QTIMP -Chapter 274 Character Persona – Violent (Part 2)

Si Qiu took a rope and a hatchet and went out to gather firewood. By the time she returned carrying a huge bundle on her back, she saw a woman standing at the doorway.

“Er Nizi.”

It was the eldest daughter-in-law of the village chief’s family—the wife of the eldest son. She was four or five years older than Si Qiu.

But because her generation rank was lower, she still had to address Si Qiu as an elder.

Hearing her voice, the woman quickly turned around.

“Little Aunt, did you go chop firewood?”

“Mhm. I wanted to tidy up the house, but I found there wasn’t any firewood or water left.”

Though she still sounded weak, her tone carried a crisp decisiveness that was completely at odds with her frail appearance.

Er Nizi helped unload the firewood.

“Then you should’ve come over and told us! We could’ve had Gou Da come chop it for you. Your injuries aren’t even healed yet. How can you be doing such heavy work?”

Si Qiu smiled, intending to reassure her.

Unfortunately, with her delicate and sickly appearance, that smile only looked like stubborn bravado in Er Nizi’s eyes.

Er Nizi sighed inwardly and decided to speak with her parents-in-law later. They should have family members come help whenever they had spare time.

“My mother-in-law made some egg-drop porridge for you. Drink it and nourish yourself. When Little Uncle comes back, you can recover sooner and give the family an heir.”

That was what Er Nizi said aloud.

In truth, she privately believed that this uncle from the collateral branch was probably already dead.

Si Qiu brushed the dust off her clothes.

“Tell Sister-in-law not to trouble herself. I may not be fully recovered, but I can still take care of myself. Take the porridge back and let the children drink it. I don’t need it. There are sweet potatoes steaming in the pot.”

In the end, the porridge was left behind anyway.

After a trip up the mountain, the meal she’d eaten earlier had already been digested, so she ended up eating it.

A bowl of porridge, along with three red-bean buns from her space, filled her stomach once more.

This body possessed tremendous strength, and its appetite was equally large.

After boiling water, she began cleaning.

She started with the old couple’s room.

She sorted out several sets of their clothes, planning to burn them during the seventh-day mourning ritual.

Everything else was packed into a large chest. Once it was full, she cleared out the space beneath the bed and stored the chest there.

She then packed the remaining luggage and miscellaneous items into another chest and slid that beneath the bed as well.

During the cleanup, she discovered more than 1.2 million old currency notes hidden in pillows, wall cracks, and bedposts. There was also an eighty-percent-new pocket watch, a gold bracelet, and two silver bracelets.

In addition, she found two small gold bars, a pair of gold earrings, and a silver comb.

Si Qiu had not expected the old couple to be so wealthy.

But after reviewing the original owner’s memories, she understood.

The elderly couple had once worked for a wealthy family. Later, as times became increasingly chaotic and after losing child after child, they decided to return to their hometown.

On the way back, they picked up the original owner.

The valuables had all been rewards from their years of service. Before leaving, they had converted much of their wealth into gold bars, making it easier to hide and carry.

There wasn’t a huge amount, but it provided a legitimate explanation for where Si Qiu’s future spending money would come from.

As she continued organizing, she found a box containing Chen Shuanzi’s clothes, along with a child’s silver longevity lock.

The lock had clearly been handled often. Its surface had long since lost its shine, showing how deeply the old couple still missed the son they had in their later years.

After some thought, Si Qiu decided to keep the silver lock.

Once she finished with the old couple’s belongings, she moved on to her own room.

The original owner didn’t have many clothes, and every piece was patched.

Still, the patches had been sewn neatly and carefully.

All of them had been mended by Old Madam Chen.

The outer coat didn’t need changing, but the undergarments had to be replaced.

All the bedding was taken apart and washed again, and the bed and small table were thoroughly wiped down. Finally, inside the box on the table, she found the jade pendant that the original owner had worn around her neck when she was first adopted.

Si Qiu didn’t even glance at it and directly stored it into her spatial space.

However, people had been coming all day to chat with her, trying to comfort her and telling her not to be too sad. Just as she was hanging out the bedsheets, a loud voice came from the doorway.

“Qiuqiu, washing clothes at home?”

Si Qiu looked up and saw a woman wrapped in a headscarf, her face covered in spots, carrying a small basket as she walked in.

“Oh my, Qiuqiu really is capable. Sixth Uncle and Sixth Aunt just weren’t lucky. Otherwise, when Shuanzi comes back, the two of you could’ve had a couple of kids and lived such a happy family life.”

Si Qiu didn’t respond. She stood up and poured her a bowl of water, placing it aside. This was the fourth branch’s fourth daughter-in-law, and Si Qiu had to call her “sister-in-law.”

With the clan elders leading the village, the overall environment was fairly decent, but there were always one or two people with bad character. This fourth daughter-in-law was one of them.

She was sharp-tongued, stingy, and loved taking small advantages. On top of that, without elders above her to suppress her, she had become increasingly domineering.

The woman didn’t care at all and continued talking on her own.

“But speaking of which, Shuanzi has been gone for over five years now, right? Ah, in times of war and chaos like this, who knows if he’s even still alive.”

“Qiuqiu, you’re already 27 this year, right? At your age in our Chen family village, it’s not easy to marry out. You really should start planning for yourself.”

After saying so much and seeing that Si Qiu was still silently washing clothes, she curled her lips, picked up the bowl, and drank the water.

Setting the bowl down, she continued her grand lecture.

“Qiuqiu, sister-in-law is thinking of you. I feel bad that you’ve been taking care of Sixth Uncle and Sixth Aunt all these years, but a woman only has a few good years.”

“In the end, you still have to marry and have children.”

“Look at my nephew Dongliang—he’s about your age. We’re all from the Chen family. If you marry him, it would keep everything within the family.”

“Then Dongliang can move in here and keep you company for safety. Once you have children, your third brother and I can come help you take care of them.”

“Just thinking about that life already makes it sound wonderful.”

Si Qiu stopped washing clothes.

So this damn woman was eyeing her house, huh?

Not just the house—she was also eyeing the property left behind by Sixth Uncle and Sixth Aunt. Everyone in the village knew that when Sixth Uncle and Sixth Aunt were young, they had traveled outside and made their fortune.

Even after returning later and not having any strong laborers at home, they still lived quite comfortably. There was no way they hadn’t left anything behind.

As for her son Dongliang, if he wasn’t after those things, it would be beneath his “value” to be matched with this girl.

While she was lost in her fantasies, a sharp whooshing sound suddenly cut through the air.

Immediately after, a blood-curdling scream echoed across Chen Family Village.

A sister-in-law who had been working on sewing soles of shoes looked toward the sound, then slapped her thigh.

“Oh my heavens, don’t tell me it’s Qiuqiu’s place?”

She hurriedly ran over on tiptoe. By the time everyone gathered, they saw Si Qiu standing in the courtyard, swinging a five-foot-long whip. The sound of it breaking through the air kept ringing out.

The fourth daughter-in-law of the second branch’s uncle was rolling on the ground as she was lashed.

Everyone’s heart tightened—had that old money-grubber really provoked this girl?

Was she someone you could mess with? She could fight four or five wild boars head-on without falling behind.

The whip lashed through the air above the yard. No one dared step inside.

It was only when the brigade leader arrived and shouted in a thunderous voice:

“Shuanzi’s wife, stop right now!”