Chapter 152: Chapter 152: It Pains Him!

“But, but you can’t drink human blood!”

Qi Ercai’s face turned almost green.

He truly couldn’t accept the idea of drinking human blood.

In contrast, Qi Quanjin’s reaction wasn’t so intense. He calmly asked Yin Cheng, “Do the others have wounds on their bodies?”

“They do, but not as many as the old lady’s wounds.”

Yin Cheng pointed at Er Laizi, “I checked, this person’s mouth has the strongest lingering taste of blood, presumably the one who drank the most.”

“This person is that old lady’s son.”

Qi Quanjin explained.

Yin Cheng nodded, “I know, this mother and son are not good people.”

They had been together before, and although Yin Cheng didn’t pay much attention to the other villagers, he saw some things and heard some things.

Qi Ercai loosened his clenched fists and let out a long sigh, “So, that does seem reasonable. Mrs. Lai Sr. spoils Er Laizi the most, probably fearing her son might not hold up, so she fed him all with her own blood.”

Parental love isn’t just giving life, providing meals, and raising the child.

Like Mrs. Lai Sr., even at such an age, she still uses her own flesh and blood to nourish her child.

Yin Cheng wasn’t particularly touched; he simply said calmly to Qi Quanjin, “Old Fourth, though these people can survive, it doesn’t necessarily mean all are good. After traveling such a long road and suffering hardships, whether to keep them here or not, I suggest you discuss it thoroughly with everyone else.”

Being the usual proud, stubborn old man, to make such a suggestion was already an acknowledgment of Qi Quanjin’s ability.

If it were someone else, he wouldn’t say a single word more.

Qi Quanjin nodded, “Mr. Yin, I understand, thank you.”

“Alright then, if there’s nothing else, let’s get busy.”

After saying this, Yin Cheng waved his hand and turned to leave.

Qi Quanjin patted Qi Ercai’s shoulder, “Second brother, sorry for troubling you again tomorrow. Check if there are any single courtyards nearby, or if we can co-rent with someone else, that would work too.”

“Alright.”

Qi Ercai knew he couldn’t avoid this matter, so he just had to agree.

This time, they brought back firewood enough for five carts, as high as small mountains, enough for everyone to use for a while.

For dinner, they originally planned to make it sumptuous, to celebrate finally settling down.

But because of Ji Hu and the others, no one had much of an appetite.

Soft mixed-grain buns, meat stew with chestnuts, with some wild vegetable greens added, along with a side of mixed greens.

However, as the amount of greens was not much, each person only got two bites to try the flavor, and that was it for dinner.

Qi Quanjin gathered the old men together to discuss how to accommodate Ji Hu and the others.

Everyone was troubled.

To say they didn’t hate them would be a lie.

That night, when their families faced the wild wolves together, the villagers all ran up the back trees to hide.

Such an experience, they probably couldn’t forget for the rest of their lives.

But to just let them die, they couldn’t do that either.

Finally, it was Qi Zheng who made the decision, “Old Fourth is letting Old Second rent a courtyard tomorrow, right? Once it’s rented, send them all there, and provide two meals daily for them. When they’re well enough to make their own meals, we might lend them some grain, but nothing more.”

Even though they called it lending, nobody asked when they’d pay it back or if they ever could.

Everyone knew full well that the rent for the courtyard and the grain would likely never be returned.

“Sigh, we’ve lived in the same village for such a long time; we can’t just watch them die. Fine, let’s lend them some. Let’s split it among our families, each providing some grain to help them survive the winter. We can consider it our utmost benevolence.”

Mr. Zhou Sr. expressed.

The others nodded in agreement.

Yin Cheng and Qin Minglang remained transparent participants.

In such matters, they would express no opinion.

The grain wasn’t theirs, the silver wasn’t theirs either. After all, they were living off others, so what rights did they have to direct how the grain and silver should be distributed?

Everyone agreed to this arrangement for those people.

Qi Zheng suddenly asked Qi Quanjin and Qi Ercai, “Is the silver we have enough?”

“It’s enough for this winter, but buying land to build a village might not be enough.”

Qi Quanjin still didn’t know exactly how much silver they had left; he hadn’t had the chance to sit down with his wife to properly account for it.

Qi Cheng nodded, “Alright, let’s leave it at that for now. As for building the village, we’ll discuss it later.”

In this harsh winter, having just arrived here, it’s unrealistic to find work, and everyone understands that.

They chatted a bit more before dispersing.

After the young men of the Qi Family escorted the elders to the front courtyard and returned, they shut the main gate and prepared to rest.

The prospect of a peaceful night’s sleep excited everyone.

In the main house, in the room of Qi Zheng and Mrs. Qi.

Mrs. Qi, worried about her precious granddaughter, let Qi Quanjin and Yi Meng squeeze into this room.

This arrangement meant Qi Quanjin’s other three sons also stayed in this room.

The youngest son, Qi Quanli, who was originally meant to stay with the elder couple, had nowhere to stay, so he moved to squeeze in with Qi Dalang and the others.

Now, every other room in the courtyard had already blown out their candles, except for this one, where the candle was still burning.

The dim candlelight flickered across the faces of the four adults, while the children slept deeply.

“Old Fourth, you and your wife should calculate how much money we have left, so your mother and I have a clear picture.”

Qi Zheng took a few puffs from his hand-rolled tobacco.

The tobacco was a treat from the evening, which delighted him.

However, after the initial joy came the worry.

The children’s filial piety was a good thing, but money was needed everywhere. The tobacco was surely not cheap, and his heart ached!

Previously, when he took a few puffs, his pipe was full, but now he couldn’t bear it, just adding a little. A few quick puffs, and it was gone.

Mrs. Qi initially wanted to forbid smoking, fearing it would choke the children, but seeing the old man’s hard work these days, she swallowed her words of opposition.

Yi Meng combined the three and a half ounces of silver from selling vegetables with the remaining silver from selling ginseng and brought them all out, placing them on the kang.

Qi Quanjin also emptied out the silver and copper coin given to him by his second brother and Dalang and placed them with Yi Meng’s silver.

There were no more silver ingots, only broken silver and copper coins, piled together, appearing plentiful.

But none of the four felt relieved by the appearance of abundance. On the contrary, their brows furrowed tighter.

“A hundred and twenty taels of silver, back home we could live for years doing nothing, but in just two days, we’re down to this much.”

Mrs. Qi sighed with heartache, “And we haven’t started buying land yet; with this little silver, how many acres can we buy?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep