CHAPTER 29: CHAPTER 28: CUSTOM WEAPONS

Qin Yao returned at noon.

She had gone to Lower River Village to return the bow and arrow to the Yang Family.

The bow was still in good condition, but ten arrows were used up. Qin Yao, as promised, gave them eight taels and five maces of silver as the fee for borrowing the bow and arrow.

The Yang brothers were stunned, not expecting her to give them more than eight taels all at once.

Immediately curious, they asked, "Miss Qin, did you hunt something big?"

Facing them, Qin Yao didn’t hide anything and said directly, "Yes, I killed a black bear."

"All by yourself?" the brothers asked in unison.

Qin Yao nodded, "Yes."

Yang Da and Yang Er couldn’t even imagine what the scene would have been like.

Back then, when the two brothers hunted a tiger, it was all due to luck. They happened to come across a fight between a tiger and a leopard. After the leopard was chased away by the tiger, they seized the opportunity while the tiger hadn’t recovered, risking half their lives to finally kill it.

After that, they never had such luck again.

Yang Er still had a severe psychological shadow from it; now if either brother went into the mountains alone, they would avoid large beasts, cherishing their lives much more.

Qin Yao asked if they could help make her a bow.

Yang Da shook off his shock and readily agreed, knowing she was strong, and asked what kind she wanted.

Qin Yao’s requirements weren’t high, "As good as your bow will do, just double the pulling strength, should be doable, right?"

The pull strength of a bow and the materials used for the bow body are closely related; too soft, and it lacks lethality; too hard, and it might break. Qin Yao’s request seemed simple but was actually quite demanding.

Yang Da thought about the materials available nearby but wasn’t entirely confident, "I’ll give it a try first."

Qin Yao nodded slightly. She didn’t push, knowing the production level was what it was, and a Divine Arm Bow wasn’t easily acquired.

She gave Yang Da three hundred copper coins as a deposit, telling him to go ahead, and to have someone notify the Liu Family Village when it was done so she could retrieve it.

After leaving the Yang Family, Qin Yao went to a blacksmith to have the short knife refurbished and ordered a long sword and a short dagger.

Over here, alloy materials were hard to come by, and the craftsmen never passed down their skills. The blacksmith in Lower River Village claimed he had figured out how to make steel and could make a steel sword for Qin Yao, but she didn’t have high hopes for a blacksmith who specialized in kitchen knives.

In any case, she needed to have a weapon. Without one, she couldn’t sleep well at night.

There might not be zombies or mutated plants and animals here, nor were there those thinking of eating people.

But there were bandits, and the officials never came to the countryside, so if something happened, the common folk had to protect themselves.

Before leaving, Qin Yao suddenly remembered a little thing—a slingshot.

This was perfect for carrying around without drawing attention. Coupled with her strength, sometimes its lethality wasn’t any less than a bullet.

There were no slingshots in Sheng Country because there was no rubber for making elastic bands.

Qin Yao drew a frame for the slingshot and asked the blacksmith to make it, also having him make fifty steel balls about the size of glass marbles.

As for the elastic bands, she would have to find a substitute herself.

Before heading back to Liu Family Village, Qin Yao went to a brick kiln, checked the prices, and then went home.

After running around all morning, the silver in her pocket was only twenty-five taels left.

Counting the expenses for building and furnishing the house, it was almost like being back to square one.

As soon as Qin Yao got home, the four children immediately dropped their stones and mud, gathering around her.

"Did you change the medicine?" Qin Yao asked as she walked into the main room.

Liu Ji was lying on the bed, worried about his face. As soon as he saw Qin Yao, he stiffened up.

Da Lang said, "The medicine has already been changed."

Qin Yao nodded, routinely asking Liu Ji, "How do you feel? Any better? Did you have any bowel or bladder movements today? What did you eat? How much water did you drink?"

Liu Ji frowned slightly. Was this concern? It must be, right?

Seeing his father in a daze, Da Lang answered for him, "He drank a bowl of water, half a bowl of porridge, and urinated."

Liu Ji’s face turned red, "Much better."

Qin Yao reached out and uncovered a patch of herbal paste. As expected, the swelling had subsided a lot, so the medicine prescribed by the village doctor seemed effective.

At this rate, he should be able to get back on his feet and start working in three or four days.

After checking on Liu Ji, Qin Yao moved to the kitchen to make lunch.

Her cooking skills were not great, and she found cooking troublesome, so she simply cooked a pot of rice, making six rice balls. The children got smaller ones, adults got bigger ones, and she took an extra-large one for herself.

Liu Ji looked at the white rice ball Da Lang brought in, once again shocked by the family’s wealth.

There’s lunch?

"How many meals do you eat a day?" Liu Ji tried asking.

Da Lang, while gnawing on his fist-sized, fragrant white rice ball, held up three fingers.

Liu Ji was both shocked and delighted, thinking that if they could have such meals every day, it wouldn’t be too bad to keep that shrew happy.

He took a big bite of the rice ball in his hand. Hmm, soft rice is delicious!

After lunch, Qin Yao went out again.

Taking along the needles, thread, cotton, and three bolts of cloth she had bought, she went to the Liu Family’s old house.

Although the wheat had already been sown, there were still a few acres of vegetable garden left empty. Early to mid-November was a good time to plant broad beans and peas. Mrs. Zhang was in the hall sorting through seeds, planning to plant them in a few days.

Inside the house, the sound of the loom "clunk, clunk" could be heard. He and Mrs. Qiu were inside weaving, making the most of the time.

The court had distributed the land. Most of the villagers planted half in crops and the other half in mulberries. The mulberry leaves and silk were all self-produced. The two sisters-in-law were fast; using their free time, they could weave two bolts a year, and a bolt of silk could sell for two taels of silver.

This four taels of silver was even more than what the men produced in a year working the fields.

So, in the traditional household of men plowing and women weaving, women’s status wasn’t low.

In the corner of the yard, there were five hens. Mrs. Zhang had raised them for more than two years and couldn’t bear to kill them as long as they still laid eggs.

The weather was nice today, so the coop was opened, and the hens wandered around the yard, with chicken droppings all over the ground.

The men weren’t idle either. The father and his four sons were working in pairs, scooping manure behind the house and carrying it in loads to fertilize the wheat.

Everyone was used to such an environment, going about their work with usual expressions.

However, when Qin Yao took an unexpected step in and smelled the rich odor of manure and chicken droppings, she wasn’t quite used to it.

Sitting by the door playing with stones, Jinhua was the first to notice Qin Yao and looked up, calling out, "Third Aunt."

With her hands full, Qin Yao couldn’t pat her head and smiled, "Is Aunt and your mom home?"

Jinhua nodded, her little blackened hand pointing west, "Mom and Aunt are weaving."

Mrs. Zhang in the hall heard something at the door and put down her work to get up, seeing Qin Yao walking in with cotton and cloth, she asked curiously,

"Third son’s wife, what’s this?"

Mrs. Zhang wasn’t confident enough to think it was a tribute to herself, but that only made it more puzzling.

Qin Yao first called her "mom" and then looked towards the west room, "I want to ask the two sisters to help make some clothes. Where’s Dad? I thought I’d take advantage of the farming downtime to renovate the house a bit."