CHAPTER 417: CHAPTER 417: WATERSKIN AND BAMBOO TUBE

Qin San Lang looked at the blazing sun and took off the sheepskin water bag from his waist, handing it to her, "Take this, there’s water inside, drink if you’re thirsty to avoid heatstroke."

Worried that she wouldn’t accept it, he pointed to another sheepskin water bag at his waist, "I have another one, take this, no need to worry about me not having any."

After speaking, he directly stuffed the sheepskin water bag into Gu Jinli’s hands, his gaze shifting past her to look at Elder Qin and the others, calling out, "Grandpa, Third Grandpa, hello to all uncles and cousins."

Third Grandpa and the others really liked Qin San Lang, especially fond of seeing him smile, which was very heartwarming.

However, Qin Er Lang was walking over with a dark expression along with Jiang Qi. Seeing Qin San Lang handing the sheepskin water bag to Gu Jinli, his eyes grew darker. This country girl came to bewitch San Lang again, even wanting to take one of his only two sheepskin water bags. Did she not know this was military provisions issued by the Military Office?

Jiang Qi saw this too, but said nothing, as San Lang dared to give the sheepskin water bag away, he naturally could think of other ways to store water.

"Old Master Gu, Elder Qin, brothers, I figured you’d probably come to the county these two days, didn’t expect such a coincidence to bump into you," Jiang Qi greeted the men from the few families.

Third Grandpa chuckled, "Knowing it’s a sought-after item, we dared not delay and came today."

Then he asked Jiang Qi, "Where are you guys headed?"

Jiang Qi pointed at the Qin brothers, "This group of youngsters is clever, they’ve practically trampled flat all the hills controlled by the Military Office. We need to drag them to some distant forests to train for a few days, lest they get too arrogant."

Third Grandpa was somewhat worried, "In this scorching summer, dragging them to train in the forests, they won’t get heatstroke, right?"

Elder Qin glanced at the Qin brothers and said, "The Military Office isn’t home. Once you enter the Military Office, you have to endure hardship. If something happens to them after a few days of training in the forests, it only shows that they aren’t skilled enough."

For Elder Qin, the Military Office wasn’t a real military camp at all. Being a soldier in the Military Office was considered living in comfort. If it were in the Northwest, they would be dragged over the Longshan Mountain every so often to directly engage with the Da Rong people on the other side. That was real combat with swords and guns, life-threatening at any moment, far more dangerous than training in the forests.

Listening, Jiang Qi laughed loudly, "Haha, Elder Qin is right. The training in the Military Office isn’t challenging for them at all. We need to take advantage of the hot weather and let them suffer a bit, otherwise, I can’t keep them in check."

"Uncle Jiang." Luo Wu came out from the county government, greeted Jiang Qi first, then said to Third Grandpa and the others, "Third Grandpa, Grandpa Qin, father, Uncle Dashan, all uncles, Master Tian is already waiting for you, I’ll take you inside."

Jiang Qi said, "Old Master Gu, you should head in, it’s not good to keep Master Tian waiting."

"Eh eh, then we’ll go first, you go ahead with your tasks," Third Grandpa said, leading Gu Dashan and others into the county government.

Gu Jinli waved her hand at Qin San Lang, also following Gu Daya into the county government.

Qin San Lang’s lips curved into a smile, his expression especially bright under the fierce sun.

Yet Qin Er Lang found his smile glaring, and once Jiang Qi was far away, he quietly questioned, "Why did you give the sheepskin water bag to the Gu Family’s daughter? That’s military provisions issued by the Military Office, how dare you give it away."

Qin San Lang furrowed his brows slightly, pointing at another sheepskin water bag on his waist, "This one is the one issued by the Military Office. The one I just gave, I won it. I can give it to whoever I want."

According to the rules of the Military Office, besides horses and weapons, anything you win is yours, free to be given away or sold.

Qin Er Lang’s face darkened: "Even if you win, these days we are going to enter the mountain, and having an extra water bag for water is always good. By giving away a water bag, you are putting yourself in more danger in the mountains. Now that the weather is hot, you are being generous at the expense of your own life."

Qin San Lang patted the bamboo tube in his hand and said, "I still have this, and it can hold quite a bit of water. Moreover, if I were to die because I’m short of one water bag, it wouldn’t be the water bag’s fault, but rather my own lack of skills."

He didn’t understand why his second brother could make a big deal out of a trivial matter? In the past, their elders also took them into the mountains for training, and the elders were strict, allowing them to carry nothing.

For weapons, use stones from the mountains; for ropes, weave your own from vines; for storing water, find bamboo tubes or other containers; for food, hunt; for fire, make it by drilling wood.

They had survived such harsh training before, and this time they were well-equipped. What was wrong with giving away an extra water bag?

Qin Er Lang’s face grew even darker, feeling that Qin San Lang was unteachable, he bluntly said: "You know I’m not talking about the water bag."

He didn’t care about a water bag, what he cared about was San Lang’s attitude toward Gu Jinli. That rough girl gave him a broken bamboo tube, and in return, he gave her a sheepskin water bag... He was the legitimate son of a Marquis, was there a need to belittle himself like this?

Moreover, just now when their comrades were joking about San Lang and that rough girl, San Lang did not even deny it, which made Qin Er Lang even angrier.

"Second Brother, I have already said what I needed to. It’s your own wild thoughts. I won’t explain again," said Qin San Lang, then he strode away to catch up with Jiang Qi, no longer paying attention to Qin Er Lang.

Qin Er Lang was infuriated by his actions, but as San Lang was not listening to him, there was nothing he could do.

However, if he couldn’t handle San Lang, there were others who could.

Soon, there would likely be news from Uncle and Second Uncle through Ah Ji. By then, he planned to have Second Uncle find a noble lady to be San Lang’s fiancée, to get him away from that rough girl.

Jiang Qi saw that Qin San Lang had caught up and turned back to smile at him: "You two brothers actually quarrel too."

Although he didn’t hear clearly what they were talking about, he knew they were arguing.

Qin San Lang smiled and said: "It’s not really a quarrel. Second Brother is just worried that I would suffer in the mountains without a water bag, so he urgently lectured me a bit."

"That’s it, then Er Lang is overthinking. No one would be thirstier than you," Jiang Qi liked Qin San Lang very much as this young man in the Military Office didn’t talk much, but every time he handled matters very adequately, displaying a calmer demeanor than one would expect from a fifteen-year-old boy. Er Lang, on the other hand, was somewhat impulsive and needed more tempering.

"Let’s assemble and set off!" Jiang Qi didn’t wait for Qin Er Lang, and after getting onto his horse, he immediately gave the order.

The soldiers, upon receiving the orders, immediately set off towards the outside of the county.

Qin Er Lang, seeing this, quickened his pace and ran over, rejoining the team as they rushed towards the city gates.

...

Inside the county government, Master Tian led Third Grandpa and the others to the Civil Affairs Office, and quickly purchased the Lu Family’s house and lands, and exchanged the land deeds.

Uncle Tian was particularly excited, holding the acquired land deed, incredulously saying, "We, we actually now own paddy fields. Those fields yield rice, which is very valuable, I just don’t know if it will be easy to manage?"

Back in their hometown, they used to grow sorghum, soybeans, sweet potatoes, while the wealthy families grew wheat, but they never had paddy fields for rice cultivation.