Chapter 17: Secret Shopping

Chapter 17: Chapter 17: Secret ShoppingOne could only say, Xiang Nuan and her brother were simply dealt a bad hand to be born as Qin Guo Hua’s children. "Brother, do you have any money?" Qin Xiang Nuan asked him when Qin Xiang Yang came back from the field at noon. Actually, she vaguely remembered that her brother did have some money. In her past life, when her brother was gravely ill and nearly dying, he had given her a small pouch, which was full of money that he had earned bit by bit by doing odd jobs for other families in his spare time. "Do you need money? Wait, brother will get it for you," Qin Xiang Yang said without hesitation as he opened a cabinet and fumbled around inside for a while before pulling out a small cloth pouch. It was indeed the very same one from her past life, now looking somewhat old and dirty. He opened the cloth bag, revealing a number of one-cent and one-fen coins inside. In these current times, they still used those several-cent banknotes, so she dumped all the coins onto the fire pit, counting them one by one. There was more than five yuan in total. "Nuannuan, do you want to buy something to eat?" Qin Xiang Nuan stroked her younger sister’s little cheek. "Brother will give you this money, but remember, don’t let the stepmother and the others find out. They will snatch it away." Qin Xiang Nuan carefully wrapped the money back up and clutched it to her chest, then promised fervently. "Brother, don’t worry, I won’t let anyone know. This is ours, not someone else’s." Qin Xiang Yang now felt quite at ease with his sister. Lately, Nuannuan had become more shrewd; she knew how to sneak food and would stealthily make some things and save them for him. And because they had not suffered hunger recently, he felt his strength had greatly increased. After everyone had gone out again, Qin Xiang Nuan walked a long distance to find a small shop. There she bought some white paper—the kind that came in very large sheets and was quite cheap at two cents per sheet. She bought ten sheets, spending just twenty cents in total. She also bought sugar and some oil. She hid all these things first; she dared not brazenly bring them home, since people in the village gossiped, and it would be troublesome if Hu Li found out. Only when night fell and everyone else had gone to sleep did Qin Xiang Nuan take her elder brother to where she had hidden her stash. Searᴄh the ηovelFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Why did you buy so much?" Qin Xiang Yang was surprised but did not blame his sister. Although he was young, his frequent farm work had endowed him with great strength. He swiftly picked up a big bundle of items and then turned to Qin Xiang Nuan, saying, "Nuannuan, hold onto brother’s clothes tightly, remember to grip firmly, and don’t let go," it was so dark, and he was afraid his sister might stumble or get lost. "Okay," Qin Xiang Nuan clutched at the hem of Qin Xiang Yang’s clothes. The siblings walked carefully, for there were no streetlights in the village at night, and there were few people around. It was indeed frightening to be alone; although both of them felt scared, they mutually bolstered each other’s courage. Upon opening the door, the earth pit inside was ablaze, thus a wave of heat greeted them as they entered. Qin Xiang Yang placed the wrapped items on the kang bed. In the darkness, he hadn’t seen clearly, but now, striking a match and lighting a candle, he finally saw what his sister had bought: a ream of paper, a bag of rice, and oil in a plastic bottle. Qin Xiang Nuan hid the oil and sugar in the cabinet, along with the flour. "Brother, help me," she said as she placed the paper in front of Qin Xiang Yang.