Before Xia Mian could determine whether the chicken was really that resilient, she had already concluded that Second Uncle Xia was definitely not.
“Ah!!! Blood! Blood…!!!” Second Uncle Xia almost fainted at the sight of the crazy, bloodied hen.
Xia Mian thought he was afraid of blood, but then she heard him crying out as if he had lost his family fortune, “Ah! My chicken, oh no, all the chicken blood is wasted!”
Tears of genuine distress filled his eyes…
Second Aunt-in-law Xia was furious. She rushed to grab Xia Mian, full of fury, “You wretched girl! Pay for our hen!”
Xia Mian couldn’t care less, “It was Second Uncle who wanted to slaughter the chicken, and he even said your knife wasn’t good enough, so I came to help. You should be thanking me, not asking me for compensation. How does that make sense?”
Seeing Second Aunt-in-law Xia turn livid, Xia Mian continued, “Next time you want to borrow a knife or need help slaughtering, just let me know, I’ll have more experience by then.”
To the tearful Second Uncle Xia, she added, “Next time, I’ll know what I’m doing and make sure to save all the blood.”
Second Uncle Xia gasped, looking like he was about to faint on the spot. Nevertheless, Xia Mian continued, her tone nonchalant, “Second Uncle, are you not feeling well? Can’t even stew a chicken anymore? Should I stew it for you and bring it over? That way, you won’t waste your firewood.”
This is a blatant threat!
Second Aunt-in-law Xia was enraged, “Who said we were going to slaughter the chicken? Who said that? I never! Damn girl, you better pay for my hen, or else…”
“Or else what?” Xia Mian defiantly lifted her chin, “You gonna complain to my parents? Need me to buy you a one-way ticket to see them?”
“You!” Second Aunt-in-law Xia was speechless and suddenly sat down on the ground, starting to cry, “Oh my ancestors~ You should see what a wonderful daughter this Xia family has~ Cursing her uncle and aunt~”
Xia Mian covered her ears, annoyed, “Alright, alright, I get it! I’ll compensate!” She snatched the hen, now motionless from blood loss, from Second Uncle Xia’s hand, “I’ll find you another hen to pay you back later.”
Then, before they could react, she dashed out the door.
The couple was stunned. Someone used their own tactic on them, which they never saw coming! Second Aunt-in-law Xia cursed loudly while her husband hurried after Xia Mian, calling, “Xia Mian!”
But just as he stepped out the door, he heard the sound of breaking glass. Turning around, he saw a group of children running away from the corner of the wall, one of them shouting, “Sister Mian, we helped you, remember the milk candy!”
By then, Xia Mian had already reached Eldest Uncle Xia’s doorstep and laughed in response, “Well done, come by in the afternoon to get it!!”
The couple was left fuming once again…
…
Xia Mian entered Eldest Uncle Xia’s house with a hen in tow and announced, “Aunt, we’ve got a good meal today!”
“What good meal?” Qiangqiang, munching on a fried cicada, ran out excitedly. “Wow, are we having chicken?”
Xiao Feng followed behind him, also chewing on a cicada, but much more demurely.
Seeing Xia Mian, he happily ran over, offering her a crispy-fried cicada, “Auntie, it’s tasty.”
Xia Mian looked at his greasy little mouth and laughed, “Xiao Feng should eat it. It’s good for kids. Wait a bit, Auntie will cook some chicken for you!”
Eldest Aunt-in-law Xia peeked out, “What did you do to them?” She obviously heard Xia Mian’s argument with the second branch couple.
Xia Chuan, who had just returned from work, saw Xia Mian with the hen and asked in surprise, “Where did this come from?”
Xia Mian cheerfully replied, “From Second Uncle’s place.” She then recounted the whole incident.
Xia Chuan laughed heartily, giving Xia Mian a thumbs up, “Wow, Mianmian, you’re getting clever now.” He then told his mother, “Mom, next time he comes to borrow something, we should do the same.”
“You don’t know, last time he said they needed to cut fabric but their scissors were too dull, so they took ours and now I can’t get them back. Always says they haven’t finished using them.” Xia Chuan complained.
“Next time I’ll go there, see which fabric hasn’t been cut, and just cut it all!” Xia Chuan grew more excited at the thought. “I’m going this afternoon!”
Eldest Aunt-in-law Xia chuckled, “Nonsense!”
Xia Hai entered and said with a laugh, “That’s actually a good method. Uncle Chengyao used to bully Mianmian’s family a lot since they had no male; now Mianmian is left alone, he’s even more outrageous. It really is time to teach him a good lesson. Mianmian did well.”
Xia Chuan added, “Exactly, he’s still eyeing the things Aunt Fang left for Mianmian.”
“Now that Mianmian is going to school, he wouldn’t dare mess around too much, but it’ll be troublesome after Mianmian graduates from high school. I heard that woman has already started asking around to find a matchmaker for Mianmian.”
“Enough,” Eldest Uncle Xia, coming out from the living room, interjected, frowning at his sons.
Turning to Xia Mian, he said, “Don’t worry. As long as you study hard and get into university, your Second Uncle can’t touch you.”
“Even if you don’t pass the exam, as long as you want to continue studying, I will take care of Chengyao.”
Xia Mian nodded, “Thank you, Uncle. I definitely plan to go to university.”
Xiao Feng tugged at Xia Mian’s hand, “Auntie, I want to go to university too.”
Qiangqiang jumped up, waving his hand, “Me! Me! I’m older, I’ll go first!”
Eldest Uncle Xia’s wrinkled face crinkled into a smile, “Alright, alright, everyone will go. As long as you can get into university, I’ll do whatever it takes to support you!”
“Uncle Chengyao has no guts to mess with big things, but he’s still very annoying in small matters. Yesterday, he kept probing about Xiao Feng, and I suspect he’s up to his schemes again, probably to extort Zhang Qiming.” Xia Chuan sighed. “It would be great if Uncle Chengyao could mess with Zhang Qiming instead. Isn’t there a saying, ‘Fighting evil with evil’? It suits them perfectly.”
Xia Mian was suddenly struck with inspiration and enthusiastically applauded, “Brother Chuan, that’s absolutely brilliant!” A perfect idea was running through her mind.
And it was at this time that Zhang Qiming’s call came in. He knew that the phone in Xia Mian’s house had been disconnected, so he dialed Eldest Uncle Xia’s house directly.
“Mianmian, your brother-in-law just got back from a business trip. I’ve just heard about the terrible things Huang Xiaojuan did. I’ll make sure to resolve this for you, so please bring Xiao Feng and come back quickly.”
“Your schooling has been arranged, and the new term is starting in less than a month. You won’t make it if you delay.”
His reasoning was perfect and his attitude impeccable, but Xia Mian simply responded with a sneer, “I don’t trust you. You said you’d handle things last time, but what happened? Huang Xiaojuan became even more outrageous. You must be in cahoots with her!”
“As for school, forget it. I’d rather stay in my hometown where I can live freely and comfortably.”
Zhang Qiming sighed helplessly, “Then what about your money? I still need to pay you back.”
“You’re still trying to deceive me,” Xia Mian said disdainfully. “If you sincerely want to return the money, why not bring it yourself?”
“You just want me to go to the city to exonerate Huang Xiaojuan! I tell you, forget about it. I want to see her in jail!”
“As for the money you owe me,” Xia Mian sneered again, “it doesn’t matter whether you pay it back now or not. I’ve asked the police, and Huang Xiaojuan’s theft is a confirmed crime. The court will certainly order her to repay the money.”
“I trust the authorities more than a jackal couple like you two.”
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