"So you like the idea, huh?"

Old Man Qi patted Qi Yuanxiu's shoulder, all smiles. "In that case, we'll leave this honorable yet challenging mission to you!"

"Dad, I…" Qi Yuanxiu almost choked on his saliva.

Before he could finish that sentence, Old Man Qi interrupted him. "Don't worry, I'm sure you can do it."

Qi Yuanxiu said, "..." He was just trying to be supportive. He never said he wanted to volunteer for the honorable yet challenging mission!

Qi Yuancheng could not hold back his laughter when he saw that Qi Yuanxiu had taken the difficult task, his shoulders shaking as he giggled. Madam Wu was worried that Qi Yuanxiu would fail, so she went ahead and said, "Aren't you happy, Yuancheng? I'm sure you want to go with your Fourth Brother, right?"

Qi Yuancheng's laughter died in his throat.

Old Man Qi said, "We'll leave this to you two, then. Bring us good news tomorrow morning."

Qi Yuanye was worried that their father would order him to tag along for the murder too, so he kept his mouth clamped shut.

After the family meeting…

Everyone else left the hall, leaving Qi Yuancheng and Qi Yuanxiu alone. They stared blankly at each other, wondering where they should begin.

After a long silence, Qi Yuanxiu said to Qi Yuancheng, "Big Brother, I can't do it."

"Do you think I can?" Qi Yuancheng rolled his eyes and sighed heavily.

Qi Yuanxiu held his forehead. He could not even begin to describe how he was feeling right now. "She's our sister from the same father, after all. Yeah, she's insane and stupid and silly, but to kill her…" After a pause, he mumbled on the verge of despair, "What if she dies and comes to haunt me every night?!"

Qi Yuancheng said with full confidence, "She isn't right in the head, so even if she does die, I don't think she'll be able to find the way home in order to haunt you."

Qi Yuanxiu, "..."

His oldest brother's inexplicable confidence only made Qi Yuanxiu even more guilty.

He remembered how Qi Yuanye had said something about the fool not being foolish anymore…

Could it be true?

...

That afternoon, Qi Qingyao looked at her freeloader and solemnly set down the rules with him. Mostly, she just said things like,

"Don't think you can stay in bed just because you have amnesia!

"Once you recover, you get your butt out there and chop me some firewood!

"Starting today, you're my servant! You obey my every order, got it?

"Work harder if you don't wanna be sold off. When the time comes, you'll be in charge of chopping wood and boiling water.

"Once springtime comes, it'll get rainier. You gotta bring more wood to fix the holes in the roof!

"You know, after all that, I'm still worried you'll flake out on your debt. Let's sign a contract! Say that ginseng was worth 1,000 taels. You'll be free once you settle that debt!"

…

Jiang Yeqian could not help but raise a brow after he was "forced" to sign an "IOU" with Qi Qingyao.

She was the first person to ever suspect him of running out on a debt.

Interesting.

Whatever, he might as well hide in this small village for now. That person's minions probably would never guess that he was here.

After sundown, Qi Qingyao added more firewood to the bed-stove and returned to the house. When she saw the man, who was still finding it difficult to move, she pouted for a while. She could not sleep with him as she had before.

So Qi Qingyao calmly pointed at the floor. "You. Sleep on the floor."

"..." Jiang Yeqian glanced at the ice-cold floor.

When he did not say anything, Qi Qingyao continued, "I'm a woman, and you're a man. We're not married either, so I can't lie in the same bed with you. That's unbecoming."

"I'm unwell," Jiang Yeqian said.

"So you want me to sleep on the floor? Don't forget, this is my house!" Qi Qingyao raged.

Jiang Yeqian said confidently, "I owe you money, and I'll pay you back. I'm not staying here for free."

Qi Qingyao said through gritted teeth, "This has nothing to do with that!! You're still in my house!"

After a moment's silence, Jiang Yeqian said, "The bed is big enough for all of us."

Qi Qingyao repeated, "I'm a woman, and you're a…"

Jiang Yeqian was unfazed, though. "I'm not interested in married women, especially women who have already had children!"

Qi Qingyao nearly blacked out from anger when she heard that, but then she curved her lips into a lusty smile. Chuckling utterly shamelessly, she said, "But I'm afraid I'll be interested in you. After all, you're a sight for sore eyes."

Jiang Yeqian, "..."