An Qiu’s elbows, just like An Xia’s, were completely covered in dense red spots.
Seeing this, An Chun also rolled up her sleeves, which were likewise covered in red spots, shocking to behold.
The people from Luanfeng Village, who had originally been hesitant, now made up their minds.
“We don’t want these three girls anymore.”
After the woman finished speaking, she beckoned to the few people behind her.
“Let’s go!”
It was clean and decisive, leaving no room for negotiation.
Mrs. Zhang frowned tightly, her chubby face sagging as she put her hands on her hips and pointed at them, shouting, “My goodness, I’ve finally seen the ability of you people from Luanfeng Village to go back on your word today.”
“Luanfeng Village was already a godforsaken, poor place to begin with. After pulling a stunt like this, I don’t see which family would still dare to marry their daughters into your village.”
The people from Luanfeng Village were no pushovers either. They stopped and retorted with their heads held high, “Mrs. Zhang, you know full well why we don’t want these three girls anymore. Making a scene won’t do anyone any good!”
“Do you take us for blind? They clearly look like they have smallpox, yet you claim they are like this because they touched a lacquer tree.”
An Xia, who had been quiet all along, turned deathly pale the moment she heard the word “smallpox,” her lips losing all color.
She looked at Mrs. Zhang, trembling, and asked, “Mother, is this really smallpox? Will we die? If the neighbors find out, will they drive us out of the village?”
Mrs. Zhang had still been intending to argue with the people from Luanfeng Village, but upon hearing An Xia’s words, she immediately scolded, “You little wretch, shut your mouth!”
The people from Luanfeng Village had been wondering how to get away, but after hearing An Xia’s words, they said smugly, “Mrs. Zhang, if you keep making such a fuss, we’ll just shout about this in the courtyard right now. Let’s see if you’ll still be able to live in this village.”
Mrs. Zhang was choked with anger and glared fiercely at An Xia, looking as if she wanted to swallow her whole.
If it weren’t for her babbling nonsense, how could these idiots from Luanfeng Village have used this to threaten her?
An Xia, however, raised her eyebrows indifferently.
“Get out!”
After thinking it over, Mrs. Zhang decided to let the people from Luanfeng Village leave.
If they were driven out of the village because of this, it would not be worth it at all.
After everyone had left, Mrs. Zhang and Old Mrs. Qian did not dare to go near them, covering their noses and mouths and staying far away from the three sisters.
Old Mrs. Qian had once seen from afar the rashes on the hands of someone who had smallpox, and they were almost identical to the ones on the hands of these three little wretches.
However, she was unwilling to give up and pointed at An Chun, asking, “Besides the red rashes on your hands and feet, do you have any other discomfort?”
An Chun clutched her forehead weakly and said, “Grandma, we have been running a fever since last night. We barely managed to get up to do chores today.”
An Chun naturally did not know what the initial symptoms of smallpox were; all of this had been told to her by An Xia.
Furthermore, An Xia had calculated that Old Mrs. Qian and Mrs. Zhang would worry that they were lying and would seek out the most honest one to ask.
Old Mrs. Qian, who had been holding onto a glimmer of hope, felt her eyes twitch violently when she heard An Chun say that they all had symptoms of a fever.
The sleeve covering her nose and mouth was now pressed even more tightly against her face.
“Get out of my house immediately!”
Old Mrs. Qian’s face was expressionless, her tone icy cold, as if she were driving out nothing more than useless cats or dogs.
An Xia’s expression turned sharp. “What does Grandma mean by this? Aren’t we family? Shouldn’t a family support each other?”
“Why are you so eager to cut ties with us the moment trouble arises?”
Upon hearing this, Old Mrs. Qian looked at her with disdain. “Who is family with you three little wretches?”
“You cursed your own mother to death, and now you have caught such a disease. You are obviously ill-omened loners, and our An family cannot tolerate you!”
An Xia gave a cold laugh and looked at Old Mrs. Qian. “So, Grandma, you mean you want to split the family, is that it?”
Old Mrs. Qian stiffened her neck and said loudly, “Yes!”
An Xia closed her eyes slightly and said calmly, “Fine, since that is Grandma’s wish, we shall agree to it.”
Old Mrs. Qian was very satisfied with An Xia’s performance and said with disgust, “Since you agree, why aren’t you getting out quickly!”
An Xia glanced at Old Mrs. Qian and said flatly, “Grandma, don’t be in such a hurry!”
Old Mrs. Qian thought she was going to go back on her word, and her face crumpled into a ball, saying displeasedly, “The family is definitely being split today! No matter how much you say, it’s useless!”
An Xia took a look at An Laifu, who was watching the commotion at the doorway of the house, and asked with a cold face, “Father, what do you think?”
An Laifu said very indifferently, “Filial piety comes first; whatever your grandmother says, goes.”
“Since that is the case, it would be best if we write a document and put our fingerprints on it,” An Xia suggested.
An Laifu was unwilling. “There is no need for such trouble; just move out.”
An Xia disagreed. “There has never been an example in the entire Yunshui Town of women splitting from a family to live on their own. I am afraid of being criticized by others.”
“If you do not agree to write it down in black and white, then we will not split the family. We will suffer together as a family and rot to death here.”
When An Laifu heard An Xia threatening him, he habitually raised his hand to slap her, but seeing the red spots on her elbows, he forcibly restrained himself and did not dare to get even a step closer.
Old Mrs. Qian’s expression darkened, and she remained silent for a moment, not knowing what she was thinking.
Fearing that Old Mrs. Qian would change her mind, Mrs. Zhang quickly said, “Mother, these three little wretches have smallpox. Signing that document doesn’t matter. They don’t have many days to live anyway, so who would know?”
When Mrs. Zhang said this, Old Mrs. Qian felt it made perfect sense and said in a deep voice, “You are right. Our family cannot die along with these three little wretches.”
She lifted her eyelids and looked at An Xia. “I will go into the room and wake your grandfather up to have him write the document.”
An Fugui knew a few characters, so writing such a simple document was not a problem.
“Grandma, please be quick. For every extra minute we stay in this courtyard, you are in that much more danger.”
Old Mrs. Qian shot her a glare and walked quickly into the main room, pulling the deeply sleeping An Fugui up.
Because An Yu was about to go to school, the family had paper and brushes.
An Fugui, with a blank expression, wrote according to what An Xia had said, placed the document on the ground, and walked far away.
He pointed at An Xia and said, “Go over and look at it yourself. If there are no issues, put your fingerprint on it.”
How could An Fugui possibly write this document as An Xia had requested? But he was certain that she could not read.
An Xia walked toward where the document was placed and took a look at it.
A cold smirk curled on the corner of her mouth as she mocked, “Grandfather, that doesn’t seem to be what I said just now. You wrote this document wrong.”
Looking at the mockery on her face, An Fugui felt he had lost face, his face turning red with anger. “You’ve never been to school a day in your life; what could you possibly know? Don’t embarrass yourself!”
“I am sorry to disappoint you, Grandfather. I occasionally went to Master Fang’s house to play, and he taught your granddaughter quite a bit.”
Having said that, An Xia raised her voice, “Big sister, what should we do about having smallpox? Will it spread to Grandfather and Grandma?”
If her voice were just a little louder, the neighbors would surely hear.