Chapter 37: Piercing a Hole in the Sky

Breath met breath, and his deep voice pierced every throbbing vein in Hua Qinci, as if mysterious flowers were blooming upon her heart...

"Is it true? Cousin, is what you said really true?" At the critical moment, Liu Bingbing suddenly pushed open the door and burst inside.

Hua Qinci seized the opportunity to push Qin Youtian away, her face flushed with anger as she turned her back to them, fumbling in haste to straighten her disheveled clothing and hair.

"It's late. Get some rest; we're leaving tomorrow," Qin Youtian said with affectionate indulgence, reaching out to gently pat Liu Bingbing's head before striding away as if nothing had happened.

"Sister-in-law, just now, what were you two doing?" Liu Bingbing ventured closer, tilting her head to study Hua Qinci.

"Nothing!" Hua Qinci couldn't be bothered to entertain her.

"I saw it all! You were kissing!"

"What would a child know? Stop making things up. Your cousin was applying medicine for me."

"Heh, even if you don't say it, I know! I play with Cousin like that all the time!" Liu Bingbing declared proudly.

Hua Qinci ignored her words, climbed onto the bed, yanked the quilt over herself, and pretended to sleep. But her heart thudded wildly, filled with both anger and shame.

Early the next morning, Constable Zhao stormed into the inn with his men. Someone had reported Hua Qinci to the authorities, accusing her of swindling money.

Although Constable Zhao knew the whole story, in order to keep things from escalating, he came first to find Hua Qinci, hoping there might still be a way to resolve the matter.

By then, Hua Qinci had already packed and come downstairs. Even if Constable Zhao hadn’t come for her, she understood well enough that this was a secret that could never be contained.

What surprised her was that the villagers actually had the sense to report her to the authorities.

Seeing several villagers brandishing their deposit slips and making a ruckus with Qin Youtian and Doctor Li, she understood that without the silver, she was finished.

“Qin family’s daughter-in-law, you said three days. Now three days have passed. Don’t you think you owe us an explanation?”

“Yes, yes, you can’t be so heartless. We only helped your family back then to save you. How can you betray us and cheat us like this?”

“Qin family’s daughter-in-law, tell us, what are we supposed to do now?”

Madam Wei pressed aggressively, and several other women and men began to wipe away tears. That bit of silver, though not much, was all they had—it was their lifeblood.

Some were waiting to buy seeds, some were in debt for medicine—everyone had their own troubles.

By now, everyone knew that their hard-earned money had been spent by Hua Qinci and her people. If she couldn’t pay it back, even their lives wouldn’t make up for it.

“Qinci, Qinci, you can’t be so heartless to deceive everyone! Think back to how we all treated you before, think of your gambler father—how we pitied you. But this silver is our lifeblood, we’ve already given you everything. If you cheat us, how are we supposed to survive?”

One woman, having overheard Liu Bingbing’s chatter, grew more and more distressed the more she thought about it. She had been the one who suggested reporting to the authorities in the first place.

“You see? I said before, my sister-in-law and her father are both swindlers, but you all didn’t believe me. I even asked Doctor Li about it, and he tacitly agreed, though I don’t know why he changed his mind later! Whatever, let’s all go home, everyone to their own house and their own mother! Let’s all just disperse!”