When the three sisters arrived at the west end of the village, they found the An family’s courtyard gate tightly shut.
However, Mrs. Zhang’s raspy, delighted laughter could be heard from time to time coming from inside the courtyard.
“I’ll knock on the door,” An Chun said, walking up to the gate.
An Xia looked at An Chun and tilted her head, signaling, “You stand aside!”
“Why bother knocking? Are you trying to give them time to hide the jewelry?”
An Chun obediently stepped aside, asking, “Then what are you planning to do…”
“BOOM!!!”
Before she could finish her sentence, the hoe An Xia had been carrying on her shoulder had already slammed fiercely into the An family’s flimsy wooden gate.
The wooden gate trembled heavily, shaking off a layer of dust.
An Chun took a deep breath, looking at An Xia in disbelief. “Xia’er… you… this…”
She was at a loss for words; An Xia’s actions were rebellious and filial-defying.
Yet, for some reason, she felt deeply satisfied!
An Qiu’s reaction was much calmer. Not only did she appreciate An Xia’s door-smashing, but she also voiced her own opinion.
“Second Sister, hit the middle; the door latch won’t last long.”
An Xia nodded in agreement, aiming the hoe at the center of the wooden gate.
“Which god-forsaken person is kicking our door? Do you have a death wish…” Mrs. Zhang’s shrill, shrewish voice rang out.
“BOOM!!!” An Xia gathered all her strength, and the wooden gate wobbled precariously.
She raised her leg and delivered a kick!
“THUD!!!”
The An family’s flimsy little wooden gate finally collapsed onto the ground…
Old Madam Qian and Mrs. Zhang stared at the door panels scattered on the ground in disbelief.
Once they realized what had happened, anger flared up instantly, leaving them red-faced and gasping for breath.
Mrs. Zhang pointed a chubby finger at An Xia. “You little slut, have you gone mad? How dare you come here and smash our door!”
An Xia rolled her eyes at Mrs. Zhang and said nonchalantly, “Since you dare to break into our home and rob us, why wouldn’t I dare to smash your door?”
“Who broke in and robbed you? Don’t you dare spout nonsense and frame us!” Mrs. Zhang argued.
The fat on her face trembled—she was clearly furious!
Old Madam Qian, who had been silent, scowled and scolded, “Stop spouting nonsense! If I call the village chief because you’re causing such a scene, let’s see if Hulu Village will have any place for you!”
An Xia laughed instead of getting angry. “I’m framing you? What is that Zhang Cuihua is wearing on her ears?”
Mrs. Zhang thought to herself that since they were in her own courtyard, surely these three little sluts couldn’t turn the world upside down?
“So what? These silver earrings belonged to your short-lived mother, but she was useless and lacked fortune. This fortune is mine to enjoy now!”
“I’m wearing her earrings—what are you three little sluts going to do about it?”
Mrs. Zhang looked smug!
When An Chun heard Mrs. Zhang call her own mother “short-lived,” she clenched her fists in fury.
An Qiu retorted angrily, “You are so vicious, you’ll hardly have a long life yourself!”
Only An Xia couldn’t be bothered to argue with Mrs. Zhang about these things.
It was meaningless!
With a swift lunge, she rushed to Mrs. Zhang’s side. In the blink of an eye, she pinned Mrs. Zhang’s chubby arms behind her back and kicked her hard behind the knee.
Mrs. Zhang had no time to react; her heavy, bloated body collapsed onto her knees, letting out wails of pain!
Ignoring Mrs. Zhang’s howling, An Xia cleanly and brutally ripped the silver earrings off Mrs. Zhang’s chubby earlobes!
She turned around and pinched Mrs. Zhang’s chin. “Now do you know what we can do about it?”
Feeling the sharp pain in her earlobes, Mrs. Zhang screamed in a breakdown, “You crazy little bitch!”
An Xia looked at Mrs. Zhang’s bleeding earlobes and shrugged indifferently.
“Isn’t that what you forced us to do?”
“If one could live as a normal person, who would want to be a madman?”
“Living as a normal person always leads to being bullied, so I want to try living as a madman for a change!”
As she spoke, An Xia looked at Old Madam Qian and laughed wildly. “I actually think being a madman feels pretty good!”
Old Madam Qian was so frightened by her smile that she backed away several steps, having long since lost her previous air of arrogance.
She forced herself to remain steady and, stiffening her neck, said, “What… what is it? Do you dare to hit your own grandmother?”
“I’m telling you… you… you will be drowned for this.”
“Who are you trying to scare? The bracelet on your left wrist—will you take it off yourself, or should I help you?” An Xia’s brows furrowed, her face full of impatience.
Old Madam Qian didn’t answer immediately; she was gambling that An Xia didn’t have the guts to lay a hand on her.
“Grandmother, since you don’t want to do it yourself, I’ll have to help you!”
She pointed at the door panels lying on the ground. “You saw it yourself: your granddaughter is not a delicate person. If I accidentally break your old arms and legs, don’t blame me!”
With that, she took a long stride toward Old Madam Qian!
Old Madam Qian gulped with difficulty.
In her eyes, the An Xia before her was no different from a demon from hell!
With trembling, withered fingers, she pointed at An Xia and said, “Don’t… don’t come over here. I’ll take it off for you!”
After saying this, she twisted the silver bracelet off her wrist and threw it in front of An Xia.
An Xia picked up the silver bracelet and said coldly, “You are all so difficult. Give back the silver hairpin!”
Nine-year-old An Dong, hearing that An Xia wanted the silver hairpin back, immediately clung to one of Mrs. Zhang’s legs.
She cried, “Mother, this silver hairpin is mine. Why should we give it back to that little mongrel?”
“Mother, kill this little mongrel!”
An Xia’s gaze landed on An Dong!
Sure enough, if the upper beam is crooked, the lower ones will be twisted too.
Zhang Cuihua was vicious to the core, and her daughter, An Dong, was already screaming for murder at such a young age!
Come to think of it, the original owner hadn’t committed suicide on her own; her drowning had everything to do with An Dong!
An Xia narrowed her eyes, her tone chilling. “Give back the silver hairpin. I don’t want to say it a third time!”
An Dong was used to bullying the three sisters and hadn’t yet realized the situation.
She stamped her feet hard, full of provocation!
“I won’t give it back! What are you going to do about it? If you dare to touch me, I’ll tell my father to beat you to death later!”
An Xia was so amused she laughed!
The mother and daughter were truly cut from the same cloth; even their lines were identical!
Just as she was about to make a move, An Qiu rushed forward like a lightning bolt, grabbed An Dong’s hair, and rudely yanked the silver hairpin out, pulling out quite a bit of hair in the process.
An Qiu had been doing manual labor all year round, while An Dong had been pampered like a delicate young lady; how could she possibly be a match for her?
Mrs. Zhang tried to help An Dong, raising her hand to slap An Qiu’s face.
An Xia intercepted her hand, gripped Mrs. Zhang’s wrist tightly, and flung her aside!
Mrs. Zhang fell face-first into the dirt, feeling completely dazed and disoriented!
An Xia looked at An Qiu with a complex expression.
A moment ago, she had said the mother and daughter were cut from the same cloth, but it seemed An Qiu was following suit, too!
This was not good!
An Xia couldn’t be bothered with Mrs. Zhang and Old Madam Qian, who were still dazed from being handled.
After leaving the An house, she said earnestly, “Qiu’er, you aren’t allowed to do that again in the future.”
An Qiu tilted her head, confused. “Not allowed to do what?”
“Not allowed to learn to be as… fierce as your Second Sister!” An Xia said, sounding somewhat troubled!
After all, in this era, it wasn’t a good reputation for a girl to be too fierce. She didn’t care much about reputation, but her younger sister still had to get married eventually!
An Qiu disagreed. “Why not? I think it’s very powerful, and that way, we don’t have to be bullied by others!”
An Xia, “…”
An Chun, “…”