Old Lady Qian’s face shifted between green and white. She said with malice, “What business is it of yours? Have you managed your own affairs well enough?”
Everyone in Hulu Village knew how fearsome Old Lady Qian could be, so they all kept their mouths shut.
The Village Chief cleared his throat, sounding impatient. “Qian-shi, in this day and age, things are relatively peaceful. Selling sons and daughters is something we cannot have in Hulu Village. Our village cannot afford such a disgrace.”
“Handle it yourself!” After speaking, he flicked his sleeves and left.
Seeing there was no more spectacle to watch, the others discussed it for a bit before dispersing.
However, Old Lady Qian did not intend to listen to the Village Chief.
Selling this ugly girl for ten taels of silver was a massive profit; how could she easily give it up?
She looked at An Xia with venomous eyes. “Don’t cause any more trouble. You will go to the Liu family. If you dare to go out and spout nonsense again, I will beat you to death.”
An Xia raised her eyes, her gaze so icy it felt like falling into an ice cellar.
She said coldly, “You are welcome to try. If you push me too far, I might as well put rat poison in the food, and we can all die together.”
She had no money to buy rat poison, but as a descendant of a family of ancient medicine practitioners, she knew plenty of poisonous herbs.
Old Lady Qian was struck by the look in her eyes and, as if possessed, shut her mouth.
“How are you talking to your grandma? Are you courting death?” An Laifu’s voice rose.
An Xia didn’t speak; she gave him a cold glance and walked toward the stream at the edge of the house.
An Laifu stared at her back, his voice furious. “Do you still have any respect for me as your father?”
An Xia paused upon hearing this, turned around, and asked with a mocking tone, “You deserve it?”
The scar on the original host’s face had been caused by her stepmother, Zhang Cuihua, pushing her into a fire pit during winter. An Laifu had stood by and watched, not daring to say a harsh word to Zhang, instead blaming the original host for being useless and unable to sit steadily.
An Laifu was so angry he trembled all over, his face flushing red as he stiffened his neck. “This is outrageous! I’ll beat you to death today.”
An Xia wore a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, arms crossed, her voice devoid of waves. “Fine, then let’s all die together!”
An Laifu was frightened by An Xia’s smile, but with nowhere to vent his burning rage, he turned to look at An Chun and An Qiu.
Pick on the soft targets!
An Chun and An Qiu knew exactly what was about to happen. Over the years, no matter where their father had been slighted, it was always the three sisters who took the beating.
“If you hit them, the consequences will be the same as hitting me.”
Before An Laifu’s palm could land on the sisters, An Xia’s threatening voice rang out.
He was unwilling, but he knew the saying that even a rabbit bites when pushed into a corner, so he slowly lowered his raised hands.
It was time for dinner.
Old Lady Qian called An Laifu, Zhang Cuihua, and her own two children to eat, not even sparing a glance for the three sisters.
An Xia looked at the two sisters. “Time to eat. Let’s go sit down.”
An Chun lowered her head, stammering, “Xia’er, we’ve never been allowed to sit and eat. You know…”
“The past is the past.”
An Xia interrupted An Chun, took each of them by the hand, and sat down at the table openly.
Seeing this, Zhang-shi rushed out from the inner room, her fat quivering, her triangular eyes filled with malice. “You ugly brat, have you forgotten the rules?”
“Be careful, or I’ll discipline you!”
An Xia lifted her head with some impatience. “What rules? Who set these rules?”
“The work in this house is done by us three sisters; we gather the pig feed, and we help in the fields. Eating a meal is entirely reasonable.”
After finishing, she served An Chun and An Qiu a large bowl of rice each, acting as if Zhang-shi did not exist.
Before, all three of them were only allowed to drink watery porridge where one could see their own reflection.
An Chun and An Qiu looked at the large bowls of brown rice before them. After swallowing deeply, they didn’t care about anything else and shoveled the rice into their mouths. Even if they were beaten to death for it, they could at least be well-fed ghosts.
Zhang-shi looked at An Xia in disbelief, habitually reaching out to grab her ear. “You little wretch, you’ve turned against heaven! I’ll teach you the rules today.”
An Xia didn’t look up, instead delivering a heavy slap onto Zhang-shi’s thick palm.
Zhang-shi hissed in pain, preparing to rush forward again, looking as if she wanted to tear An Xia to shreds.
An Xia swallowed the brown rice with difficulty—this stuff was rough on the throat.
After swallowing, she said in a leisurely manner, “You don’t want the Village Chief to come by again, do you?”
In Hulu Village, the Village Chief represented absolute authority and was known to be fair. Cases of abusing one’s own children were considered “family matters” that he couldn’t easily intervene in if not brought to his attention.
But if it were brought to his attention, he would certainly take action.
Zhang-shi, however, didn’t care about that right now. She gnashed her teeth and bared her fangs at An Xia like a mad dog, only to be held back firmly by An Laifu.
And so, the three An sisters had their first full meal since Zhang-shi entered the family.
At night.
The three sisters lay on the straw pile in the shed, each with their own thoughts.
An Chun was worried about tomorrow’s food, as they had deeply offended their stepmother today.
An Qiu felt that her second sister had become different today—her tongue was sharper and she was much smarter. But, she liked this second sister very much.
An Xia, meanwhile, rubbed the ancient-looking ring on her left pinky finger and fell into deep thought.
She had transmigrated with her soul, so why had this ring come along with her?
Her grandfather had said it was a precious item and told her to study it carefully, but back then, she had too many precious things on her hands and never found the time.
Forget it, don’t think about that for now. The most important thing is to find a way to break the engagement with the Liu family.
The next day, as dawn broke.
The three sisters were woken up by violent pounding on the door.
Zhang-shi barked from the doorway, “What time is it? Still sleeping?”
“Get up quickly to gather pig feed! The water vat in the house is empty too—go fill it up, you lazy bones.”
Hearing the sound, An Chun and An Qiu scrambled up from the straw pile. An Xia, however, got up reluctantly and muttered casually, “That stepmother is so vicious, she’s not afraid that God will punish her by having her fall into a latrine.”
An Chun and An Qiu worked together to drag a drowsy An Xia out the door.
An Chun carried two wooden buckets to fetch water, while An Xia and An Qiu carried baskets to the foot of the mountain to gather pig feed.
Just as their baskets were nearly full of pig feed, the Liu family’s eldest daughter-in-law walked over with her own basket.
An Xia whispered a few words to An Qiu.
An Qiu nodded repeatedly, “Don’t worry, Second Sister, I will definitely cooperate with you.”
An Xia looked at An Qiu with a look that said, ‘The student is ready to be taught,’ then pressed hard on an acupuncture point on her own body.
In an instant, her lips turned deathly pale, and her face grew ash-gray.
Her legs went weak, and she collapsed to the ground.
Seeing this, An Qiu shrieked at the top of her lungs, “Second Sister, what’s wrong with you? Don’t tell me you were injured yesterday?”
After saying this, she squeezed out a few tears with all her might.
The Liu family’s eldest daughter-in-law, seeing this, didn’t dare approach, crouching in the bushes to listen to the commotion.
A flash of amusement crossed An Xia’s eyes, then she immediately resumed her weak expression.
“Qiu’er, Second Sister is afraid I won’t make it. Yesterday, when I accidentally fell into the water, I hit a large rock; I’m afraid my head and internal organs are all injured.”