15 My Heart is Pounding

Without delay, Han Qiao produced the five taels of silver along with her household registration. She handed them to her father.

Father Han looked at the five taels of silver and the household registration, then looked back at Han Qiao. "Have you really thought it through?"

"Father, I've thought it through very carefully. Rather than getting beaten to death and allowing my three daughters get tortured at the Sun house, I'd rather move back to Xishan Village. Even if we're dirt poor, I'm not afraid."

"Besides, we still have our four limbs. As long as we're willing to endure hardship, we'll always be able to make a living."

Father Han took a deep breath, then took the silver and household registration. He said to Han Qiao, "I hope you won't regret this in the future."

Father Han asked the four brothers to stay for lunch. He told Han Qiao to go help her mother in the kitchen.

He asked his son to inform the carriage driver that she wouldn't be returning to town until after lunch. He also invited the driver to lunch.

In the central room, Father Han asked his four brothers, "So, are we going to build the house at the entrance of the village, or at the back?"

"The back of the village is better. It's closer to us, so we can avoid pedestrians pointing fingers at us. There's a piece of flat land on a barren hill at the back of the village. When the time comes, let's tell the village chief and the junior official that we need another parcel of land to grow vegetables, radishes, corn, and sweet potatoes. That way we'll also have more food."

"We can also put up a fence around some barren land to raise chickens in. Daily eggs are another decent source of income," Uncle Yao suggested.

His brothers immediately agreed with him.

"I think Yao is right."

Han Qiao and her daughters could work. And after Xiu got married in a few years, they would have a son-in-law to help them with the work.

Han Qiao was still young, too. Her looks weren't bad. There would be people coming to ask for her hand in marriage after the divorce was finalized.. Who knows, maybe should could marry a better man.

No one could say for sure.

Father Han asked his four brothers to stay there at home. First he was going to go to the village chief's home, as well as the junior official's home. Before he left, he went to the kitchen to ask Han Yuan to prepare something to take to the two officials.

Han Yuan hesitated for a moment. She took out the cloth that Han Qiao had brought back and handed it to Father Han.

"I'm going to need this..."

"We need to ask the village officials to handle this matter, so we need to give them a good gift. If it's too light a gift, they won't get anything done for us. But once they accept it, we will make up for the loss, what with the land and house. We will still make a profit," Han Yuan said. She was very reluctant to part with it.

Father Han had already taken the cloth and left. There was nothing she could do about it now.

She then divided up the pastries and caramel into six portions. She had Han Qiao send them over to her aunties. She then invited the aunties and uncles over for lunch.

She also brought her grandparents over.

Han Qiao's grandparents were very old and were now living in Uncle Han's house. Their legs were still quite agile, but they were a little muddle-headed and didn't recognize people.

They had good sons, who would cook some excellent food at home or help them with various tasks. The sons came over quite quickly when summoned.

"Give your grandma a portion of mung bean cake and caramel. She likes those."

Han Qiao nodded.

Since they didn't have much to begin with, the portion she gave her wasn't very big.

It was just a token of goodwill.

Once the whole family had come over, her aunties grabbed her by the hand and exchanged a few words. They asked her what was going on at home, and when they did, she didn't hide anything.

Her aunties were shocked to find out that she planned to divorce her husband and move back to Xishan Village with her daughters.

"Ah Qiao, you need to think this over carefully."

They all advised her to think twice. It was very difficult for a woman to get a divorce, especially with all those daughters.

Han Qiao brought her grandfather and grandmother home. The grandmother froze in her and asked her, "My dear Qiao, have you thought this through? Are you really going to get a divorce?"

"If I don't, I'm risking my life. Sun Yiming violently hits me and the children from time to time," Han Qiao said, her eyes red.

She knew that her grandfather was really confused.

Grandma was not confused, though.

If Grandma could support her, then this kind of thing would never happen again.

"..."

The old lady was silent for a moment.

From her pocket she took out an old wallet and handed it to Han Qiao. "I'll give you a tael of silver here. You take it and buy some things. Since you're getting a divorce, you're about to move into a home with nothing in it."

"Grandma..." Han Qiao said softly.

"Take it. Don't let your aunties know. Don't even tell your mother. This is between me and you. In the future, when your life is better, buy me some more mung bean cakes and caramel. I love these." The old lady patted Han Qiao's hand, then stuffed the purse into her hand.

Han Qiao didn't know what to feel.

One tael of silver was no small amount.

"Grandma, I'll cook for you every day. I'll make you some delicious pastries."

"I'll be waiting, then," The old lady smiled.

Her teeth had already fallen out, and her face was full of wrinkles. Nonetheless, she was very kind.

By the time they had arrived at the Han family home, the two village officials were already there. They took the cloth given as a gift by Father Han, so they had to follow through now.

Father Han told them that he wanted one mu of wasteland, so they went out to measure it.

Wasteland was not worth much. It wasn't much use just letting it sit there.

At the dining table, no one brought up the divorce. After all, the carriage driver was still present.

The two sisters-in-law were extremely surprised.

Han Qiao actually wanted to divorce her husband and move back into Xishan Village with here three daughters? This was simply unbelievable.

After the meal, Han Qiao set off back to town with her daughters. Father Han assured her that he would take care of everything in Xishan Village for her. Once the divorce was finalized, moving back home would be the least of her worries.

It made her think carefully about whether she really wanted to divorce Sun Yiming.

If she decided to go through with it, she would have to go talk with Sun Yiming's parents.

"Father, I'm going back to town."

"Alright, go back."

When she came, she was in a rather solemn mood, but after all that had happened here, she was much less anxious.

Han Qiao was in an extremely good mood.

Sun Xiu couldn't help but ask, "Mom, has everything been settled?"

Han Qiao nodded. "Yes, the hard part is over."

With a way out, she no longer had to worry about dealing with Sun Yiming.

Though her spirits were high, the air in the carriage was still stuffy. Han Qiao lifted the curtain and peered out onto the road, where she saw Heng Yi from next door. He was carrying a load of mountain goods while climbing into a carriage. A person immediately got down from the carriage and, wreathed in smiles, took the goods from him and loaded them into the carriage.

Heng Yi could tell someone was watching him. He turned his head and saw Han Qiao.

They exchanged glances. No doubt, Han Qiao was very beautiful.

Actually, Heng Yi had never seen a woman as beautiful as Han Qiao.

Han Qiao smiled at him. His ears lit up red and he quickly turned his head away.

Seeing this, Han Qiao tilted her eyebrows and lowered the curtain.

The name was stuck in her mind: Heng Yi!

He was a hunter. And, a bachelor.

At that time, Han Qiao had no feelings towards Heng Yi. She wanted to get more familiar with him first. Then she would ask for his help in collecting herbs in the mountain.

Whenever he went into the mountains to hunt, he could find all the wild fruits, hairy chestnuts, wild rattan pears, and so on. That would be a big help. That way, if she ever needed anything from the mountains, she wouldn't have to wander around aimlessly.

However, Heng Yi interpreted that simple glance much differently. He had never exchanged glances with a woman like that before. And even when he had, he had never really had a chance to see one up close and get a feel for her looks.

On the way back to Ninghe Town, Heng Yi's couldn't get that image of Han Qiao's gentle smile out of his head.

He felt like he wanted to wrap his arms around her. He wanted to see that smile of hers. He wanted to see her unable to bear the grief and beg for mercy. He wanted to make her his, at all costs.

He wanted to see that smile every day.

He wanted that smile to only bloom for him.

But he reminded himself, "Heng Yi, I can't! She is someone else's wife. Stealing someone else's wife would earn me the scorn of the world till the day I die."

However, there was a voice in his head telling him that if he liked her, he had to fight for her. If he gave her up, he might spend the rest of his days all alone…