20 – Qin Feng has his own plans
“It’s fine! Those who fell into the river were just careless. Later, when they go to dig the river embankment, just our Baiyun Village alone will have about twenty people, not to mention folks from other villages. With so many people there, nothing will go wrong. And…”
At this point, Sun Xiao Lan’s tone suddenly turned mysterious: “Do you believe that every household will be rushing to go later?”
“Why?” Taohua asked in surprise. “Is there some benefit to digging the river embankment?”
“Of course there is!” Sun Xiao Lan said, holding up two index fingers in front of Taohua. “Ten wen a day! Do you know how much the few people from our village earn when they go to the county town to build houses?”
Taohua shook her head. “I don’t know. How much per day?”
Sun Xiao Lan held up two fingers. “Only eight wen, and that doesn’t include food or lodging. If meals are provided, it’s just six wen a day, and they have to travel all the way to the county town. If it’s in the town, they earn even less.”
“But now, right at our doorstep, it’s ten wen a day, with a meal provided at noon. Isn’t that a good deal? But the official from the county said each household only needs to send one person.”
“But ten wen a day—who wouldn’t want that? Take Daya’s family, for example. She has five brothers, all young and strong. They’ll definitely want to go. What’s wrong? You look like you don’t want your man to go?”
Taohua lowered her head slightly. “I’m just worried about the danger.”
Sun Xiao Lan chuckled. “I think you’re worrying for nothing. Your man is someone who can hunt wild boars alone in the mountains. Would he be afraid of a little river embankment? Besides, this is an order from the county magistrate. He has to go.”
“But,” Taohua wondered, “what about the widow in our village? She doesn’t have a man in her family. Would they really make a woman do heavy work by the river?”
“She’ll cook. With so many people eating, someone has to prepare the meals. If you really don’t want to go, you can pay a fee instead. But who would pass up earning ten wen a day and instead take money out of their own pocket? Though if she’s just cooking, she won’t earn as much as ten wen.”
“Oh,” Taohua nodded and asked, “How long will the repairs take?”
“At least ten days to half a month, but with so many people, they’ll probably finish before the New Year. If it drags on past the New Year, no one will be happy! If you calculate it, ten days means a hundred wen—that’s a lot!”
“My husband said that once he gets the money, he’ll take me to the town to buy flowers to wear. Let me tell you, I’ve already picked out the flowers. I’m just waiting for him to go out and earn the money.”
Sun Xiao Lan spoke with a beaming smile.
Seeing her friend’s happy married life, Taohua couldn’t help but feel happy for her.
In the past, whenever she heard Xiao Lan talk about such things, Taohua had felt a bit of longing and envy.
But now, she didn’t need to envy anyone, because she had her Brother Qin!
And her Brother Qin treated her especially well!!
After discussing the river embankment repairs, the two friends moved on to talk about embroidery.
Before they knew it, the gathering outside had ended.
Hearing the commotion, Taohua couldn’t help but stand up and look out the window.
Sun Xiao Lan quickly followed: “I haven’t finished talking with you yet, and you’re already leaving?”
Taohua kept her eyes fixed outside, not turning her head as she replied to Sun Xiao Lan:
“I’ll leave in a bit. I’ll go out after everyone has left. I told Brother Qin to wait for me.”
Sun Xiao Lan nodded: “That’s good. It’ll save you from running into Chen Dashan later. Just seeing him makes me angry.”
“Yeah, but it seems like he’s already left. I didn’t see him.”
“Who cares about him? Whether he comes or goes, it doesn’t matter!”
“Huh? That’s strange!” Taohua suddenly exclaimed. “Why is Brother Qin gone?”
“What?” Sun Xiao Lan also leaned in. “Didn’t he say he’d wait for you? Let me see. Huh? He really isn’t here!”
“Yeah,” Taohua frowned. “If he was leaving, he should have told me. How could he just leave without a word?”
“Don’t worry yet. Maybe something else came up. It looks like my grandfather isn’t here either. They might be talking privately somewhere. Let’s wait a little longer.”
In the corner of the courtyard.
Qin Feng was speaking with the Village Chief.
“Grandpa Sun, why haven’t I seen Chen Dashan today? Does he not plan to go with us?”
“Him,” the Village Chief couldn’t help but shake his head at the mention of Chen Dashan. “He heard about this in town yesterday. When I went to the east end of the village to call him this morning, he said he had a stomachache and didn’t want to come, telling me to sign him up directly.
The county magistrate has sent people to supervise this project. If Chen Dashan dares to slack off and embarrass our Baiyun Village, I’ll definitely report him.
Isn’t your wife already cut ties with him? Why are you so concerned about him?”
Qin Feng said calmly, “It’s not exactly concern. I’m just worried he might go looking for trouble with Taohua when I’m not home. Since he’s going too, I don’t have that worry anymore.”
Of course, this was just polite talk on the surface.
Qin Feng naturally had his own plans in mind.
…………
The construction project began that very afternoon.
Nothing happened in the first half of the day, and no one encountered any danger.
Seeing Qin Feng return safe and sound, Taohua finally breathed a sigh of relief.
During the evening rest, Taohua kept asking her husband if his back was sore or his arms hurt, insisting on giving him a massage.
But her strength was like tickling to Qin Feng.
Still, seeing his little wife so enthusiastic, he didn’t want to dampen her spirits.
Though her touch was light, each press and rub seemed to sink deep into his heart.
He closed his eyes and chuckled softly, “It’s good to have a wife.”
Taohua paused her hands, her eyes instantly brightening: “Money doesn’t matter to me. I just want you to come back safely before dark every day. Can you promise me that, Brother Qin?”
“Yes, I promise you.”
The next day, Qin Feng returned safely, and all the men in the village returned safely, except for Chen Dashan.
It was said that during the midday break, he hid in the mountains to drink and slack off, not showing up all afternoon. When the villagers found him, he was hanging upside down from a large tree, as if he had accidentally stepped into a hunter’s trap.
He howled in the woods all afternoon, but no one could hear him. The frustration made him wet his pants on the spot, and when the villagers caught a whiff of his urine-soaked stench, they nearly died laughing.
On the third day, due to the need to catch up on progress, the day’s work was delayed by nearly an hour.
By the time everyone headed home, it was already dark, but they all returned safely.
Only Chen Dashan fell behind. He didn’t return home all night and only stumbled back to the village the next morning, bruised and battered.
When others asked him what had happened, he claimed he had gotten lost in the mountains and was chased by jackals and wild beasts, tripping and falling all over the place.
Everyone knew there were wolves in these mountains, so they believed him.
But only Chen Dashan himself knew—this was all Qin Feng’s doing!
It was Qin Feng who had tied him to a tree, and it was Qin Feng who had dragged him deep into the mountains under the cover of darkness!!
Spending the entire night alone in the mountains nearly scared the life out of him.
He was terrified of Qin Feng now. He would never dare to approach Taohua again, nor would he ever dare to lay a hand on his own wife…