Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper! Chapter 29 - 28: Custom Weapons

Qin Yao returned at noon.

She had gone to Lower River Village to return the bow and arrow to the Yang Family.

The bow was still in good condition, but ten arrows were used up. Qin Yao, as promised, gave them eight taels and five maces of silver as the fee for borrowing the bow and arrow.

The Yang brothers were stunned, not expecting her to give them more than eight taels all at once.

Imdiately curious, they asked, "Miss Qin, did you hunt sothing big?"

Facing them, Qin Yao didn’t hide anything and said directly, "Yes, I killed a black bear."

"All by yourself?" the brothers asked in unison.

Qin Yao nodded, "Yes."

Yang Da and Yang Er couldn’t even imagine what the scene would have been like.

Back then, when the two brothers hunted a tiger, it was all due to luck. They happened to co across a fight between a tiger and a leopard. After the leopard was chased away by the tiger, they seized the opportunity while the tiger hadn’t recovered, risking half their lives to finally kill it.

After that, they never had such luck again.

Yang Er still had a severe psychological shadow from it; now if either brother went into the mountains alone, they would avoid large beasts, cherishing their lives much more.

Qin Yao asked if they could help make her a bow.

Yang Da shook off his shock and readily agreed, knowing she was strong, and asked what kind she wanted.

Qin Yao’s requirents weren’t high, "As good as your bow will do, just double the pulling strength, should be doable, right?"

The pull strength of a bow and the materials used for the bow body are closely related; too soft, and it lacks lethality; too hard, and it might break. Qin Yao’s request seed simple but was actually quite demanding.

Yang Da thought about the materials available nearby but wasn’t entirely confident, "I’ll give it a try first."

Qin Yao nodded slightly. She didn’t push, knowing the production level was what it was, and a Divine Arm Bow wasn’t easily acquired.

She gave Yang Da three hundred copper coins as a deposit, telling him to go ahead, and to have soone notify the Liu Family Village when it was done so she could retrieve it.

After leaving the Yang Family, Qin Yao went to a blacksmith to have the short knife refurbished and ordered a long sword and a short dagger.

Over here, alloy materials were hard to co by, and the craftsn never passed down their skills. The blacksmith in Lower River Village claid he had figured out how to make steel and could make a steel sword for Qin Yao, but she didn’t have high hopes for a blacksmith who specialized in kitchen knives.

In any case, she needed to have a weapon. Without one, she couldn’t sleep well at night.

There might not be zombies or mutated plants and animals here, nor were there those thinking of eating people.

But there were bandits, and the officials never ca to the countryside, so if sothing happened, the common folk had to protect themselves.

Before leaving, Qin Yao suddenly rembered a little thing—a slingshot.

This was perfect for carrying around without drawing attention. Coupled with her strength, sotis its lethality wasn’t any less than a bullet.

There were no slingshots in Sheng Country because there was no rubber for making elastic bands.

Qin Yao drew a fra for the slingshot and asked the blacksmith to make it, also having him make fifty steel balls about the size of glass marbles.

As for the elastic bands, she would have to find a substitute herself.

Before heading back to Liu Family Village, Qin Yao went to a brick kiln, checked the prices, and then went ho.

After running around all morning, the silver in her pocket was only twenty-five taels left.

Counting the expenses for building and furnishing the house, it was almost like being back to square one.

As soon as Qin Yao got ho, the four children imdiately dropped their stones and mud, gathering around her.

"Did you change the dicine?" Qin Yao asked as she walked into the main room.

Liu Ji was lying on the bed, worried about his face. As soon as he saw Qin Yao, he stiffened up.

Da Lang said, "The dicine has already been changed."

Qin Yao nodded, routinely asking Liu Ji, "How do you feel? Any better? Did you have any bowel or bladder movents today? What did you eat? How much water did you drink?"

Liu Ji frowned slightly. Was this concern? It must be, right?

Seeing his father in a daze, Da Lang answered for him, "He drank a bowl of water, half a bowl of porridge, and urinated."

Liu Ji’s face turned red, "Much better."

Qin Yao reached out and uncovered a patch of herbal paste. As expected, the swelling had subsided a lot, so the dicine prescribed by the village doctor seed effective.

At this rate, he should be able to get back on his feet and start working in three or four days.

After checking on Liu Ji, Qin Yao moved to the kitchen to make lunch.

Her cooking skills were not great, and she found cooking troubleso, so she simply cooked a pot of rice, making six rice balls. The children got smaller ones, adults got bigger ones, and she took an extra-large one for herself.

Liu Ji looked at the white rice ball Da Lang brought in, once again shocked by the family’s wealth.

There’s lunch?

"How many als do you eat a day?" Liu Ji tried asking.

Da Lang, while gnawing on his fist-sized, fragrant white rice ball, held up three fingers.

Liu Ji was both shocked and delighted, thinking that if they could have such als every day, it wouldn’t be too bad to keep that shrew happy.

He took a big bite of the rice ball in his hand. Hmm, soft rice is delicious!

After lunch, Qin Yao went out again.

Taking along the needles, thread, cotton, and three bolts of cloth she had bought, she went to the Liu Family’s old house.

Although the wheat had already been sown, there were still a few acres of vegetable garden left empty. Early to mid-November was a good ti to plant broad beans and peas. Mrs. Zhang was in the hall sorting through seeds, planning to plant them in a few days.

Inside the house, the sound of the loom "clunk, clunk" could be heard. He and Mrs. Qiu were inside weaving, making the most of the ti.

The court had distributed the land. Most of the villagers planted half in crops and the other half in mulberries. The mulberry leaves and silk were all self-produced. The two sisters-in-law were fast; using their free ti, they could weave two bolts a year, and a bolt of silk could sell for two taels of silver.

This four taels of silver was even more than what the n produced in a year working the fields.

So, in the traditional household of n plowing and won weaving, won’s status wasn’t low.

In the corner of the yard, there were five hens. Mrs. Zhang had raised them for more than two years and couldn’t bear to kill them as long as they still laid eggs.

The weather was nice today, so the coop was opened, and the hens wandered around the yard, with chicken droppings all over the ground.

The n weren’t idle either. The father and his four sons were working in pairs, scooping manure behind the house and carrying it in loads to fertilize the wheat.

Everyone was used to such an environnt, going about their work with usual expressions.

However, when Qin Yao took an unexpected step in and slled the rich odor of manure and chicken droppings, she wasn’t quite used to it.

Sitting by the door playing with stones, Jinhua was the first to notice Qin Yao and looked up, calling out, "Third Aunt."

With her hands full, Qin Yao couldn’t pat her head and smiled, "Is Aunt and your mom ho?"

Jinhua nodded, her little blackened hand pointing west, "Mom and Aunt are weaving."

Mrs. Zhang in the hall heard sothing at the door and put down her work to get up, seeing Qin Yao walking in with cotton and cloth, she asked curiously,

"Third son’s wife, what’s this?"

Mrs. Zhang wasn’t confident enough to think it was a tribute to herself, but that only made it more puzzling.

Qin Yao first called her "mom" and then looked towards the west room, "I want to ask the two sisters to help make so clothes. Where’s Dad? I thought I’d take advantage of the farming downti to renovate the house a bit."