But before Qiao Fugeng could even speak, Qin Shi was the first to protest, leaping to her feet with a shriek.
“Son-in-law, what do you mean? You don’t want Chunliu anymore?”
She grabbed He Chunliu by the hair and dragged her right in front of Huo Yan.
“Hurry up and say you’re willing! Say it now!”
He Chunliu’s hair was a mess. She bit her lip, tears streaming down her face, but remained silent.
Seeing this, Qin Shi seethed with anger, grabbing a broom and starting to beat He Chunliu with it.
“You wretched girl, if you don’t say it today, I’ll beat you to death…”
Through the thin summer clothes, bloody welts soon appeared on He Chunliu’s back.
Qiao Wan couldn’t bear to watch any longer. She rushed forward, snatched the broom, threw it far away, and knelt to hug He Chunliu, roaring angrily at Qin Shi, “What kind of mother are you!”
“Qiao Wan, who are you to act like a saint? This is all your fault!”
Qin Shi shrieked, grabbing Qiao Wan’s hair and yanking it viciously.
Qiao Wan felt as if her entire scalp was being torn off, the pain making her suck in a sharp breath of cold air.
Though she was usually well-behaved, she wasn’t one to be trifled with when provoked. She pulled out a sewing needle and jabbed it directly into Qin Shi’s Hegu and Neiguan acupoints.
Her movements were fast and ruthless. Qin Shi’s wails instantly echoed through the courtyard.
“Ah! My hand! Qiao Wan is kill—”
Seeing the sewing needle just inches from her eyeball, Qin Shi’s howls came to an abrupt halt. She was like a hen with its neck wrung, not daring to even breathe too loudly.
“Aren’t you just reluctant to part with the bride price? Whatever he gave, the Qiao family will give. He Chunliu is betrothed to the Qiao family!”
Qiao Wan’s declaration was heroic, but the other members of the Qiao family felt their hearts leap into their throats as they heard it, frantically trying to signal her with their eyes.
Qin Shi was notoriously greedy. He Chunliu was beautiful and capable, and the only reason she was still unmarried at eighteen was that the He family demanded an absurdly high bride price.
While other families might ask for five taels at most to marry off a daughter, Qin Shi had publicly announced that anyone who wanted to marry her Chunliu had to start at twenty taels.
Twenty taels was enough to buy an ox. Those who had considered proposing to the He family had given up the idea.
Qiao Fugeng had originally planned to apologize, then have the two families sit down and negotiate calmly, trying to lower the bride price.
He never expected Qiao Wan to settle the matter with one final, decisive statement.
Ignoring the pain, Qin Shi sneered, “Pah! Your Qiao family is so poor you have nothing left but your worthless lives, yet you have the audacity to talk about betrothing my Chunliu? In your dreams!”
“Huo Yan gave a bride price of twenty taels plus a gold hairpin. Forget the gold hairpin, even if you could produce twenty taels right now, I’d send Chunliu to your house without another word.”
“Fine! Twenty taels it is.”
Qiao Wan turned and held out her hand to Qiao’s Father for the money, only to see Qiao Fugeng nervously clutching the hem of his clothes, his eyes darting about.
Qiao Wan’s hand froze in mid-air, and her heart sank. In her righteous fury, she had been so focused on fighting the injustice that she had forgotten her family’s dire situation.
“Haha!” Qin Shi’s harsh, mocking laughter rang out. “A pauper is a pauper. Trying to act like a big shot with empty words. Twenty taels? Even if your Qiao family smashed your pots, sold your iron, and squeezed oil from your very bones, you couldn’t scrape together two taels of silver. And you want to be like Huo Yan and take a wife? Pah! Qiao Wan, if you don’t kowtow and apologize to me today, I’m not done with you!”
Qin Shi’s words were like a red-hot branding iron, searing Qiao Wan’s cheeks with pain.
An unprecedented wave of stubbornness and fury rushed to her head, burning away her reason.
“Who says my family can’t produce twenty taels!”
Qiao Wan’s voice trembled slightly. She spun abruptly toward Huo Yan, who had remained aloof from the whole affair. Her gaze was scorching, filled with a desperate, all-or-nothing resolve.
“Huo Yan!”
Everyone’s attention focused on the tall, silent figure.
Huo Yan raised an eyebrow slightly, somewhat surprised that Qiao Wan would call out to him at a time like this.
“You’re marrying me, so shouldn’t that bride price be brought over?” Qiao Wan stared at him, asking word by word.
Huo Yan’s gaze swept over Qin Shi before finally landing on Qiao Wan’s blazing eyes. His voice was flat and emotionless. “Yes.”
“Good!” Qiao Wan said decisively. “The Qiao family also wants twenty taels plus a gold hairpin. Now, immediately, right this instant!”
The moment she said this, the entire crowd was stunned. Even Qin Shi’s wails were stuck in her throat.
Huo Yan’s eyes turned cold in an instant. He hadn’t expected Qiao Wan to turn her spear on him.
The engagement with the He family had been a matter of convenience—one party was greedy, the other needed a quick solution.
He had no intention of getting involved, but he didn’t expect Qiao Wan to drag him into it.
Although he was displeased, Qiao Wan was right. Whoever he married, the bride price should go to them.
“Give her the bride price and the gold hairpin!” Huo Yan’s gaze shifted from Qiao Wan’s face to Qin Shi.
Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, Qin Shi’s fur stood on end. “On what grounds? The Qiao family caused this mess, so you should be demanding money from them! If you think you can pry money from my hands, no way!”
Huo Yan had no intention of wasting more words on her. His voice returned to its usual cold indifference. “If you don’t return it, I’ll break your eldest son’s legs.”
Qin Shi trembled upon hearing this. Seeing the serious look on Huo Yan’s face, her fight completely drained away. With a mournful expression, she tremblingly took out a small cloth pouch from her bosom and, with extreme reluctance, pulled the gleaming gold hairpin from her bun.
Huo Yan snatched the pouch and hairpin and tossed them to Qiao Wan. “Your bride price.” He paused, his gaze as sharp as a knife, as if trying to pierce right through her. “I will come to the Qiao residence in three days to pick you up.”
After speaking, he didn’t look at anyone else and strode out of the He family’s courtyard.
Only after the God of Evil’s figure had completely disappeared did Qiao Wan feel the chill on her back, her palms slick with cold sweat.
Qiao Wan staggered to her feet and stuffed the silver pouch into Qiao’s Father’s hands.
“Dad, I’ll leave the rest to you.”
Ignoring Qin Shi’s murderous glare, she walked out the door and headed toward the Qiao home.
This was as much as she could help the original owner. As for the marriage, she would have to rely on the original owner to come back and handle it herself. After all, one had to face the consequences of their mistakes.
Right now, all she wanted was to go back to sleep and let the original owner transmigrate back, so much so that she didn’t even respond when Qiao Erchuan spoke to her.
As night fell, scattered lights began to twinkle in Lower River Village.
Qiao Wan opened her eyes and saw the dilapidated surroundings clearly. The last bit of hope in her heart finally died!
Qiao Wan hugged her blanket, beating her chest and stamping her feet, but in the end, she had no choice but to accept the reality that she couldn’t go back.
She quickly adjusted her mindset. She was a graduate of an agricultural college, she had her Dimension and professional knowledge; she wasn’t afraid of not being able to live a good life.
As for getting married? The Qiao family had land and a house, and Qiao’s Father and his sons were doting to a fault. They would surely not watch her actually get married off.
Just as Qiao Wan was lost in thought, Qiao Qing pushed the door open and came in, carrying a chipped ceramic bowl.
“Wanwan, you must be hungry. Hurry and drink this congee.”
After a busy day, Qiao Wan was indeed hungry, but looking at the murky sludge in the bowl, she couldn’t bring herself to take a sip.
She decided to first get a clear picture of the family’s situation. After all, the original owner was so love-struck that her mind had no room for anything besides Huo Yaoxian.
“Sis, how many mu of land do we have now?”
“Land? We don’t have any land anymore. Last time, when you burned down Carpenter Feng’s house, Dad mortgaged the land to his family. He’s still working for them to pay off the debt!”
*Clang.*
The ceramic bowl fell to the floor, shattering into pieces, just like Qiao Wan’s heart at that moment.