12 – Saving the Village Demon
“My fair Meiqiu, I always feel that haunted house isn’t simple. Do you think it might be related to the Sang family? Otherwise, why would I see those footprints leading from here straight to the haunted house this morning?” Qin Yue narrowed her eyes, looking quite pleased.
Today Meiqiu had somehow acquired a bow tie fastened to the fur on his chest—probably thinking it looked good—and actually started posing coquettishly before Qin Yue.
Seeing him like this, Qin Yue nearly spat out her soda. Good heavens, this creature is way too narcissistic.
“Host sister, I don’t know if there’s any connection between the Sang family and that haunted house,” Meiqiu’s tone was excessively artificial.
“Fine, then you must at least know where that foolish man is? Since he’s my target to conquer, why hasn’t he appeared?”
“Don’t know.”
Still angry about him falling asleep last night, Qin Yue bristled with rage: “You stupid coal ball, why don’t you know anything? Other Systems are omnipotent, why am I so unlucky to get stuck with a fool like you?!”
“Host sister, don’t be angry. I’m still just a child. Those secrets are held by higher-level Systems that I can’t access. When I grow up and become an official, I’ll know everything,” Meiqiu said pitifully while rubbing his head.
“Stop with your ‘child’ nonsense! If you put half the effort you spend on preening into research, you wouldn’t be so stupid!” Her expression exactly resembled a parent scolding their disappointing son.
After being lectured by Qin Yue, Meiqiu left whimpering.
Qin Yue sighed helplessly. It seemed hoping for help from the System was impossible—everything in this world would have to be earned through her own efforts.
However, from this day onward, Qin Yue never heard the man’s laughter in the middle of the night again.
Three months passed in a flash. Every time Meiqiu appeared, Qin Yue would scold him for being useless. Driven to desperation by this domestic abuse, Meiqiu simply went invisible.
During this period, Qin Yue actually grew much closer to Qingqing and Cuicui. To pass the time, she had Qingqing get some seeds and planted various fruits and vegetables in the courtyard.
She also made a swing between two trees, spending her idle hours reading books on the swing to kill time.
Sang Mohan’s parents visited several times during this period, bringing food and clothing, but that legendary foolish man never appeared.
Her own parents also visited once, saying the villagers no longer had to starve. With the food and seeds provided by Sangyu Village, everyone could see hope and was living with growing enthusiasm. The villagers now revered her as a living bodhisattva.
Qin Yue merely chuckled at this. So she marries a fool and saves the whole village, and suddenly she’s a living bodhisattva? Why didn’t they think of this back when they were calling her a fox spirit and little slut?
People are just a bunch of opportunistic creatures. When you’re successful, they’d lick your toes; when you’re down, they’d trample you underfoot.
After three months, the vegetables ripened. The yard was filled with string beans and eggplants—more than the three of them could possibly eat.
Looking at the full basket of fresh vegetables, Qingqing began to worry. Propping her chin, she said: “Sister-in-law, we’ve harvested so many vegetables—what should we do if we can’t finish them all?”
Cuicui crouched behind Qingqing, also looking concerned.
Finally, Qin Yue came up with a solution: they would boil the excess vegetables, sun-dry them until completely dehydrated, then add some salt and chili powder to make Vegetable Crisps.