The three Shanshui siblings were all pushed toward the Village Chief's House by the villagers. Many villagers who were originally in a hurry to go up the mountain to dig for medicinal herbs were no longer in a rush, flocking to the Village Chief's House to watch the excitement.
Qin Sang knew that if Heizi hadn't appeared in time today, there would have been another long bout of bickering.
Although she wouldn't have come out on the losing end, wasting time on such matters was truly uncalled for.
"Eldest, Third, you two go to the Village Chief's House and keep an eye on things. If necessary, come back and invite Heizi and the others over to act as witnesses."
The two sons immediately ran off. It wasn't appropriate for Qin Sang to invite the men into the courtyard, so she instructed Eldest Brother's Wife and the others to bring the teapot over and take the buns out of the steamer.
She hadn't expected that after she left yesterday, Heizi and his group would specifically go to teach the Shanshui Brothers a lesson. They were loyal and righteous; helping them hadn't been in vain.
Qin Sang stuffed buns from the basin into their hands for them to eat. Heizi swallowed his saliva while trying to refuse:
"No need, Auntie. We already took four catties of flour from you the other day. How can we keep eating and drinking your food?"
Qin Sang forced them into his hands, brook no argument:
"These were all made this morning. I didn't know you'd arrive so early, so I only steamed this many. Each person can only have one. There's herbal tea here; you should all drink a bowl to prevent heatstroke."
Heizi was forced to take the soft, fluffy bun, his mouth constantly secreting saliva:
"Then... then thank you, Auntie."
For a moment, the sounds of thanks from the group rose and fell one after another.
One bun certainly wasn't enough to be full, but it satisfied their hunger. Especially with the vegetables inside—fresh yet salty and glistening with oil—it was incredibly fragrant.
In the past, they couldn't even eat buns this fragrant and delicious during the New Year.
Back when they collected protection fees, everyone could barely manage a full stomach, but eating and drinking well was out of the question. Wherever they went, people looked at them with eyes full of disgust. But now, here with Qin Sang, Heizi and the others felt a sense of being respected.
After Qin Sang distributed a vegetable bun to each person, she finally looked at the mountain-like pile of mugwort.
"How heavy must this be? You just carried it all here on your shoulders?"
Heizi couldn't bear to finish the bun in one go. He took a tiny bite and chewed it repeatedly, only swallowing once the bun and vegetables had been chewed into a fine, slightly sour mash:
"Auntie, it's not heavy. There's so much in our village. This is just what we could carry; there are still two hundred catties at my house."
Qin Sang estimated this pile to be at least six or seven hundred catties. Was this the power of many people working together?
"Si Jin, Er Fu, come quickly and weigh this."
Heizi hurriedly said:
"Auntie, no need to weigh it. We already took your flour yesterday. We should be giving these to you for free."
Qin Sang waved her hand:
"How can that be? We agreed yesterday: one catty of flour for fifty catties of mugwort. I want to do long-term business with you. If you give it for free today, will you give it for free in the future too?"
Heizi answered subconsciously:
"We will, as long as Auntie wants it."
The others all chimed in in agreement.
Qin Sang couldn't help but laugh:
"Even if you give it for free, this Auntie won't take it. Don't worry, I'm collecting this to make money as well. I won't lose out."
Si Jin and Er Fu brought the scale over. Several men took it and helped with the weighing. Si Jin only had to adjust the weight, and Er Fu just needed to record the numbers.
"Isn't this the Butcher's Wife?"
Heizi asked, looking at Tian Erfu who was recording the numbers over there.
Qin Sang was a bit surprised:
"This is my second daughter. She married Butcher Hu from the Town and came back with us the other day. You're all in Town; perhaps you've even had meat weighed by my daughter's hand."
Heizi finally finished his bun and replied:
"We haven't weighed meat there. That Butcher Hu pulls out his knife as soon as he sees us, and we can't afford meat anyway."
Qin Sang understood. These Local Ruffians like Heizi were similar to the 'yellow-haired punks' of modern times—they looked flashy, but in reality, the whole group couldn't scrape together ten copper coins.
"Then how do you know my daughter?"
Heizi's gaze moved away from Tian Erfu. Facing Qin Sang's questioning, he answered somewhat nervously:
"It... it was just that one time we saw Butcher Hu beating someone. We couldn't stand to watch, so we stepped in to stop him."
A person beside him added:
"The scar on Brother Heizi's face was slashed by Butcher Hu that time. He almost went blind."
The conversation here was heard by Tian Erfu as she recorded the numbers. Seemingly remembering that encounter, she looked up in alarm, her whole body trembling slightly.
She had almost been beaten to death that time. She had no idea who had saved her, let alone that Heizi had been injured.
The smile on Qin Sang's face vanished. She looked at Er Fu, and seeing her fearful and cowering state, she asked Heizi again:
"What happened exactly back then?"
Heizi scratched his head:
"Auntie, we aren't too sure either. It seemed like... she was caught trying to run away by Butcher Hu. When we got there, the Butcher's Wife had already been beaten unconscious..."
For a moment, everyone's gaze turned toward Tian Erfu.
Tian Erfu's fingers jerked, and the paper and brush in her hand fell to the ground.
Memories of the nightmare instantly surrounded her. Tian Erfu covered her face with both hands and ran back into the house.
"Sister..."
"Eldest Paternal Aunt?"
Third Brother's Wife stood at the courtyard gate, nervously tugging at the corner of her clothes.
Tian Sijin and Eldest Girl chased after her in worry. Eldest Brother's Wife walked over, picked up the paper and brush from the ground, and said:
"I'll do the recording."
The men all acknowledged her and continued weighing the mugwort.
Qin Sang decided to find out more:
"Heizi, you spend a lot of time in Town. Do you know anything else?"
Heizi didn't know if he should speak, but Auntie Qin's gaze made him afraid to hide anything:
"I... I also heard it from others. That Butcher Hu has a son in his teens and a daughter over a year old at home.
Back then, his first wife was beaten every day, and her maternal family didn't support her, so she threw herself into the river. Butcher Hu, being a man, couldn't take care of the small children, so he..."
The people in Town spoke very harshly, and Heizi felt it wasn't right to say those things in front of Qin Sang. Qin Sang didn't mind:
"I know all that. What I want to ask is, after my Er Fu married into his family, how has she been living at Butcher Hu's house?"
Heizi sighed:
"We didn't specifically investigate, but we occasionally heard others say...
They said the Butcher's Wife is too pitiful. She works all day without a stop, and if Butcher Hu's business is bad, he beats her to vent his anger.
They also... also said that Butcher's son isn't a good person either... peeping... peeping..."
Heizi really couldn't say it. Although their group had all heard it and even discussed it, their status was different then. Now, speaking in front of the mother about her daughter being peeped at while bathing by her stepson—what would Auntie Qin think?
She would probably want to kill them.
Qin Sang's face turned ashen. She knew Er Fu had a hard life in Town, but she hadn't expected it to be this miserable.
The sound of something dropping came from behind; it was the wicker basket Third Brother's Wife was holding to feed the chickens.
Seeing Heizi's apprehensive expression, Qin Sang forced a small smile:
"Heizi, thank you for saving my Er Fu back then. Perhaps this is our fate."
Heizi nodded repeatedly:
"Exactly. If it weren't for Auntie, we might have strayed onto the wrong path."
As they spoke, the mugwort was finished being weighed. The group even thoughtfully carried all the mugwort into the courtyard and set it down.
Six hundred and thirty catties could be exchanged for one hundred and thirty catties of grain. It looked like a lot, but there were more than ten people in Heizi's group, so each person only got a bit over ten catties.
Qin Sang steadied her mind and called out:
"Heizi, come inside with Auntie to carry the flour."