“Qiao Fugeng, with these ten taels of silver from you, the debt between our families is settled. They say without debt, one feels light. Why are you being so stubborn?”
The speaker was none other than Carpenter Feng, the creditor of the Qiao family.
Thanks to a ancestral carpentry skill, the Feng family had earned a considerable amount of money, becoming a well-known wealthy household in the surrounding villages.
He pressed a black-and-white IOU against Qiao Fugeng’s right cheek, patted it with his hand, and sneered, “If you ask me, that troublemaker in your family should have been beaten to death long ago, so she wouldn’t embarrass herself all day outside.”
“No, you can’t! That silver is Wanwan’s betrothal gift. You can’t take it!”
Qiao Fugeng’s eyes were bloodshot, his face pressed to the ground as he struggled to crawl forward.
He had gone around the village all day but hadn’t borrowed a single coin—only received scorn. Just as he was about to mortgage the house deed to gather the twenty taels for Huo Yan, Carpenter Feng cornered him.
If Carpenter Feng really took ten taels, not only would mortgaging the house be impossible, but even if he smashed his old bones to pieces, he still couldn’t scrape together twenty taels.
Qiao Fugeng pleaded in a low voice, “Qiao Shi, I beg you, for the sake of Xiuhua, return the money to me.”
Sun Xiuhua was Qiao Wan’s mother. Because she had rejected the Feng family’s marriage proposal back then and chosen the Qiao family, the two families had been at odds for many years.
Only as a last resort would Qiao Fugeng mention his deceased wife, but for Wanwan’s sake, he would give up his life, let alone his pride.
“Qiao Wan is getting married?” Carpenter Feng seemed to have heard a joke and couldn’t help but laugh. “Who’s the unlucky family that got targeted by your troublemaker?”
Pressing down on Qiao Fugeng’s head was Carpenter Feng’s eldest son, Feng Qingshan. He increased the pressure on his hand and gloated, “It’s about time that troublemaker Qiao Wan got married, so she’d stop pestering Huo Yaoxian all day.” Then he shot Carpenter Feng a look, signaling him to leave quickly.
Carpenter Feng quickly understood his eldest son’s meaning. He had long had his eye on Huo Yaoxian and intended to marry his daughter Feng Xiu to him, but Qiao Wan, that troublemaker, kept meddling and ruining his plans several times.
If Qiao Wan really married someone else, the marriage between the Feng and Huo families would be a sure thing.
He stood up and looked down at the immobilized Qiao Fugeng. “Don’t worry, wait and see. On Qiao Wan’s wedding day, I’ll definitely set off two strings of firecrackers to send her off.”
With that, he picked up the money pouch and was about to leave, but as soon as he turned around, a charred firewood stick came swinging straight at his face.
Startled, Carpenter Feng leaned back abruptly, lost his footing, stumbled back two steps, and finally fell to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.
“Qiao Wan, how dare you hit me!” Carpenter Feng recognized the person and pointed at Qiao Wan, furious.
“Your son dares to hit my father, so why shouldn’t I hit you?” With that, Qiao Wan raised the stick high and struck repeatedly at Carpenter Feng’s crotch.
If there was one place where a man felt the most pain, it was that small piece of flesh—no wonder it was called the lifeline.
Humiliated and enraged, Carpenter Feng rolled and crawled around the Qiao family’s yard, taking several hits from the stick, the pain making him grimace and bare his teeth.
“Qingshan, Qingshan!”
Qiao Wan’s strikes were fast and fierce, leaving Carpenter Feng defenseless. He had no choice but to call for his son’s help.
Feng Qingshan rushed to Qiao Wan’s side, grabbed the stick with one hand, and raised the other to slap her.
But just as his palm was about to reach Qiao Wan, it suddenly stopped mid-air.
Feng Qingshan tried to exert more force, but his hand remained frozen in place. He turned to look at the person gripping his wrist and said coldly:
“Huo Yan, I advise you not to meddle in others’ business!”
Huo Yan remained unmoved upon hearing this, the force in his hand not only undiminished but increasing as he pressed the other’s arm down, then gave a fierce shake. Feng Qingshan stumbled back several steps, and had Carpenter Feng not been behind to catch him, he would have crashed into the wall.
Huo Yan threw Qiao Dahe to the ground and fixed his gaze on Carpenter Feng, his voice low and firm: “You cannot touch Qiao Wan.”
Feng Qingshan felt a dull ache in his wrist and, burning with resentment, couldn’t resist retorting sharply:
“Huo Yan, don’t think you’re something special just because you spent a few years in the military! This is a private matter between us and the Qiao family—it’s not your place as an outsider to interfere! Is the Qiao family in the right for refusing to repay their debt? That damned girl Qiao Wan even dared to hit my father! This isn’t over today!”
Huo Yan’s eyes instantly turned cold, like blades tempered in ice, slowly shifting toward Feng Qingshan.
Carpenter Feng’s heart sank, and he quickly pulled his eldest son back, inwardly cursing his impatience.
This lad Huo Yan had truly seen blood and killed on the frontier—his killing aura was heavy. Confronting him head-on would only lead to loss.
He hurriedly tried to smooth things over: “Huo Yan, my second son Qinglin studies with your cousin. Our Feng and Huo families are the closest of relatives. As your elder, I must say you really shouldn’t interfere in this matter today.”
Qiao Wan had made him lose face today, and this couldn’t be left unsettled. He had originally intended to let Feng Qingshan teach Qiao Wan a lesson, then extort some silver from Qiao Fugeng, forcing the Qiao father and son to work off the debt.
Regardless of anything else, free laborers like the Qiao father and son, who were willing to endure hardship without complaint, were hard to come by.
But unexpectedly, Huo Yan still insisted: “You cannot touch Qiao Wan.”
Carpenter Feng’s eyes swept over Qiao Dahe on the ground, and the smile on his face faded slightly:
“Fine, you deal with your business first. I’ll wait over here.”
Carpenter Feng assumed Huo Yan had also come to demand money from the Qiao family, given that troublemaker Qiao Wan was impulsive enough to offend anyone.
Fortunately, most of the money was already in his hands. If Huo Yan wanted more, the Qiao family would have no choice but to sell themselves into servitude. When that happened, he would kindly take them in and have the Qiao father and son work for him for life.
Huo Yan glanced at Carpenter Feng but paid no mind to his scheming. Instead, he turned to Qiao Wan, his voice still even but carrying an undeniable force: “Your family matters are none of my concern, but my business cannot be delayed.”
Qiao Wan gripped the fire poker tightly, her chest heaving with anger and the exertion of her earlier struggle. She glared at Huo Yan and said hoarsely, “They’re still pinning my father down!”
Huo Yan’s gaze fell on Qiao Fugeng, who was still pressed face-down to the ground, and his brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.
It wasn’t out of sympathy, but rather distaste for such messy complications.
“Uncle Feng,” Huo Yan spoke up, his eyes returning to Carpenter Feng, “repaying debts is only right, but forced seizure is another matter entirely.”
Carpenter Feng’s feigned smile stiffened: “Huo Yan, what do you mean by that? Qiao Fugeng owes me money—it’s written in black and white with his seal! He defaulted, and I’m taking back what’s mine. How is that forced seizure?”
“He has already agreed to repay you,” Huo Yan pointed at Qiao Fugeng on the ground. “You’ve taken the money, so the debt is cleared. Continuing to restrain him is inappropriate.” His tone held no inflection, yet it pressed down like a heavy stone.
Upon hearing this, Carpenter Feng gave his disciple a look, signaling him to release Qiao Fugeng.
The moment Qiao Fugeng was freed, he immediately scrambled and lunged toward Carpenter Feng… or rather, the money bag in his hand: “The money! My money! Give it back! That’s Wanwan’s…”
Carpenter Feng dodged him in disgust, tucking the money bag securely into his robe and spitting, “Pah! What do you mean your money? It’s mine now! We’re even!” He then turned to Huo Yan with a forced smile, “Huo Yan, see, this matter is settled. We’ll be on our way now and won’t delay your important business.”
He tried to drag Feng Qingshan away, thinking that although he hadn’t extorted more, ten taels of silver wasn’t a bad haul. As for the messy accounts between Huo Yan and the Qiao family, he couldn’t be bothered—it was just free entertainment.
But the moment he took a step, Qiao Wan’s staff swept directly in front of him: “Your family’s debt may be settled, but the Qiao family’s isn’t!”