Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 138 - 137: Earthshattering Upheaval

Qin Yao poured a cup of water for the driver, sat down across from him, and asked if Liu Ji had any message for her.

Indeed, he did.

The driver said, "Mr. Liu asked me to pass on a message to Miss Qin—"

"The journey home is long, and the break is only for one day. I don’t want to delay on the road and risk disrupting my study plan. Please, Miss, send the monthly living expenses with the carriage driver. Everything is fine at the academy, and I am strictly following the study plan with significant progress. Please rest assured."

After Qin Yao listened, she raised an eyebrow. It indeed sounded like Liu Ji’s own words.

She discussed some details with the driver to confirm there was no mistake and it wasn’t a scam. She then gestured for the driver to sit down for a while and went to the bedroom to fetch money.

Just as she came out, she met four pairs of big eyes from the Da Lang brothers and sisters, pointing to their room, go back to practice your calligraphy!

The four siblings silently mouthed an "oh" and slipped back into the room to continue their practice.

Only then did Qin Yao enter the bedroom, took out two maces of silver, and handed it to the driver.

After taking the money, the driver got up to leave.

There were no men in Qin Yao’s house, staying long could lead to gossip.

Moreover, he had already set off late today. Along the way, there were villagers from Lower River Village heading to the town and county waiting for his ox cart, so he dared not delay and set off immediately.

Qin Yao stood at the door, watching the ox cart quickly leave the village, and the courteous smile on her lips faded, her eyes turning somber.

Every household in the village had finished harvesting their rice, leaving the fields empty. Piles of straw were being moved home. Those that couldn’t be moved in one go were left in the fields to be picked up when needed.

Qin Yao sorted through some well-dried straw and re-laid all the beds in the house with it.

The old straw was thrown away for firewood; the new straw was laid on the bed boards, followed by a layer of palm padding, and finally, the quilt was laid over it. It was soft and warm to lie on.

The nights had been getting cooler, but now there was no fear of the cold.

When there was leftover straw, and after tending to the family’s small plot of land, Qin Yao and the four children started weaving straw sandals.

This time, they weren’t for sale, but for themselves, woven particularly sturdily and meticulously. Qin Yao made herself a pair of straw slippers without heels, and when Si Niang saw them, she asked for a pair too, which Qin Yao then made for her.

The little girl dragged her slippers, clattering around the house barefoot, occasionally slipping and sending a slipper flying, hopping on one foot to retrieve it, and playing with them for most of the day.

Da Lang and Second Lang looked on enviously but were too shy to ask Qin Yao for help, so they tried making their own, ending up with two poorly defined pairs that fell apart after half a day.

Finally, Qin Yao made a pair for each of them, and they were content.

The four siblings treasured the slippers, placing them neatly by the bedside and not wearing them on regular days.

After dinner at night, when Qin Yao called them to wash up, their first reaction was to run back to their rooms, trade their regular shoes for the shabby straw slippers, and then go to wash their feet. After washing, they would wear the slippers around the house.

For several days in a row, their enthusiasm did not wane, and around Qin Yao’s ears was the constant clattering of slippers.

Until a spell of autumn rain fell, the temperature suddenly cooled, and the siblings’ enthusiasm waned slightly; obediently, they wore long socks and cloth shoes.

In her home, Qin Yao also learned from the villagers to pile a stack of straw outside the back door near the outhouse.

She learned from Liu Dafu’s family how to prepare horse feed, fermenting straw with wood ash.

First, the straw was chopped up, then a basket of wood ash was scraped out from the stove’s opening, and an unused empty jar was found. The chopped straw was poured into the jar, with a layer of alkaline wood ash sprinkled every inch. Usually, it was fermented overnight and fed in one go the next day.

Because it was troublesome to prepare, Qin Yao added some different nutritional elements to the horse’s diet only once a week.

For Old Huang’s sake, when Qin Yao went to the mountains to chop firewood for the winter stockpile, she would call Da Lang to join her. She chopped wood on the mountain, and Da Lang cut grass at the foot.

The usual grass was chopped up and then mixed with specially bought sorghum to feed the horse. Old Liu saw it once and exclaimed at the extravagance.

But the results were gratifying; Old Huang’s bald patches slowly grew back, and looked more handsome.

He also worked energetically, and occasionally when Qin Yao went to Quarry Mountain, she would lead him to transport stones. He ran spiritedly with hooves pounding.

Because he was tall, the village children were afraid of Old Huang. When they saw him from afar, they would avoid him in advance unless someone immediately mounted.

As autumn deepened, the green on the mountains faded bit by bit, turning golden.

Da Lang had been restless recently, often taking out his slingshot and small bow made by Qin Yao to play, leaving early in the morning and only returning before lunch.

When asked what he had been doing, he said he was practicing slingshot and bow at the foot of the mountain, then looked at Qin Yao with big expectant eyes.

At first, Qin Yao didn’t catch on, but after several times, she overheard someone saying the Yang Family from Lower River Village had already gone into the mountains, and then she suddenly remembered that she seemed to have promised to take Da Lang hunting in the mountains this autumn.

This boy was anxious seeing the leaves on the mountain trees turning golden while the person who made the promise didn’t seem to recall at all.

If it had been Second Lang or Si Niang, they’d have spoken up sooner.

But this was Da Lang, sensitive and understanding, thinking that since Qin Yao didn’t bring it up, she either didn’t want to or had simply forgotten, thus his awkward behavior.

"Childish." Qin Yao chuckled softly, then realized, the kid indeed was still a child, wasn’t he?

With a single hammer’s blow, a foot-long thick nail was driven into the rock crevice. With a loud crash, a large mass of stones slid down from the cliff, making onlookers’ hearts race with fear.

This scene was no longer new to Liu Bai and the others, but each time they could still feel the mountain-crumbling fear.

Even though they had retreated to a safe distance, when the rocks fell, they couldn’t help but step back again.

Once the loud noise subsided, Qin Yao inspected the cliff, then hung a woven hemp rope net on the steel nails to prevent small rocks from rolling down and injuring the workers below.

Once everything was checked and correct, she climbed back to the top along the long rope and descended from the back slope.

After a quarter of an hour, Qin Yao appeared behind the crowd, instructing:

"Always prioritize safety; human life is paramount. Everyone must remember the work rules. If I’m not present next time we open stones, no one is to act rashly!"

The quarry workers quickly stood up to face her, shouting loudly, "Got it!"

Qin Yao waved her hand, "Start working then."

Only then did everyone focus on the quarry work of transporting and breaking stones.

Qin Yao patted the stone dust off her body, looked up at the sky, and saw the sun hanging at the center.

Every time they opened stones, they were busy for the whole morning.

But after she brought down this batch of stones, there would be enough grindstones for fifty sets of small stone mills.

Once the workers transported all the stones back, it would be time for another round of full-speed grinding.

As for the seventeen sets of grindstones for Manager Wu, another session around mid-next month should suffice.

Qin Yao kept track of the days in her mind, and today was another rest day.

The carriage driver arrived last night, entrusted by Liu Ji to collect the living expenses.

Qin Yao did not give the money.

The driver was personally escorted out of the village by her.

When she returned home from the construction site, the sun was slightly leaning westward.

Qin Yao changed into lightweight hemp clothing and took down the saddle hanging on the wall of the main room.