Chapter 13: The Crime of Gender 13

Chapter 13 - 13: The Crime of Gender 13Old Chen was in the middle of a tirade when she was suddenly stopped by a chop from Qin Shuangshuang into the cutting board, making her momentarily think Shuangshuang wanted to pin her down on the board and chop her up like a piece of meat! Old Chen felt a chill run down her spine, and all her hairs stood on end. She was so frightened by Qin Shuangshuang that she didn't dare to curse anymore! Seeing Old Chen shut her mouth, Qin Shuangshuang turned her head, closed her eyes, and quelled the ruthlessness in them. She took a deep breath and struggled to suppress the anger rushing up to her head again. It wasn't that Qin Shuangshuang suddenly became meek and decided to tolerate Old Chen, but she couldn't confront Old Chen right now! Today, she had given away so much meat. In these times, even for wedding gifts, such generous offerings were unheard of, so it naturally caused a stir in the village and made some people envious! Qin Shuangshuang had given meat to families of good character; otherwise, they wouldn't look out for her, a seemingly useless child. These people knew her days weren't easy, and everyone knew she had a troublesome grandmother at home. The families she forced meat upon might visit her soon out of concern that Old Chen was tormenting her! Moreover, given how grand her gesture of gifting was today, the nosy villagers were sure to come and see how Old Chen would deal with her. So today, people were bound to visit their home, and no matter what, she couldn't talk back to Old Chen, giving the villagers the chance to gossip, nor could she ruin the good reputation she had worked hard to maintain over the years. Sёarch* The nôvelFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Forcing down her anger, Qin Shuangshuang thought to herself, you curse all you want, I'll just cut up all this meat and make smoked meat, so you won't get a cent from it! I won't argue with you! I won't get angry, not at all... She focused back on the meat, yes, think about what to eat for lunch! Qin Shuangshuang spun in place, hand on her forehead, as dangerous thoughts coursed through her mind fired by her anger. To avoid acting impulsively and doing something irrational, Qin Shuangshuang desperately shifted her attention to today's lunch. Today all the men in the family were working in the fields, including Little Chen, Mrs. Fang, and her mother, Mrs. Bai, as well as the older Da Lang, Second Lang, and Third Lang. When they worked, they'd need lunch, and they'd eat a lot since they'd been working, so she had to cook more meat, or it wouldn't reach her mother, Mrs. Bai! Thinking of it reminded Qin Shuangshuang of Old Chen's many ways of tormenting her mother: the endless chores, the never-full stomach, and how the meat never reached her lips, not even the meat-flavored soup or the usual eggs. When winter came, Mrs. Bai wasn't even allowed to eat vegetables, surviving winter after winter on pickled vegetables! The small flame of anger that had just dimmed flared up again vigorously in Qin Shuangshuang's heart! If Old Chen dared not let her mother eat meat again today, she would never bring home the game she caught in the future. She'd sell it all herself and secretly bring back some food for her mother, without anyone knowing! Feeling her emotions stirring again, Qin Shuangshuang quickly reined them in, consciously reminding herself not to get angry, lifting her hand to pick up the cleaver from the cutting board, and using brute force, quickly chopping the meat she'd just deboned into strips! Old Chen, initially scared by Qin Shuangshuang's terrifying demeanor, didn't dare to speak. But seeing Qin Shuangshuang do nothing after a long silence and just go back to cutting meat made Old Chen a bit smug. She thought that no matter how cunning Qin Shuangshuang was, she was just a child who didn't dare openly defy her! Filled with this smugness, Old Chen's mouth began to run off again, her courage returning as she remembered how she had been silenced by Qin Shuangshuang earlier, which now filled her with shame and anger! Unable to help herself, she resumed cursing at Qin Shuangshuang: "What's the matter, I'm your granny, and you think I can't scold you? Do you want to eat me or chop me up? Filthy heart and rotten soul, thinking of pulling a knife on me! Do you even know who I am? Your mother is worthless; it's bad enough she couldn't bear a son, but to give birth to a disobedient wretch like you who deserves a thousand cuts, struck by lightning! Don't think the village chief shielding you means you can run wild. Just you wait; I'll go to the local headman and charge you with rebellion and unfilial conduct, then we'll see if you and that worthless mother of yours still dare to act arrogantly when you're both drowned in a pond..." Old Chen was cursing fluently and with satisfaction while Qin Shuangshuang was struggling to endure it; the one thing she couldn't stand was Old Chen insulting her mother! Particularly when Old Chen even talked about drowning her and her mother together, which inevitably reminded Qin Shuangshuang of the looming disaster facing Mrs. Bai! A darkness and chill spread through her heart, the veins bulging on the back of the hand holding the cleaver, her white teeth clenching enough to grind against each other, wishing she could bite Old Chen to death! But she couldn't lose her temper, couldn't erupt, at least not today! Qin Shuangshuang continued to cut the meat fiercely, one chop after another... It was like her ears were stuffed with something, finally managing to suppress the rage that kept surging in her heart! Qin Shuangshuang had been silent all along, something unprecedented before, leading Old Chen to believe that she had gained the upper hand over Shuangshuang. In her smugness, she cursed more energetically! But after a while of gloating, Old Chen finally found something amiss: Qin Shuangshuang had finished cutting all the meat!!! She! Cut! All! The! Meat!!! Initially, Old Chen didn't grasp it, but once she did, she exploded! She had already planned to sell the rest of the wild boar meat. Though Qin Shuangshuang had given away a good amount of meat, there was still plenty of wild boar meat left. Old Chen had figured she'd boil broth with the bones to soak in the meat flavor. The meat would then be sold to the taverns in town, fetching at least one or two taels of silver. Who knew, indulging in her cursing, that she'd be inattentive, letting Qin Shuangshuang, this wretch, cut up all the meat! Upon closer inspection, she saw a layer of white crystals on the meat—this wretch had even salted it heavily! Cured meat wasn't as valuable as fresh meat, and with all that salt, Qin Shuangshuang had completely ruined Old Chen's plans. Old Chen clutched her chest, her vision turned dark, almost fainting from anger! Her finger pointed at Qin Shuangshuang, trembling for a long time without uttering a single word! Ignoring Old Chen, Qin Shuangshuang seriously kneaded the salt into the meat because only by seasoning it thoroughly could the smoked meat be made and preserved! Watching as the silver she thought was within grasp slipped away, a wicked fire surged in Old Chen's mind, burning away her reason in an instant! Old Chen's gaze fell upon the cleaver Qin Shuangshuang had placed beside the sliced meat. Remembering all the ways Qin Shuangshuang had defied her, hatred welled up and fueled her courage, and in a fit of madness, she grabbed the cleaver and swung it down at Qin Shuangshuang!