An Xia did not follow An Chun’s suggestion to buy less meat, because she had already figured out how to handle it.
They stowed the items in their baskets; the cloth was too bulky to fit inside, so they had to carry it in their hands. As soon as they boarded Auntie Sun’s ox cart, a villager looked at them with envy and said, “My, you girls must have struck it rich to be able to afford fine cotton cloth.”
Average farming families weren’t so picky; they wore ramie cloth, which was cheap and durable. Fine cotton was something they wouldn’t even dare to dream of; while comfortable to wear, it was both expensive and not very sturdy.
An Xia smiled faintly and said politely, “How could we have struck it rich? Our clothes were just too tattered, so we really had no choice but to buy two bolts of fabric to take home and make some clothes to wear.”
Auntie Jiang immediately spoke with sarcasm, “Such a watertight response. We’re all in the same village; if there’s wealth to be made, shouldn’t we all share in it? What’s the meaning of hiding things?”
An Xia frowned, feeling unhappy. It was no wonder Yang Jingyu had that kind of attitude—with a mother like Auntie Jiang, what kind of good son could she raise?
Auntie Sun couldn’t stand it anymore and immediately retorted, “Have you ever told us the way your family makes money?”
Auntie Jiang was choked by Auntie Sun’s words and didn’t speak for a moment, but her face turned an ugly shade of black. After a long while, she glared at An Xia and squeezed out, “A little hussy like you, selfish and ugly, no wonder my son dislikes you.”
“Don’t even think about relying on my son to escape your miserable life; there’s no chance of that!”
In the past, many in the village knew that An Xia had a crush on Yang Jingyu. An Xia was so angry she laughed. She had been wondering where Yang Jingyu learned his shamelessness; it turned out the root was right here!
“Your son looks like a wooden pestle, and at his age, he hasn’t even passed the exam to become a xiucai. Where do you get your confidence?”
This remark struck a raw nerve for Auntie Jiang. Although her son was a scholar, he was only a tongsheng; he had taken the xiucai exam twice and failed both times. She knew that while villagers flattered her to her face, they laughed at her behind her back. To have it said to her face by An Xia, however, made her furious.
“You foul-hearted little hussy, what did you say?” She pointed at An Xia’s nose and cursed, raising her hand to strike.
An Xia calmly caught her wrist and flung it aside. “Don’t look for trouble,” she said coldly.
Looking into An Xia’s cold, terrifying eyes, Auntie Jiang didn’t dare to clash with her again, but she had her own schemes in mind. The ox cart fell silent.
Back in the village, Auntie Jiang was the first to get off. She didn’t head home but went straight to the An family house. Before she even reached the door, she saw Zhang, who was working in the fields, and Mother Qian, who was supervising.
She smiled and said, “Mother Qian, are you busy?”
Mother Qian gave a cool “hmm” in response. Auntie Jiang wasn’t offended and said ingratiatingly, “I have to say, you are truly blessed in your old age!”
Mother Qian frowned, displeased. “Why are you running over here to say sarcastic things?” If she were truly blessed, would she be working in the fields at her age?
Auntie Jiang said sternly, “I don’t have the leisure time for sarcasm. Those three girls born to your Zhao-daughter-in-law are quite good at making money. I happened to see them coming back from town today, carrying two bolts of fine cotton cloth!”
Mother Qian was incredulous. “Two bolts of fine cotton? That must cost several taels of silver!”
Seeing Mother Qian’s resolve waver, Auntie Jiang struck while the iron was hot. “That’s not all. They had three bamboo baskets with them, full of white rice, white flour, and meat.”
“Their coin purses were also bulging; they must have earned quite a bit.”
In truth, An Xia’s baskets had been covered, and she hadn’t seen anything inside, let alone their coin purses. Auntie Jiang was just lying to incite Mother Qian to deal with them.
Mother Qian pursed her lips and said after a long time, “We have already divided the household.”
Auntie Jiang didn’t care at all. “So what if you divided the household? Are you not still their grandmother? Is An Laifu not their father? Whatever they owe in filial piety, they should still pay!”
Zhang, who had been weeding the field, immediately perked up at Auntie Jiang’s words. She straightened her stiff, tired back and looked at Mother Qian fawningly. “Mother, I think Sister Jiang makes a lot of sense.”
She had never realized that farm work was this tiring. In the past, those three little wretches did it all; now, all the household chores fell on her and An Dong, and she was aching all over every day. If they could extract more filial contributions from those three, she wouldn’t have to break her back in the fields.
Mother Qian’s murky, old eyes were filled with calculation; it was clear she had been swayed. Seeing her treacherous scheme succeed, Auntie Jiang waved her hand and said, “It’s getting late, I need to go home and cook!”
Seeing her leave, Zhang looked at Mother Qian with expectation. “Mother? We…”
“Let’s go, let’s go home and put things away first!” Mother Qian said immediately.
The ox cart traveled for a while more from the west side to the east side of the village. The sisters unloaded their things. Auntie Sun, fearing they couldn’t carry it all, specifically asked her husband, Li Zhaocai, to help move the items into the house.
Once everything was organized, An Xia smiled and said, “Eldest Sister, I want to have chili stir-fried pork and pork bone stewed with mushrooms tonight, and let’s have a vegetable dish too, shall we?”
An Chun looked at her two sisters’ faces, which were becoming fuller and more radiant, and nodded. “Alright, Eldest Sister will make it for you.”
Also, she didn’t know if it was just her imagination, but the scar on Xia’er’s face seemed to have faded, and she seemed more energetic than ever.
An Qiu, hearing there would be good food tonight, happily ran off to wash the vegetables.
An Xia took her silver and headed out. “Eldest Sister, I’m going to Uncle An’s house to see if they have a decent dagger.”
“Mm, go ahead,” An Chun said while washing the rice.
An Xia walked straight to the home of Fourth Uncle An on the west side of the village. When Zhou saw her coming, she opened the gate and asked coolly, “What are you here for at this hour, Xia?”
An Xia curled her lips in a smile. “I’m looking for Fourth Uncle An. I want to buy a dagger.”
When Zhou heard it was business, her face immediately lit up with a much warmer smile. “Buying a dagger? Come! Come in!”
An Xia entered and called out, “Fourth Uncle An!”
Fourth Uncle An, who was forging iron, looked up at her. “You’re here, Xia.”
“Fourth Uncle An, I want to buy a sharper dagger. Do you have any ready-made ones?” An Xia asked.
Fourth Uncle An set aside his work and took her into a room. He pointed to the items on the table. “They’re all here. Take your pick!”
An Xia opened the sheaths of each dagger, inspected them carefully, and finally chose one with an iron sheath. Most of the daggers here had wooden sheaths.
“Just this one. How much?”
Fourth Uncle An laughed heartily. “You have a good eye, Xia. This is the dagger I am most satisfied with. If you want it, I’ll give it to you for a bit less: two taels of silver.”
“Alright, it’s a deal!”
As she was taking out the silver, she saw an arm-crossbow on the wall and said with delight, “Fourth Uncle An, how much for this arm-crossbow?”
“You even know this is an arm-crossbow? I came up with this myself in my spare time!”
“But everyone in the village says I have too much time on my hands, making something like this—a bow and arrow is enough for hunting!” Speaking of this, Fourth Uncle An’s expression became complicated.