"Meng Chunyan, have you lost your mind? You come in and show me attitude right away!"
Meng Chunyan snorted coldly and ignored him, walking straight to his bookshelf. She rummaged in the second compartment and pulled out a red lacquered box.
Meng Yuanjian was alarmed and hurried over to try and snatch it away: "You wretched girl, how did you know there was silver in here? Give it back! Give it back to me!"
Meng Chunyan stepped on Meng Yuanjian’s bare foot, and while he howled in pain, she backed away several steps and quickly opened the box, only to find two silver pieces inside, no silver at all!
"Meng Yuanjian, where did you put my silver? Give it back to me!" Meng Chunyan threw the red lacquered box to the ground, where it smashed apart on impact.
Meng Yuanjian, already furious from being stepped on for no reason and now being hounded for silver, lost his temper even further upon seeing her break his possession. He pointed at her nose and bellowed, "Meng Chunyan, you madwoman! When did I ever take your silver? Huh? Compensate me for my box! Compensate me for my box!"
As he spoke, he moved to grab Meng Chunyan’s sleeve, just as she knew where he hid his silver, he also knew that she always kept her silver in her cuff.
Meng Chunyan couldn’t overpower her elder brother. As he lunged forward, she raised her hand and smashed a flower vase next to her. The vase shattered, scattering pieces all over the floor and Meng Yuanjian, shoeless, dared not move an inch for fear of stepping on the shards.
"You vile girl! So spiteful! You—you’ll never get married in this lifetime!" Meng Yuanjian spat out such a vicious comment, revealing just how strained their relationship was.
Meng Chunyan huffed, "You better take care of yourself first! Meng Yuanjian, if you can swindle your own sister, who can’t you deceive? With someone like you, if there’s anyone willing to marry you, I’ll take off my head and kick it around like a ball!"
Without waiting for Meng Yuanjian to retort, Meng Chunyan extended her hand: "I asked you to buy me a carriage, and what do you do? You swindled fifty taels of silver from me and got me a second-hand one! Meng Yuanjian, has a dog run off with your conscience?"
Meng Yuanjian was taken aback, not expecting the foolish girl to find out so soon. But what did it matter if she found out? The silver was already lost in the gambling den and was impossible to retrieve.
"Hmph, you expect a new one with just fifty taels of silver? Stop dreaming!"
Enraged at being deceived and yet he had the nerve to be so brazen, Meng Chunyan demanded, "Return my silver to me! Give it back! If you don’t, I—I’ll go to father and tell on you!"
Meng Yuanjian’s eyes shifted, thinking, so what if she tells him? It would just mean a scolding, at worst a beating, and it wouldn’t be the first time. The silver was gone anyway!
"Go ahead, the silver was lost to gambling long ago, it’s gone!"
Meng Chunyan, infuriated, stomped her feet and turned to run out: "I’m going to find father and tell him you’ve gambled again, and get him to cut off your allowance for next month!"
Meng Yuanjian, previously indifferent, was immediately incensed at the mention of cutting off his allowance! How could he cope without it? He was counting on next month’s allowance to make back his losses at the gambling den!
"Hey, sister, my dear sister, please don’t go, your brother was wrong, your brother knows he was wrong! Just wait until next month when I get my allowance, and I’ll pay you back every tael I owe you—sister, hey, my dear sister!"
Meng Yuanjian, barefooted, followed her in a limping chase as Meng Chunyan, pursued by him, ran faster and faster, soon reaching Meng Tong’s yard.