At the thatched house

Xia Qianqian took the seeds given by the Xia family to dry under the sun. Grains were mingled in a liter of seeds. She had to pick up five or six bowls full of seeds all morning. There were vegetables seeds, corn seeds and some grain seeds.

It wasn’t hard to build a kiln but she needed money to buy tools and bricks.

Qin-Shi had some worries: “Qianqian, if you sold the seeds, what are we going to farm when the spring ends?”

“Don’t worry, when that time comes we’ll still have seeds.” Xia Qianqian tidied up and was about to go out, “Mother, let Yunyun have more water today so she can eat more food. When I get the money, I will buy back some fever medicine.”

“Okay, be careful.”

…

Xia Qianqian had just gone out for a while and Song-Shi came. In order not to arouse suspicion of the third branch, she walked around the village with melon seeds before she came to the thatched house.

Qin-Shi was cooking porridge. Xia Yunyun leaned against the door to bask in the sun because of illness.

“Yo, what’s going on here?” Song-Shi asked, standing in front of the door and eating melon seeds, spitting the skin everywhere.

Qin-Shi looked up at her and said, “Second sister-in-law, what I do now is none of your business.”

“Sister-in-law, I heard all about last night. You are so attractive. You are still in the middle of filial piety for big brother and you’ve already hooked a man to your door.” Song-Shi sneered.

Qin-Shi’s face flushed red: “Second sister-in-law, don’t talk nonsense. Last night there was a burglar in the house, but they were all beaten away by Qianqian!”

“Pfft, who are you kidding? Qianqian, that lame girl can still beat a thief?” Song-Shi laughed, “I think it’s because you’re worried about the scandal, so you asked your man to cooperate with you and put on a show, right?”

“Second sister-in-law!” Qin-Shi flared up, stood and glared at Song Shi, but she was half blind and had a beautiful face, even if she was glaring, she didn’t have any imposing aura around her.

“Ha ha, are you angry? Then what I said is right hahaha ……” Song-Shi laughed again, “Sister-in-law, in fact, it doesn’t matter if you find another man or not. We are all women, I can understand you. However, you have to hand over the ‘The Technique of Burning Tile’ written by big brother. It is the foundation of Xia family and cannot be handed over to outsiders.”

“What ‘The Technique of Burning Tile’? I don’t know anything.” Qin-Shi squatted down, continuing to work on the porridge, so as not to burn it.

‘The Technique of Burning Tile’ was the painstaking effort of her husband. After the accident, she didn’t bother to take anything but the book. Now this book was the key to Qianqian’s tile-burning and it must not be handed over.

“Sister in law, do you want to pass on Xia family’s techniques to outsiders? Father and mother won’t be happy to know that.” Song-Shi said.

“I have no book with me and I do not plan to marry again. You may rest assured.” Qin-shi said.

There was a glint in Song-Shi’s eyes and she changed her mind: “Sister-in-law, burning tiles is a man’s job, it’s useless for you to keep the ‘The Technique of Burning Tile’. Why don’t you give it to me and let your son learn it properly later?”

Speaking of her son, Qin-shi’s heart ached. Not being able to bring her son Xia Yu out of the Xia family was the biggest pain in her heart. On one hand, she couldn’t compete and on the other hand, she couldn’t afford to raise him.

“If you don’t give it, then your son has to suffer for this!” Song-Shi lowered her voice and threatened viciously.

Qin-Shi almost cried: “Don’t hurt Yu-er.”

“Then you will hand over ‘The Technique of Burning Tile’!”