great-warnovel Chapter 134 Second Brother pushed up his glasses, wiped his hand across her wet, red lips, and said,
Chapter 134 Second Brother pushed up his glasses, wiped his hand across her wet, red lips, and said,
The air in the private room on the second floor seemed to freeze for a moment.
Outside the window, the winter sun shone a pale white light; downstairs, the clamor of hundreds of men wolfing down their food filled the air.
In this small, quiet, and scholarly space, Qin Mo trapped Su Wan between himself and the cold glass window, and his refined and elegant demeanor was crumbling inch by inch.
"Second Brother..."
Su Wan's back was pressed against the glass, the coolness seeping into her skin through the thin gauze, while in front of her was the man's chest, burning hot like a furnace.
Ice and Fire.
Qin Mo didn't speak; his long, slender hand with distinct knuckles remained on Su Wan's lips.
His fingertips, rough and calloused from years of holding a pen, gently caressed a small patch of skin that had just been stained with mutton fat.
The movements were very light, yet they carried an almost pathological obsession.
It was as if that tiny bit of oil stain was some kind of filth that had to be removed.
"It's dirty."
Qin Mo pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, and behind the lenses, his usually calm eyes were now churning with a chilling darkness.
He murmured softly, his voice hoarse as if it had been sanded on sandpaper:
"That third brother, that brute... his eating manners are awful."
"How could he let the taste of such vulgar things linger on his sister-in-law's clean lips?"
Su Wan was stung by the possessiveness in his eyes and instinctively tried to turn her head away:
"I'll wipe it myself..."
"Don't move."
Qin Mo suddenly tightened his grip on her chin, pinning her face against his own.
He did not use a handkerchief.
Instead, she lowered her head and, under the gaze of those panicked peach blossom eyes, slowly extended her tongue to wipe away the trace of grease that remained on his fingertip, which had been wiped from the corner of her lips.
"Glug."
Adam's apple bobbed.
He swallowed it.
His movements were as elegant as if he were savoring the finest imperial cuisine, but his gaze was as blatant as if he were peeling her skin off.
"The taste... is just so-so."
Qin Mo frowned slightly, seemingly dissatisfied with the taste.
Their breaths mingled together.
"I don't like my sister-in-law smelling like anyone else... not even her own brother."
He took off his glasses and casually tossed them onto the windowsill next to him.
Without the lenses to conceal it, those narrow, phoenix-shaped eyes no longer held any restraint or gentleness, only a naked, almost uncontrollable, predatory desire.
"Since it's dirty..."
He lowered his head, his burning lips almost touching hers, his voice low and menacing, like a devil's whisper:
"Then let Second Brother... help Sister-in-law clean up."
"Hmm!"
Before Su Wan could refute, her lips were sealed tightly.
This was not a gentle kiss.
This was a kiss filled with punishment, cleansing, and the assertion of sovereignty.
Qin Mo's kissing skills, like the man himself, are precise, forceful, and leave no blind spots.
He first used the tip of his tongue to carefully trace the shape of her lips, as if using his breath to gradually cover up the traces he had just left.
Then, they marched straight in.
He was like a king surveying his territory, domineeringly sweeping away every inch of sweetness in her mouth, forcing her to dance with him, forcing her to breathe only his air, to taste only his flavor.
"Hoo... Hah..."
Su Wan was so breathless from the kiss that her legs went weak, and she could only cling helplessly to his shoulder.
Sunlight streamed in through the window, elongating their shadows and casting them onto the ground, where they overlapped in an extremely ambiguous shape.
If Li Daba downstairs looked up, he could see two figures entangled together behind the huge floor-to-ceiling window.
That was the ultimate act of immorality, and also the ultimate thrill.
a long time.
Qin Mo finally let her go.
Looking at the woman in his arms, panting, with red eyes and swollen, moist lips from being ravaged, the ferocity in his eyes finally dissipated somewhat, replaced by a languidness of satisfaction.
He extended his thumb and brushed it against her wet lips again.
"Now……"
He put his glasses back on, a sly, roguish smile playing on his lips.
"It's clean now."
……
Half an hour later.
Labor camp, first dormitory area.
Li Daba stood at the dormitory entrance, holding a stainless steel rice bowl that was bigger than his face, frozen in place as if struck by lightning.
He had just finished the braised pork that had made him lose his mind.
Now, he was taken to his place of residence.
"This...this is a prison cell?"
Li Daba, his hand trembling, pointed to the spacious, bright, tiled house with cement floors and snow-white walls, and stammered a question to Hu He beside him.
This house is more than a hundred times better than his drafty mud-brick hut!
The windows were made of bright, clear glass (although they were defective pieces discarded by the Qin family), allowing excellent light transmission;
The ground was paved with neat blue bricks;
The most crucial thing was that as soon as he entered the house, a wave of warmth hit him, making this man, who had been freezing in the snow all night, so comfortable that he almost groaned out loud.
That's a 'kang' (heated brick bed).
Huhe, still holding the thermos, pointed to the row of bunk beds against the wall with a disdainful expression that said, "You've never seen anything like this before."
"Our lady is kind-hearted. She was afraid that you bunch of animals would freeze to death, so she specially asked Second Master to design the 'heated kang'."
"The flue below connects to the boiler room next door."
"Shall we go up and give it a try?"
Li Daba dared not.
He was afraid of stepping on the kang (a heated brick bed) covered with a brand-new reed mat and getting it dirty.
He took off his tattered straw sandals with his toes sticking out and carefully climbed up.
The moment his buttocks touched the surface of the kang (a heated brick bed).
"hiss--!!"
A warm, thick, and continuous heat instantly spread from my buttocks throughout my body, dispelling the chill from my bones.
"It's hot! It's really hot!"
Li Daba slapped his thigh excitedly, tears welling up in his eyes again:
"This isn't prison! It's like living in a palace!"
"I miss my mother... If she could sleep on this kang (heated brick bed), her chronic leg pain would definitely stop..."
A young hunter standing nearby was holding a set of "labor reform clothes" that had just been issued to him.
Those were cotton-padded clothes and trousers made from the gray cotton cloth that the Qin family's textile factory had stockpiled.
Although the color is a bit dull and the stitching is a bit rough.
But as he touched the thick cotton, he cried even more bitterly than Li Daba:
"Waaaah... New cotton! It's still so soft! I miss my wife too... My wife has never worn pants without patches before..."
The entire dormitory area was filled with the sound of crying.
It's not because of suffering.
It was because it was too sweet, so sweet that they felt like the first half of their lives had been a joke.
What are they risking their lives in the mountains, fighting wild beasts?
Isn't all he wants a full meal, a wife and kids, and a warm bed?
The results of it?
Now tell them that as long as they become "labor camp prisoners" for the Qin family, they will have all of these things!
They even ate better than landlords and lived in warmer accommodations than county magistrates!
"Could I spend my whole life in this prison?"
Someone asked the question timidly.
Li Daba suddenly raised his head, a sharp glint flashing in his red and swollen eyes.
He suddenly jumped off the kang (a heated brick bed), not even bothering to put on his shoes, and ran outside barefoot.
"I want to see Madam! I want to see Master Qin!"
"I want to apply for my whole family to go to jail!!"
……
The main courtyard of the Qin family, the council hall.
Su Wan was sitting in the main seat, holding the "quarterly report" that Master Sun had just delivered, her blush not yet completely gone.
Qin Mo sat to her left, upright and reading a book, as if he were not the beast who had just kissed her so hard by the window that her legs went weak.
"Madam! Madam, please have mercy!"
A series of ghostly wails came from outside the door.
Li Daba was dragged in by two barbarian guards.
The moment he saw Su Wan, without any hesitation, he knelt down with a "thump," slid two meters, and hugged her tightly...
Before he could even hug Su Wan's leg...
"Whoosh—"
A teacup lid flew through the air with a whooshing sound, hitting the blue brick in front of him precisely and shattering into several pieces.
Qin Mo didn't even look up, turned a page of his book, and said in a cold voice:
"Take one more inch forward, and I'll chop off your hand."
Li Daba was so frightened that he quickly withdrew his hand and prostrated himself on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly.
"Second Master Qin, spare my life! Madam, spare my life!"
"I'm not here to cause trouble! I...I'm here to ask for your grace!"
Su Wan put down the report, straightened her slightly disheveled collar, and resumed her dignified and gentle demeanor:
"What favors are you asking for?"
Li Daba raised his head, his face covered in snot and tears, yet filled with an unprecedented fervor:
"Madam! This labor camp...it's wonderful!"
"I beg you, madam, to bring my whole family... no, my entire village, young and old, here!"
"Let them come...to jail too!"
Upon hearing this, even Master Sun, who was standing next to him, was stunned.
He has tried countless cases in his life and has seen people crying and begging to be released from prison, but he has never seen anyone crying and begging to bring their whole family to prison!
"Take it?"
Su Wan raised an eyebrow, her eyes sparkling with amusement:
"Li Daba, do you think the Qin family is a charity?"
"The labor camps only accept able-bodied men. What can your wives and children do?"
"Capable! They can all do it!"
Li Daba panicked, fearing he would lose this opportunity:
"My wife can cook! She can sew shoe soles! And she can take care of the crops!"
"My kids, though young, can gather firewood and feed the pigs!"
"My mother...my mother may not be able to do heavy work, but she can guard the house for the lady! Her hearing is excellent!"
He kept kowtowing as he spoke, until his forehead turned blue:
"Madam, just give us some food and a warm place to stay... the lives of our entire village will belong to the Qin family from now on!"
"We're not hunters anymore! We'll become servants of the Qin family! Working for the Qin family for generations to come!"
Su Wan remained silent for a moment.
Actually, this was already part of her plan.
The Qin family's territory is growing larger and larger, and its industrial chain is becoming more and more diversified. What they lack most is—population.
Especially this kind of "family-style" population that knows you inside and out and will be loyal to you as long as you give them a little something.
Controlling a person's family is tantamount to controlling that person's weakness.
In Su Wan's eyes, Li Daba's act of sending his whole family in was like offering up a "deadly contract."
"Second brother, what do you think?"
Su Wan turned to Qin Mo, passing the buck to the butler.
Qin Mo finally put down the book in his hand.
He pushed up his glasses and scrutinized Li Daba on the ground, as if he were assessing the value of a commodity.
"There are 120 households in Lijia'ao."
"Two hundred able-bodied men and three hundred women and children."
He casually recited the data, clearly having already thoroughly investigated the other party's background.
"Our textile factories are short of female workers, pig farms are short of feeders, and the academy... is also short of a few cleaners."
He spoke casually, but every word he uttered precisely struck at Lijia'ao's sore spot.
"Since they want to come..."
Qin Mo's lips curled into a meaningful smile:
"Then let them have their way."
"but……"
He abruptly changed the subject, his eyes instantly becoming sharp as knives:
"Rules must be established."
"Once you enter the Qin family, you become a Qin family ghost."
"If anyone tries to run away or betray us in the future..."
He didn't continue speaking, but simply tapped the table lightly.
"Thump."
The soft sound, to Li Daba's ears, sounded like the sound of a guillotine falling.
"I wouldn't dare! Absolutely not!"
Li Daba swore to the heavens:
"Anyone who dares to betray Madam, I, Li Daba, will be the first to skin them alive and make them into a drum!"
……
Now that it's been finalized, we need to go through the "official procedures."
Master Sun, who had been standing by as a background figure, finally came in handy.
He rubbed his hands together, leaned forward, and looked at Su Wan and Qin Mo with a fawning expression:
"Second Master, Madam, the entire village of Lijia'ao has been relocated... We need an explanation from the authorities."
"After all, more than a hundred households have been lost, and it would be difficult to explain this to the household registration authorities."
Qin Mo glanced at him, took out a note that had been written beforehand from his sleeve, with a hundred-tael silver note tucked inside, and pushed it over.
"I've already thought of a solution for the advisor."
Master Sun quickly took it, opened it, and took a look.
The paper bore four large characters: "Deep Mountain Wolf Disaster".
Below is a small print annotation:
"In the dead of winter, a pack of wolves came down from the mountain. The entire village of Lijia'ao was attacked by the wolves, and all the houses were destroyed. In order to survive, the villagers fled into the deep mountains and their whereabouts are unknown."
"Brilliant!"
Master Sun slapped his thigh and gave a thumbs up:
"Wolf plague! This reason is absolutely flawless!"
"In the dead of winter, it's common for a few people to die and several villages to be affected! Unless it's a rebellion, the higher-ups don't even bother to investigate!"
"and……"
Master Sun's eyes darted around, and he immediately understood:
"Since they are 'missing,' then the land in Lijia'ao... has become an unclaimed wasteland."
"According to the laws of the Great Wei Dynasty, unclaimed wasteland belongs to whoever cultivates it..."
Qin Mo nodded approvingly:
"The advisor is a smart man."
"That hillside in Lijia'ao is suitable for planting fruit trees. Once the land deed is completed, we'll deliver it directly to your residence."
"Alright!"
Master Sun happily put away the silver notes and the "script".
In this wave, the Qin family gained people and land; he gained money and political achievements (after all, the population loss was caused by "natural disasters," not by the fault of the war).
Simply a win-win!
……
That afternoon.
A large moving team set off from Lijia'ao and headed towards the Langya Special Zone.
There was no sadness, no reluctance.
It's as festive as Chinese New Year.
The women carried bundles on their backs and held their children in their arms, their faces beaming with longing for a new life;
The men pushed wheelbarrows, loaded with bedding rolls and pots and pans, their steps so light they seemed to be flying.
"Hurry up! Everyone hurry up!"
Li Daba ran back and forth, shouting at the top of his lungs:
"We were too late; the best, sunniest cell... oops! That sunniest dorm room was already taken!"
That night.
The Langya Labor Camp was brightly lit.
More than 300 women and children looked at the steaming white buns, the bright biogas lamps, and the warm, cozy kang (heated brick bed).
They all knelt in the direction of the main courtyard where Su Wan lived and kowtowed three times.
That night.
Lijia'ao has completely disappeared from the map.
What replaced it was the most solid foundation of the Qin family's industrial empire.
As for Su Wan...
This night was destined to be a sleepless one.
because……
A seemingly refined scoundrel, who hadn't "eaten his fill" on the windowsill during the day, was standing by her bedside with a copy of "Admonitions for Women."
"Sister-in-law."
Qin Mo took off his glasses, slowly unbuttoning his collar as he revealed that dangerous smile:
"There were too many things to do during the day, so I didn't have time to investigate in detail."
"Now, it's time for Second Brother to give you a thorough check-up..."