Chapter 23: No Longer Merciful

“Bingbing, be quiet! Why are you so disobedient?” Mrs. Liu was truly furious, grabbing hold of Liu Bingbing. No matter how much she hated Hua Qinci, she absolutely could not drag the Qin family into this.

Her daughter was good in every way, except for this temper that she simply couldn’t correct.

“Mother, can you just listen to me this once?” Liu Bingbing was exasperated.

“Liu Bingbing, if you keep this up, I’ll sever all ties with you,” Mrs. Liu snapped, unable to back down now.

Liu Bingbing ignored her mother’s anger and slammed the bond receipt down in front of Hua Qinci, demanding the return of the ten taels of silver.

“Our Liu family will not participate in this deposit.”

While the crowd hesitated, Hua Qinci threw her head back and laughed heartily. Without a trace of reluctance, she picked up the deposit slip and tore it to shreds, then counted out eleven taels of silver and handed them to Liu Bingbing with a proud smile. “Altogether, it’s eleven taels. Take this extra one as interest, cousin. Be sure to keep it safe.”

Liu Bingbing clutched the silver, having thought Hua Qinci would refuse to return the money. To her shock, Hua Qinci was so forthright, even giving an extra tael as interest, leaving her fuming with frustration.

“Since Mrs. Liu has withdrawn her deposit early, there is now an open spot.”

Hua Qinci turned and waved her index finger at the crowd before sitting down.

All this time, Mrs. Wei had been hesitating and calculating, and now she seized the opportunity. She rushed forward, clutching a packet in her hand, and cried out excitedly, “Me, me, me!”

When Mrs. Wei dashed forward, the others snapped out of their hesitation and surged up to compete as well.

In the end, Hua Qinci had to add a few more spots to calm the commotion.

Once everyone had paid their silver, they happily returned home.

Hua Qinci tidied up and saw Chief Zhao out with the silver. This time, she didn’t let Liu Bingbing off the hook. Liu Bingbing was arrested for filing a false report and thrown in jail, but Hua Qinci told Chief Zhao just to teach her a lesson. Chief Zhao assured her, and only then was she at ease.

After everything was settled, there was still a good amount of silver left. Off to the side, Qin Youtian and Qin Mingyue looked at her in shock—such a thorny problem, yet she resolved it so quickly.

Seeing that everything was finally settled, Hua Qinci swayed as she headed into the house.

“Mother, I need to rest for a while,” she said, feeling drowsy.

“Alright, alright! Go rest. I’ll go kill a chicken and make you some chicken soup. You need to nourish your body properly,” Qin Mingyue replied.

Qin Mingyue was still in a daze, but her heart was full of joy. She hurried to call Qin Youtian over to help support Hua Qinci, then went off to catch and kill a chicken.

Qin Youtian carried Hua Qinci into the inner room.

Hua Qinci suppressed her pain. “Close the door and help me with my medicine first.”

The wound was on her back, making it difficult for her to tend to it herself, and she didn’t want to call out to Qin Mingyue, who was excitedly preparing the chicken. So she called for Qin Youtian instead.

Qin Youtian was deeply worried. He quickly shut the door and rushed to the bedside. Hua Qinci, enduring as long as she could, began to remove her outer garment. Sweat beaded on her forehead, one layer after another.

However, she could only manage to get the garment halfway off; her injured arm simply wouldn’t lift.

Qin Youtian sat on the bedside, his hands trembling as he helped her.

It was his first time doing such a thing, and the feelings coursing through him were his alone to know.

“What are you afraid of? I’m a woman and I’m not scared,” Hua Qinci grumbled at his slow movements, turning her face to look at him behind her.

“Oh! I—I’m not,” Qin Youtian stammered, sweating even more, his hands shaking harder.

“Hiss! You touched my wound!” His clumsy, rough hands brushed her painful injury, and Hua Qinci nearly fainted from the pain.