.
On the contrary, they were taken aback by her assertive attitude of taking the initiative.
The leading village woman's face contorted with anger, and she pointed at her nose: "What do you mean by that?"
The "Qing Ge'er" in front of them felt completely unfamiliar.
She used to be so quiet and gloomy. When she thought about how she was taken away and humiliated by the bald-headed man from the next village, she never uttered a sound. When she saw people in the village, she would lower her head and not greet them, as if she was afraid of making eye contact with them.
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