"You came all this way to borrow oil?" An Ping looked at her with a mix of annoyance and amusement. "Bai Yanjiao, are you serious? Running such a long distance across three streets to borrow oil!"
"Yeah, what’s the problem with that?" Bai Yanjiao retorted aggressively, "You can bring home groceries every day, but I can’t come over to borrow some oil?"
"No borrowing!" Without hesitation, An Hao spat out two dry words from her lips and flatly refused Bai Yanjiao.
"Why won’t you lend me any? An Hao, are you so used to hogging everything? Which of the rice, flour, and cooking oil at home didn’t I buy? Why does An Ping get to take as much as he wants? You eat and drink at my expense, and you won’t even lend me a bowl of oil?" Bai Yanjiao glared at An Hao in anger.
She had come today just to get angry. If An Hao could play the poor victim in front of the neighbors, couldn’t she do the same?
Thinking this, Bai Yanjiao’s gaze fell on their bowls, and seeing the fatty intestines and white noodles inside, she felt even more disgruntled: "Wow, you really are living the good life, aren’t you? Eating much better than us!"
"Right. The food is this good. And it’s none of your business how good," An Ping grew more and more disgusted by Bai Yanjiao’s behavior and snapped back at her.
"Fine, An Ping, let me tell you, if you had just obediently poured some oil and let me be on my way without a fuss, that would be the end of it. But if you refuse to lend it to me, don’t you dare touch anything at home in the future. It’s all bought with my money."
"And let me tell you, Bai Yanjiao. If you spoke nicely, maybe I’d have considered it, but with you being so aggressive, sorry, but no, I won’t lend you anything!" After the last incident, An Ping was no longer willing to put up with this mother and daughter.
"Fine. You won’t lend it, is that right? If you won’t lend it, then you shouldn’t eat your meal either." Bai Yanjiao had her eyes fixed on those two bowls of food the entire time, and with a swift step forward, she tried to flip the table.
"Wait. I’ll lend it to you," An Hao said in a panic.
She had worked hard all day to prepare a good meal that An Ping had yet to enjoy enough of—how could she let Bai Yanjiao overturn it in a fit of anger?
As Bai Yanjiao’s hand touched the table, An Hao gave in, and a smug smile spread across Bai Yanjiao’s lips.
"Sis, don’t give it to her." An Ping quickly tried to stop An Hao. "Let her flip the table. If she dares to do so, I’ll make sure to give her a proper beating today!"
"Enough." An Hao pulled him back and said in a low voice, "She came just to annoy us today, didn’t you see? If you actually beat her, Bai Xue Mei certainly won’t let it go. We wouldn’t have peace tonight. Do you really want to swallow this disgusting fly?"
"So what do we do then? Just give her the oil?" An Ping was really unwilling.
"Just get her out of here," An Hao said and then turned to Bai Yanjiao, "The oil drum is behind the door in the hallway, come with me."
Oil in that place? Weren’t they afraid mice would steal it?
Bai Yanjiao looked doubtfully towards the back of the door, and indeed there was a small oil drum there. An Hao walked towards the drum, and Bai Yanjiao followed her.
When they reached the drum, An Hao stopped.
Bai Yanjiao handed her bowl to An Hao: "Fill it up."
"Sure," An Hao agreed readily. As she took the bowl, she glanced outside the door and suddenly called out with a smile, "Squad leader, you’ve come too?"
The "squad leader" in An Hao’s mouth was Shen Zhihua. When Bai Yanjiao heard that Shen Zhihua had come as well, her heartbeat quickened. She hurriedly fixed her hair and turned to look outside.
With a sly grin, An Hao took the opportunity to push her out the door. Bai Yanjiao stumbled and nearly fell.
By the time she managed to steady herself, An Hao had already slammed the door with a loud bang and fastened the wooden latch, closing it shut.
"An Hao, open the door! An Hao, you little wretch!" Bai Yanjiao started banging on the door and cursing loudly.
"You came all this way to borrow oil?" An Ping looked at her with a mix of annoyance and amusement. "Bai Yanjiao, are you serious? Running such a long distance across three streets to borrow oil!"