great-warnovel Chapter 36 A Sealed Carriage, Hot Breath: Sister-in-law, this banknote is too rough… not as supple a
Chapter 36 A Sealed Carriage, Hot Breath: Sister-in-law, this banknote is too rough… not as supple a
"The money's here! The money's here!"
Qin Yue's hand had only reached halfway out, not even touching Su Wan's fingertips, when the door to the private room was hurriedly flung open by Manager Wang.
The old man was carrying a heavy mahogany box in his arms, running breathlessly, completely unaware that he had almost become a "dead man" in Master Qin's eyes.
"Three thousand taels! All in banknotes that can be exchanged anywhere in the bank! And fifty taels of loose silver for you two to have some tea!"
Shopkeeper Wang pushed the box onto the table, afraid that if he delayed even a second, these two old men would change their minds and take the ginseng to stew with meat.
Qin Yue's hand froze in mid-air, and the allure in his peach blossom eyes vanished instantly, replaced by annoyance at being interrupted.
He tapped his tongue against his back teeth and gave Manager Wang a cool glance: "Manager Wang's return... really comes at the right time."
Shopkeeper Wang felt a chill run down his spine. Although he didn't know what he had done to offend this man, he still forced a smile and said, "That's right, that's right! Efficiency is the most important thing! Would you two like some?"
Qin Yue opened the box with a disgruntled expression. The box was full of brand-new silver notes, exuding an enticing scent of ink.
He glanced at it briefly, slammed the lid shut, and without giving her a friendly look, grabbed Su Wan's wrist and pulled her out: "No need to order. I doubt you'd dare mess with the Qin family."
"Sister-in-law, let's go home...we'll count slowly."
He emphasized the last three words heavily, with a meaningful, viscous quality.
……
On the return journey in the carriage.
If the morning air was slightly cool when we arrived, the air inside the carriage is now so hot it's almost scalding.
The heavy carriage curtains completely blocked out the sunlight, and the narrow space was filled with the smell of new banknotes and the barely suppressed restlessness emanating from Qin Yue.
"Whoosh—" Qin Yue opened the mahogany box, and the thick stack of silver notes was casually scattered like snowflakes on the soft cushion beside Su Wan.
"Sister-in-law." He no longer maintained his aristocratic airs, leaning in like a boneless man and forcing Su Wan into a corner of the carriage.
He stretched out his long leg and forcefully squeezed between Su Wan's skirts, establishing a position of absolute control.
"Just now at the store, my sister-in-law praised me for my sharp tongue..." Qin Yue leaned against the car wall with one hand, looking down at Su Wan, his voice hoarse as if he had a handful of sand in his mouth: "Before I could finish speaking, that old man barged in."
"Now that no one's around... shouldn't you finish the sentence, sister-in-law?"
Su Wan's heart raced as she looked at the cart full of silver notes.
This is a huge sum of three thousand taels of silver! She was about to reach out to sort through the silver notes when Qin Yue grabbed her wrist.
"Don't worry about the money." Qin Yue grabbed her hand and forced it against his burning chest.
Through the thin fabric of his clothes, Su Wan could clearly feel his rapid heartbeat, thump, thump, thump, each beat heavier than the last, making her palms go numb.
"Money is inanimate, I am alive." Qin Yue leaned closer, his nose brushing against Su Wan's.
His hot breath sprayed into the crook of her neck, sending a shiver down her spine: "Sister-in-law, although our Qin family is poor, I am not greedy for money."
"What I'm after... is you."
As he spoke, he casually grabbed a banknote.
His fingertips rubbed against the rough paper, but his eyes were fixed on Su Wan.
"Does your sister-in-law know?"
"Watching you act with me just now, that innocent-looking face that was so infuriating..."
Qin Yue's Adam's apple bobbed violently, his eyes darkening to the extreme: "I was thinking at the time... how wonderful it would be if I could hide my sister-in-law in this pile of banknotes and not let anyone see her."
He held the silver note and slowly moved it up Su Wan's arm.
The cool edge of the paper brushed against my delicate skin, creating a strange tactile sensation.
Roughness and delicacy. The stench of money and the fragrance of body odor.
This stark contrast made the air inside the carriage feel thick and sticky.
"Fourth brother...stop fooling around..." Su Wan's voice trembled as he teased her.
"Nothing's wrong." Qin Yue chuckled softly, his fingers holding the silver note, which stopped at Su Wan's delicate collarbone. He lowered his head, his eyes unfocused: "Sister-in-law, look..."
"These freshly issued silver notes are so white... but why do they look so dull and lifeless on my sister-in-law?"
Before he could finish speaking, the carriage suddenly rolled over a ditch and bounced violently.
"Ah!" Su Wan exclaimed in surprise, falling backward. Qin Yue reacted quickly, catching her around the waist, and the two of them fell onto the carriage floor covered with silver notes.
The floor was covered with banknotes, making it the most expensive carpet.
Qin Yue leaned above her, and the hand holding the silver note slowly covered her eyes. With her vision blocked, her senses were instantly amplified countless times.
Su Wan felt something hot land on her collarbone through the thin silver note.
It was hot and humid, domineering, and carried a fierce urge to devour her whole.
"Ugh..." Su Wan shuddered, her toes curling up.
That kind of kiss through money carries a forbidden sense of depravity, making one's scalp tingle.
[Beep! Strong feelings of "greed and possessiveness" detected!]
[Qin Yue's affection level +180! Status: Money-grubbing attribute activated! Unlocked space reward: Treasure Basin (Money-making buff)!]
"Sister-in-law..." Qin Yue moved his hand away, looking at the woman beneath him with eyes like autumn water and a face like a peach blossom, his voice hoarse beyond words: "These three thousand taels belong to the public funds, I dare not touch them."
"But I've received the interest from just now."
He stuck out the tip of his tongue, his lips curving into a smug grin like a fox that had just stolen some fish: "So sweet."
……
As the sun set, the carriage finally returned to Langya Village.
Qin Yue straightened his clothes, clutching the warm three thousand taels of silver notes, his face still flushed.
However, as soon as the car came to a stop, Qin Meng, the third son, roared angrily from outside: "How dare you?! This is my door! Who dares to touch it?!"
Qin Yue paused as he lifted the carriage curtain. His previous lazy and satisfied demeanor vanished instantly, replaced by a chilling and sinister aura.
At the main gate of the Qin family compound, the head constable, accompanied by more than a dozen fierce-looking officials, was seen kicking open the dilapidated gate.
"Listen up, Qin family!" The village head, arrogant and spittle flying from his hand, held a roster in his hand: "This year's conscription list is out! Qin Lie, Qin Meng, and those two blacksmith brats, none of them can escape!"
"Either pay one hundred taels of silver for exemption from corvée labor, or we'll kidnap someone right now and make them repair the river embankment! Anyone who dares to resist will be killed without mercy!"
In the courtyard, the eldest brother, Qin Lie, was trembling in the hand holding his hunting knife. It was the rage of someone driven to the brink of despair.
The Qin brothers stood in the courtyard like a pack of wolves cornered on the edge of a cliff.
Qin Yue narrowed his eyes, glanced back at Su Wan, and a cruel smile curled at the corner of his lips. "Sister-in-law." He slowly straightened his cuffs, his voice soft yet carrying a hint of madness: "What a coincidence."
"We just made some money and had nowhere to spend it, and then someone offered their face to us... to smash it."
Su Wan took a deep breath, straightened her disheveled collar, and her eyes instantly turned cold and sharp. She lifted the carriage curtain and, with Qin Yue's help, stepped down from the carriage like a queen.
"Who said the Qin family is poor?" A crisp voice instantly silenced all the noise.
Su Wan stood in the setting sun, before the entire village, clutching a thick stack of silver notes. The village head's eyes widened instantly, and he swallowed greedily: "Since you have money, then give it to me! One hundred taels!"
Su Wan sneered. She walked up to the village head and held up the silver note in her hand. Just as the village head reached out to take it, she flipped her wrist and stuffed the silver note back into Qin Yue's arms.
"Fourth brother, keep this safe." Su Wan clapped her hands, looked at the village head, and said, word by word, "The Qin family's money is for supporting people."
I do have a hundred taels, but I'd rather feed it to dogs than give it to a vampire like you!
"Want money? Dream on!"
"You! You shrew!" The village head was trembling with rage. "If you don't pay, I'll arrest them!"
Qin Yue stepped forward, snapping his folding fan shut with a "snap," his businessman's shrewdness instantly transforming into murderous intent: "Arrest someone? Go ahead and try."
"But let me warn you, I just made a big deal at Jinyulou in the county town, and the magistrate's son (faked out) was there. If you dare touch the Qin family today, I'll take the money to the county government tomorrow and sue you for extortion!"
"Three thousand taels of silver is enough to buy your official hat, or even... your life."
The village head was so frightened by Qin Yue's sinister gaze that he took a step back.
He looked at the stack of silver notes, then at the gleaming farm tools in the hands of the Qin brothers.
We can't get the money, and we're afraid of getting into trouble with the county if we try to rob them.
"Fine! Fine! The Qin family has guts!" The village head gritted his teeth, his eyes filled with venom. "You won't listen to reason, so you'll have to suffer the consequences! We'll see!"
Watching the village head and his men slink away, a cheer erupted in the Qin family courtyard. Qin Meng jumped for joy: "Sister-in-law, you're awesome! That was so satisfying! I wanted to chop him up just now!"
……
The main hall of the Qin family's house was brightly lit.
The crisis was temporarily averted, and the three thousand taels of silver lay on the table like a small mountain of gold. But at this moment, the brothers' attention was not on the money.
"Sister-in-law..." The third brother, Qin Meng, approached like a big black bear, his nose twitching and his brows furrowing into a deep frown: "Why do you... smell so strongly of the fourth brother's sleazy perfume?"
"And... this banknote smells the same." He looked at Su Wan with a pitiful expression, like a large, abandoned dog: "Did Fourth Brother bully you on the train? I smell something's off."
"No way." Su Wan blushed and turned her head away guiltily.
"Yes, there is!" The fifth and sixth twins squeezed in, each grabbing Su Wan's arm like two clingy little wolf cubs: "Sister-in-law is biased! Taking Fourth Brother to the city to eat all by herself!"
"We want to ride in the carriage with you, sister-in-law!" The fifth son went even further, rubbing his head against Su Wan's chest. "Sister-in-law, you're so hot, do you have a fever? Let me take your temperature..."
"Get out of the way, all of you." Qin Mo, the second brother who hadn't spoken until now, walked over. He pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, and a glint of light flashed behind the lenses.
He reached out and pulled Su Wan out of the twins' embrace, ostensibly to rescue her, but actually to put his arm around her waist. "Sister-in-law has had a long day, don't bother her."
Qin Mo lowered his head, pretending to look at the account book, and leaned close to Su Wan's ear, his voice deep and magnetic: "Fourth brother, you've done a good job with the accounts. Three thousand taels... that's indeed a large sum."
"But sister-in-law, next time you do this kind of rough work, please take me with you. Fourth brother is too greedy, I'm afraid he... will devour you whole."
Su Wan felt dizzy from the overwhelming hormones in the room.
This family of wolves is truly formidable, each one more troublesome than the last!
Qin An, the seventh brother who had been silent all along, suddenly emerged from the shadows.
His face was paler than usual, and he was tightly clutching a carrier pigeon that had just been crushed to death, with blood still on his fingertips.
"Stop arguing." The seventh brother's voice was as cold as a snake crawling out of hell, instantly extinguishing the romantic atmosphere in the room.
He slammed a bloodstained note onto the pile of banknotes on the table: "That bastard village head, he didn't get the money and is planning to kill us."
"This is what I just cut off from the leg of the carrier pigeon he released."
Qin Lie grabbed the note, glanced at it, and his face instantly turned ashen.
The note contained only one line: "The Qin family refuses to pay, but possesses a huge sum. Come immediately. The village will be massacred at midnight. Leave that young woman to me."
"Black Wind Stronghold." Qin Lie squeezed out these three words through gritted teeth, his murderous aura erupting instantly, as if the surrounding air had frozen.
It turns out that the village head didn't get the money, so he colluded with the bandits!
"Good, very good." Qin Yue's smile vanished completely. He touched the still-warm silver notes in his pocket, his eyes bloodthirsty: "Since they're courting death..."
Qin Lie slammed his hunting knife into the table, the blade embedding itself deeply! He glanced around at his brothers in the room, his gaze finally settling on Su Wan with a resolute protectiveness: "Close the door! Prepare for battle!"
"Tonight, we'll use the heads of the Black Wind Stronghold members to sacrifice to the banner of our Qin Family Army!"