The afternoon sun was so hot it made people dizzy.
Su Qinghe hauled her two-hundred-pound body up the hillside behind the village, stopping every few steps to catch her breath.
Leaning against a tree trunk to rest for a while, she began searching around.
There were plenty of wild vegetables—shepherd’s purse, purslane, dandelions. She picked the tender ones and filled half a basket.
Further into the woods, many mushrooms were scattered across the ground.
Su Qinghe crouched down to identify them carefully. In her previous life, she had spent several years at her grandmother’s countryside home, so she recognized these common fungi.
Oyster mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, shaggy mane mushrooms—they were all edible.
She carefully picked some, wrapped them in leaves, and placed them into the basket.
Continuing forward, she spotted a large chestnut tree. The ground beneath it was covered in thick layers of spiky shells.
“Chestnuts!”
Su Qinghe’s eyes lit up as she squatted down and began gathering them.
After collecting half a basket, she straightened up and let out a long breath.
With this many chestnuts, she could make sugar-roasted chestnuts!
She could sell hot roasted chestnuts in town for some money!
As for the wild vegetables and mushrooms, they could improve meals at home.
Her gaze landed on a patch of soft mud nearby.
She found a stick, dug up some moist soil into a cloth pouch she carried with her, and unearthed several fat earthworms.
On the way down the mountain, she passed by a creek. Su Qinghe cut a bamboo stalk, sharpened one end, tore off a vine to use as fishing line, and tied an earthworm onto it—a simple fishing rod was complete.
Squatting by the creek, she placed the basket beside her and cast the rod into the water, staring intently at the surface.
A cool breeze blew past, easing her exhaustion.
Why weren’t the fish biting yet?
Come on, fishy, take the bait…
Su Qinghe silently prayed in her heart. Not long after, the bamboo rod suddenly dipped.
A fish!
Her eyes brightened. She jerked the rod upward, and a palm-sized crucian carp flew onto the bank, flopping wildly in the grass.
“Got one!”
She quickly grabbed the fish and threaded a vine through its gills to carry it.
This fish had to weigh at least three jin!
With rice, it would be enough for the two of them to enjoy two hearty meals!
Perfect for nourishing Xiao Hanyuan’s body too.
She hoped to improve Xiao Hanyuan’s opinion of her a little, so that when he recovered his memories in the future, maybe he wouldn’t hate her quite so much.
Maybe then, he’d spare her life.
Thinking happily to herself, Su Qinghe tossed the fish into her basket and hummed a tune on her way home.
Inside the house.
Xiao Hanyuan lay on the straw bed on the floor. He had only just closed his eyes when the courtyard gate was kicked open with a loud bang.
“Su Qinghe! You damn fat pig, get your ass out here!”
A rough shout shattered the afternoon silence.
Several thug-like men barged in. Leading them was a scar-faced man with fleshy cheeks and triangular eyes. He swept his gaze around the dim room before stopping on Xiao Hanyuan lying on the straw bed.
The house was completely bare. Aside from a broken bed and the man lying on it, there was nothing else.
“Where is she? Where’d that bitch Su Qinghe run off to?” one of Scarface’s lackeys cursed while rummaging through the room. Finding nothing, he angrily kicked the wall.
“Boss, there isn’t even a single valuable coin in this dump!”
Scarface’s gaze fell on Xiao Hanyuan, filled with undisguised scrutiny and contempt.
“You her sickly husband?”
Xiao Hanyuan didn’t answer. He merely lifted his eyelids slightly, his dark pupils devoid of warmth.
He tried to sit up, but after just taking medicine, his body was weak and limp. Even moving hurt.
“Oh? Got quite the attitude?” Scarface felt a chill from that gaze, then immediately became irritated from embarrassment. He stepped forward. “I’m talking to you. Cat got your tongue?”
“Su Qinghe owes our gambling house twenty taels of silver. If she can’t pay today, both of you can wait to be chopped up and fed to the dogs!”
Twenty taels?
Xiao Hanyuan’s heart sank.
That woman owed so much gambling debt.
No wonder she had suddenly acted differently today—hiring a doctor and cooking food. She was afraid that if he died, she’d be dragged off to repay the debt herself. She probably wanted to wait until he recovered so she could sell him for a good price.
Seeing Xiao Hanyuan remain silent, Scarface finally lost patience completely.
“Damn it, looks like that fat woman knew we were coming today and ran off beforehand!”
“What do we do now, Boss? She ran away, and this broken house can’t cough up any money.”
Scarface spat irritably, then turned his eyes back toward Xiao Hanyuan. Circling him twice, he suddenly grinned.
The smile made everyone uncomfortable.
“If the woman ran away, isn’t there still a husband?”
He rubbed his chin as though inspecting merchandise.
“This pretty boy looks half dead, but that face really is handsome. Sell him to a male brothel, and those rich ladies and noblewomen would love this type. He could fetch ten or twenty taels easily!”
“Boss is brilliant!” a lackey immediately flattered him. “Even if the brothel doesn’t want him, we could sell him to traffickers to cover part of the debt!”
“Done deal!” Scarface slapped his thigh. “Take him away!”
Two lackeys immediately stepped forward, one on each side, reaching for Xiao Hanyuan’s arms.
“Get lost!”
Xiao Hanyuan’s voice was hoarse, yet filled with chilling menace.
Taking a deep breath, he gathered all the strength in his body and rammed his elbow into the ribs of the man on the left.
The man cried out in pain and loosened his grip. Xiao Hanyuan immediately grabbed the other man’s wrist and twisted hard.
Crack!
“AHHH!”
The man screamed and dropped to his knees.
Xiao Hanyuan staggered to his feet, trembling all over, cold sweat pouring down his forehead.
But his eyes were terrifyingly cold.
The man on the left clutched his ribs and charged at him again.
Xiao Hanyuan kicked him in the knee, sending him crashing to the floor.
Seeing this, Wang San grabbed a wooden club from the courtyard and rushed inside.
“You’re asking to die!”
He swung the club at Xiao Hanyuan’s back.
Xiao Hanyuan was already gravely ill and too weak to muster strength. His earlier counterattacks had exhausted every ounce of energy he had left. Unable to dodge in time, he was smashed to the ground.
Wang San raised the club again and viciously swung it down toward Xiao Hanyuan’s spine!
At that moment, Su Qinghe was humming happily as she walked toward home. When she reached the neighboring house, Aunt Hua looked at her anxiously.
“Something terrible happened!”
“What is it, Aunt Hua?” Su Qinghe hurriedly asked.
“The gambling house people came to collect the debt! There’s a huge commotion at your house! Hurry back and take a look before someone gets killed!” Aunt Hua said anxiously.
There weren’t many people in the village as lazy, greedy, and gambling-addicted as Su Qinghe.
The gambling den’s enforcers were vicious criminals. If you owed them money and couldn’t pay, you’d lose a layer of skin even if you survived.
Aunt Hua glared at Su Qinghe in frustration.
“Okay, thank you, Auntie. I’m going right now.”
Carrying her basket, Su Qinghe ran home as fast as she could.
What she saw was complete chaos inside the house. Four vicious gambling den thugs surrounded Xiao Hanyuan, and one of them had raised a wooden club high into the air, ready to smash it viciously down onto his back!