CHAPTER 82: CHAPTER 81: EXCHANGE

Qin Yao was really worried that nothing would happen in the month she was there.

If that happened and she took the two taels of silver, Mr. Ding would definitely feel uncomfortable thinking she didn’t do anything and yet took so much silver.

But now, she didn’t have to worry about that.

Everyone in the mansion was sound asleep, and Qin Yao could still hear Dou’er’s snores from the next room while she was in the side room.

Only two guards were left in the Ding Mansion, one in the second courtyard and another in the storeroom, so one person was left behind.

Another stood outside Miss Ding’s courtyard gate, but seemingly did not hear the commotion outside the yard.

Qin Yao quietly opened the door with a knife in hand, silently moving to the corridor and hiding behind a pillar.

She initially thought the thief would sneak into the backyard, but unexpectedly, a shadow appeared over the wall, heading to the second courtyard instead.

The purpose was clear: theft.

Qin Yao hid in the shadows, and he didn’t notice at all; his gaze swept past the inner courtyard and directly over her.

In this kind of operation, it’s often done in pairs. Qin Yao watched the thief enter the second courtyard, then stepped out from the shadows and lightly leaped, grabbing the eaves stealthily to reach the rooftop.

Standing high, she immediately spotted a wooden beam on the wall behind the house.

Earlier, the thief had climbed onto the wall by using this arm-thick wooden beam, then crawled like a cat along the wall into the second courtyard.

Another person stood at the foot of the wall, looking around nervously.

It was too dark to see his features, but judging from his figure, he should be a tall, thin man in his early twenties.

Qin Yao suddenly leaped down from the wall in front of him, and due to his poor mental state, he let out a startled low scream.

This low cry instantly woke the guards in the courtyard, who shouted loudly:

"Who’s there?!"

Clearly, the accomplices in the courtyard had been discovered.

The one in front of Qin Yao attempted to run away, but she flung the back of her knife at him, swiftly taking him down.

Qin Yao rushed forward in two steps, raising her hand to deliver a knife hand strike to the back of his neck, knocking him out cold.

She picked up her knife and, as if she had eyes on her back, swiftly flung it backward.

"Ah!!!"

A scream came from the wall as a small thief trying to escape upon being discovered by the guard was chopped down with a bright shining knife embedded in his thigh, bleeding heavily.

Seeing the knife, the alarmed Zhang Ba and guards realized who had cut the thief from the wall.

"Miss Qin!" Zhang Ba shouted loudly in the courtyard.

Qin Yao responded from outside the courtyard, dragging the unconscious thief inside.

With a "thud," both thieves were thrown together in one place.

The guard pulled out the knife from the small thief’s leg and returned it to Qin Yao, provoking another round of screams from the small thief.

Qin Yao frowned and said, "Gag their mouths, tie them up together, and send them to the government at dawn."

The guards and Zhang Ba immediately found some ragged cloth and ropes, gagged the two thieves’ mouths, tied up their hands and feet, giving them no chance to plead, and threw them into the woodshed!

Housekeeper Yu rushed over, but since the situation was already settled, he gratefully nodded to Qin Yao, telling her to rest while he handled the rest.

Qin Yao nodded and retreated to the inner courtyard.

A light turned on in the main house, and inside, Miss Ding anxiously inquired, "Did you catch the thief?"

Qin Yao replied, "Just two small-time thieves; I caught them as soon as they arrived. It’s settled now, so you can go back to sleep, Miss."

Inside, there was a brief pause before a response came: "Alright."

Then the light went out, and the house returned to silence.

Qin Yao first went to the small kitchen to fetch some water and wash her knife clean, drying it with a cloth before heading back to her room to sleep.

She slept well, as if last night’s events never happened.

While she could brush it off, Miss Ding and her three maids couldn’t let it go. They waited for Qin Yao to wake up and immediately bombarded her with questions about the events of the previous night.

Qin Yao gave a brief explanation and then asked, "Are we still reading today?"

Miss Ding’s attention was diverted as they transitioned to a delightful role-playing game.

At noon, Housekeeper Yu came by to report the progress to Miss Ding.

"The two small thieves have already been sent to the government; it’s all thanks to Miss Qin for discovering them early. The two thieves didn’t succeed, and there’s no loss of property in the house."

It was just that the tiles on the roof of the inner courtyard’s side room were stained with some blood, but he had already arranged for Zhang Ba to clean it up earlier.

Miss Ding merely acknowledged it, indicating she understood.

The household often encountered thieves, but most attempts were unsuccessful, so to Miss Ding, as long as there was no loss, everything was fine. She advised the housekeeper to arrange for more staff to be on night watch, and that was it.

She was still more interested in teaching.

"Miss Qin, we’ve been reading for so many days; today, how about I teach you to paint?"

Qin Yao cooperatively asked with curiosity, "What should we paint?"

"Hmm... the Dragon Boat Festival is the day after tomorrow, so let’s paint a zongzi (sticky rice dumpling)!"

Is it almost the Dragon Boat Festival? Qin Yao mentally calculated the days and realized it was soon.

She wondered how Liu Ji and his five sons were planning to celebrate at home.

Painting turned out to be much harder than reading. Qin Yao was not used to handling the brush, wasting sheet after sheet of paper, which made her feel bad. Nevertheless, Miss Ding remained enthusiastic, determined to teach Qin Yao how to paint a zongzi.

Those discarded papers were only used on one side, with plenty of blank space remaining. Qin Yao couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity what would be done with them.

Miss Ding was momentarily taken aback, "I don’t know, usually the maids collect the discarded papers, probably to use in the kitchen as kindling."

Qin Yao frowned, "The blank areas can still be used for practicing calligraphy; it would be a shame to burn them."

"Do you want them?" Miss Ding asked.

She knew that sometimes the servants would take away the used papers and use them as toilet paper. However, since she didn’t need them anymore, she’d let them have it.

She thought Qin Yao wouldn’t be so petty, but she didn’t expect her to covet such a small benefit.

Qin Yao didn’t mind what Miss Ding thought. She only considered that the blank parts could be cut up and used as notepaper.

Nodding, she asked if she could have the discarded papers, "I can catch two birds for Miss to play with in exchange."

"Really?" Miss Ding asked excitedly, "Live birds?"

Seeing Qin Yao confidently nod, she suddenly felt Qin Yao wasn’t so petty after all. At least she was willing to exchange rather than take advantage of her.

Catching birds was too easy for Qin Yao. During the day, while Miss Ding napped, she went to the hill she had previously visited for logging and returned with two sparrows.

Cao’er quickly fetched a birdcage, putting the two sparrows inside, and happily presented it before Miss Ding.

"You really caught them!" The young girl was thrilled and waved her hand, "Aunt Qiao, all the discarded papers in my room this month, give them to Miss Qin!"

"Oh, if you can catch a squirrel for me, I’ll even give you the Enlightenment Atlas you’ve looked at so many times!"

Qin Yao raised an eyebrow at such a good deal?

She smiled to confirm, "Miss wants a squirrel, right?"

Miss Ding, in an unladylike manner, nodded vigorously.

So, Qin Yao took another trip to the mountain, using a trap to catch a gray squirrel, and traded it for an Enlightenment Atlas.

She wanted to exchange for other books, so she asked if Miss Ding had anything else she wanted.

Unfortunately, Miss Ding felt satisfied with a squirrel and some birds. However, she allowed Qin Yao to freely read any books on her bookshelf.

Qin Yao gave a faint smile; this was not a bad deal either.