Chapter 24

Frightened, Madam Sun stumbled back a few steps and fell to the ground. The pain in her butt made her gnash her teeth.

Her brain was buzzing.

She didn’t know how much Han Qiao knew. But she was afraid.

If Han Qiao let the cat out of the bag, the whole Sun family would have to flee Ninghe Town.

If they stayed, they would incur the entire village’s censure.

Of course, she wasn’t entirely sure that Han Qiao knew anything at all. It was all just an eerie coincidence.

Madam Sun hurriedly stood up. There was only one thought in her mind, and that was to leave.

Han Qiao was acting very strange today.

She just couldn’t put her finger on it.

Madam Sun almost fled in panic. But Han Qiao shouted from behind, “Mother, don’t worry. I will move out as soon as possible.”

“Please don’t chase us away. Give us some time to find another place to stay.”

“…”

Madam Sun was so angry that she vomited blood.

If she had known this was in store for her at Han Qiao’s house, she wouldn’t have come even if her life depended on it.

“Han Qiao, don’t you spout nonsense! Don’t toss that sewage water on me!”

Han Qiao looked atMadam Sun with a smile. Well, it was a smile, but it also wasn’t.

Madam Sun was so angry that her mouth was beginning to cramp. She threw open the door and was about to go home to plan some countermeasures with Yixi.

She knew she couldn’t deal with Han Qiao alone.

But as soon as she stepped out of the door, she was met with the crowd of ladies. They wouldn’t shut up. “How pitiful! First Han Qiao caught her husband’s hands, and now her mother-in-law’s!”

How could she live like that?

However, this was all other people’s business. They could gossip about it all they wanted, but in the end they didn’t really care.

When the courtyard door opened, Madam Sun and the other ladies looked at each other. Han Qiao was looking very pitiable behind Madam Sun.

For a moment, they were quite certain that it was true, that Madam Sun really had hit her.

“I think you…”

“What has it got to do with you? Mind your own business,” Madam Sun rebuked her angrily.

She was overflowing with rage. She just said what she said without much concern for the consequences.

The ladies were immediately displeased. One after another, they began to call out Madam Sun.

“This is your fault. Han Qiao has always been docile and virtuous. She has always been very filial to you. How can you hit a daughter-in-law like this?”

“That’s right…”

Complaint after complaint came in.

Madam Sun was so angry that her voice failed her when she tried to explain herself.

No one gave her a chance to speak.

And no one would believe her, anyway.

“Han Qiao, tell me, did I hit you!?” Madam Sun shouted angrily and went forward to grab Han Qiao.

Han Qiao was shivering and trembling. She stammered and tears flowed down her cheeks as she explained, “No, no, no.”

However, the act she was putting on managed to convince everyone–ladies, neighbors, passerbys, all of them–that Madam Sun really had hit Han Qiao.

Otherwise, why would she be so frightened?

“Did you hear that? She admitted it herself. I didn’t hit her.”

“You old hag, let go of Han Qiao.” Han Dacheng shouted, throwing down the firewood he had been carrying. He stepped forward and shoved Madam Sun away.

He protected Han Qiao behind him.

Looking at Madam Sun angrily, he said, “You said you didn’t hit Han Qiao?Then where did that injury come from? Why is she crying right now, huh?”

“Your Sun family is from the city. We thought you were upstanding citizens. You have a scholar in your family. You all love studying so much that you would all probably get married to books!”

“Sun Yiming is not a human. Your Sun family is worth less than dirt.”

“After he moved out, you, Madam Sun, took over the deeds and refused to hand them over to Han Qiao. You say that Sun Yiming borrowed money from his brother, who wrote IOUs? Who knows if any of that is even real?”

“You’ve been planning this, haven’t you? You were playing Sun Yiming so that you could steal his house and land?”

“Han Qiao really was born under an unlucky star. She worked for your Sun family for more than ten years, but she didn’t enjoy a single day of happiness. She was even beaten up by that idiot Sun Yiming and you, you old hag.”

Just as Han Dacheng finished speaking, two more teenagers stepped out and, in unison, echoed him, “That’s right, that’s right.”

“…” Madam Sun was so angry that she almost fainted.

Where did these sons of bitches come from?

“What the hell are you trying to pull? You lent all that money to Sun Yiming, and never told Han Qiao, yet now you want to chase her out. What kind of scam is this? Are you trying to sell Han Qiao and her daughters to a brothel, using Sun Yiming’s debt as an excuse?”

“…”

“…”

By now a massive crowd had gathered. They all looked at Han Qiao and her three daughters behind her.

“…”

These four ladies were really good-looking. Not many were like that in Ninghe Town.

They were fair, tender, timid and had outstanding looks. They looked to be desperately in need of some love. A perfect match for some local geezers.

“Ah jeez, I saw old Jiang the Pimp go to Sun Ji’s grocery store yesterday. It seemed like she wanted to sell…”

Her words caused an outrage in the crowd.

Which man lent dozens of taels of silver to his brother? Why didn’t the wife ever do anything about it? I’m afraid she did long ago…

However, that Mrs. Liu, who lives in the Sun house, never said a word about it. But now, they decided, we’ve lent enough silver, and came over to kick the four ladies out of their home.

They had borrowed money for several years. It came to a huge sum. Suddenly, they came to ask for a debt and chased them out. It was that Jiang the Pimp.

Oh my God.

Everyone finally saw the truth.

Madam Sun couldn’t deny it now.

Han Qiao stood up. Her eyes were red and tears were flowing. She said word by word, “The person who borrowed the money is Sun Yiming. If you want to use the house and land to pay off the debt, I’m not going to stop you. After all, these are your family’s property and have nothing to do with me. But what right do you have to sell us into prostitution? Just because I’m weak and easy to bully?”

“Your Sun family has such a vicious heart. You are insufferable! You are just insufferable!”

“Well, I’m out of here. I’m gonna divorce Sun Yiming, then take my three children back to my parents’ home. I’m truly afraid that if I stay in the Sun family another moment, I will be kidnapped and sold into prostitution!”

Some other people also felt that divorce was appropriate.

There were also some people who didn’t mind the commotion and stood up to speak. “It’s time to divorce”

“They have to divorce.”

“If they don’t divorce, then Han Qiao and her daughters are courting death.”

“Han Qiao, while your relatives are here, hurry up and pack your things and go back to your hometown.”

Han Qiao was so happy in her heart that she wanted to die.

Still, she had a miserable look on her face, “Thank you all for speaking up for me. I’ll pack my things and go back to my parents’ house. Even though it’s a divorce by mutual consent, my parents and uncles have to be present. Sun Yiming and his uncles are here, too.”

Han Qiao saw the firewood her three nephews had picked out and immediately decided to sell it. “This firewood costs ten coins a bundle. Does anyone want it?”

Everyone looked over at once.

The bundles of firewood were neatly chopped. Each bundle was at least fifty to sixty kilograms, which was much cheaper than buying it from elsewhere.

“I want all of them.”

Six bundles of firewood only cost sixty coins.

Among the people who were watching the show, there had to be some well-off families were willing to fork out money to buy firewood.

It didn’t really matter whom they bought it from.

All this commotion wasn’t something you saw everyday in Ninghe Town.

And what a commotion it was: some in-laws plotted to sell their own daughter-in-law and grandchildren into prostitution. Although they didn’t succeed, it was still incredibly shocking.

The firewood was sold on the spot.

The money was paid in full.

The buyers even found their own ox carts to lug the firewood with, so there was no need for Han Qiao or her family to carry it.

Han Qiao also took this opportunity to go back inside with her daughters. She closed the door, shutting out all the people who had been watching the show. Madam Sun was dumbfounded.

After quite a while, Madam Sun came back to her senses and knocked on the door. “Han Qiao, you wench, open this door and explain yourself!”