"Give me one," Qin Jian tilted his chin upwards.
"What? Qin, don’t you never smoke?" Tian Niu, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, fished a pack out of his pocket, pulled one out, and handed it to Qin Jian.
"I want one now." Qin Jian took it, lit up, and began to smoke.
He didn’t immediately leave but stood outside An Hao’s courtyard, quietly listening to the sounds within.
"Sis, Sis! Where are you going?" An Ping was in the yard, clutching An Hao’s hand, unwilling to let her leave.
"An Ping, let go of me." After her agitation subsided, An Hao also calmed down quite a bit, her thoughts becoming much clearer, "I’m leaving this house."
"After you leave this house, where will you go?" An Shuchao looked at An Hao, filled with helplessness.
"The old house. The one Grandma left after she passed—I’ll go live there."
"Sis, I’ll go with you!" An Ping didn’t want to stay in this house anymore; he had been blind to think that his own sister wouldn’t be as good to him as the Bai Family mother and daughter.
"My dear girl, you can’t stay there! Not only is the house old and run-down, but it’s also in a complete mess and there’s nothing there." An Shuchao spoke anxiously.
"There’s no need to say more," An Hao cut him off, "I’ve made up my mind. I’m moving this afternoon."
Caught in the middle, An Shuchao felt helpless, neither one thing nor the other. Knowing that his daughter harbored prejudices against him, the only option now was to have An Ping try to persuade her: "An Ping, talk to your sister... ask her not to go."
"I support my sister’s decision to leave! This house is full of gloom; I don’t want to come back. Sis, I’ll go with you!" Not only did An Ping not offer to help, but he also wanted to leave with her.
The Bai Family mother and daughter could now have everything their way, exchanging smiles, thinking An Hao was still too green to topple them!
"My dear girl, are you really..."
"Really leaving." An Hao looked at An Shuchao’s aged face, her resolve hardening.
In truth, she didn’t want to leave. Who would want to abandon a comparatively comfortable environment for one that wasn’t comfortable at all?
But if she left now, it might seem like she was losing this battle, letting Bai Xue and Bai Yanjiao gloat, but on closer consideration, the benefits were more than trivial.
Firstly, she would have her own space. With the college entrance examinations looming, she could focus solely on her studies without being distracted by the family’s issues—that was the most important thing.
Secondly, if she moved out, outsiders would certainly wonder why. The entire village knew about her and Bai Xue’s feud; everyone would surely think that Bai Xue couldn’t tolerate her presence.
This would mean that Bai Xue couldn’t take any advantage of the situation.
The third and most important point: in her previous life, when her father became gravely ill and had no money for treatment, leading only to wait for death, Bai Xue sold both house properties along with the land, took the money, and ran off with another man.
Even though she was reborn, and many events from her previous life had not occurred, it didn’t mean that everything would happen differently this time.
Now, with circumstances as they were, it would be the perfect opportunity to take possession of both the house deed and the land deed. Let Bai Xue dream on!
She thought that under normal circumstances, asking her father for the deeds might not be easy, but today, it would surely go smoothly.
Bai Xue might seem to have the upper hand now, but with any slight mishap, she would be a clay Buddha crossing a river—unable to save even herself.
Don’t think she, An Hao, was the same as in her previous life—acting on impulse and wreaking havoc. Just wait, if they let her have peace, she wouldn’t hold back.