Qiao Rongze stood frozen in place, but before he could react, a sneering laugh rang out beside him.
“Isn’t he the one who just latched onto his sister? Why isn’t his beloved Wanwan stepping up to defend him? These newly acknowledged relatives—surely they can do more than just call out the name ‘Rongze,’ right?”
The gazes of everyone around turned toward them.
Wanwan was kind-hearted; she would never stand by and watch coldly!
She definitely wouldn’t be like that cold-hearted woman Qiao Qingyan, who just stood there doing nothing!
But upon hearing those words, Bai Wanwan’s body gave a violent shudder. She instinctively took half a step back and frantically waved her hands.
“I… I can’t make decisions like that. I don’t understand anything. Rongze, I’m sorry, but your sister really can’t do anything…”
Her eagerness to dodge and flee instantly extinguished the faint light in Qiao Rongze’s eyes.
That feeling of being abandoned came faster than he had anticipated.
But the next second, he desperately tried to find excuses for her again.
He gritted his teeth and swallowed all his resentment.
His fury immediately redirected, surging straight toward Qiao Qingyan.
“Qiao Qingyan! I’m your own brother! Are you just going to watch them smash my hand to pieces?!”
If Qiao Qingyan didn’t speak up, his hand really might not survive today.
“If I lose my hand, how am I supposed to live after this?!”
He relied on those hands to practice medicine and make a living.
If they were truly crippled, what path would he have left?
He didn’t dare think further and could only repeat those words over and over.
Qiao Qingyan raised her eyes to look at him and answered back, word by word.
“Own brother? Sorry, I don’t have that kind of good fortune.”
“You brought this on yourself, so you have to swallow the consequences. Who told you to show off with your needles when your skills weren’t even up to par? That family’s child was perfectly fine, and you treated him until he was paralyzed in bed, unable to get up! You call that practicing medicine? You were playing with someone’s life! Now they want compensation—that’s only fair and just. Crippled hand? Getting off with just a crippled hand is already lenient.”
“You—!”
Qiao Rongze was so furious that the veins on his forehead bulged and throbbed.
In the past, no matter what trouble he caused, Qiao Qingyan would always cover for him and plead on his behalf.
But today, not only did she refuse to save him, she personally pushed him into the abyss.
The other family’s patience was visibly running out.
The leading man’s eyes blazed with fury as he swung his club up, aiming another blow at Qiao Rongze’s wrist.
He raised the wooden stick high, muscles in his arm tensing, ready to deliver a fatal strike.
Qiao Rongze completely broke down. Terror blasted through him, scattering his wits, and he let out a shriek.
“Don’t hit me! Don’t hit me! I’ll pay! I’ll pay money! Just spare me, and I’ll do anything!”
Even as he shouted about paying, he scrambled backward, trying to shrink away.
Qiao Dehai also snapped back to his senses. With a thud, he lunged forward and desperately wrapped his arms around the man’s arm.
“We’ll pay! We’ll pay! Using knives and clubs is against the law! If you cripple him, you’ll end up in jail yourselves! It’s not worth it! Really not worth it!”
The family exchanged a few hushed words.
Finally reaching an agreement, they stopped hesitating and turned in unison to face Qiao Rongze’s family.
At last, the father spoke, his eyes bloodshot.
“One thousand yuan. Not a single cent less! My son might spend the rest of his life in that bed. One thousand yuan for a hand—he’s getting off cheap!”
“One thousand yuan?!”
Qiao Rongze and Qiao Dehai shouted in unison.
Back then, an ordinary family earning thirty to fifty yuan a month was already considered decent.
One thousand yuan was a staggering fortune that could crush a person.
Qiao Rongze blurted out, “This is nothing short of robbery!”
But everyone around kept their heads down, and no one said a word.
“Too much?”
Qiao Qingyan let out a cold laugh and cut in icily.
“The fact that you can still settle this with money, that they didn’t make you lie in bed for the rest of your life unable to move—they’ve already shown you mercy.”
Hearing Qiao Qingyan’s words, the family felt reassured and immediately pointed at Qiao Rongze, cursing at him. “See that? Even the young lady here understands reason! Pay the thousand, not a single cent less!”
Qiao Rongze shot Qiao Qingyan a vicious glare, his eyes filled with pure hatred.
He ground his teeth audibly, choking on his frustration with no way to vent it. He could only lower his head and squeeze out a few words.
“Fine… I’ll pay! But our family really can’t come up with that much money right now. You’ll have to give me time to scrape it together.”
In the end, under the village party secretary’s supervision, Qiao Rongze wrote out an IOU.
He pressed his red thumbprint on it and promised to repay the full amount within three months.
The family clutched the paper tightly and, before leaving, made sure to drop a few final threats.
The matter was temporarily settled.
Qiao Dehai and Bai’s mother went to clean up the mess, and the room was suddenly left with only the three siblings of the Qiao family.
The moment the others were gone, Qiao Rongze exploded.
He charged up to Qiao Qingyan, reaching out to grab her collar, his face twisted with rage.
“Qiao Qingyan! You heartless wretch! Not saving me is one thing, but you went and tripped me up instead! You’re paying that thousand yuan! You can’t get out of it! You owe me this!”
Qiao Qingyan had already anticipated his move. She flipped her wrist and shoved him back hard.
She stood her ground, not even blinking.
“Qiao Rongze, are you still not awake? What does the money you owe have to do with me? The document severing our kinship was just signed—black and white, stamped and sealed. Want me to take it out and read it aloud to you right now?”
Qiao Rongze opened his mouth, but a lump of air caught in his chest, and he couldn’t get a single word out.
At that moment, Bai Wanwan slowly shuffled over and spoke in a soft, coaxing tone, “You two, stop arguing… The family really has no money, but no matter what, we’re still family. You’re the eldest sister, how can you bear to watch your brother be pushed to death…”
The words sounded like mediation, but every sentence only added fuel to the fire.
Qiao Qingyan laughed the moment she heard it.
“Oh? Now you decide to step forward? When those people were raising sticks and banging on the door just now, where were you hiding? Too scared to even squeak in a rat hole, weren’t you?”
“Your dear brother’s life was on the line, yet not a single penny did you pull out to help. So your ‘kindness’ is just running your mouth?”
Qiao Qingyan’s gaze swept inch by inch across Bai Wanwan’s face.
Bai Wanwan’s face instantly turned pale, tears streaming down as she began to sob.
“I—I didn’t… Qingyan-jie, you’ve misunderstood me…”
Her shoulders shook violently, her lips trembling.
“Shut up! Don’t you dare bully Wanwan-jie!”
Qiao Rongze jumped up on the spot, immediately shielding Bai Wanwan behind him, guarding her fiercely.
Bai Wanwan hid behind him, a flicker of smugness darting through her eyes, and between sobs she said weakly, “Rongze… don’t argue with sister over me… Blood is thicker than water, Qingyan-jie surely won’t really abandon you. I remember… that jade pendant on her is worth quite a bit. If she’d sell it for money, maybe the debt could be paid off…”
Qiao Rongze’s eyes lit up instantly at the suggestion.
“Right! The jade pendant! Hand it over now! Sell it to pay the debt! Right now!”
With that, he actually reached out to snatch it.
Qiao Qingyan moved faster than thought, shifting her body aside to dodge.
She dashed into the kitchen.
When she came back out, she was already holding a gleaming cleaver!
With the blade held across her chest, she stood there like a different person, her eyes filled with ruthless determination.
“If you dare lay a single finger on my things, I’ll put you on the ground today! Try me if you don’t believe it!”
Qiao Rongze froze on the spot.
Only now did he realize that this eldest sister was nothing like the docile pushover she used to be.
The Qiao Qingyan of her past life had never been this fierce.
Bai Wanwan stared at the gleaming blade, a trace of barely concealed fear flashing in her eyes.
Just as they were locked in a standoff, a sharp shout suddenly came from outside the courtyard gate.
“Qiao Qingyan! What madness has gotten into you? Put the knife down!”