Chapter 8: Block the Road to Death

  In the Qinglian space, Su Qing divided a piece of land into several small plots and planted various vegetable seeds she had bought from the farmer's market. The seeds included tomatoes, scallions, cilantro, napa cabbage, eggplant, green beans, and more. She didn't differentiate by season, planting a few of each kind.

  Then the fruit seedlings bought back were planted around, and the fruits included pears, peaches, apples, loquats and so on.

  All that's giving Su Qing a headache are the seeds of these herbs in her hands, with many varieties, some of which she recognizes, but most of which she doesn't. Like He Shou Wu, Chai Hu, Wu Wei Zi, and several others that seem to be more expensive, such as Ye Ren Shen, Hong Jing Tian, Huang Jing, etc.

  These seeds are all problematic, either cracked or peeled, and some have even been eaten by insects. However, if they weren't like this, the old man wouldn't easily give them to her, because among these seeds, there are some that rarely appear on the market, and can't be bought with just money.

  She finished the last of the herbs in her hand, and Su Qing patted the dirt off her hands, gazing at the fruits of her labor from the past half day, hoping that this space would truly live up to her imagination, transforming decay into wonder.

  After finishing her work, Su Qing came to the bamboo house and started her daily routine of sitting cross-legged in meditation. Although the Qinglian space was desolate, she found that the spiritual energy was much denser than outside, and her cultivation progressed faster as well.

  For the past half month, since discovering the dense spiritual energy in the space, Su Qing has been cultivating inside it. It's common for her to stay up all night without sleep, but she doesn't feel tired the next day, instead feeling more refreshed and energized. Moreover, the flow of air in her meridians has grown from almost imperceptible to as thick as a small finger now. This is the only thing that brings her comfort.

  "Uncle, this is the money Auntie gave to my mom yesterday. We don't lack money now either, so you'd better keep it for your own use."

  Su Qing went to her uncle's house on the west side of the village early in the morning and placed an envelope containing money on the kang table where her uncle was having breakfast. She didn't say that the money was given by Hou San, as it would have a bad influence on her mother if it got out.

  Seeing Grandpa open the envelope with a puzzled expression, Su Qing thought that Grandpa might still be unaware of what Hou Xiu had done.

  Hou Xiuduan carried a basket of steamed buns into the house, saw the master holding an envelope that looked quite familiar, and then saw Su Qing in the room. Her movements suddenly stopped, her face turned pale.

  "Ah, Qing... Qing has arrived. Have you had breakfast? Why don't we eat something together here?" Hou Xiu greeted Su Qing with feigned calmness, but the tremble in her voice revealed the guilt she was trying to conceal.

  "No need, I've already eaten at home." She replied with an expressionless face.

  The old man looked up and saw Hou Xiu's obviously guilty expression, he knew what was going on without asking, and with a loud bang, he slammed the envelope heavily on the table, staring fiercely at his wife.

  Hou Xiu knew that secretly sending money was not quite right, and she had been feeling guilty in her heart. At this time, facing Su Honggui's anger, she opened her mouth several times, but couldn't find a word to refute. If it were usual, she would have already shouted loudly at Su Honggui, refusing to give in.

  Su Qing saw that the two were about to start a fight, thinking that she should quickly finish her business and leave as soon as possible. She didn't have the mood to get involved in their messy family affairs.

  "Great Uncle, you are my father's elder brother. There is something I need to tell you. The country is currently in the midst of reform and opening up, policies change every day, no one knows what will happen in the future. So, I asked Sixth Grandfather and other elderly members of our clan to witness a fair deed, transferring all ownership rights of our family's house and land to Xia Su's name. This way, regardless of how policies change, the house and land will still belong to him."

  Su Honggui heard his niece's sudden words, and for a moment he didn't understand the meaning behind them. After being stunned for half a moment, his face turned pale and gloomy, with an ominous expression.

  He's not stupid, how could he not understand the meaning of Su Qing's words? That means to say, no matter what, the house is theirs, others don't even think about coveting it. Is that directed at him?

  He wouldn't be so base as to covet the house of an orphan and a widow, would he? Is it because of his own wife that he advises my brother and sister to remarry for the sake of the house?

  As he thought of this, Su Honggui suddenly looked up at Hou Xiu and saw the other's expression of regret and pain. He immediately understood everything and felt that he couldn't lift his head in front of his niece. The orphaned mother was not helped by him, but instead, he had taken advantage of their only family property. He was so ashamed that he lost all face, didn't eat anymore, turned around and went into the inner room, puffing on his dry tobacco pipe.

  Su Honggui looked at his wife who was walking in and sneered, "I thought Hou San had given you some benefits, so you helped him. But it turns out that's not all, you actually wanted to take advantage of someone else's house? Su Qing is really stupid, can't see through your little thoughts? This isn't clean or fair, forget about the house, and as for me? My face has been lost, I don't even have the face to see people."

  Hou Xiu heard Su Honggui's words and felt as if she had done something shameful. What was it for? Wasn't it all for the sake of this family?

  "Yes, I am thinking of those five bright and spacious tile-roofed houses. Am I supposed to live in them? Or is it for the children? My eldest son has been engaged for several years and is already at the age of marriage, but look at our home, we only have these three old rooms, two sons squeezed into one room, where would you let the daughter-in-law live? Without a house, the son cannot get married, do you want him to be single all his life?"

  "Can't force my sister to remarry, can I? This isn't humiliating enough?" Su Honggui was also helpless about the family situation, but as a man, he didn't want to be pointed at and looked down upon.

  "My sister married into the Hou family, isn't that like jumping into a pit? Su Xia not only has money to see a doctor now, but my sister also has someone to rely on, isn't this a win-win situation?"

  It's a pity that Su Qing is so cunning, she actually thought of fairness, how come she didn't realize it before? Now that she has become fair, she has really blocked the way. She no longer has any reason to occupy other people's houses.

  Thinking of putting the house in Su Xia's name, Hou Xiu's thoughts turned around and she felt a bit better. After all, who knows if Su Xia can even live for another year?

  Su Honggui heard Hou Xiu say that, and relaxed a bit, but he saw more clearly than Hou Xiu, "Su Qing this girl, you'd better not provoke her in the future." The result can only be self-defeating, just like today's matter.

  After the house was divided, Hou Xiuzhen seemed to have calmed down and no longer urged Zhang Shuyu to marry Hou San. Now, the person who least hopes that Zhang Shuyu will remarry is probably her, because only if Su Xia dies early can she have a say. In rural areas, the idea of favoring sons over daughters is very strong, women are not included in the family tree, so neither Su Xia nor Zhang Shuyu are on the family tree and do not have ownership of the house or land.

  "Green braids are coming, just saying they want to go to your house, I picked some tender glutinous corn, you can take it back and cook it."

  Su Qing came in, and Second Aunt was sitting in the courtyard peeling corn husks. Seeing her, she quickly brought out a basket of corn with green husks still on it, indicating that Su Qing should take it back when she left.

  Su Qing didn't decline either and nodded in agreement.

  "This is for Su Hong." Su Qing took out a small bag and handed it to Aunt Er, then found a small stool to sit down and helped peel the corn husks.

  "What's this?" Erniang wiped her hands on her body and was just about to open the bag to see what was inside when Su Hong, who had just rushed back from outside in a flurry, snatched it away. "Give me that?"

  "Didn't you say you wanted one too last time? It just so happens that it's been raining these past two days and I've had some free time, so my mom made one for you."

  Su Qing's clothes were all made by her mother, Zhang Shuyu. A few days ago, Su Qing drew a picture and combined it with the popular casual style of ten years later, asking her mother to make a top. Su Hong saw it and liked it so much that she said she also wanted one. At that time, Su Qing didn't say anything but remembered it in her heart. These past few days, there have been continuous heavy rains, making it impossible to go up the mountain. So, combining Su Hong's physical characteristics, she drew a picture and asked her mother to make one for her too.

  "I was just joking, I didn't expect you to actually make one for me." Su Hong held the clothes, feeling a bit embarrassed. It was an offhand remark, but Su Qing took it to heart. This sister really had no words.

  But still loving beauty won out in the end, and she immediately ran into the house to try on clothes.

  "It's really beautiful, even better than the clothes those girls in town wear." Second Aunt was just complaining about how wasteful it was for Su Qing to spend money on clothes for Su Hong. But when she saw her daughter come out of the house wearing new clothes and looking completely different, she couldn't help but stop grumbling and sincerely praise, "Your mother's skills are really great, I'm not even worthy of holding her horse."

  Su Hong looked left and right, the more she looked, the more satisfied she was. Hearing her mother say this, she hurriedly interrupted: "Mom, you've got it wrong, the clothes were indeed made by Auntie, but the style is based on Su Qing's drawing." The pride in her tone was self-evident, as if she was the one who drew the picture.

  Second Aunt couldn't help but praise Su Qing a few more times, then scolded Su Hong, who was one year older than Su Qing but was always acting crazy and out of tune. She told her to learn from Su Qing.

  Su Hong nodded in response, but in her heart, she was thinking that Su Qing's personality was too mature for her age and she couldn't learn from it.

  As they were about to leave, Second Aunt approached Su Qing and whispered: "Your second uncle said that there have been strangers lurking around the village these past few days, so be careful, if anything happens, come call us."

  Stranger? Su Qing thought on her way back, is this related to their family? However, it's still better to be careful, and later remind her mother and brother not to go out if nothing happens.