Picking Up a General to Plow the Fields

Chapter 514: The Qiao Family’s gambling debt

What was even more ridiculous was that the next day, Madam Qiao came out wearing plain clothes and her hair in a loose bun.
Looking like a half-mutilated cauliflower, she ran to the gates of Lian Fang Zhou’s house, crying.

She kept asking Lian Fang Zhou to forgive her but no matter how she begged, she never apologized!

She attracted many people to come and watch.

Lian Fang Zhou was so angry that she asked Bi Tao and Chun Wing to open the door and pour a basin of water under her feet.
The two little girls drove her away aggressively.

Lian Fang Zhou had never hated Madam Qiao so much for trying to wear the hat of an ‘aunt’.
She was lucky the basin of water was aimed for her feet and not her head!

It was certain that she would punish Madam Qiao but for now, she couldn’t let people think she was in the wrong.

Yesterday’s incident could not be covered at all and it quickly spread through Dafang Village before going out to the other villages and towns, including the home of the Qiao family.

What’s more, though Lian Hai thought he had suppressed his aunt and cousin, they had actually completely ignored his warming when they returned.
On the contrary, the more they thought about Lian Fang Zhou’s family property, the more passionate they had become.

Especially Qiao Lei, coveting Lian Fang Zhou’s beauty.
Thinking of the pain he had suffered in her room, he even began to imagine how to teach her a lesson after marrying her back!

Since things were so serious, the Qiao family agreed that Lian Fang Zhou had no other way out except for marrying Qiao Lei and they asked a matchmaker to go to the Lian family’s door to talk about marriage.

After talking to several matchmakers in a row and promising a hefty amount of gifts, they barely persuaded one to go and find the Lian family.

What matchmaker wouldn’t know the gossip on the streets? Who didn’t understand the situation? Playing these tricks on other girls was completely different than playing them on Lian Fang Zhou!

Besides, they had already heard rumors that Lian Fang Zhou was going to marry her distant cousin…

Not surprisingly, the matchmaker that had the guts to approach the Lian family’s door was kicked away before she even entered the gates of the yard!

This just added to the gossip.

As for Lian Fang Zhou’s marriage to Ah Jian, no one said anything and quite a few actually congratulated them.

They were both very popular people and the type that you couldn’t offend, it was better to be friends!

Madam Qiao and Lian Li had become everyone’s negative example.
As long as they thought of them, they would make the most sensible decision.

Moreover, many people truly felt that Ah Jian and Lian Fang Zhou were a really good match.
Neither had parents, so there weren’t so many rules and regulations.

When the Qiao family found about this, they immediately started cursing! But before they could go make trouble with sinister tricks, the family was in chaos!

Eldest Madam Qiao’s youngest son, Qiao Wu suddenly owed thousands of taels in gambling debt and had his legs broken to force him to pay.

The two branches of the Qiao family were not separate and there was a dozen people, big and small in the house.
All of them were stunned, crying as they tried to explain to the lenders that they didn’t have so much money.

The lenders didn’t care.
It didn’t matter if they had money or not and a few thugs entered the house to search and forcibly take things.

After all, you had to repay your debts somehow, right?

Eldest Master Qiao and Second Master Qiao were both bad-tempered people and they both had sons, no daughters.
Plus their father was in his early sixties and in good health, so would these men have any fear of a couple of thugs?

Even if you subtracted Qiao Lei, who was recovering, their combat power was still good!

Seeing the thugs breaking in, the Qiao family was furious and worked together to drive the three thugs out, sending them fleeing with their hands covering their heads in despair.

Successfully driving away the thugs made the Qiao family’s confidence skyrocket: they were not soft persimmon to be bullied by others! There was no way to bully them!

Because they were so confident, Qiao Wu didn’t even get scolded by his elders.
His mother was even distressed for him, scolding those gangsters.

As for the debt, the Qiao family completely ignored it!

But they were relieved too early and just because they ignored it didn’t mean that it was over.

At noon the next day, more than 20 thugs rushed to the Qiao house with sticks and knives!

With yesterday’s conflict, the revenge of the gangsters seemed natural and reasonable.
Even if others wanted to speak up, they still had to admit the Qiao family was in the wrong.
Even if they didn’t pay back the debt, they still couldn’t beat the creditors.
It was simply unrealistic not to be retaliated by others!

This time, all the men and women in the Qiao family were beaten and their house was robbed.
Everything that could not be take away was smashed to pieces.
Not to mention the land deeds and cash, even the pigs and chickens in the backyard were looted.
Not even clothing was left.

Before leaving, the boss of the gangsters said harshly: If you can’t make up the remaining 700 taels within three days, he would be back to collect the house deed and sell them off for money!

In order to prevent them from escaping, five or six thugs were left to watch them.

The Qiao family was in a mess, shrouded in gloom and depression.
Everyone was crying.

Seven hundred taels in three days, how could it be possible to gather so much money! Which relatives could they ask?

Those people might as well hand them some rope to hang themselves.

Having said that, they were not entirely hopeless yet and the individuals still could struggle.

After crying, the Qiao family split up to borrow money and sent the two daughter-in-laws back to their families to ask for money.

The two wives went home to their parents but came back the same day, their faces exhausted and pale.
Needless to say, their results were not good.

At this moment, Madam Qiao’s sister-in-law remembered Lian Fang Zhou and was so angry, she came up with a solution.

The whole family ran to the doctor.
They forgot the matchmaker they had sent to the Lian family had not even made it through the gate, forgot that Qiao Wei had been beaten until he couldn’t stand, and forgot that Lian Fang Zhou was now engaged to Ah Jian, completely focused on forcing Lian Fang Zhou to marry.

“It’s simple! Since my son really likes her, I don’t disdain her anymore.
Let them settle the marriage now! After she enters the Qiao family, I won’t settle accounts with her.” Eldest Madam Qiao sighed in an extremely virtuous and tolerant manner.

Second Madam Qiao secretly rolled her eyes in contempt.
No matter what the situation, you don’t forget to save face in front of your own family! Hmph, she was afraid those people wouldn’t agree to your generous words! This was all caused by your son, otherwise the family wouldn’t have suffered such a sudden disaster!

Second Madam Qiao despised her sister-in-law but at present, this seemed like the only way out so she also eagerly looked forward to Lian Fang Zhou’s marriage to Qiao Lei.

As long as she was married into their family, she belonged to their family, let alone her money! How could she just watch her husband’s family being taken away!