Carelessly Became the Envy of the Entire Village

After Old Master Qin and his younger sister Lan'er had eaten their fill, they truly found themselves unable to sleep. So they sat with Qin Yao and chatted.

"Child, our days are growing more hopeful by the day, but we must not let ourselves become careless."

Qin Dashan rubbed Qin Lan's head and said earnestly, "It wasn't easy for your brother to carve out the situation he has now. We must all cherish it all the more.

"What we did before, we must continue doing in the future. Your brother's circumstances, and all the changes in our family, must not be spoken of to anyone!

"And just because your brother has gained a bit of skill now, you mustn't become spoiled and overbearing. Do you understand?"

"Mhm, mhm, Lan'er knows. Lan'er isn't some eight- or nine-year-old child anymore!"

The little sister, who had only just turned ten, said with a proud little tilt of her chin.

Qin Yao knew that beyond warning his sister Qin Lan to keep a low profile when outside, his grandfather's words were also meant as a reminder to him—don't get too carried away in life, or you'll end up under the knife.

"Grandpa is right."

Qin Yao first nodded in agreement, then said, "But everyone in the neighborhood already knows that I exceed my work quota every day and bring a few coarse cakes back from the mine.

"So, Grandpa, there's no need to be too harsh on yourself. Winter is almost here. Buy whatever thick clothes, cotton quilts, firewood for warming the kang, and so on that we need.

"If people see that we've spent the money from 'selling cakes' on these daily necessities, it'll actually make us less likely to catch a thief's eye."

"Mhm, that makes sense!"

Old Master Qin stroked his beard and nodded in deep agreement.

"Grandpa, don't forget to buy Brother some thick winter clothes too~"

The little girl quickly added, "Brother said before that the clothes he bought back tonight were for when he disguises himself as a 'martial arts master.' He can't wear them to the mine."

Qin Yao gently pinched his little sister's still slightly baby-fat cheeks and said fondly, "Not bad, little girl. You even remember to think about your brother!"

"Of course I do~"

Qin Lan planted her hands on her hips, looking immensely proud.

Yet Qin Yao still clearly remembered the undisguised affection in his sister's eyes when she had first seen the gorgeous new clothes he brought home.

After Qin Yao explained his situation and told her that the new clothes had another purpose, Qin Lan had not acted willful or thrown a tantrum in the slightest.

What she showed instead was empathy and understanding rare for someone her age, enough to make one's heart ache...

So Qin Yao pulled the girl into his arms and rubbed her head. "I'll definitely work hard to become stronger. One day, I'll take you out of this plight and to another place, where the sky is vast and birds can fly free.

"When that day comes, whether it's embroidered jackets and flowered shoes or candied hawthorn skewers, whatever catches your eye, your brother will buy it for you. All right?"

"Yes, yes!"

One moment, Qin Lan was still excitedly clapping her little hands.

But the next, her head tilted to one side, as though she had thought of something.

She shook her little head and said, "Um... actually, there's no need!

"As long as things can be like they were today, Lan'er is already super happy, hehe~"

Qin Yao understood that his sister's initial excitement had surely come from the bottom of her heart.

But when she later said there was "no need," it was the result of her "careful consideration."

The girl was most likely afraid that Qin Yao, as her brother, would take risks to fulfill her wishes to look pretty and eat tasty things.

At cockcrow, the bronze gong rang out like thunder.

Once again, Qin Yao startled Ding Mine Pit.

Ever since advancing to the third level of the Body Tempering Realm, handling the workload of four or five men was simply far too easy for Qin Yao!

Still, he would not take on even more work just to earn a few additional coarse cakes.

After all, completing the workload of four or five people each day could still be explained as extraordinary stamina, coupled with exhausting his life away through grueling labor.

But if he completed the quotas of seven or eight men every day, that would be far too heaven-defying!

It would inevitably arouse suspicion.

Therefore, aside from methodically moving bricks, mining ore, and putting on a show of exhaustion each day, Qin Yao now devoted more of his energy to surveying the ore veins and examining the quality of the minerals.

The Mining skill at the Perfection Realm had practically turned him into a mineral deposit expert!

What kinds of minerals made up this section of rock wall, and roughly what proportion did each account for?

After that rock was split open, was it more likely to contain gold or silver, or copper and iron?

Qin Yao knew it all like the back of his hand!

Including overseer Li Gang, no one noticed that while Qin Yao mined ore and hauled stones, he was also quietly observing and scouting the terrain.

He was waiting for an opportunity—an opportunity to escape alive with his grandfather and sister!

By noon.

As usual, Qin Yao lined up among the crowd receiving food and collected a coarse cake and a soup of rotten vegetable leaves.

Then, together with Wang Wu, Little Liuzi, and the others he was closer to, he found a spot to squat down and began enjoying their lunch.

The entire process had nothing remarkable about it.

That was precisely the effect Qin Yao wanted to see.

Until he was powerful enough to make a volcano erupt, he needed to lie low in silence and keep a low profile...

"Ding! The proficiency increase for the skill 'Eating' is too low, less than 1 whole point, and cannot be counted. It is recommended that the host eat more nutritious food to increase the amount of proficiency gained for this skill."

By now, Qin Yao had grown accustomed to the system prompt ringing in his ears.

He had long since stopped expecting those "coarse flatbreads" to give him any proficiency feedback.

If he truly wanted to gain energy, he still had to rely on that rich, fatty meat supper at night.

Only after finishing a busy day and returning home

did Qin Yao cast off his disguise. He handed the flatbreads to his grandfather, who had just returned carrying thick clothes and cotton quilts.

With his sharp hearing, he could even catch the envious chatter of quite a few neighbors outside the courtyard. "That old Qin has really struck it rich!"

"Such thick quilts and winter clothes—sure, they aren't new, but they must have cost a fair bit of money."

"Isn't that so? He gave birth to a fine grandson. The boy's got strength in his arms—at the mine, one of him can do the work of three, with some left over."

"Yeah, yeah. I heard from our Black Pot that Qin Yao brings five or six flatbreads home every day!"

"Right, right. He saves three from lunch, then another three from dinner. That's incredible!"

"He brings them back for old Qin to resell, and that's fifty or sixty coins right there."

"Most importantly, the boy can work. He's a prized morsel in the overseer's eyes. Not only does the overseer turn a blind eye to his family selling flatbreads for money, he even looks after them a little in secret!"

"Oh? Is that really so?"

"Bullshit! Otherwise, why do you think Niu Shiyang failed to snatch their money a few days ago and ended up taking a huge fall himself, yet the matter was brushed over so lightly?"

"I thought it was because the appearance of the Midnight Black Madman made Niu Shiyang suffer a massive loss, leaving him with no time to trouble the Qin Family again!"

"Er, ahem, that is part of the reason too."

"Ah, who would've thought that a frail scholar banished to this place would suddenly find his knack in the bitter, exhausting work of mining?"

"Earning fifty or sixty coins every day—tsk, tsk, this old lady is green with envy!"

"To be honest, if I weren't worried that Qin Yao is pushing himself so desperately and draining his body, meaning he'll surely die young...

"This old lady would already be looking for someone to go to his door and propose marriage!"