Chapter 119 Encounter with Human Traffickers
"Brother Qin is here? I was just talking about you with Comrade Qin..."
Qin Ye became interested. "Oh, what did you say about me?"
Su Lu choked, her mind racing, and blurted out, "They say Brother Qin is capable, but after finishing her own work every day, she still has to help Comrade Qin with her share. She's so lucky."
Qin Xiaoxiao glared at Su Lu secretly. "Yes, Comrade Su is right. I was just praising Big Brother."
Qin Ye smiled gently and harmlessly, "Really? But why did I hear you two arguing? It was so loud, and I don't think I'm deaf. Could I have misheard?"
Su Lu and Qin Xiaoxiao nodded in unison, "Big brother misheard, we're fine, how could we possibly be arguing?"
The two men smiled with innocent smiles, each looking more well-behaved than the other.
To prove he wasn't lying, he even instinctively shook hands.
"Friendship lasts forever."
"Until death do us part."
Qin Xiaoxiao and Qin Ye looked at Su Lu in shock.
If you don't know how to use idioms, don't talk nonsense.
The brother and sister rolled their eyes in unison and turned to walk home in tacit agreement.
Stay away from this idiot, lest you catch his stupidity.
Unaware that he had made a fool of himself, Su Lu was still gloating.
My education level has improved again, I have to go home and brag about it to my mother.
Qin Xiaoxiao had her second bowl of meat porridge at the Qin family home, also made with chicken. For this bowl of porridge, Grandma Qin had killed the old hen she had raised for three years. She was heartbroken and shed tears, but when she saw her eldest granddaughter happily squinting her eyes and finishing the whole bowl of porridge, her heartache subsided and she felt stronger again. She decided to stew the remaining chicken for her eldest granddaughter to make soup that evening.
With chicken soup to drink, Qin Xiaoxiao's eyes narrowed with laughter.
"Grandma still loves me the most."
Old Mrs. Qin laughed and scolded, "You little rascal, all you know how to do is flatter this old woman."
Qin Xiaoxiao clung to Grandma Qin's arm, protesting, "No way, she clearly meant it. Grandma is the best to me."
Grandma Qin felt extremely comforted and deeply grateful that she hadn't spoiled her eldest granddaughter in vain.
After appeasing Old Mrs. Qin, Qin Xiaoxiao went to work with Qin Feng and Qin Ye.
These days, Ma Dahua also has to work, but her job is light: guarding the threshing ground to prevent birds from stealing the grain. In comparison, Qin Xiaoxiao's job of cutting pig feed is much easier.
Qin Gouzi followed Qin Xiaoxiao up the mountain. The two didn't dare to go too far, only staying halfway up the mountain. Even so, Qin Xiaoxiao was still terrified, constantly looking up at the surroundings, afraid that someone would suddenly appear and knock them out and take them away.
After finishing gathering a basket of pig feed, Qin Xiaoxiao hurriedly dragged Qin Gouzi down the mountain to hand in the task. After handing in the task, Qin Gouzi was sent home, while Qin Xiaoxiao took advantage of the remaining time in the morning to return to the educated youth compound.
He opened the woodshed, took out the cured chicken and meat that had been prepared beforehand, washed them, put them in a pot and boiled them over a high flame, and then went to the space to set up the ice maker.
There's not much ice left in the space; she used almost all of it this summer. If she doesn't prepare now, next year will be tough.
Qin Xiaoxiao plans to wait until winter to break ice from the river and store it in her space. She will also use an ice maker to produce more ice blocks. She even wants to collect more snow into her space when it snows, even though it melts quickly, there's still plenty of it!
Winters in Northeast China are never short of snow.
There are two ice makers, and Qin Xiaoxiao plans to have them work together, but not for too long. If one breaks down, she won't have a spare, and most importantly, she doesn't know how to fix them.
Work for three hours at a time, then rest for one hour before resuming work.
Qin Xiaoxiao nodded with satisfaction as she watched the ice machine start working, and then stuffed the sheets, blankets, and pillowcases into the washing machine to wash them.
Before she knew it, it was noon and Qin Xiaoxiao put out the fire. Before the educated youth returned, she put all the cooked meat into her spatial storage.
Lunch was at the Qin family's house. Although there was no chicken soup, Grandma Qin still cooked two eggs for her to nourish her body.
In the afternoon, Qin Xiaoxiao took Qin Gouzi up the mountain again. They were still halfway up the mountain when they cut grass and chatted to ease their tension.
Just then, Qin Xiaoxiao suddenly heard footsteps on the mountaintop, as if they were walking downhill. She quickly stood up, hid the two baskets in a clump of grass, and pulled Qin Gouzi to hide behind a big tree.
Qin Gouzi looked completely bewildered, "Sister..."
Qin Gouzi had barely uttered a sound when Qin Xiaoxiao covered his mouth, signaling him to be quiet.
Qin Gouzi noticed that Qin Xiaoxiao was very nervous, so he obediently nodded, signaling her to let go.
Qin Xiaoxiao gestured to Qin Gouzi not to make a sound, and Qin Gouzi nodded again. Only then did Qin Xiaoxiao let go of him.
The two, one big and one small, hid behind a tree and peered up the mountain. After a short while, they saw a figure coming down from the mountain.
Qin Xiaoxiao couldn't see who it was, but she knew that everyone in Qinjiagou was working in the fields at this time, and it was unlikely that anyone other than her and Qin Gouzi would come to the mountain. But now someone had appeared on the mountain, so she had to take it seriously.
Pulling Qin Gouzi behind a tree, Qin Xiaoxiao and Qin Gouzi grew tense as the footsteps drew closer.
Fortunately, the man stopped not far from the tree, and then the sound of striking a match rang out.
Qin Xiaoxiao was startled.
Is this person planning to set the mountain on fire?
Qin Xiaoxiao wanted to see what the person was doing, but she was afraid of being discovered, so she could only remain still.
Fortunately, the next moment Qin Xiaoxiao heard the sound of someone smacking their lips and inhaling, and she guessed that the person was smoking.
After finishing his cigarette, the man walked to the other side. Hearing the receding footsteps, Qin Xiaoxiao quickly peeked out.
The person in the back wasn't someone she knew, but she couldn't be sure if they weren't from Qinjiagou either, because there were so many people there that she couldn't remember them all.
Qin Xiaoxiao watched as the person walked about twenty steps, then turned in another direction, walked another dozen steps, and then stood still, looking around. She knew that the person was checking the surroundings.
It's over, it's going to be bad!
Once he's finished looking in the other direction, he'll definitely come to check this side, and then she and Qin Gouzi will be exposed.
Qin Xiaoxiao frowned and shrank back, looking behind her. There was a patch of grass behind her, with tall weeds that hadn't been tended to.
Qin Xiaoxiao's eyes lit up; she had an idea.
While the man was still checking on the other side, Qin Xiaoxiao pulled Qin Gouzi and tiptoed into the bushes. The two didn't dare to go too deep, afraid that the noise would attract the man, and stopped only five or six meters away from the edge.
Slowly lying down in the grass, Qin Xiaoxiao looked at the man through the blades of grass and saw him turn around and walk towards them. Her heart tightened immediately.
Thank goodness she was quick-witted, otherwise we would definitely have had a tough fight today.
It's hard to judge a man's height from a distance, but Qin Xiaoxiao realized how wise she was to be so cautious when she got closer.
If a man is over 1.85 meters tall and looks like a brown bear, she would probably have to put in a lot of effort to fight him.
Moreover, she has Qin Gouzi by her side; once war breaks out, her public image will be ruined.
(End of this chapter)
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