The next day.
The three sisters hauled the hog-tied roe deer to Aunt Sun’s house to ride the ox cart.
From Hulu Village to Yunshui Town, it takes over an hour to walk, but riding an ox cart is much faster.
Aunt Sun’s family takes people to town every day, charging one copper coin per person.
They didn’t have a single copper coin now, so they would have to pay Aunt Sun after selling the roe deer.
Sun Taohua looked at the young girls carrying a roe deer with envy, but she was also genuinely happy for them in her heart.
Once this roe deer was sold, they wouldn’t have to go hungry anymore.
“You’re going to town too, aren’t you? Get on quickly,” Sun Taohua greeted with a smile.
An Chun and An Xia smiled at Sun Taohua and joined forces to move the roe deer onto the ox cart.
Others on the ox cart were also very envious when they saw such a large roe deer.
“Aunt Sun, we don’t have any money on us right now. We will pay you back once the roe deer is sold,” An Xia said, feeling a bit embarrassed.
Aunt Sun waved her hand. “It’s only three copper coins, no need to pay. You even gave our family half a chicken last night!”
After saying this, she patted Li Zhaocai, who was driving the ox cart. “Husband, everyone is here, let’s go!”
On the ox cart, Aunt An’s daughter-in-law, Mrs. Zhou, asked curiously, “The roe deer looks like it’s still alive. How did you three little girls catch it?”
An Xia smiled slightly. “We were lucky; the roe deer knocked itself unconscious, and we found it on the mountain.”
Mrs. Zhou said with some regret, “Sigh, I wander around Yanhui Mountain every day; why don’t I ever have such luck?”
An Xia pursed her lips and didn’t speak.
Mrs. Zhou looked at the three sisters suspiciously. “Why did you three go to town to sell the roe deer today? Usually, your grandmother wouldn’t be so at ease with you!”
An Qiu hung her head when she heard this, and An Chun also pursed her lips, looking as if she had something to say but held back.
An Xia met Mrs. Zhou’s suspicious gaze and said, “The three of us sisters have been separated from the family.”
The ox cart was in an uproar. “How can they separate the girls and have them live on their own?”
“This must have been instigated by Zhang Cuihua, right?”
An Xia let the villagers make various guesses; she didn’t explain, nor did she speak ill of that family in front of outsiders.
The more she acted this way, the more the villagers felt their guesses were correct.
The An family bunch were not acting like human beings.
Just after Aunt Sun’s ox cart left, Wu Huahua, who was on good terms with Zhang Cuihua, went to the An family courtyard!
She didn’t know yet that An Xia and her sisters had been kicked out of the house.
Looking at Zhang Cuihua, she said in a sour tone, “What kind of great luck did your family have to hunt such a large roe deer?”
Zhang Cuihua looked bewildered. “What roe deer? Where did a roe deer come from?”
Wu Huahua said with some dissatisfaction, “Are you still hiding it from me? Didn’t you send your three girls to town to sell it?”
“What are you talking about?” Zhang Cuihua didn’t believe it.
Two days had passed; not only were those three little sluts not dead, but they were also able to hunt a roe deer and go to town to sell it?
Something about this was not right…
She looked at Wu Huahua and replied perfunctorily, “Look at my memory!”
…
When An Xia and the others arrived in town, they were led by Li Zhaocai into a restaurant.
Li Zhaocai occasionally hunted wild game in the mountains and sent them here; the prices were fair.
“Shopkeeper Ge, we have a live roe deer here. Would you like to take a look and see if your restaurant wants it?” he said with a smile at the entrance.
When Shopkeeper Ge heard it was live wild game, he said repeatedly, “I want it, I want it! I’m just short of this!”
He took a look, confirmed that the roe deer was indeed alive, and offered a price. “Sixty copper coins per jin.”
This animal was not commonly seen in Yunshui Town, so the price was naturally not cheap.
Li Zhaocai looked at An Xia and asked, “Xia girl, will you sell at this price?”
“Sell!” An Xia nodded.
Shopkeeper Ge happily had a waiter weigh the roe deer.
“Forty-two jin, I’ll give you two taels and five hundred copper coins of silver, plus twenty copper coins.”
An Xia received the money and immediately gave Li Zhaocai six copper coins for the round-trip fare.
Li Zhaocai couldn’t refuse, so he had to accept it and instructed, “Once you’ve bought your things, go wait for me on the ox cart.”
After speaking, he turned and left the restaurant; he still had his own business to attend to.
An Xia and the others were also preparing to leave when Shopkeeper Ge smiled and said, “Little girl, if you have good things next time, just send them here; I guarantee you won’t lose out.”
“It’s a deal!” An Xia smiled at Shopkeeper Ge and took An Chun and An Qiu to do their shopping.
Inside a private room on the second floor.
Hua Wumian, dressed in scarlet robes, looked at Rong Yan, who was coughing slightly at the moment, and said, “Shall we eat some roe deer meat? It’s quite suitable for nourishing your body!”
After Rong Yan steadied himself, he sat up straight. “Whatever you decide is fine!”
Hua Wumian shrugged, pushed open the window of the private room, raised an eyebrow, and said playfully, “That little girl who sold the roe deer just now is truly miserable. Having finally gotten a little bit of silver, I’m afraid she’s being eyed by a petty thief.”
Rong Yan frowned imperceptibly and then instructed, “Mo Xiao, go handle it!”
Mo Xiao was stunned for a moment and asked, “Please, Master, give me your orders!”
“The thief—take care of him!” Rong Yan wiped the corner of his lips and said indifferently.
“Yes!” Mo Xiao left the restaurant.
…
As soon as An Xia stepped out of the restaurant, she felt like she was being watched.
But not long after, this feeling disappeared completely—it was very strange!
Seeing that the threat had vanished, she couldn’t be bothered to care too much.
She went to a shop first to buy salt, then bought ten jin of rice, five jin of white flour, and cut two jin of pork—half fat and half lean—to render lard at home. She also bought two thin quilts and sleeping mats, spending over three hundred copper coins in total.
The three sisters returned to Aunt Sun’s ox cart with their hands full.
Aunt Sun had been on the ox cart early. Seeing that they had so many things, she quickly got off the ox cart to help them.
“Put these things against the cart railing so they don’t spill.”
Once everyone leaving the village had gathered, Li Zhaocai drove the ox cart and took everyone back to Hulu Village.
However, as soon as they got off the ox cart, they felt that something was wrong.
Their courtyard gate was wide open, and the lock had been smashed to pieces!
A burst of anger rose in An Xia’s heart. She rushed into the courtyard and found the tables and chairs inside scattered in disarray.
The room they lived in had also been ransacked and turned into a mess.
An Chun and An Qiu had never experienced such a thing; they were both stunned on the spot, not knowing what to do!
An Xia’s eyes grew cold. “Big Sister, where did you hide Mother’s dowry? Go see if it’s still there!”
An Chun finally reacted and rushed into the room, discovering that the lock on the cabinet had also been smashed.
The silver hairpin, silver earrings, and bracelet were nowhere to be found.
She collapsed on the ground and wiped away tears!
This was the only memento her mother had left for the three sisters!
“Xia’er, who is so heartless to steal our things?”
An Xia sneered. “Who else could it be besides that family?”
An Qiu tilted her head and asked sadly, “Was it Grandmother and the stepmother?”
“Let’s go! Let’s go settle the score with them!”
They shouldn’t have had time to take that jewelry out to sell yet!
An Chun got up from the ground and followed behind An Xia!
Her mother’s things must not be lost!
An Xia looked around, shouldered a hoe, and then looked at An Chun and An Qiu.
“To the An house!”