Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!

Chapter 674: Chapter 674: Suspicious Person in the Back Alley

Yin Le looked into Wang Chengyang’s curious eyes and slowly crouched down, "Ha!" she exclaimed, removing the half-face beauty mask.

As expected, the child let out an "Aww" and ran to his grandmother’s side in fright.

However, he clutched the oiled paper bag tightly in his hand.

He had already eaten three pieces of this egg cake today, but still wanted more.

"Yin Le!"

Qin Yao, who was seeing the guest out, sternly shouted, hurriedly turning back to explain to the child, "She was joking with you."

She awkwardly smiled at Old Mrs. Wang, "Young people, a bit mischievous, just teasing the child, please don’t mind."

Old Mrs. Wang looked towards the veranda, where a girl with a scar on her face stood obediently holding the mask.

But a smile was hard to suppress at the corners of her mouth, and if not for her master’s reprimand, she probably would have laughed out loud by now.

The world loves beauty, whether men or women, and having a scar on one’s face might prevent further smiles.

Yet, she was strange, using it to scare curious children.

Old Mrs. Wang was not angry, only found her grandson’s reaction amusing.

For years, it had only been the grandmother and grandson at home; Jin’er, as the Imperial Censor, did not have it easy, spending ten months of the year away, rarely returning, and reuniting with his uncle only to part again shortly.

The boy was growing up, knew shame, no longer clinging to his grandmother’s lap for affection, and gradually, somehow developed such a sullen temperament.

This was the first time she had seen him so frightened by someone that he ran away wailing.

Old Mrs. Wang pulled her grandson from beside her and tapped his forehead, "Who told you to offend others? Serves you right for being scared."

"Grandmother, it was her, it was her..." Wang Chengyang stammered for a long time without getting a word out, clutching the oiled paper bag tightly, yet couldn’t help but glance at the veranda again out of curiosity.

Yin Le shrugged apologetically and laughed lightly.

The child noticed that her face didn’t seem so frightening, and the unscathed half was quite pretty.

Old Mrs. Wang patted her grandson’s shoulder, and Wang Chengyang took a deep breath, stepped forward two steps, and cupped his hands:

"Chengyang apologizes for the rudeness to Aunt."

Yin Le just wanted to make a joke, never expecting an apology, so she quickly went forward to help the child up, awkwardly smiling at Old Mrs. Wang.

Old Mrs. Wang nodded, calling her grandson, who was still holding tightly to the oiled paper bag, and left with a laugh.

Qin Yao escorted them to the alley across the street, only returning after seeing a maid come with a lantern to pick them up.

At the door, she saw Yin Le still holding back her laughter, and tapped her forehead with mock anger, "Don’t scare children at night, if something really happens, you can’t afford to compensate for their precious grandson."

Yin Le stifled her laughter, nodding in agreement, and looked around, "Eh? Where’s Si Niang and the Qiu Family’s little granddaughter? I just saw them playing at the door, did the Qiu family’s granddaughter go home?"

This reminder made Qin Yao and the others, who were tidying up the yard, realize that Si Niang had been out of sight for a while.

"Da Lang, where’s Si Niang?" Liu Ji asked.

Da Lang ran outside to look around, "She’s not out here, she and the Qiu family’s young sister were still together just after seeing Miss Ding off!"

Yin Le also ran from the backyard, shaking her head at Qin Yao, "Master, there’s no one in the backyard."

Qin Yao threw down the rag, shouting outside, "Si Niang!"

Liu Ji quickly counted the children at home, all present except Si Niang.

He suddenly got annoyed, "That little girl, told her to stay at the doorstep, why did she run off somewhere?"

Qin Yao’s call received no response; the family exchanged anxious glances, preparing to go to the Qiu Family to inquire when a small figure rushed in, panting against the doorframe and shouted breathlessly:

"M-Mother! There’s someone in the back alley..."

"What someone? Where did you, little girl, run off to!" Liu Ji dove over, grabbing the little girl’s shoulder, raising his hand as if to spank her.

But before the slap landed, Qin Yao caught it and shoved him aside.

"Si Niang, catch your breath first," Qin Yao knelt in front of her daughter, soothing her breathing.

Si Niang took two big gulps of air, finally catching her breath, and pointed excitedly towards the back alley, "Mother, there’s a person lying in the back alley, scared me and Sister Qiu to death."

Liu Ji exclaimed, "Oh! Could it be some drunken person from a random family?"

"Where’s the Qiu family’s girl?" Qin Yao logically asked.

Seeing Si Niang say that the person was still in the back alley watching over the person, she quickly called Liu Ji to go with her.

On the way there, Si Niang said, "Sister Qiu and I were picking stones by the back alley when suddenly there was a thud behind us. We turned to look, and it scared us both. It was a person who fell from the wall..."

Sister Qiu even wanted to go over to look, but she was stopped.

"No, my mother said that you shouldn’t pick people up from the roadside! We need to call the adults!"

Si Niang sneakily looked at her mother; she still remembered the lesson from Wildcat Village last time.

Qin Yao patted her daughter’s head, "It’s good you remembered."

Si Niang giggled at her mother, then continued, "I threw a stone at him, but he didn’t move, so I think he passed out. But I don’t know who he is; what if he’s a thief? We certainly can’t let him leave easily."

So she had Sister Qiu keep a distant watch at the back alley entrance, not letting anyone pass by.

As they spoke, they arrived at the back alley.

The Qiu Family’s granddaughter immediately ran over, "Si Niang~" tightly grabbing Si Niang’s arm.

But seeing Si Niang’s parents had arrived too, she relaxed quite a bit.

Qin Yao signaled to Liu Ji with her eyes, and Liu Ji, resigned, could only curb his curiosity, coaxing the Qiu Family’s granddaughter to accompany him so he could escort her home.

And during this, he didn’t forget to explain, "There’s a drunkard in the back alley; my family’s people have already taken care of it, nothing serious."

The Qiu Family wasn’t one to meddle in such trouble; they brought their granddaughter home, thanked Liu Ji, and closed the door.

When Liu Ji ran back to the scene, Qin Yao had already asked Ah Wang and a few others in the yard to open the back door and carry the suspicious person into the house.

This situation seemed quite odd; why had they brought the person home?

With the front and back doors of the house closed, only the eight members of the family remained inside, along with the unfamiliar young man Qin Yao had tossed onto the side hall carpet.

Liu Ji pointed at the scruffy, disheveled, ragged, mud-covered person and looked at Qin Yao in shock, "Do you know him, wife?"

Yin Le and the four children shook their heads decisively, "Never seen him before."

Ah Wang sniffed the man’s clothes, his nose twitching as if discovering something, suddenly squatting down to tear open the tattered, mud-covered clothes on the man.

Instantly, several white cloth wrappings with bloodstains seeped through were exposed, revealing the emaciated body underneath to everyone.

Liu Ji and his four sons were so shocked they stepped back five paces. How was this person so badly injured!

Qin Yao twisted her wrist, circled the person two more times, "I’m sure I’ve never seen this face, but this person’s physique..."

It gave her a strange sense of familiarity.

Wait!

She remembered!