On the way, Qiao Wan recounted in detail to her father and eldest brother how Zheng Shi had come to their house to pick vegetables yesterday.
Upon hearing this, Qiao Dahe flew into a rage: “Is Zheng Shi’s face made of city wall bricks? Huo Yan isn’t even her son—how dare she act so entitled!”
Qiao Fugeng sighed and shook his head. “That boy Huo Yan has had a hard life, saddled with relatives like these.”
“I doubt Zheng Shi will let this go easily. We need to act fast and not let her catch us red-handed,” Qiao Wan urged anxiously.
Qiao Dahe thumped his chest confidently. “Don’t worry, little sister. I’ve got it under control. I won’t mess things up for you!”
The three hurried into the Huo family’s courtyard. In the short time Qiao Wan had been away, Huo Yan hadn’t been idle either. He had searched the garden behind the house again and found a pumpkin larger than his head in the southeast corner.
Carrying the pumpkin, he returned to the front yard just as the Qiao father and son entered. The three men froze on the spot, staring at each other in awkward silence, unsure of what to say.
“What are you all standing around for? Get to work!” Qiao Wan’s voice broke the tension, calling from the east wing.
Qiao Fugeng was the first to snap out of it, clearing his throat. “Right, let’s get to work. We can chat later!” He strode into the east wing, swiftly hoisting a full basket of vegetables onto his back and picking up a heavy basket in his hand.
Qiao Dahe shouldered a bulging sack and strode out purposefully.
“This basket and that bag of cucumbers are yours,” Qiao Wan said to Huo Yan after seeing her father and brother off, pointing to the items on the floor of the kitchen.
“Is that all?” Huo Yan frowned, noticing Qiao Wan was empty-handed and ready to leave.
“That’s all from the garden. It’s been cleared out.”
Without a word, Huo Yan turned and went outside again.
Soon, he returned with a squirming cloth bag and handed it to Qiao Wan.
“Take this too.”
Qiao Wan took the bag—it was heavy, and something inside was kicking. She opened it and found four plump, gray-furred rabbits! It suddenly dawned on her: they had forgotten to prepare the customary gifts for her return visit!
She hadn’t expected Huo Yan, who seemed aloof and reserved, to be so thoughtful and considerate, even remembering such a detail for her.
“Thank you,” Qiao Wan said softly, her voice filled with genuine gratitude.
Huo Yan merely grunted in response, averting his gaze as if unaccustomed to such thanks, though the tense line of his jaw softened almost imperceptibly.
Wasting no more time, Qiao Wan carefully slung the bag of rabbits over her shoulder. “Well… shall we go?”
Huo Yan silently lifted the large basket onto his back, hoisted the bag of cucumbers over his shoulder, and led the way.
Qiao Wan followed closely, pulling the courtyard gate partly shut behind them. The two walked one after the other toward the Qiao family home.
Shortly after breakfast, Zheng Shi eagerly sought out Old Mrs. Huo and Qian Shi, the wife of the third branch. The three women, carrying baskets on their backs, whispered and muttered all the way to Huo Yan’s gate.
“Mother, you must scold that Huo Yan for me later!” Zheng Shi urged. “If he wants vegetables from the garden, I, as his elder, won’t argue, but he can’t hog them all! Those were picked by me to honor you, Mother!”
Old Mrs. Huo had always favored the third branch.
To cover the enormous expenses of Huo Yaoxian’s education, the entire Huo family had been tightening their belts. Most of the fresh vegetables from their fields were sold for money, leaving the family to often eat the unsellable old vegetable scraps.
Early in the morning, after Zheng Shi mentioned that she had also contributed effort and planted vegetables in Huo Yan’s garden, Old Mrs. Huo immediately summoned her third daughter-in-law to join them.
Zheng Shi raised her hand to bang on the door, but as soon as her fingertips touched the wooden panel, the door creaked open on its own, leaving a narrow gap.
Old Mrs. Huo pushed the door open and entered the courtyard, eyeing Zheng Shi suspiciously. “Why isn’t this door bolted?”
Zheng Shi also stared at her hand in confusion—she hadn’t used any force at all.
She had assumed that after yesterday’s incident, Huo Yan would have locked the door securely. If she had known it would be this easy to push open, why would she have bothered to bring her mother-in-law and sister-in-law along?
But now was not the time to dwell on that. She hurriedly said, “Mother, we must hurry and pick the vegetables! Today is the day Huo Yan is taking Qiao Wan back for her ceremonial visit to her parents. They must have left in a rush and forgotten to bolt the door.”
“Did Huo Yan really marry Qiao Wan?” Qian Shi still found it hard to believe. That girl who used to follow her son around like a shadow—how could she have gotten married just like that? With her gone, wouldn’t the family be short a free laborer for this year’s autumn harvest?
Old Mrs. Huo’s cloudy old eyes swept across the empty courtyard, and she snorted coldly. “It’s just as well she’s married! That saves her from delusionally thinking she could ever aspire to our Yaoxian! Yaoxian is destined to become a high-ranking official—how could a troublemaker like her ever hope to climb so high?”
Impatiently, she directed her two daughters-in-law: “Why are you still standing there? Didn’t you say we need to pick vegetables? Be quick about it!”
The three of them hurried around to the vegetable garden behind the house.
However, as soon as they reached the edge of the garden, they froze in place, staring wide-eyed at the scene before them:
The garden, which had been lush and abundant with fruits and vegetables just yesterday, now looked as if it had been ravaged by locusts!
The cucumber and bean vines, once heavy with produce, were now nearly bare. Even the patch of thriving young greens had been plucked clean, leaving only a few scraggly stems.
“What… what happened?!” Zheng Shi cried out, unable to believe her eyes.
She frantically rushed into the garden, searching desperately, but aside from a few misshapen or underdeveloped vegetables, there was nothing decent left.
Qian Shi was also stunned. She pointed to the southeast corner. “Sister-in-law, didn’t you say there was a huge pumpkin over there this morning? Why is it gone too?”
The pumpkin vines in the southeast corner were still there, but the pumpkin larger than a human head had vanished without a trace.
Old Mrs. Huo’s face turned ashen. She struck the ground hard with her walking stick. “Well, I’ll be! It must be that wolf cub Huo Yan! He was guarding against us! He deliberately picked everything first! I always said he was an ungrateful wretch!”
Zheng Shi was both furious and anxious, her heart aching with distress.
“Heavens, how could they take everything and leave nothing for their elders? Mother, you must stand up for me!”
Qian Shi looked at the empty garden and curled her lip. The slight annoyance she had felt over losing Qiao Wan as a free laborer now dissipated.
She remarked with schadenfreude, “Sister-in-law, it seems your plans have fallen through. That young couple is sharp—did you really think they’d wait for you to come and pick their vegetables?”
“Shut up!”
Zheng Shi shot Qian Shi a glare, then hurried to the front courtyard. She checked every room but found not a single leaf of vegetables. Returning with a crestfallen expression, she lamented:
“Mother, everything is gone. For Huo Yan to distance himself from us like this right after getting married—what will become of us in the future?”
“Let’s go, to the Qiao family!” Old Mrs. Huo was also furious. She had originally planned to pick some vegetables and go back to enjoy a good meal, but instead of getting anything, she ended up being made a fool of. “I want to ask Qiao Fugeng how he raised his daughter! The moment she entered our door, she incited her husband to empty the entire house, not even leaving a single cabbage leaf for the elders. A daughter-in-law like this is not someone our Huo family dares to keep!”
Upon hearing this, Zheng Shi immediately perked up.
In her eyes, the entire Qiao family were pushovers. Causing a scene at the Qiao residence might just pressure them into compensating with something—they couldn’t possibly return empty-handed!
“That’s right! We must demand an explanation from the Qiao family!”
Qian Shi, however, grew uneasy upon hearing this. She quietly tugged at Old Mrs. Huo’s sleeve and whispered, “Mother, if we make such a scene… and Qiao Wan really gets sent back to the Qiao family, what if she turns around and clings to Yaoxian again?”
A shrewd and ruthless glint flashed in Old Mrs. Huo’s narrow eyes. “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing. We only want the goods, not the person! Since Qiao Wan has chosen to be with Huo Yan for life, she can forget about getting anywhere near our Yaoxian again! Wishful thinking!”
Only then did Qian Shi feel reassured.
The three women turned around with aggressive determination, no longer caring about the empty vegetable garden, and headed straight for the Qiao residence. The loosely shut gate of the Huo family was slammed shut with a loud “bang!” as they left.