After Wu Huahua and her son left, the three sisters secured the courtyard gate and returned inside.
The spicy chili rabbit meat and stir-fried vegetable hearts were still warm!
An Chun looked at An Xia with some hesitation, “Xia’er, if you act so recklessly and fight with villagers, you’ll end up with a reputation for being fierce and shrewish. What will you do in the future? You still need to get married!”
An Xia didn’t care at all, “Who says a woman must get married? Can’t I live on my own? I can support myself!”
An Qiu secretly agreed!
An Chun, however, felt she was just throwing a tantrum, “What woman doesn’t get married? Old maids are mocked by everyone!”
An Xia shrugged, “Let them mock! I don’t care!”
“In this village, if you aren’t tough, some people will only become more excessive each time!”
“Does patience always lead to a peaceful life?”
“We endured under that woman Zhang’s thumb for so many years; did we ever have a good life?”
“Didn’t we almost lose our lives, and weren’t we almost sold?”
An Xia rattled off a string of reasons, leaving An Chun speechless!
An Chun was honest, stubborn, and kind-hearted; she followed social norms, which was a virtue, but it wasn’t necessary to be this way toward wicked people!
In comparison, An Qiu’s mind was much more agile. As long as she could live a better life, she didn’t care about those restrictive social norms.
Seeing that the atmosphere between the two was somewhat awkward, An Qiu quickly cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks and headed to the kitchen!
An Xia went to her own room.
After adding a straw mat and a thin quilt last time, each of the three sisters had her own room.
She locked the door tightly and entered the space [within her inner world]!
After fetching a basket and a small hoe from the thatched hut, she headed up the mountain.
She gathered some herbs effective for scar removal and others with moderate toxicity for emergencies.
She discovered that the herbs on the mountain inside her space grew densely and were categorized by their natural habits, making them very easy to find.
Most importantly, there were no wild beasts on the mountain in the space, but there were plenty of wild fruits.
Mountain grapes, actinidia (kiwi fruit), and August melons grew in the same area.
Thirsty, An Xia swallowed slightly as she looked at the round, plump grapes that looked like cat’s eyes.
She raised her hand, picked a bunch, and ate enough to feel half-full!
Ordinarily, mountain grapes should be small, sour, and astringent, but the grapes on this medicinal mountain in her space were extremely sweet.
She picked two more bunches of mountain grapes for the basket and casually plucked a few August melons that had already begun to crack!
She peeled one and popped it into her mouth—it was sweet and refreshing.
With the basket half-full, An Xia exited the space.
She re-formulated some scar-removal ointment and made some toxic agents, pouring them into small, coarse ceramic bottles!
After finishing, she washed the herbal mud off her face and applied new medicine.
She then went to the door and called out, “Qiu’er, come to Second Sister’s room, I’ll change your dressing!”
An Qiu had already washed up and was lying down, preparing to sleep!
Hearing An Xia’s voice, she scrambled up and ran to her room!
After deftly changing her dressing, An Xia pointed to the fragrant mountain grapes, August melons, and kiwi fruit on the table, “These are for you and Big Sister; take them and share them!”
An Qiu’s eyes lit up with surprise, “Second Sister, where did these come from?”
These delicious wild fruits couldn’t be found on Yan Hui Mountain—they were always picked clean by others before they could get there!
Only Tian Yun Ridge had them.
An Xia smiled, “I didn’t take the ox cart today; I walked back from town, and I picked them up when I saw them along the way.”
An Qiu didn’t have a shred of doubt; after all, when she took the ox cart to town, she occasionally saw wild fruits by the roadside.
They were just the kind that didn’t taste good!
She figured her Second Sister must have been lucky enough to find wild fruits hidden in the nooks and crannies.
An Qiu took the fruit, and as if she had thought of something, tilted her head and asked, “Second Sister, are you mad at Big Sister? Why didn’t you give them to her yourself?”
“Not mad.” An Xia shook her head in denial!
“Just a bit helpless!”
An Qiu bit her lip and explained softly, “Big Sister said that when Mom was alive, she often taught her to be kind to others, to be a good person, and to respect elders. Perhaps she just doesn’t want to disappoint Mom!”
After saying this, An Qiu left the room and pulled the door shut.
She didn’t return to her own room, but went to knock on An Chun’s door.
Inside An Chun’s room, she pointed to the fruit in her hand, “Big Sister, Second Sister asked me to give these to you!”
An Chun was silent for a moment and asked in a low voice, “Is she mad at me?”
An Qiu shook her head, “No, otherwise why would she have me bring these to you!”
“But Big Sister, I think even though Second Sister’s actions are a bit fierce, she’s not wrong. She just doesn’t want us to be bullied!”
“The ones who are wrong are the people bullying us!”
After saying this, An Qiu put the items down and left!
The three sisters had a good night’s sleep.
But Zheng Dahui, consumed by resentment, couldn’t sleep all night!
He had blocked Wu Huahua from going to the village head; if they saw the village head, they might not necessarily come out on top!
It was better to take matters into his own hands and destroy them!
Not long after Wu Huahua returned, her mouth was full of mouth ulcers, and even her throat was covered in them—it hurt just to swallow!
She tossed and turned on the bed, groaning incessantly!
The next day, morning light pierced through the thin mist, and the grass and trees were vibrant.
An Chun wasn’t planning on going up the mountain today; she stayed home to cut bamboo and weave winnowing baskets, and An Qiu helped out at home!
An Xia went up Yan Hui Mountain alone. Qiu’er had told her that Xuanhu Hall didn’t buy many common herbs!
So, this time, she only picked expensive herbs that were not easy to find!
These herbs were rare, so after being on the mountain all day, she only got half a basket.
However, she was lucky today; she caught a quail and found a nest of quail eggs—a full twenty of them.
Seeing the sun leaning toward the west, she hurried down the mountain to go home.
Arriving at the courtyard gate, she held up the quail like she was showing off a treasure, “Qiu’er, see what Second Sister said? We have meat to eat again today!”
“And twenty quail eggs.”
An Chun pointed to the half-finished winnowing basket and said gently, “Xia’er, this basket will be done in two days.”
An Xia grinned, “Thank you, Big Sister!”
Seeing she wasn’t holding a grudge, An Chun breathed a sigh of relief.
“Qiu’er, give half of the quail eggs to Auntie Sun.”
With honest neighbors, one naturally had to keep up friendly relations!
After dinner, it was late, and the three retired to their rooms.
An Xia entered the space, gathered some slightly more expensive herbs, and combined them with the ones she had dug up today.
When she came out, it was almost midnight.
Her hearing was extremely sharp; there were rustling sounds in the courtyard!
She pressed against the door and poked a hole in her window, seeing Zheng Dahui and a few men who often hung around with him climbing over her garden wall.
When they got closer, she heard Zheng Dahui say, “I went to town specifically today to get some anesthetic; I don’t believe I can’t drug these little harlots.”
“Remember, when the time comes, toy with that little slut An Xia until she’s dead, and once you’re done, strip off her clothes and throw her on the road west of the village.”
“Why do we get to toy with the ugly woman An Xia? The other two belong to you?” Zheng Qian asked with dissatisfaction.
Zheng Dahui replied matter-of-factly, “Just because I’m the only one who could get this anesthetic!”
“Otherwise, do you think these three little sluts would let you toy with them so easily?”