Qiao Wan felt the world spinning around her, a buzzing sound filling her ears. She could barely make out what Qiao Qing was saying after that.
The farmland was gone? The house was empty? And Father was still working to pay off debts?
The mess left behind by the original Qiao Wan was nothing short of a bottomless pit!
She had naively thought it was just a temporary hardship, never imagining it would come to such a desperate state.
“Wanwan? Wanwan, what’s wrong? Don’t scare your sister!”
Seeing her younger sister’s instantly pale face and dazed eyes, Qiao Qing was terrified and quickly supported her.
Picking up the broken pottery shards from the ground, her voice choked with tears, “It’s okay that the bowl broke, I’ll find you more food. But you mustn’t be in trouble!”
Qiao Wan took several deep breaths, forcing herself to calm down. Panic wouldn’t solve anything. She grasped Qiao Qing’s hand, her voice still somewhat unsteady:
“Sister, tell me slowly… exactly how much debt does our family still owe? Besides Carpenter Feng’s family, are there others?”
Qiao Qing wiped her tears and sobbed, “Carpenter Feng’s debt is the largest. The farmland was used to cover three years of rent, and after paying three taels of silver, we still owe ten. Then there’s the more than three taels owed to Doctor Liu for your medicine… Whatever money Father, Eldest Brother, and Second Brother earn from odd jobs, aside from buying some coarse rice to survive, all goes bit by bit to pay off debts. We can’t save anything at all. As for those twenty taels…” Qiao Qing hesitated, glancing toward the door and lowering her voice, “Father is so worried he’s banging his head against the wall. He says that money came from Huo Yan, that it’s… it’s your bride price. We have to find a way to return it, we can’t let you actually marry over there…”
So it was true! Qiao Wan’s heart sank.
Qiao’s Father might be honest and timid, but his love for his daughter was genuine.
But return it? As for Huo Yan’s side… Thinking of that man’s icy gaze and his words about “picking her up in three days,” Qiao Wan had no doubt that if the Qiao family dared break off the engagement, he would absolutely do something even more ruthless.
Qiao Wan held little hope for canceling the marriage. Since she couldn’t go back, she had to survive here—and survive well!
Relying on Qiao’s Father and her brothers to honestly work off the debts would take who knows how many years. She needed to find a way to earn money now.
Qiao Wan threw off the tattered thin quilt and tried to get out of bed, but the moment her feet touched the ground, she nearly fell headfirst.
“Wanwan…”
Qiao Qing swiftly caught her and helped her sit down.
“You had a fever this afternoon and are just starting to recover. Lie down a bit longer.”
Qiao Wan closed her eyes to steady herself. When the spots before her eyes faded, she remembered she still didn’t know how things stood with the marriage between the Qiao and He families.
“Where’s Father?”
“Father went out.” Before Qiao Wan could ask more, Qiao Qing continued, “Father first gave the He family ten taels to settle Eldest Brother’s engagement to He Chunliu in three months.”
Qiao Wan knew that Qiao Fugeng must have gone out to borrow money. But in a village of poor families, where could ten taels be so easily borrowed?
Just as Qiao Wan had guessed, Qiao Fugeng had already been sitting at the village chief’s house for half an hour, drinking his third bowl of water.
Village Head Qiao was a distant clan relative of Qiao Fugeng’s. At the moment, he looked at Qiao Fugeng with a helpless expression, repeatedly picking up and putting down the water bowl in his hand.
“Fugen, it’s not that Uncle won’t lend it to you, but my family simply doesn’t have ten taels either!”
Hearing this, Qiao Fugeng hung his head even lower, rubbing his heavily calloused hands as he said in a heavy voice, “Uncle, please help me think of a way.”
“Why are you in such a hurry for money? Did Qiao Wan cause trouble again?” Village Head Qiao said with a tone of frustration, “I’m not one to criticize, but you’ve spoiled her. How many messes have you cleaned up for her over the years? You ought to let her face some hardships!”
“Uncle, this time it’s different. If we don’t gather the money, Huo Yan will come to take her away in three days.”
Qiao Fugeng recounted the morning’s events to Village Head Qiao, who listened with a furrowed brow before sighing helplessly. He went to the main room to fetch three taels of silver from his wife and pushed it toward Qiao Fugeng:
“This is all we have at home. I’ll go with you to borrow from others. Once we have enough money, we’ll talk properly with Huo Yan. After all, Qiao Wan is still young—it’s not yet time for her to marry.”
Hearing this, Qiao Fugeng’s heart, which had been anxious all day, finally eased.
As long as they gathered enough silver and had Village Head Qiao mediate, Huo Yan surely wouldn’t trouble them further.
Clutching the three taels tightly, Qiao Fugeng nodded repeatedly in gratitude.
Village Head Qiao took Qiao Fugeng to knock on the doors of several villagers before they retired for the night.
These families were relatively well-off in the village and initially greeted the village head with smiles. But upon hearing the purpose was to borrow money for Qiao Fugeng, their expressions darkened immediately.
Everyone in the village knew the Qiao family was so poor that even mice would leave in tears. Loaning them money meant who knew when it would be repaid, so they waved them off directly.
Mindful of Qiao Wan’s reputation, Qiao Fugeng didn’t mention the marriage arrangement with Huo Yan, merely bowing and smiling apologetically.
In the end, Village Head Qiao couldn’t bear to see this honest farmer bow so low. He stepped forward to guarantee the loan, and the families collectively scraped together two more taels of silver.
Qiao Wan had been sitting in the courtyard, using the faint moonlight to observe the Qiao family’s yard while sifting through memories of its members.
Qiao Fugeng, thirty-eight years old, had lost his wife early and never remarried.
Qiao Dahe, twenty, was notoriously doting on his younger sister.
Qiao Erchuan, eighteen, had worked odd jobs at the county academy while studying part-time for three years, making him one of the few literate people in the village.
Qiao Qing, seventeen, was betrothed to the Zhang Family of Daliu Village, with the wedding set for March next year.
Qiao Wan, fifteen, was the village’s universally despised “troublemaker.”
Lost in thought, Qiao Wan was startled by the creak of the door opening. Qiao Fugeng entered, hunched over.
“Dad!” Qiao Wan called softly.
Qiao Fugeng looked up, noticing his daughter standing in the yard watching him. He quickly wiped the worry from his face, replacing it with a calm expression.
“Why aren’t you asleep yet?”
“I napped too much this afternoon—can’t sleep now.”
Qiao Wan had always been carefree; no trouble ever kept her from sleeping. But Qiao Fugeng knew she must be frightened about the marriage. After securing the gate, he called her into the main room.
He took out five taels of broken silver from his pocket and placed it on the table.
“We’re still short five taels. Tomorrow I’ll try borrowing more. If that fails…” His eyes swept around the room. “We’ll mortgage the house.”
“No!”
Qiao Wan cut him off urgently. She knew well how much Qiao’s Father doted on Qiao Wan—he would indeed go that far. But without a house or land, how would the Qiao family survive?
Qiao Wan wasn’t the original owner; she couldn’t be so selfish.
“Dad, this house is our family’s shelter from wind and rain. We absolutely cannot mortgage it.” To prevent Qiao’s Father from seeing through her act, Qiao Wan seized the moment to show loyalty: “I was wrong before. Through this incident, your daughter has learned her lesson and will never act recklessly again. We still have three days left—let’s think of another solution.”
Qiao Fugeng sniffled and quickly wiped his eyes when Qiao Wan wasn’t looking.
“Knowing you were wrong makes you a good child. Don’t worry—your father will definitely find a way to gather enough money. I won’t make you marry into that family.”
Before Qiao Wan could persuade him further, Qiao Fugeng pushed her out to get some sleep.
Lying in bed, Qiao Wan tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep for a long time.
With such a disastrous starting point, how on earth was she supposed to turn things around?!