Wu the Second added, "Besides, she's just a girl. How could she get a wild boar on her own? Use your brains for once."

"..."

Old Man Yang's wife and the other women fell into deep thought as well.

Wu the Second pouted, saying, "I'm sure the scholar… no, the scholar is a weak student. He can't possibly hunt. Perhaps he worked with her to steal another hunter's prey. That's where the boar came from. Someone else killed it, but they hadn't claimed the carcass in time. She just got lucky and stole it."

Old Man Yang's wife was stunned.

After she racked her mind, she told the women next to her, "But it's alright! The village head has promised to return the money we lent Eleventh Daughter if she can't repay her debt. That's why we don't have to worry."

"That's right, we're not worried at all." The other women nodded fervently.

Wu the Second harrumphed coldly. "As if Ma Sanye has the money! So what if he promised? Can he return the money if she runs off with it? In other words, when it comes down to it and he doesn't have the money, you can't do anything, can you? Idiots!"

"No, no! That won't happen. If she doesn't come back, Ma Sanye will definitely give us an explanation for it," Old Man Yang's wife said desperately.

"An explanation? What kind of explanation do you want? He'll just say that Eleventh Daughter will surely come back some day, but she and her three kids will starve to death by the wayside within a year. Either that, or they'll come back with their heads hanging in shame when they really can't make it out there." Wu the Second taunted them, saying, "When that happens, she won't have the money to pay you back no matter how you press her for it. What can she do to pay you?"

Old Man Yang's wife, "..."

The women huddled together and exchanged their opinions, until one of them suggested that they went to the village head's house to ask.

Wu the Second watched them leave and shook his head. Those idiots.

When Old Man Yang's wife led her posse to the village head's house, he was in the middle of his lunch. Old Man Yang's wife approached him, rubbing her hands as she asked, "Village head, what if Qi Qingyao doesn't come back?"

"What do you mean, what if?" Ma Sanye was a little confused.

Old Man Yang's wife said, "I mean, what if she ran away and won't return our money? She cut ties with the Qi family, so who do we get our money from?"

Ma Sanye splayed his hands in exasperation. "I swear on my good name that Qi Qingyao will definitely return and repay her debt."

"It's not that we don't trust you, village head, but… Twenty taels! That's not a small sum! If she really took off, can you guarantee you'll pay us back?"

"Don't you have faith in me?"

"We do, but…"

"I know you're worried. Alright, let's do this. We'll wait for a month, until the end of the year. If Qi Qingyao still isn't back, I'll sell everything I own to pay you guys back. What do you think?"

"…"

If the village head went that far…

There was nothing the anxious women could say to that. All they could do was pray that Qi Qingyao had not run off with her kids!

Ma Sanye recalled the women's doubts and prayed inwardly as well. 'Qingyao, lassie, I'm your guarantor so please don't disappoint me!'

…

Qi Qingzhu's break was over, so she was about to return to Qingzhou City and resume her work at her master's house. Before she left, she dropped by her maiden home again and secretly tried to find out about Qi Qingyao's whereabouts.

What she heard in return was that Qi Qingyao must have skipped out on her debt and left the village with the two strings and three children. She was never coming back.

Qi Qingzhu froze on the spot.

What…