Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Creditor
Seeing Li Tao Hua still seething and Qin Hui Yin looking pitiful after being scolded, Tang Lu Wu—never good with words—didn’t know how to comfort either of them.

She tugged Tang Yi Xiao’s sleeve. “What do we do?”

Tang Yi Xiao crouched to pack the unused bamboo bucket-bowls, expression blank. He didn’t spare the mother and daughter a glance.

After the women left, Li Tao Hua’s anger vanished as if it had never been there. She looked at Qin Hui Yin and said evenly, “Everything’s sold out. Close up.”

“Mom.” Qin Hui Yin laughed, eyes bright. “You didn’t even give me a signal just now. Weren’t you afraid I wouldn’t understand what you meant?”

“Our mother and daughter are that in sync,” Li Tao Hua said, chin lifting. “I only have to frown and you already know what I want. How could you not understand?”

Tang Lu Wu stared, stunned—watching a pair who had once been “enemies” move together like the same person.

Qin Hui Yin giggled at her expression. “We did it on purpose. Only when those aunties feel like they got a huge bargain will they pay that happily.”

Tang Yi Xiao snorted, still packing. “Do you really think she would turn on her own daughter?”

With how much Li Tao Hua doted on Qin Hui Yin, she agreed to anything Qin Hui Yin said without conditions. How could she truly fall out with her over something this small?

Tang Lu Wu finally relaxed.

As they packed up, she kept sneaking glances at Li Tao Hua and Qin Hui Yin. When she saw Li Tao Hua hold Qin Hui Yin’s hand while they counted the cash box, envy flickered in her eyes.

Everything was sold out, so they headed home.

Today they didn’t buy peas or staple flour and rice. They only bought pig scraps.

Fat Butcher had promised to save pig trotters. Qin Hui Yin didn’t know where he’d dug them up, but there were 10—cleaned and bundled, still smelling faintly of the butcher’s stall.

When the ox cart reached the Tang house gate, it hadn’t even fully stopped before shouting spilled out from inside.

Then came the sound of something shattering.

Then Tang Da Fu’s pleading, raw with panic.

Tang Yi Xiao jumped off the cart and sprinted into the yard.

Third Master Tang reined in and climbed down, following the Tang family in to see what was happening.

Outside, a few villagers hovered, peeking around the wall. One called out to Third Master Tang, “Third Uncle, don’t get involved. This has nothing to do with you.”

Third Master Tang frowned. “What happened?”

“It’s still about that 50 taels Tang Da Fu owed,” someone said, voice low. “The creditor came to collect.”

The moment Li Tao Hua and the others stepped into the courtyard, the rough men inside heard them and surged out.

At the front was a sharp-faced middle-aged man dressed like a gentleman. His eyes, though, were cloudy and filthy. Behind him were seven or eight thugs in shop-assistant clothes—tall, strong, and brutal-looking.

“Perfect timing.” Chen Zhong Yi raked his gaze over Li Tao Hua and Qin Hui Yin, then bared yellow teeth in a lewd grin. “Take them all away.”

Several men lunged forward to grab Li Tao Hua and Qin Hui Yin.

“Wait.” Qin Hui Yin stepped in front of Li Tao Hua, voice hard. “You break into someone’s home and now you want to snatch women by force? Is there no law anymore?”

Li Tao Hua hooked an arm around Qin Hui Yin’s shoulders and stared Chen Zhong Yi down. “What do you want?”

Tang Da Fu crawled out from the room, screaming. He dragged one leg behind him, the sight tugging pity from anyone with a conscience.

To Chen Zhong Yi’s men, it was a joke.

Tang Da Fu clutched at Chen Zhong Yi’s trouser leg, begging. “Boss Chen, please give me more time. When my leg gets better, I can work. I’ll pay back the 50 taels—I’ll definitely pay it back. My wife and children have nothing to do with this. Don’t make things hard for them. I acknowledge the debt. I’ll do anything you want. I will pay it back.”

Chen Zhong Yi shoved him down and ground a foot against his face. “What can a cripple do? If you go into town, will anyone hire you? Even if they do, you’ll earn 500 or 600 wen a month. When will you ever pay off my 50 taels?”

“Let my dad go!” Tang Yi Xiao lunged like a cornered wolf cub.

He drove his head into Chen Zhong Yi’s belly.

Chen Zhong Yi was fat to begin with. The impact rocked him back, his bulk staggering.

One of the thugs caught him before he fell.

Rage twisted Chen Zhong Yi’s features. He jabbed a finger at Tang Yi Xiao. “Grab him and beat him hard. Teach him what happens when he offends me.”

Two shop assistants surged forward.

Tang Lu Wu threw herself around Tang Yi Xiao, wrapping him in her arms. The punches landed on her back and shoulders instead. She clenched her teeth and didn’t make a sound, refusing to let anyone hurt him.

“Stop!” Qin Hui Yin shouted. “My brother’s health is poor. You can ask around. He’s been kept alive on daily medicine. If anything happens to him, this won’t just be about 50 taels.”

Her eyes locked on Chen Zhong Yi’s. “Boss Chen, you don’t want a murder case on your hands, do you? The new county magistrate isn’t a corrupt official. You can’t just throw silver at it and get away.”

Chen Zhong Yi lifted a hand. The thugs paused.

He looked Qin Hui Yin up and down, grin spreading again. “Not bad. Pretty smart for a little girl. Your mother has charm, too. If she’s willing to be my 15th concubine, we can forget these 50 taels.”

His gaze slid back to Qin Hui Yin, greedy. “But now I’ve changed my mind. You’re young, but in a few years you can be my concubine too. Why don’t you come with me to the Chen household and enjoy yourself? I’ll treat these 50 taels as your bride price. How about that?”

Li Tao Hua spat on the ground. “Dream on!”

Then, as if one curse wasn’t enough, she spat again. “If anyone dares touch my daughter today, I’ll go down with her.”

She yanked the sickle hanging by the wall and swung it up, blade flashing.

Chen Zhong Yi only laughed. “You really are tempting. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have lent your man 50 taels. I knew he couldn’t pay it back. I was planning to use you to settle the debt, wasn’t I?”

His eyes narrowed. “But your daughter’s worth more than you. So I’ll take your daughter to repay it instead. I heard you married Tang Da Fu with your daughter in tow. I’ll raise your daughter for you, and you can live your lives properly. Isn’t that even better? I’m truly a great good man.”

Qin Hui Yin’s face went still. “Boss Chen, you lent my stepfather 50 taels of silver, right? May I ask—what was that 50 taels used for? Why haven’t we seen it?”

Chen Zhong Yi stared at her with rat-like eyes. “Little girl, trying to deny it? Too bad. I’m not stupid. Your dad borrowed 50 taels. I made him sign and stamp it.”

“Show me.”

Chen Zhong Yi pulled an IOU from his sleeve and held it out, taunting. “Can you read? If you can’t, I’ll find someone to read it to you.”

“No need. I know a few characters.” Qin Hui Yin took it and read.

As her eyes moved down the page, her brow furrowed.

Whoever had written the IOU was meticulous—every detail sealed tight, no holes to pick at. The fingerprint at the end should have been Tang Da Fu’s.

When Qin Hui Yin looked up, Tang Da Fu’s head dropped, shame burning in the curve of his shoulders.

“Mom.” Qin Hui Yin’s voice stayed steady. “Have you ever seen those 50 taels of silver?”

Li Tao Hua’s glare snapped to Tang Da Fu. “No. When he was carried back, he only had that blood-stained outfit. We didn’t see even one coin. At first he was unconscious the whole time. He only mentioned borrowing silver after he woke up seven or eight days later.”