Chapter 49: Awakening

"You black-hearted Chi Family girl! Come out here right now!" Zhao Huilan stood at the entrance of the Chi Family home, hands on her hips, shouting at the top of her lungs: "Come out! Chi Nan Yi, you come out here right now!"

Zhao Huilan's voice was so loud that not only did the Chi Family hear it, even the neighbors were roused.

Chi Huai Qian opened the door, and Zhao Huilan charged straight in: "Where's Chi Nan Yi? Get out here!"

"In-law, what are you doing?" Wen Zhilan stepped forward: "It's barely morning, and you've come running to our house again — what is it this time?"

"What is it? You'll have to ask your precious daughter!" She shot Wen Zhilan a vicious glare: "Get her out here right now, or don't blame me for not being polite!"

"Not being polite? I'd love to see just how you'd be impolite." Chi Nan Yi walked out of her room: "Auntie, what have I done to offend you?"

"What have you done to offend me? Let me ask you — when you dug up that root yesterday, did you know there was only one in the forest?"

Chi Nan Yi feigned confusion: "Only one? What do you mean?"

"Stop playing dumb! You knew perfectly well there was only one in the forest. You dug it up and left us searching the forest until dark. My eldest son's hand was hurt by something, and now he's rolling on the ground in pain! Tell me! What are you going to do about it!"

"What am I going to do about it?" Chi Nan Yi couldn't help but sneer: "Auntie, your son is in that state and you don't go find a doctor — instead you come to our house to find me. Am I some miracle cure? What good would finding me do?"

"I don't care what kind of cure you are! If you'd told us, we wouldn't have gone searching in the forest. It's all your fault! Hurry up and give me silver for my son's medical treatment, or else..." She looked around, then pointed at the front gate and said: "Or else I'll bash my brains out right here at your house!"

"Mother." Ruan Qin's face was terribly pale. She stepped forward awkwardly: "Mother, what are you doing? What does this have to do with little sister!"

"How does it have nothing to do with her? It's all her fault!" Zhao Huilan reached out and jabbed Ruan Qin hard on the forehead: "They say a married daughter is spilled water, and you really are an ungrateful wretch. Your eldest brother is injured, and you're actually taking their family's side."

Ruan Qin's face was full of bitterness: "Mother, since eldest brother injured himself, it's not little sister's fault. You can't just make unreasonable demands to extort silver."

"Who's making unreasonable demands? Who are you calling unreasonable?" Zhao Huilan shoved Ruan Qin aside. If Chi Zhiqiu hadn't caught her in time, Ruan Qin would have been knocked to the ground. Zhao Huilan used great force, not caring at all that her daughter was pregnant. Right now, her heart and mind were set on one thing alone: using this opportunity to extract silver from the Chi Family.

Ruan Qin looked at Zhao Huilan, and the last glimmer of light in her eyes vanished.

Chi Zhiqiu put his arm around Ruan Qin and said in a low voice: "Mother, how could you push her?"

"So what if I pushed her? I gave birth to her, I can do whatever I want with her!"

"But she is a member of our Chi Family now!" Chi Nan Yi stepped forward, her gaze fixed coldly on Zhao Huilan: "I went to dig up cinnabar root — what does that have to do with you? Even if there really was only one, so what? Did I tell you to go dig? Did I tell you to dig until dark? Did I tell your son to injure his hand? You were greedy yourselves — who can you blame? These past few days I haven't argued with you, and that was only for my sister-in-law's sake. The likes of you dares to carry on at our Chi Family — what kind of thing do you think you are."

"You..." Zhao Huilan retreated several steps. She never expected that this young girl before her, despite her young age, had eyes like knives that cut into one's flesh.

"I've heard there are plenty of poisonous bugs and snakes in that forest. Your precious son, who's barely weaned, wasn't he bitten by a poisonous insect? I advise you to go back and check on him. Some poisons are extremely fierce — even in the short time you've been here, it might already be too late."

Chi Nan Yi's words made Zhao Huilan's face change color in an instant.

She ran toward the outside while shouting: "Just wait! This isn't over!"

Chi Nan Yi flicked her finger lightly, and a wisp of powder landed on Zhao Huilan's wrist without anyone noticing.

The neighbors had watched the entire sequence of events with perfect clarity.

"Oh my, Chi Family, I said from the start that Zhao Huilan is an old shrew. Nobody in our village wants to marry into their family. It's a good thing you found a daughter-in-law who has a mind of her own, or they'd have bullied you to death." The one speaking was their neighbor Auntie Li. She glanced at Ruan Qin, whose face looked rather awful, and only then realized she'd said the wrong thing. She gave an awkward laugh and hurried off.

Ruan Qin pressed her thin lips tightly together, her body trembling slightly. She looked at Chi Nan Yi and said, full of apology: "Little sister, I'm sorry, my mother she..."

"Sister-in-law, you don't need to apologize. This matter was never your fault to begin with, and I'm not one to hold grudges." Because when it came to grudges, she settled them on the spot.

The powder she'd just dropped on her should keep her suffering for a while.

"Little sister, I'll make things clear with my mother."

"Heh, sister-in-law, there's one thing you still haven't figured out even now." Chi Nan Yi shook her head: "I'm not trying to drive a wedge between you and the Ruan Family. The Ruan Family doesn't care about you at all. If they had even a shred of concern for you, if they treated you as family at all, they wouldn't come to our house time and again to sponge off us and make you lose face. I tolerated a great deal before for your sake, but from now on, I won't. Whether you continue associating with your maiden family is your business, but if they come here looking for trouble again, I won't be so easy to deal with. I've said all I have to say — do as you see fit."

Hearing this, a flash of struggle passed through Ruan Qin's eyes. Recalling how her mother had viciously shoved her aside, she became utterly disillusioned — with her mother, and with the Ruan Family.

"Little sister, I understand." Ruan Qin seemed to have made up her mind: "I won't associate with my maiden family anymore. If they come again, I'll make things clear to them."

She touched her belly, which had not yet begun to swell, and a wave of belated fear welled up in her eyes.

Thank goodness, thank goodness...

Thank goodness she hadn't fallen, or else this child...

Just thinking of the terrible consequences, Ruan Qin's heart began to tremble.

Seeing her come to her senses, a glint of amusement flashed through Chi Nan Yi's eyes. She knew her sister-in-law wasn't truly muddle-headed.

She and Chi Huai Qian had a quick bite to eat and then headed to the mountain behind the house.

"Little sister, I wonder if we'll be able to find any cinnabar root today. Last time I didn't find a single one."

"Naturally, we need to find cinnabar root." Chi Nan Yi left the rest unsaid.

Today, besides cinnabar root, she had prepared something else good for her third brother.

Chi Nan Yi sent him away, then took out a ginseng root from her space. This was already the youngest one in the space, and even it looked to be about sixty or seventy years old.