Not far away, a few children were crying so hard they could barely catch their breath.

Even Jian Dashan, who lay on the ground covered in wounds and unable to move, was so furious that he wanted to get up.

But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t move an inch.

“You bandits! I’ll fight you to the death!” Qian Hongmei shouted.

She immediately turned around, picked up a hatchet from nearby, and charged toward the scar-faced man…

But how could it be that easy?

Even Jian Ming, a strong young man, was no match for him—let alone a woman like Qian Hongmei.

Sure enough, before she even got close, the scar-faced man easily snatched the hatchet from her hands.

Then, he slapped her hard across the face…

Qian Hongmei was thrown to the ground.

Dazed, her ears rang so loudly that she couldn’t hear anything.

By the time she came back to her senses, the scar-faced man was already walking toward her daughter, Fenjie’er.

“Don’t touch my daughter! Don’t touch our daughter…!”

“Hmph, your daughter looks pretty good. Since you don’t have money to repay your debt, I think she’ll do as payment. In fact, since you have three daughters, we can take turns! The eldest will pay this time. If you still can’t repay, the second daughter will take her place. And after that, the third one… Hahaha!”

At that, the scar-faced man burst into laughter.

By now, people had started gathering at the entrance after hearing the commotion.

“They’re here again? They come causing trouble every day—this can’t go on.”

Someone in the crowd muttered.

Once something happens once, it’s bound to happen again—that’s how the world works.

Jian Dashan and his wife were known for being kind and helpful in the village.

Since they were all from the same village, even if the others couldn’t openly interfere, they still voiced their disapproval.

People started criticizing the scar-faced man.

“This is inhumane! Even if they owe money, you can’t just beat them like this—how could this be justified anywhere?”

“Exactly! Debt collection is one thing, but this…?”

Among the crowd was Zhang Xuemei.

When she visited her maternal home yesterday, she had wanted to say something after seeing Jian Xiu’s condition.

But knowing Jian Xiu’s difficult situation, she had held back.

Now, seeing these men come again, she finally gathered her courage and spoke up:

“If you keep this up, we’ll go to the village chief! If this gets reported to the authorities, it won’t be a joke!”

Zhang Xuemei thought that her words would scare the scar-faced man.

But unexpectedly, he only laughed louder.

“Hahaha! Paying off debts is natural and right! Are you saying I shouldn’t take back the money I lent out?”

“You can collect your money, but… but not like this… this is just…”

“Just what? Too much? I’d actually love for them to go to the authorities. Let’s see if the county magistrate sides with them or with me!”

The scar-faced man spoke with absolute confidence.

For a moment, Zhang Xuemei was truly intimidated.

She stood frozen, unable to react.

And before she could snap out of it, the scar-faced man had already snatched Fenjie’er from her arms.

“What are you doing?! Let go of my daughter! Let her go!” Qian Hongmei ran after him in a panic.

“Mother, save me! I’m scared! Mother…!” Fenjie’er cried, sobbing uncontrollably.

At the entrance, Zhang Xuemei instinctively blocked the door as she saw the scar-faced man trying to leave with Fenjie’er.

“You can leave, but put down Fenjie’er first!” Zhang Xuemei said bravely.

“Oh? Little lady, do you know what you’re doing? This is called meddling in other people’s business—do you understand?” The scar-faced man sneered.

With that, he raised his right foot and kicked Zhang Xuemei hard.

“Ah…!” Zhang Xuemei was sent sprawling to the ground.

“Since when do old hags like you have a say in my affairs? Say another word, and you’d better watch your life,” the scar-faced man said coldly.

---

Meanwhile, in a small courtyard at the edge of the village…

“The wild boar meat is already cut. Take the biggest piece—your mother’s family has more people,” Zhang Zixuan said to Jian Xiu calmly.

“Mm, I got it.”

“And take some dried bamboo shoots too. Didn’t you say they last a long time?”

“Dried bamboo shoots?” Jian Xiu’s eyes widened in surprise.

If Zhang Zixuan hadn’t mentioned it, she wouldn’t have thought of it.

Now that he brought it up, it really was a good idea.

They could store these for a long time and eat them slowly.

“And the fiddlehead ferns—I picked a small bunch from the backyard this morning. Let them try it. If they ever run out of food, they can pick some at the foot of the mountain.”

“You already picked them?” Jian Xiu asked in surprise.

She wasn’t blaming him—she was just genuinely shocked.

Last night, they had stayed up late talking.

She had overslept, yet this man had already gotten up early, wheeled himself to the backyard, and gathered ferns.

Even for a normal person, walking there and back would take at least half an hour.

And he…

That meant he had woken up even earlier, right after she had fallen asleep.

Seeing the dark circles under his eyes, Jian Xiu suddenly felt a pang of heartache.

“You don’t have to push yourself so hard. I could’ve easily done it myself…”

She trailed off mid-sentence, realizing something was off with her words.

Sure enough, Zhang Zixuan gave a bitter smile.

It was fleeting, but she caught it.

“Don’t worry. Didn’t I tell you last night? I’ll find a way to earn enough points—it’s just a matter of time. I already have over 170,000. Trust me, it won’t be long now.”

“Mm, I’m not in a hurry. Just don’t take any risks for the points, okay?”

Hearing that, warmth spread through Jian Xiu’s heart.

It was the first time someone had ever worried about him like this.

“Where are the ferns? I don’t see them,” Jian Xiu asked, looking around.

“I put them with the rice. I planned to take the rice over too. We have money now, and next time we sell plantain herbs and dried bamboo shoots, we can buy more. Let’s just give these to your parents for now.”