It wasn’t that Qiao Wan had resigned herself to fate, but rather that the Qiao family was too honest.
In any era, being too honest meant being oppressed and bullied.
She understood today’s incident clearly – no matter how fiercely the Qiao father and sons resisted, it wouldn’t carry the same deterrent effect as a single glance from Huo Yan.
The Qiao family could barely protect themselves now, let alone put up resistance. Until they truly became stronger, Qiao Wan decided to accept the marriage peacefully.
The busy farming season had just ended, and the village only ate two meals a day. Dinner was still wild vegetable porridge.
Tormented by self-blame, Qiao Fugeng went up the mountain with his hoe without eating dinner, while Qiao Erchuan rested his leg indoors and kept an eye on Qiao Dahe.
Qiao Wan followed Qiao Qing, wandering around the kitchen.
“Sister, please come with me into the mountains tomorrow. We won’t go to Wild Boar Gully, just wander around the nearby hills.”
Qiao Wan hadn’t given up; she still wanted to explore the mountains.
“No, Father said no one is allowed to go into the mountains recently.”
Qiao Qing wiped her hands and pulled Qiao Wan back to their room. She took a cloth bundle from the cabinet and placed it in Qiao Wan’s hands.
“Open it and see.”
The bundle was tightly wrapped. Qiao Wan had to undo three layers before she saw the brand new red cotton clothing inside.
The cotton padding was thin, with just a sparse layer of cotton that didn’t feel particularly soft when touched. Probably due to insufficient fabric, the red sleeves had been extended with a section of coarse cloth at the cuffs.
This was the wedding dress Qiao Qing had prepared for herself.
“Your wedding came up so suddenly, there wasn’t time to prepare. You’ll have to make do with mine for now. We still have two days – we can remove the cotton from this dress and alter it for you.”
“But what will you wear for your wedding?”
In the original host’s memory, Qiao Qing had taken out this wedding dress numerous times to try on secretly, admiring her reflection in the water vat over and over, her eyes filled with unconcealed joy and anticipation.
Qiao Qing smiled gently, her eyes soft as she gazed at the red fabric. She reached out to smooth the wrinkles at the sleeve seams:
“My wedding is still far off. I’ll figure something out when the time comes. The Zhang Family… hasn’t said we need to hold the ceremony immediately anyway. Your needs come first – we can’t have you getting married in patched old clothes.”
Qiao Wan clutched the wedding dress that her sister had clearly saved up for bit by bit through frugal living. Her heart swelled with bittersweet emotion.
“Sister.” Qiao Wan pushed the clothes back, her attitude firm. “I can’t take this. This is your wedding dress – you should keep it and wear it proudly when your time comes. I don’t care about these things.”
Hearing this, Qiao Qing didn’t argue with her anymore. But that night when they went to bed, she secretly measured the size with her hands.
Early the next morning, Qiao Wan heard upon waking that Qiao Fugeng had gone to town.
Qiao Dahe was also awake. When Qiao Wan pushed the door open and entered, he was still lying in bed.
“L-little sister, come sit.”
Qiao Dahe pointed to the stool by the bed. He didn’t dare get up – his head still spun whenever he moved.
Qiao Wan sat directly on his bedside and reached out to touch where he had hit his head yesterday: “Does it still hurt?”
“N-no, it doesn’t hurt anymore!”
He didn’t know since when his younger sister had stopped being so close with him. At first he thought Qiao Wan was avoiding him because she had grown up and needed to maintain propriety, but as time passed he realized she actually looked down on him for being coarse, slow-witted, and dirty.
But today his little sister had called him “big brother” again and showed concern for him. Qiao Dahe’s nose tingled with emotion, and he couldn’t help blaming himself:
“Little sister, it’s all my fault for being useless. I couldn’t catch the wild boar, and now we can’t repay Huo Yan’s betrothal gifts.”
“This matter was my fault to begin with, how could I blame you?” Qiao Wan paused, seeing Qiao Dahe’s red-rimmed eyes, she couldn’t help but comfort him: “Marrying Huo Yan isn’t so bad either. At least we won’t starve and there’ll be meat to eat.”
Qiao Dahe knew Qiao Wan was trying to comfort him. Since childhood, his younger sister had always preferred scholarly types like Huo Yaoxian, while Huo Yan was burly and rough-looking.
But there was no use dwelling on it now. He forced himself to appear calm, wiping his face: “Don’t worry, if he dares to bully you, I’ll fight with my life to get justice for you.”
Qiao Wan felt warmed by his words and nodded firmly.
“Big brother, don’t worry. Since we were kids, it’s always been your sister bullying others, no one has ever dared to bully me.”
Qiao Qing had already finished packing and was waiting outside.
After reminding Qiao Dahe to rest well and recover, Qiao Wan pushed the door open and went out.
Qiao Qing helped Qiao Wan tie her trouser legs again, and the two sisters carried their baskets into the mountains.
The hills near the village had been picked clean – anything edible or inedible but non-toxic was long gone.
After circling two hills, their baskets contained nothing but a few mushrooms.
“Wanwan, it’s almost noon, let’s head back.”
Her wedding dress had been taken apart last night, and she wanted to return quickly to alter it early so Qiao Wan could try it on. There would still be time to make adjustments if needed.
“Sister, let me check that hill over there first. If there’s really nothing, we’ll go back.”
Pointing toward the denser forest across the way, Qiao Wan walked directly toward it, unwilling to give up.
Seeing Qiao Wan’s determination, Qiao Qing had no choice but to follow.
The two made their way through the thick forest, their hair tangled by branches, clothes already damp with moisture.
Finally, after another half-hour of walking, Qiao Wan who was leading stopped.
“These surrounding mountains have been thoroughly searched by villagers. There’s nothing edible left, let alone anything worth selling. Let’s go back.”
Thinking her sister had finally given up from exhaustion, Qiao Qing straightened her back, glanced toward home, and prepared to turn back.
But just as she turned, she saw Qiao Wan starting to cut grass with her sickle.
“Little sister, this June Frost isn’t edible, don’t waste your energy.”
Having often followed the village aunties up the mountain, Qiao Qing knew about mountain grasses. This one had more stems than leaves and was flowering – there was too little edible parts, and no villagers bothered cutting it.
Without stopping her work, Qiao Qing explained: “This grass is also called Qi Hao. When dried, it can be brewed in water to reduce internal heat.”
She had noticed this grass when they first entered the mountains, but back then she was focused on finding valuable medicinal herbs to sell. But the villagers weren’t foolish – anything valuable had long been dug up.
Qiao Wan was indeed exhausted, but following the principle of “since we’re already here,” she didn’t want to return with empty baskets.
Hearing this, Qiao Qing also took out her sickle and began cutting alongside her.
In less than half an hour, the two descended the mountain carrying two full baskets.
When they returned home, Qiao Dahe was already sitting up and moving around the courtyard. Seeing Qiao Wan carrying a basket of grass, he wanted to help, but after taking two steps, he fell headfirst toward the ground.
Qiao Wan quickly caught him: “Big brother, you haven’t recovered yet! Be careful!”
“I’m useless.” Qiao Dahe had never felt so incompetent before.
Qiao Qing comforted him: “You must have hit your head too hard yesterday, that’s why you’re dizzy. Just rest for a few more days and you’ll be fine.”
“That may be so…” Before Qiao Dahe could finish speaking, a wave of nausea hit him. He immediately crouched on the ground and vomited, then collapsed straight onto the courtyard.
Qiao Qing and Qiao Wan were terrified. They saw Qiao Dahe’s face turn deathly pale as he clutched his head and murmured, “So dizzy… my head hurts terribly.”
“Big brother, hang in there! I’ll go get Doctor Liu!” Qiao Qing was panicked, her voice trembling noticeably as she stood up to run outside.
“Sister, wait!” Qiao Wan grabbed Qiao Qing’s arm. “Go get the embroidery needles – I have a way to save big brother.”