After dressing up as a stepmother, I transformed the whole family into working in the fields

Qin Yao raised her eyebrows in a funny way, "Sister-in-law, I'm teasing you. I'll fry it myself later. When it's done, I'll ask Dalang to send you some."

He laughed angrily and raised his hand to hit her. As soon as he raised his hand, Qin Yao easily dodged it on one side.

Mrs. Qiu was eating chestnuts, and it was rare to see Mrs. He slumped, and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but turn up.

"Alas~" Ms. Zhang shook her head helplessly. She was already a grown-up, but she was still acting like a child.

The atmosphere in the courtyard was just right. There was a sound of running. Qin Yao's ears twitched and she turned her head to look out the door.

Erlang and Jinbao rushed in with anxious faces.

"Third Aunt, they, they..." Jinbao ran so fast that he couldn't speak in one breath.

Qin Yao looked at Erlang with a cold expression.

Erlang took a deep breath to steady his breath and said urgently: "They are back! They even pulled three mats!"

"Who?" Qin Yao was confused.

Jin Baoke managed to catch his breath and shouted loudly: "All the men in the village are back!"

Hearing this, everyone in the courtyard was shocked.

Erlang repeated the three mats again and called Qin Yao to go and have a look because he did not see his Liu Ji among the people standing.

Zhang's expression changed instantly. Seeing that Qin Yao was still stunned, she hurriedly urged: "Ms. Yao, go and have a look."

Qin Yao ate the candied roasted chestnuts peeled from the palm of her hand in one gulp and rushed out like the wind.

Dalang, who was closest to her, caught a glimpse of a smile flashing across his face, and his heart tightened for no reason.

Erlang hurriedly grabbed his eldest brother and chased Qin Yao, but she ran too fast and rushed to the entrance of the village in the blink of an eye.

Most of the villagers were on their way here. Erlang and Jinbao happened to be playing in the wasteland near the water mill, and that's when they noticed the men who had returned for the first time.

All the people in the water mill followed, and they gathered around the three rolled-up straw mats, reluctant to come forward.

There were forty-five civilians when they left, but only thirty-five civilians and three straw mats when they returned. They first went from the border to Zijing Mansion, then met each other on the road and returned home together.

Among them, someone was assigned to a group with a fellow villager and carried the other person's body back.

The female workers in the waterwheel factory were busy looking for their husbands, sons, and brothers. When they found them, they cried with joy.

Those who couldn't find them all stood in front of the three straw mats.

The corpse has been dead for a long time. Even if the weather is freezing now, it has already changed, emitting waves of strange smells.

No one dared to lift the straw mat, they were all waiting for the village chief and others to come over.

Qin Yao was the first to rush to the straw mats, and opened the three straw mats without changing her expression amidst everyone's exclamations.

Zhang and others who came later were so frightened that they turned their backs.

Dalang also grabbed Erlang and the twins running back behind him, blocking their sight with his body.

Only then did the young boy gather his courage and scan the festering faces of the three corpses one by one.

Not seeing any familiar faces, I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

However, Qin Yao looked very disappointed when she opened the mat.

Old man Liu who came from the fields glanced at Qin Yao inadvertently, feeling very puzzled.

Why isn't she happy that the person who died is not the third child?

Is it because he is worried that the third child will still fall behind?

"Ah!" A desperate scream rang out. Someone recognized their man and was so distraught that he almost fainted.

The three bodies were claimed one after another.

But the village chief, who didn't even recognize the body, felt his heart sink to the bottom.

His grandson Liu Qi didn't come back either. Was he delayed on the road or was he in an accident and couldn't even return to his hometown?

He didn't dare to think too much. When he saw Old Man Liu's family who were also disappointed, he walked up to Qin Yao and asked:

"There are still seven people who haven't returned, and my Liu Qi hasn't come back either. I want to go to the county to inquire. Do you want one?"

He still knows a few people in the yamen. If a civilian husband dies, the list will be passed on.

If Liu Qi and Liu Ji's names are not on the list, it means they may still be on their way back.

Old Man Liu and Ms. Zhang looked at Qin Yao together. Ms. Zhang patted her shoulder and whispered, "Go, the four elders will stay in the old house and we will take care of them. It will make you feel at ease when you go."

Seeing that the third child's family is getting better and better, Qin Yao is capable and generous, and she gets along well with her sister-in-law. Everyone really can't bear to see her become a widow at such a young age.

Qin Yao looked at the three corpses again, and there was nothing similar to Liu Ji. She thought to herself, why is there no such waste like Liu Ji in this pile of dead people?

"Go ahead, I'll lead the horse." Qin Yao nodded, it would be better to go to the Yamen and take a look at the list.

When Qin Yao went home to pick up the horse, Dalang led his younger brothers and sisters to follow her. The four brothers and sisters looked at her eagerly.

It was rare for Siniang to feel sad, "Aniang, why are people in the village dying?"

Auntie said before that the civilians only went to deliver food to the soldiers at the border. Once the food was delivered, the people came back, and maybe they could catch up with the New Year.

How can someone's father die?

Qin Yao paused, looked back at the four little guys behind her, and waved. Siniang ran two steps to her, looking up at her in confusion.

Qin Yao said softly: "It's not easy to walk on the road. Maybe I fell down accidentally, or maybe I got sick."

These words could only be used to deceive a child like Siniang. Dalang and Erlang lowered their eyes with mixed emotions.

After all, that man was still their biological father. They hated him, but they never thought of letting him die at that distant border.

But no one is to blame for all this except their father who committed suicide.

Erlang tightened his fists. If his father really couldn't come back, he would buy a lot of paper money and burn it for him next year!

I heard that the kid in the Palace of Hell also watched people prepare food. He burned more paper money for his father so that he could buy some bull-headed horse noodles and find a good family in the next life and stop being a bastard.

Dalang seemed to be able to read his younger brother's thoughts, and whispered in Erlang's ear, "You are so filial."

Erlang growled angrily: "He defrauded us of all the coins we worked so hard to earn!"

Fortunately, he still remembered to burn the paper money for his father, which was considered as an act of kindness and righteousness.

Sanlang looked at his two brothers in confusion, and then at his sister who didn't know what she was worried about, but she was very worried. She walked to the stables a little embarrassed and whispered:

"Mommy, I want to eat candied haws on a stick."

Da Lang was stunned, he was a filial son again!

Qin Yao's originally depressed mood suddenly turned sunny, and she nodded with a smile, "Okay."

Then he asked the remaining three, "Do you want it?"

Dalang thought of the sweet and sour candied haws, and swallowed hard, "Then, then I'd better have it."

We can't let Aunt Yao go to the city in vain.

Qin Yao asked the four of them to stay at the old house and wait for her return, then got on her horse and ran towards the entrance of the village.

The village chief had summoned five other households, and each family sent a representative. They got on the village chief's ox cart and the group headed to the county seat with a heavy heart.