Suo Zi, holding the child, was drawn by Granny Qin's words and began to observe the people around him carefully.
The old woman in front of him didn't look like someone easy to deal with, and the man with the birthmark had a strong aura of aggression. That...
"Hey! I'm asking you! Are you his biological brother?" Granny Qin, hands on her hips, puffed out her chest, her triangular eyes narrowed. The headscarf on her head seemed to stand on end.
Her meaning was clear: speak quickly, or I'll gouge your eyeballs out.
Suo Zi glared back, refusing to be outdone. As a grown man, how could he be outdone by an old woman, especially one suspected of abducting Fu Zi?
"Brother Suo Zi saved me," Fu Zi, sensing the tense atmosphere between the two adults, spoke up to explain.
He didn't understand what these two were arguing about.
In fact, some people are naturally incompatible. Granny Qin and Suo Zi were a perfect example of clashing personalities.
"You saved him? Hmph, you old woman, you're not up to anything good," Suo Zi thought, looking at Granny Qin's disheveled state. It was hard to imagine someone saving a child out of pure kindness when they themselves were struggling to eat.
"Bah! What kind of trash crawled out from some dog hole to be barking at an old woman? Can't you understand human speech?"
"I asked if you were his brother."
"If you are, hand over the money and take him away. If not, get lost!" Granny Qin grew wary, observing Suo Zi's attire, which didn't suggest he could raise Fu Zi to be plump.
Hearing about money, Suo Zi became even more convinced of his suspicions. This old woman had ulterior motives for saving the child.
"Want money? You kidnapped my child and now you want money? Today, I'll see if you can get any money from me," Suo Zi declared, then gestured sharply with his hand.
From not far away, four burly men emerged, their eyes fixed on Granny Qin with ill intent.
Seeing this, Uncle Qin Er was the first to step in front of his mother. The eagerness in his eyes turned into palpable intent. He had been so pent up during their flight that he was nearly driven mad; as long as his mother gave the word, he would be the first to charge.
Emerging with Uncle Qin Er were Qin San Niu and the Hou family men, including Hou Ming and Hou Neng.
Fu Zi, held in Suo Zi's arms, was frantic, scratching his ears and head. He kept whispering to Suo Zi, trying to convey that Granny Qin and the others weren't the ones who abducted him, but it didn't change Suo Zi's initial impression of Granny Qin.
"Bro-ther Suo Zi, they are good people," Fu Zi cried out, fearing that the Qin and Hou families would be beaten. He grabbed Suo Zi's ears and pulled them apart with all his might.
The little one, though small, had surprisingly strong hands, making Suo Zi wince in pain.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch, let go!" The pain in his ears diverted Suo Zi's attention. Sudan Novels Net.
He reached out and grabbed the small hands messing with his ears. "Fu Zi, you're still young, you don't understand."
"I do! Where's my brother? I want to find my brother, wuwuwu~~" Fu Zi wailed, feeling wronged. Why didn't Brother Suo Zi believe him today?
"So, you're really not Fu Zi's brother! Hand the child back!" Before Granny Qin finished speaking, she lunged to grab him.
Suo Zi, unwilling to let the old woman snatch the child away, dodged left and right, holding the child tightly.
Granny Qin was unfazed by the fact that her opponent was a grown man. Her un trimmed fingernails, hard as stone, all aimed for Suo Zi's face. If the bone structure wasn't good, the skin didn't need to be preserved either.
When the old woman made her move, others joined in. Uncle Qin Er took the lead, charging at the strongest of Suo Zi's men, and instantly, a chaotic brawl erupted.
The commotion here only drew a passing glance from the surrounding onlookers. Conflicts of all sorts were common at the city gates, and death was not an uncommon occurrence, let alone a simple fight.
When Qin Jun Yao and Qin Da Niu returned, they saw an even more disheveled group.
"Dad, Grandma, Uncle, what happened?" Qin Da Niu's usually smiling face was now filled with worry.
It was Qin Jun Yao who first noticed Fu Zi's absence. "Grandma, someone snatched Fu Zi?" She didn't understand why anyone would want to snatch Fu Zi, who looked so unfortunate. Wasn't it bad luck?
Qin Jun Yao placed her basket on the ground and ran to Granny Qin and the others. Fortunately, there were no visible bleeding wounds.
"Damn scoundrels! If I weren't starving, would he have gotten away with snatching the child? Just wait a day, and I'll snatch Fu Zi back!" Granny Qin said through gritted teeth, sitting on a large rock.
"Mother, they are not refugees," Uncle Qin Er said, rubbing his knee and recalling the skill of those men.
They had the ability to put them in a deathly situation but chose not to injure them. After breaking away, they directly grabbed the child and ran, clearly well-trained. Their attire was likely a disguise.
"So what if they aren't refugees? Does that give them the right to snatch children?"
"Mother, that person was indeed looking for Fu Zi. It's not wrong for him to take the child with him," Father Qin couldn't help but remind Granny Qin.
"Nonsense! If it weren't for our family, that child would have ended up in someone else's belly! And because of that brat, Yao Yao was beaten, have you forgotten? Asking him for some money was self-defense. How could I have given birth to you, such a..."
Hearing that the child was taken by someone looking for him, Qin Jun Yao was relieved. Not worrying about Fu Zi, her primary concern was to have a good meal.
She muttered to herself that it was not self-defense, but rather what was rightfully due. She reached into her basket and took out a small bag of millet and half a bag of cornmeal, placing them by Mother Qin's side.
Ignoring Mother Qin's astonished expression, she continued to take out cloth, soles of shoes she had sewn, pickles, and some salt from the basket.
She would use this basket again to gather purslane and green grass, some for feeding people and some for feeding the donkey.
Qin Jun Yao was eager to have a proper meal. Once she had energy, she wanted to go to her space to farm. Besides exchanging for seeds of staple foods like corn, wheat, and rice, she had also exchanged for some vegetables.
Juicy, fresh vegetables!
"Jun, Jun, Jun Yao, where did you get this?" Mother Qin asked, her hands trembling as she closed the bag of millet.
"From a wealthy family in the city. My brother's basket also has soybeans."
"Mother, let's make some cooked rice, okay?" Qin Jun Yao said to Mother Qin, pointing at the bag of millet.
"Make cooked rice? We're so hungry we're shriveling up, aren't you afraid cooked rice will burst your stomach? Just make some thick porridge."
"Who only gives shoe soles but not shoe uppers? This cloth is quite good, enough for me to make a dress."
Qin Jun Yao knew it was Granny Qin without even looking up. Feeling too tired to retort, she picked up the empty basket and stood up. Qin Xiao Yu, seeing this, trotted over and followed Qin Jun Yao.
After the Qin Da Niu brothers took out the soybeans from the basket, they also followed. Qin Er Niu slung an arm around Qin Da Niu's neck and raised an eyebrow.
Only the four siblings knew that Qin Jun Yao had also exchanged for copper coins besides other items. Each of them had received five wen as "hush money."
This was the first time the three of them had any private savings of their own.
By the time the meal was ready, Hou Jing and Uncle Qin San returned, their expressions grim.
Everyone sat around the iron pot and listened to the news Hou Jing had gathered.
"I heard that Anshun Prefecture has accepted a batch of refugees into the city. Later, to control the numbers, they changed it to paying to enter the city."
"Paying to enter the city? How much?" Old Man Hou asked anxiously.
"Ten taels per person."
"Hiss~~~"