Chapter 13 : Bluffing

Where had Zhang Qianyun and Han Meili ever seen such a scene?

The two were so frightened that they dared not move, fearing that the slightest movement would irritate Su Xieqiu. After all, she was holding a kitchen knife in her hand.

Seeing that the two were shocked, Su Xieqiu snorted coldly, threw the knife on the chopping board, and was about to take a look at what was cooking in the pot.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Qianyun was quick-witted and took advantage of Su Xieqiu’s unpreparedness, picking up the knife and running out with Han Meili.

Once they were out of the kitchen, they both breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing Su Xieqiu following them, Han Meili immediately hid behind Zhang Qianyun, still screaming in fear.

Su Xieqiu’s head hurt from the noise, and she stood at the kitchen door, threatening, “If you scream again, I’ll tear your mouths apart.”

The scream stopped abruptly, and Han Meili looked at her in horror.

Yesterday, she had been hitting people with a fire poker, and today, she was actually using a kitchen knife. Was this person really crazy?

Zhang Qianyun knew clearly that Su Xieqiu was definitely not crazy. She must have been so arrogant because she saw Han Zhenyu coming back, and someone was standing up for her. Her purpose must be to scare them.

She didn’t want to let Su Xieqiu succeed, nor did she want her to think that she was easy to bully, or else it would be difficult to control her in the future.

So she raised the knife in her hand and said in a fierce voice “Don’t go too far. If you push us too far, we will fight you to the death.”

Su Xieqiu knew that she was bluffing, so she sneered and walked toward her step by step.

“So what is not too much? Do we have to let you do all the housework like before without fighting back or talking back when I hit you or scold you? Then I will serve your family comfortably and give you money to honor them. Is this not too much? Is this what you want?”

She walked up to Zhang Qianyun, stretched her head forward, pointed at her neck, and said frantically “Come on, come on, don’t you want to fight to the death? Chop here, I don’t want to live anyway. The three of us will die together today. It’s good to have someone to accompany us on the road to the underworld.”

Zhang Qianyun was forced to retreat again and again. The kitchen knife in her hand felt like a hot potato. She wanted to throw it away, but that would mean she was afraid of Su Xieqiu.

But she didn’t dare to fight with this crazy woman.

Zhang Qianyun felt extremely regretful. If she had known that Su Xieqiu was so crazy, she would definitely not have threatened her with a kitchen knife. Now, she was in a difficult situation.

And Han Meili behind her was also useless, just howling.

Zhang Qianyun rolled her eyes, threw the kitchen knife to the ground, covered her mouth, and ran out crying.

Her face looked so pitiful and tearful that if you didn’t know her well, you would think she had suffered a great injustice.

Han Meili took a look at the crazy Su Xieqiu and ran out in fright.

Su Xieqiu sneered, turned, and walked into the kitchen. There were a few freshly picked cucumbers in the basket next to her.

She lifted the lid of the pot again. There were kidney beans stewing inside. There was a circle of cornmeal cakes stuck on the edge of the pot. It wasn’t cooked yet, probably because it was just stuck there. The fire under the pot had gone out.

Su Xieqiu didn’t bother to care. She took two cucumbers from the basket and went back to the house.

She had eaten a little bit full in the morning, and had just eaten a lot in the space, so she was not hungry now.

After returning to the house, Su Xieqiu placed the cucumbers on the shabby kang cabinet, waiting to quench Han Zhenyu’s thirst when he came back.

The man was good to her. Since she had decided to stay in the village for the next few years, she would inevitably have to trouble him in the future.

So, Su Xieqiu planned to establish a good relationship with Han Zhenyu, hoping that the two could coexist peacefully before the reform and opening up.

Zhang Qianyun and Han Meili stood at the door for a while. When they saw Su Xieqiu return to the house, they quietly entered the yard.

Han Meili looked at Zhang Qianyun’s missing braid and asked, “Second sister-in-law, what should I do with your hair?”

Zhang Qianyun came back to her senses from the shock, glared at Su Xieqiu’s room fiercely, and then said with red eyes “Meili, please help me cut the other side.”

“Okay, then I’ll go get the scissors.” Han Meili found it funnier and funnier the more she watched, but she was afraid that Zhang Qianyun would get angry, so she suppressed her smile and went to the main room to get the scissors.

After cutting Zhang Qianyun’s hair symmetrically, the two hurried to the kitchen to cook.

These two days, they had been working in the southernmost field, which was quite far from home. In order not to delay earning work points, everyone had brought dry food with them when they went to work in the morning and did not come back to eat at noon.

But because of what happened to the old Han family this morning, they didn’t have time to prepare dry food for lunch.

Yang Lanhua originally asked her daughter to come back alone to cook, but now the corn stalks were almost as tall as a person, and she was afraid that her daughter would not be safe alone, so she asked her daughter-in-law to come back with her.

Zhang Qianyun was afraid that her mother-in-law would scold her for delivering the meal late, so she asked Han Meili to light the fire quickly while she prepared to mix another cucumber.

But seeing that there were only three cucumbers left out of the five in the basket, she glared at Su Xieqiu’s room angrily and cursed him in a low voice, “A greedy ghost.”

Then she turned her eyes and said to Han Meili, “Little sister, Su Xieqiu took away two of the cucumbers you just picked. These three are definitely not enough. Why don’t you pick two more?”

Han Meili then realized that there were fewer cucumbers in the basket. She stood up suddenly, glared, and was ready to scold, but when she remembered that Su Xieqiu was not someone easy to mess with, she sat back down in annoyance.

“Second sister-in-law, there are no big ones left. I picked all of these. I saw a few ripe tomatoes this morning, but they’re gone too. They must have been eaten by that bitch. I’ll tell mother later,” Han Meili said angrily.

Zhang Qianyun sighed helplessly, “She saw that her husband was back and had someone to back her up, so she acted crazy and stupid and didn’t take her family seriously.”

Han Meili curled her lips in disdain, “Humph! Han Zhenyu can’t stay at home for a few days. He’ll definitely go out and fool around again. Let’s see how she acts so arrogantly then.”

The aunt and the sister-in-law exchanged smiles with ill intent, already starting to think about how to deal with Su Xieqiu once Han Zhenyu left.

After the two of them prepared the meal, they took all the bread and vegetables to the fields, leaving none for Su Xieqiu and Han Zhenyu.

When Su Xieqiu heard the door closing, she thought it was time to get off work, so she got up from the kang and prepared to go out for dinner.

However, when she walked into the yard, there was no one there, and the door to the main room was locked.

She was a little confused, so she went to the kitchen. The smell of food hadn’t yet dissipated, but the pot was empty.

What didn’t Su Xieqiu understand?

She walked to the gate and saw Han Meili and Zhang Qianyun hurriedly walking south with two baskets and a kettle.

Zhang Qianyun looked back and gave her an ambiguous smile.

Su Xieqiu gritted her teeth in anger. Not only did they not leave any food for her, but they didn’t even leave any for Han Zhenyu.

He had gone to work, and today he was cutting wood in the mountains, such heavy work but they didn’t even leave him a bite to eat. This family was really vicious.

Su Xieqiu looked at the sky. The sun was already due south, so Han Zhenyu should be back for dinner soon.

She closed the door, found a brick in the yard, and started smashing the lock on the main door.

Although the lock was small, it was still difficult to open.

Su Xieqiu took great pains to break the iron lock open.