Chapter 150: Chapter 149: He Really Knows What’s Good for Him

Liu Ji charged into the Liu Family’s old house but unexpectedly, he found it empty.

Old Liu was no longer at home.

Last night, those who could gather money handed their silver to the village chief, and early this morning, the chief took the silver to the county town.

Unexpectedly, the competition was fierce, and Liu Family Village only got five labor exemption quotas. After allocation, the Liu Family’s old house only got one, leaving one forced labor spot unfilled.

When Old Liu heard this news, he was at a loss, holding the six taels of silver returned by the village chief, not knowing what to do.

Qin Yao happened to register Liu Ji’s name and, passing by the Liu Family’s old house, pointed Old Liu in a direction.

“Go find Liu Dafu.”

Their family needed to send two people, but they also only got one exemption quota, leaving one spot. He couldn’t bear to send any of his sons.

In most families, this would be a life-threatening matter, but for some poor people, it is a business opportunity.

As long as you are willing to pay silver, there are those who would rather have money than life to take over.

As soon as Liu Dafu received the message from the village chief, he immediately hitched the cart, took the silver, and headed to town.

Thus, Old Liu, guided by Qin Yao, carried all the remaining silver from home, caught up with Liu Dafu, and went to town with him.

Upon arriving in town, they found that people had already been waiting with signs, and for ten taels, someone would take your place for the labor duty.

Any household that could afford this amount of silver would pay without a moment’s hesitation.

Because if you hesitated, someone else would snatch the substitute away.

At this moment, Old Liu was handling the paperwork with the person taking over the labor duty.

The government turns a blind eye to such matters, allowing any relative, brother, adopted or assigned child to take one’s place.

So it was no wonder Liu Ji couldn’t find his father.

Unable to find his father, Liu Ji’s heart was half-dead, remorse flooding over him as he angrily punched himself in the head.

For craving that drink and meal with Scholar Fan, he had been caught by that wicked woman!

But what use is regret now?

His name was already written on the conscription list; who could he find now to erase his name?

Or… perhaps spend silver to find someone to take his place for labor duty?

Liu Ji sorrowfully realized he could only turn to Qin Yao!

She had money, and if he could soothe her anger, there was still time.

“Madam!!”

A figure rushed in, intending to kneel before her.

Qin Yao was in the room of Da Lang and the others, checking their recent study progress. Seeing Liu Ji rush in wailing, her brows furrowed, and her expression immediately turned cold.

The children were clearly startled by his sudden action, but luckily, Qin Yao reacted quickly, grabbing his arm and shoving him out before he kneeled.

Turning to the four children, she smiled lightly, “Alright, you all passed today’s checkup, off with you to play.”

As she spoke, she glanced back at Liu Ji with a warning look, as if to say, you better not scare the children.

Liu Ji, anxious beyond measure, had to hold back, forcing a smile to the four children with an awkward grin, “Just now I was in a hurry and slipped, hahaha…”

Sanlang and Si Niang immediately giggled, making a shame-on-you face at him, provoking Liu Ji to raise his hand as if to give them a good scolding, making the Dragon and Phoenix Twins run off with laughter.

“Big Brother, Second Brother, let’s go play cuju!”

Da Lang agreed with an “oh”, turned to pick up the cuju from the chest by the bed, and chased after the Dragon and Phoenix Twins with Second Lang.

The room quieted down at once, Qin Yao sat down on the chair by the table, giving a cold glance at the door.

Liu Ji’s smile could no longer be maintained, sliding to his knees, he approached her feet in tears, “Madam, you must have misunderstood something, let me explain…”

Qin Yao raised her hand to interrupt him, “No need, I don’t want to hear it.”

Liu Ji shuffled two steps on his knees, tightly hugging her leg, eyes full of earnestness, “Madam, that was really a misunderstanding, what you saw that day in town wasn’t the whole story, I swear, I…”

“Haven’t I given you a chance?”

Once again, Qin Yao interrupted his plea, using a slight force with her leg to fling Liu Ji, who was hugging her leg, three meters away.

Liu Ji gasped in pain, his behind burning as tears came down truly this time, shaking his head fervently, “Madam, don’t—”

The two words “don’t” were spoken in a heart-rending, pleading tone.

Qin Yao stood up, looked down at him, lifted his face with a high hand, grabbing his chin.

The force from her fingertips almost crushed Liu Ji’s chin bone!

The impatience and murderous intent in her eyes made Liu Ji’s hair stand on end.

Liu Ji screamed to his father and mother in his heart: Come save me!

But with his chin being clutched, he couldn’t utter a word.

Seeing his frightened, struggling look, Qin Yao sneered disdainfully, released his chin, and gave his tear-streaked handsome face two light claps, “Liu Ji, oh Liu Ji, I gave you a chance, but you were useless.”

“If you’re sensible, walk out of this house on your own, if not…”

Before she could even say “die,” Liu Ji had scrambled to his feet, agreeing as he walked out:

“I’ll take on the labor duty, as long as it pleases you, Madam, what is my worthless life as Liu Ji worth!”

Reaching the corridor, he wiped the tears from his face, his eyes full of grievance and stubbornness, “If I can come back alive, you must listen to my explanation, Madam.”

Qin Yao: “I won’t listen, get lost!”

Liu Ji: “…”

Fine, get lost it is!

He slipped into his small room, looking at the lattice on the window, and this time, he truly felt overwhelmed with sorrow, so much so that he couldn’t even cry.

Because he still wanted to live!

The siblings Si Niang and her brothers didn’t return until before dinner, seeming quite happy, completely unaware of their father’s collapse.

Primarily, it was because Qin Yao’s eyes were focused on him, so Liu Ji, to avoid frightening the children with bloody terror, worked hard to appear relaxed.

It seemed he spent the whole afternoon thinking and suddenly had a breakthrough, coming to realize something.

Knowing there was no changing the labor duty, Liu Ji no longer held onto any unrealistic hopes.

He changed his strategy, swiftly shifting from avoiding labor duty to increasing his survival rate, immediately preparing his gear, displaying a perfect understanding of “being sensible.”

After dinner, he even went to the old house; whether he sought out Old Liu to sob, Qin Yao didn’t know and didn’t want to.

Anyway, upon his return, his survival skills visibly improved, and he started fiddling in the back yard with a hatchet.

He carved himself a long stick, nearly as tall as a person, and then attached a hatchet blade from the house to the stick, creating a homemade broadsword.

Qin Yao raised an eyebrow, was he making a weapon for protection?

Once he completed the essential weapon, the man pulled out a sewing kit and thickened and raised the soles of his shoes, making two pairs without sleeping all night.

Qin Yao clicked her tongue in surprise, realizing only then that he had such a talent for needlework.

After that, Liu Ji pulled out all his clothes, patched them up, and added many pockets into the thickest set of cotton-padded clothes, stuffing things like salt, sugar, and flint into them.

On the night before leaving, he even coaxed all the copper coins out of Second Lang’s pocket and stuffed them into an inner pocket in his clothes.

When out and about, nothing works better than money.

Time being short, Liu Ji was able to do only so much.

Clutching his cotton-padded clothes stuffed with items, Liu Ji, tears in his eyes, spent his last night at home.

Qin Yao hadn’t expected him to have such a strong will to survive, while she was thinking about getting his corpse back and finding a stout coffin to give him a proper burial.

Upon feeling beneath her pillow, she realized that her finely-crafted steel dagger was missing!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep