CHAPTER 46: CHAPTER 46 GENDER CRIMES 46

The Qin Clan Ancestral Hall is the most important place for the Qin Clan. There must always be someone to clean the ancestral hall, and the rule for the Qin Clan is that every household with the surname Qin has to provide one person to take turns living in the ancestral hall for ten days, responsible for cleaning and guarding it.

Outside the Qin Clan Ancestral Hall, there is a small independent courtyard with only two rooms, where the people who come to clean and guard the ancestral hall live.

Qin Shuangshuang and Mrs. Bai have been unable to find a suitable place to live, so Mrs. Wang thought of this place. The small courtyard is not big, but it’s more than enough for the Second Lady and Lady Bai to live together.

At that time, they could build a small stove in the courtyard, make a fire to cook, and fence a wall to plant some vegetables, enough for the three of them to eat. As for the rent, it would be offset by cleaning the ancestral hall.

This way, no one in the village would have to live alone to guard and clean the ancestral hall. In the future, as long as the men in the village come regularly to clean the room where the ancestors’ tablets are placed, it will work. Everyone will undoubtedly agree; it’s a win-win situation!

Qin Shuangshuang and her family were quite satisfied with this place. Renting someone else’s room certainly wouldn’t allow them to have their own private courtyard, which would be inconvenient in many ways, so this arrangement was just right.

When they moved, Aunt Hao brought her son Qin Yuan, daughter Qin Qiao’er, the butcher Qin Sheng, the driver Uncle He, the village chief, and Mrs. Wang, along with her two teenage grandsons, Da Hu and Xiao Hu, over to help. It took less than half a day for them to help move the three of them, set up the stove, and organize everything neatly!

Qin Shuangshuang bought ten pounds of fat pork. The butcher kindly gave her seven or eight large bones; although the meat was a bit cleaned off, it was still good for making soup and could be used to cook noodles with bone broth.

She picked some greens from the village chief’s yard. Qin Shuangshuang made a big pot of stew and invited those who helped with the move to a good meal. Qin Shuangshuang originally wanted to divide the leftovers among everyone, but they all refused, mainly because they empathized with the hardships faced by the three women.

Once the living situation was settled, the remaining, and most important task was to establish an independent household for Mrs. Bai, and this required the help of the village chief.

The village chief was a well-connected person, with relationships with the town head and several acquaintances at the county government’s office. Qin Shuangshuang gave out a couple of ounces of silver to furnish several boxes of nice pastries. It took only a few hours at the county office to successfully establish Mrs. Bai’s independent household registration.

Incidentally, Qin Shuangshuang also changed her name, officially changing Second Lady to Qin Shuang, and her nickname to Shuangshuang. Although Mrs. Bai didn’t know why Qin Shuangshuang wanted to change her name, she didn’t object. Besides, the name Shuangshuang sounded quite nice, with a good meaning of good things coming in pairs.

Only, with Qin Shuangshuang changing her name, the name Eldest Lady seemed inappropriate. After some thought, Mrs. Bai said to the Eldest Lady: "When you were little, I once took you to a temple to burn incense. The grandmaster at the temple said you lacked the element of water in your fate, so I’ll rename you to Qin Miao, and we’ll call you Miao Miao from now on!"

"Miao Miao!" The Eldest Lady mumbled a few times, her face filled with delight; the name Miao Miao was more to her liking than the casual name Eldest Lady.

After several days of moving, establishing the independent household, and changing names, Qin Shuangshuang was managing quite well, but Mrs. Bai and the Eldest Lady were exhausted. However, looking at their new home and thinking about their future free from beatings and scoldings, and no longer working hard yet hungry and cold, the hearts of the three women were filled with unstoppable smiles.

Although they still had twenty-one ounces and nine hundred coins left, they couldn’t just sit back and live off their savings, so Qin Shuangshuang planned to continue going to the mountains to cut firewood and hunt. Wild chickens and rabbits, although small, also had some worth.

Moreover, both the Eldest Lady and her mother, Mrs. Bai, had damaged bodies from years of hard work and needed to eat more meat to nourish themselves. Buying meat every day was unaffordable, but catching some game to eat was doable.

Just as she entered the mountains, Qin Shuangshuang ran into Fang Zhongyi with Fang Yaoyao. Qin Shuangshuang’s eyes lit up, and she joyfully approached, "Uncle Fang, Yaoyao, are you going into the mountains too? What a coincidence!"

"Coincidence? We’ve been waiting for you here for several days!" Fang Yaoyao said and pinched Qin Shuangshuang’s cheek, laughing: "I’ve got good news to tell you; it’s up to you if you’re interested!"

"What good news?" Qin Shuangshuang asked, her speech a bit garbled due to Fang Yaoyao pinching her cheek.

"This girl, don’t bully your younger sister as soon as you see her!"

Fang Zhongyi came over to slap away Fang Yaoyao’s hand on Qin Shuangshuang’s cheek and smiled at Qin Shuangshuang: "I’d like you and Yaoyao to learn some martial skills with me. Are you interested?"

Qin Shuangshuang’s eyes lit up instantly with excitement and she blurted out, "Uncle Fang, are you taking me as your apprentice?"

"Apprentice?"

Fang Zhongyi was taken aback for a moment, he hadn’t really thought of that. Even though he felt that Qin Shuangshuang, with her unusual strength, was a born martial arts prodigy, he was reluctant to let such talent go to waste and wanted to pass down his martial skills.

Now hearing Qin Shuangshuang mention becoming an apprentice, Fang Zhongyi thought it was not a bad idea. Although Qin Shuangshuang was a girl, she was a girl who surpassed men a hundredfold, and having such a capable female disciple was good.

Thinking of this, Fang Zhongyi nodded, "Yes, I’d like to take you as my apprentice. Do you want to learn martial arts with me?"

Do I want to? Of course, I do!

Qin Shuangshuang had been contemplating this for quite some time, and now that Fang Zhongyi had offered himself, she certainly wouldn’t miss this opportunity. She immediately knelt down, kowtowed, and called him master, afraid Fang Zhongyi might change his mind if she was late. Qin Shuangshuang’s eager behavior amused Fang Zhongyi and delighted him even more.

After apprenticing, Fang Yaoyao kept urging Qin Shuangshuang to call her senior sister. Qin Shuangshuang doted on Yaoyao and, for fun, called her senior sister a few times.

This embarrassed Fang Yaoyao who was flustered for a bit, insisting Qin Shuangshuang call her by her name, Yaoyao, instead.

Although the apprenticeship was hurried, Qin Shuangshuang later supplemented it with a formal ceremony, inviting the village chief as a witness, and went alongside her mother, Mrs. Bai, to formally visit Fang Zhongyi and pay respects as the custom dictated.

Fang Zhongyi, although saying it was unnecessary to make it so ceremonious, felt very touched. His little apprentice valued him as her master, and he was naturally pleased!

The days of training with Fang Zhongyi were tough. Qin Shuangshuang thought she was already very capable of enduring hardship, but upon truly experiencing the rigor of martial training, especially practicing in the coldest days of winter and the hottest days of summer, she realized her past hardships were nothing compared to this.

In the beginning, with the idea of practicing martial arts alongside Qin Shuangshuang, both Fang Yaoyao and Qin Miao started training. Although they didn’t practice as diligently as Qin Shuangshuang, now they could at least fend off three to four men if necessary. Fang Yaoyao’s archery had improved significantly through hard practice. Though it lacked the power for hundred-step piercing willow, it had gained precision!

Qin Miao, with less strength but a nimble and swift body, and very flexible fingers, was directed by Fang Zhongyi to specialize in hidden weapons and skills relying on agility. The lethality of hidden weapons was quite impressive, making them apt for a girl with relatively less physical strength to use for self-defense.

With the passing of spring and fall, time flew by quickly. In a blink, Qin Shuangshuang was eleven years old. Due to martial training, Qin Shuangshuang’s height exceeded that of other girls her age. Despite being eleven, she appeared the height of a thirteen or fourteen-year-old.

Today, Qin Shuangshuang was in excellent spirits. Ever since she learned her master Fang Zhongyi’s herbal collection skills, she no longer needed to rely on chopping wood and hunting for income. Instead, she earned money by gathering herbs. Qin Shuangshuang was exceptionally lucky when it came to herb gathering, always finding top-quality medicines. This time in the mountains, not only did she capture a fully grown, over five hundred-pound fat pig, but she also found a Lingzhi of exceptional quality!

Perhaps due to martial training, Qin Shuangshuang’s strength had clearly increased much more, carrying the huge pig that nearly blocked her entire figure, with her steps remaining light and quick.

With familiarity and ease, she carried the pig straight to the butcher Qin Sheng’s home to have the wild boar slaughtered and processed. She would deliver a few pounds of meat to friendly families, and the bulk of it she would carry back home. This had become a routine for Qin Shuangshuang when hunting.

When she delivered meat to the village chief, he was squatting at the doorway, smoking a pipe, and his expression didn’t look good, his entire demeanor worried and troubled!