"Mom, don’t go there, or Granny Hua might take out her anger on you." Without thinking too much, she knew that if Ms. Wang went, the branches would certainly be whipped onto Ms. Wang’s body. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law might even take turns holding Ms. Wang down and beating her.
"It’s all because you caused this mess!" Ms. Wang glared fiercely at her daughter.
Yang Chuxia rolled her eyes helplessly, "Who asked her to have a sharp tongue? If you talk too much, you deserve a beating. I’m not used to being scolded by anyone."
Ms. Wang opened her mouth and wondered: why had her daughter become so stubborn since her head injury? Had the beating really damaged her brain?
She looked suspiciously at Yang Chuxia and saw that her hair and face were clean, much cleaner than before. This made Ms. Wang feel even more that her daughter had changed. She thought of the day when Yang Chuxia indeed had died and then woke up, and then her sister-in-law yelled that she was a walking corpse. Thinking of this, Ms. Wang shivered in fear.
"Mom, what’s wrong? Did you hear what I just said?"
Ms. Wang then saw Yang Chuxia waving five fingers in front of her face, and suddenly felt relieved. What was she thinking about? No matter what, her daughter was still her daughter.
"Ah? What did you just say, girl?"
"Mom, I said I will bring lunch to my dad today." As she spoke, Yang Chuxia picked up a vegetable basket, and put the washed vegetables into a calabash ladle. Then she placed the basket by the stove and went to fetch a bowl of porridge.
She filled two bowls with porridge and saw a pan of fried cucumbers, so she scooped half a bowl of that too.
When she lifted the second pot lid, she was surprisingly delighted to find some homemade buns. She took four buns without any hesitation, leaving just a few left in the pot.
Seeing this, Ms. Wang hurried to stop her, "Xiaxia, those are for your grandma to eat. Put them back! I’ll bring your dad’s lunch later."
Yang Chuxia knew that Ms. Wang was afraid of Old Lady Hua, so she ignored her objections and went straight out of the kitchen with the basket. At this time, Old Lady Hua and Ms. Liu hadn’t entered the room yet. Seeing this, Yang Chuxia held up the basket a bit higher and said to Old Lady Hua, "Granny, I’m taking your buns. My dad is still working in the fields under this scorching sun. He’s exhausted and badly needs energy. But you, Granny, just had enough strength to beat up my aunt. I guess missing one meal wouldn’t matter. Don’t you think so?"
After saying that, Yang Chuxia turned her head and smiled at the puzzled Ms. Wang, "Mom, I’ll be back after my dad finishes eating. You should go back to your room and rest after you finish your own meal. You cooked breakfast and did most of the cooking for lunch. It doesn’t make sense for you to do the firewood chores too. It’s not like everyone else in the house is dead."
"Yang Chuxia, you’re going too far!" Old Lady Hua really couldn’t take it anymore. She felt like her heart was on fire after being humiliated several times.
Seeing Yang Chuxia about to leave with the buns, she couldn’t help but shout out. Those were her buns! She had felt mistreated these past few days and had even lost weight. That’s why she had asked for buns to be made for lunch, so she could enjoy a proper meal.
Now it seemed there were only a few buns left in the pot without her even checking the kitchen herself.