At this moment, Qian Hongmei had not yet noticed Zhang Zixuan in the ox cart.

Her mind was already in a daze, only thinking about simple matters—like how to explain the twelve copper coins used to rent the ox cart to the village chief.

Meanwhile, Jianxiu was beginning to sense that something was wrong.

Not to mention Qian Hongmei’s disheveled appearance, just looking at her face—it was frighteningly pale.

“Sister-in-law, did something happen?” Jianxiu asked anxiously.

As she spoke, she had already jumped down from the ox cart.

It was only then that Qian Hongmei seemed to realize that Jianxiu had arrived in an ox cart.

“Jianxiu, this ox cart…”

“It’s rented from the village head’s house. Zixuan insisted on coming along, so I…”

“You rented it for a whole day, right?”

Before Jianxiu could finish, Qian Hongmei interrupted excitedly.

“Yes, sister-in-law, do you need the ox cart?”

Qian Hongmei softly murmured an “Mm” and choked up, saying, “Your brother… Your brother and Sister Fen, they…”

At this point, Qian Hongmei could no longer hold back her tears.

“Sister-in-law, what exactly happened?” Jianxiu asked again.

Perhaps due to her loud voice, Jiejie’er, who was inside, heard the commotion and immediately ran out.

Upon seeing Jianxiu, she rushed over, crying out, “Aunt, please save Father! He passed out, and Grandpa and Grandma are hurt too. They’re all lying inside…”

Hearing this, Jianxiu couldn’t care about anything else and quickly walked toward the house.

But after just two steps, she seemed to remember something and turned back.

She took the wheelchair out of the ox cart and helped Zhang Zixuan sit in it.

Everything about their actions was so natural, as if they had done it countless times before.

Qian Hongmei was dumbfounded.

“Jianxiu, this is…”

“This is a wheelchair. Even while sitting in it, Zixuan can still help out with some work.”

As she spoke, Jianxiu was already pulling Qian Hongmei into the house.

“The ox cart…”

“I need to check what’s going on first,” Jianxiu interrupted.

Qian Hongmei was stunned.

If she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn’t have believed that the person before her was her usually timid sister-in-law.

In the past, Jianxiu wouldn’t even dare to raise her voice.

But now, not only did she speak with confidence, but she also carried a powerful presence.

Qian Hongmei knew Jianxiu well.

At this moment, Jianxiu was indeed angry.

She hadn’t expected the situation to be this serious.

Of course, her anger hadn’t peaked yet.

It wasn’t until she stepped inside the house and saw the scene before her that her fury truly erupted.

“Sister-in-law, what exactly happened?” Jianxiu’s face darkened.

She wasn’t blaming Qian Hongmei—she was blaming herself.

Blaming herself for not returning sooner, for wasting so much time on the road.

“Aunt, Big Sister was also taken by those people! They said they would come back in the afternoon to take me too!”

Hearing this, Jianxiu’s brows furrowed deeply. She turned to Qian Hongmei.

“Sister-in-law, is what Jiejie’er said true?”

“Mm… Jianxiu, I don’t know what to do anymore. They took Sister Fen an hour ago, and now… now…”

“Don’t panic, Sister-in-law. They said they’d come back in the afternoon, right? That means we still have time. Don’t worry—what did the doctor say about Father, Mother, and Brother?”

Hearing Jianxiu’s calm words, Qian Hongmei finally felt a little steadier.

She recounted everything that had happened.

“When they took Sister Fen, did they say whether they’d bring her back this afternoon?” Jianxiu asked immediately after hearing the story.

“Yes… It seems like they’ll be back soon,” Qian Hongmei said worriedly.

She was torn—she feared their return, yet she also feared they wouldn’t come back.

If they came, she could at least know Sister Fen’s situation, but it would bring even more problems.

If they didn’t come, she wouldn’t even know how her daughter was doing.

“Sister-in-law, don’t worry. I’m here. Just clean up the house and make some food for Jiejie’er and the others,” Jianxiu said confidently.

She wasn’t afraid of them coming—she was afraid they wouldn’t.

The moment she had stepped inside and seen the mess, her hands had already been itching.

Loan sharks, huh?

It seemed she had been too lenient lately, making them think they could bully her family.

Qian Hongmei felt awkward after hearing Jianxiu’s words.

She stood there, unsure whether to move or not.

Seeing this, Zhang Zixuan understood what she was thinking.

He rolled his wheelchair outside and soon came back carrying a large piece of wild boar meat.

Qian Hongmei’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Jianxiu, Zixuan, you…”

“Sister-in-law, don’t worry. We caught this wild boar ourselves—it didn’t cost any money.”

“That’s not the point! You may not have spent money on it, but if you take this to town, you can sell it for silver! How can you just give so much to us? Quick, quick, take it back! Wild boar meat sells well—seventeen or eighteen copper coins per pound!”

Saying this, Qian Hongmei grabbed the wild boar meat from Zhang Zixuan and walked straight outside, planning to put it back in the ox cart.

Seeing this, Jianxiu quickly stopped her.

“Sister-in-law, don’t worry. We have plenty of wild boar meat at home. I brought this here for you to replenish your strength. Besides, Father, Mother, and Brother are all injured. Even if we didn’t have this meat, we would still need to buy some good food for them to recover quickly.”

Jianxiu’s words reminded Qian Hongmei.

That’s right—the doctor had said that Mother’s injuries weren’t serious.

As long as she ate well and took care of herself, she would recover soon.

But given their current situation, filling their stomachs was already hard enough, let alone nourishing their bodies.

Thinking of this, Qian Hongmei looked down at the wild boar meat in her hands.

She hesitated and said, “But isn’t this too much? We won’t be able to finish it all. You should take some back, or better yet, sell it at the market to get some extra money.”

Hearing this, Jianxiu could only sigh helplessly.