When An Xia and An Qiu arrived at the creek, An Chun was just getting up to head back.
Seeing the two sisters, she smiled and said, “Why did you come out? Didn’t I tell you to stay home and rest?”
“We saw you hadn’t returned for a long time, so we came to help!” An Xia replied.
An Chun glanced at the clothes in the wooden basin, “How much work could there be? You don’t need to help!”
“Let’s go, let’s head home; Big Sister will cook for you.”
The three sisters returned home, and An Xia took down the rabbit meat from the rafters.
“Big Sister, is it okay if we make spicy chili rabbit and stir-fried vegetable hearts today?”
An Chun felt a bit reluctant; eating meat every meal was not something a rural family could afford to do.
But seeing the expectant eyes of her two younger sisters, she sighed helplessly and doted on them, “Alright, let’s make spicy chili rabbit meat for you.”
She worked very efficiently, and with An Qiu and An Xia helping to light the fire and wash the vegetables, the two dishes were on the table quickly!
An Qiu watched the bowl of rabbit meat with bright eyes, swallowing slightly.
“Big Sister, this smells so good! Can I start eating?”
“Eat up, eat plenty!” An Chun smiled honestly.
An Qiu picked up a piece of rabbit meat, eating it with a look of pure satisfaction, and sighed, “If only we could eat meat every day.”
“Pfft!” An Xia couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
She then added confidently, “Don’t worry, with Second Sister around, I guarantee you’ll be able to live a life where you can eat meat every day.”
She turned her head to An Chun and asked, “Big Sister, does anyone in our village know how to forge daggers? I also need some winnowing baskets.”
An Chun stopped with her chopsticks, asking confusedly, “What do you need those for?”
“We often go up the mountain, so I want a dagger for self-defense.”
“As for the baskets, I plan to use them to dry medicinal herbs!” An Xia replied truthfully.
After all, it wasn’t possible to go to town every other day; that took too much time!
“The only person in our village who can forge iron is Uncle Four An. You can go ask him if he can forge a dagger. As for the baskets, how many do you need? I can cut bamboo and weave them for you myself,” An Chun thought for a moment and replied.
An Xia was stunned, “You can do that?”
“Weaving baskets isn’t hard. Living under our stepmother’s thumb, you have to know how to do everything, or you’ll get beaten!”
The three sisters chatted while they ate, the atmosphere extremely harmonious!
“Bang! Bang! Bang!” The sound of hammering at the gate echoed outside the courtyard, followed immediately by Wu Huahua’s voice, “An Xia, you little harlot, open the door for this old lady!”
An Chun frowned tightly, looking bewildered, “What’s going on? I’ll go see!”
An Xia felt a chill in her heart and pressed An Chun down into her chair, “Big Sister, you sit here; I’ll go open the gate!”
With a deadpan expression, she opened the courtyard gate!
Wu Huahua stood at the entrance with her hands on her hips, full of the air of a shrew, looking like she was here to demand justice!
“What are you doing hammering on our door?” An Xia asked with a hostile tone!
Wu Huahua was so angry she could barely breathe, pointing at her forehead and cursing, “Doing what? You little harlot beat my son, and you want to act like nothing happened?”
An Xia tilted her head and glanced at Zheng Dahui behind Wu Huahua, her tone mocking, “What? You’re so grown up, and after losing a fight, you go home crying to your mommy for help?”
Zheng Dahui’s face turned red with anger, “I am not that kind of person!”
He had been cooling off at home when his mother saw the bruises on his body. She kept hounding him until he finally told her! So she dragged him here to demand an explanation.
Originally, he had wanted to get his revenge himself.
An Xia looked at Zheng Dahui with contempt, “And you call yourself a man? Go cry on your mother’s lap!”
Wu Huahua’s eyes were spitting fire, “Are you admitting that the injuries on Dahui are your doing?”
“Yes!” An Xia was bold enough to take responsibility!
“Pay up!”
“Five taels of silver, and this matter will be settled!” Wu Huahua demanded greedily!
An Xia sneered, “No way!”
With that, she pointed at Zheng Dahui, “He deserved to be beaten for daring to insult my sister!”
Wu Huahua retorted mockingly, “That’s just because you’re all a nest of little harlots!”
“Born to be flashy and dedicated to seducing men—your mother was like that, and you sisters are the same!”
“If it weren’t for that scar on your face, I’m sure you’d be even better at seducing people than the other two!”
“If you go around attracting bees and butterflies yourself, don’t blame men for making lewd remarks; that’s what you deserve—Ah!!!”
Before Wu Huahua could finish her sentence, she let out a piercing howl!
An Xia, face black as ink, delivered a fierce slap to Wu Huahua’s face. A clear handprint immediately appeared on her sagging, sallow cheek!
She clutched her face, looking at An Xia in disbelief, “You actually dare to lay a hand on your elder?”
“What kind of elder are you? Just being old doesn’t make you an elder!”
“With a mouth that filthy, watch out for sores and pus,” An Xia let the curse slip out.
However, she didn’t regret it. So what if her “crow’s beak” was accurate twice and she’d have bad luck for two hours?
Wu Huahua spat a mouthful of thick phlegm onto the ground and lunged at An Xia with a vicious look!
An Xia effortlessly dodged her attack, and in passing, delivered a swift kick to her bottom!
“Thwack!”
Wu Huahua fell heavily to the ground, her mouth filled with dirt!
Originally, An Xia hadn’t wanted to resort to physical force, but this family had done wrong and yet continued to viciously insult all three of them. Even worse, they had insulted their late mother.
If she didn’t give Wu Huahua a little lesson, if the reputation of being a “seducer” spread, it would be a disaster!
Wu Huahua lay on the ground and turned her head angrily to Zheng Dahui, “Are you stupid? Seeing your mother get beaten, don’t you know how to help?”
Zheng Dahui finally reacted and lunged at An Xia!
An Qiu, seeing her Second Sister about to be besieged, grabbed a broom and rushed out. She struck Zheng Dahui again and again, showing absolutely no fear!
Zheng Dahui was attacked from both sides, his face contorting in pain!
Seeing her son getting the short end of the stick, Wu Huahua scrambled up from the ground with difficulty to go help him!
An Chun also rushed out, blocking her path and saying in a low voice, “Auntie, you are not allowed to pass!”
Wu Huahua was overjoyed—finally, someone easy to bully!
She put on her shrewish air, “You say I’m not allowed, so I’m not?” She put all her strength into pushing An Chun!
This cheap girl would surely fall and not be able to get up, right?
To her surprise, An Chun didn’t budge an inch, but Wu Huahua was sent flying back!
An Chun blushed and said, “Auntie, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to! I just wanted to stop you!”
Wu Huahua looked at An Chun’s honest, simple face and listened to her non-threatening, slightly apologetic words, and was almost choked with anger!
By now, Zheng Dahui had already been beaten black and blue by An Xia and was sprawled on the ground, his chest heaving violently as he gasped for air!
Wu Huahua wailed and knelt beside Zheng Dahui, “My son! How did you get beaten up into such a state?”
Then, she gritted her teeth and pointed at An Xia, “You little harlot, you just wait!”
After saying that, she helped Zheng Dahui up and they scrambled away in a ragged, panicked retreat!
An Xia sighed!
In truth, she didn’t want to stir up trouble, and she felt that problems that could be solved with the brain should not involve physical force!
But for Wu Huahua’s family, physical force was the only way to intimidate them.
Since they had moved out, some people in the village with wicked intentions thought the sisters were helpless and easy to bully.
Well, she would just have to set an example for them so others wouldn’t dare to act rashly!