"You!" Ho Laidi was so angry that she leapt up and pointed at her, yelling, "Chiang Xiao, you wretched girl, is it your place to call the shots here? Call out Chiang Laoer! I really want to see if he’s heartless and cold-blooded, not even willing to help with such a trivial matter for his own elder brother!"
"The door is right there, it’s best you leave right now, otherwise," Chiang Xiao said with a cold smile, "you’ll see if I don’t beat you. Go ahead, call the police, I assure you when they arrive, they won’t find a single wound on you even if they strip you naked."
Did she really think that calling the police would scare her?
She couldn’t defeat Tyrant Chiang, but would she continue to be controlled by such an old hag?
Ho Laidi thought of the time she had pinched her hand, resulting in numbness and weakness in her arm for two days, and suddenly felt a shiver in her heart. She turned and ran outside.
"You dead girl, you bastard, just you wait!"
Her cursing voice grew more and more distant until it faded away. Ge Xiaotong finally heaved a sigh and said, "Little, I suddenly feel that it wasn’t easy for you to grow up to this size."
Chiang Xiao forced a smile.
"I feel the same way." She changed the subject and asked, "Where are my grand-uncle and the others?"
It was already getting late, could they still be up in the mountains not having returned?
Ge Xiaotong said, "They went up the mountain today, probably to sell goods at Peace Restaurant. They should be back soon. Oh! I almost forgot to check on the fire!" With that, she stood up to head for the kitchen.
The rice was cooking in the kitchen, and with the disturbance caused by Ho Laidi, she had forgotten about the fire.
"Aunt, you just sit, I’ll go check on it," Chiang Xiao hurriedly said, turning into the kitchen. She soon poked her head out again and added, "Oh right, I brought back some tasty treats, help yourself to something to hold you over."
This time, Aunt Ah Yu had made her several boxes of pastries, so the many big and small packages she was holding contained some, along with some tea that Old Huo insisted on giving her.
When she was at the city heading for the train, she also bought several types of soft candies from an old candy store near the train station.
One could say that on her return, she brought back a lot of edibles.
Ge Xiaotong, already prone to hunger because of her pregnancy, couldn’t eat a lot of chestnuts at home, and since they came back late today, Ge Liutao and Liu Pei had gone to deliver some handkerchief piecework and for some reason, were also late getting home. She was now so hungry that her stomach was growling.
Upon hearing Chiang Xiao mention that she brought back something tasty, Ge Xiaotong’s mouth started to water. Naturally, she didn’t hold back with Chiang Xiao and immediately began rifling through the bags she had brought back.
And when she looked, she found they were all filled with food.
Ge Xiaotong’s eyes practically turned green with envy, almost not knowing where to begin—she wanted to eat everything!
In the end, she was attracted to the green pastries made by Aunt Ah Yu. She opened a box, pinched off a piece, took a bite, and immediately felt a refreshing tea fragrance fill her mouth.
"Wow, Little, what is this green stuff? It’s delicious!"
"What’s delicious?" Liu Pei and Ge Liutao had just returned and heard her exclaim. The two of them exchanged a glance, their expressions simultaneously showing delight. "Little’s back!"
Chiang Xiao had been gone for six or seven days, and it truly made them all anxious.
They had no idea how she was doing in the provincial city, nor how things were going with Meng Xinian, and they worried even more that she might have run into trouble.
Now that she had finally returned, their hearts, heavy with worry, could settle back into place.
Chiang Xiao came out of the kitchen and ran towards them, giving each of them a hug.