Chapter 12: Treat Others the Way They Treat You

Bai Xue burst into heavier tears, "Old An, do you really not trust me? I've been married to you for three years, ask yourself, how have I treated your An Family in these years? Do you still trust your daughter more, and take her word as the truth? If she dares to say today that I let the idiot sleep with her, tomorrow she'll dare to say I told her to die! Old An, if you don't trust me, there's no point in continuing our life together, we might as well just get divorced!"

An Shuchao was most afraid of Bai Xue mentioning divorce.

Since Bai Xue had married him, she had managed good relations with the neighbors and had a good reputation in the village.

She got along well with their son An Ping, but somehow she just couldn't get along with An Hao.

Thinking of An Hao's past behavior, An Shuchao habitually felt that it was her fault, and in anger, he raised his hand and slapped towards An Hao's face.

An Hao saw the slap coming and dodged, grabbing An Shuchao's wrist tightly, with flames rising in her eyes, "Dad, first find out the truth before you hit me!"

"What is there to find out? An Hao, you accuse me of plotting against you, do you have any evidence?" Bai Xue glared at her.

"I do. Wang Genqiang said it himself," An Hao retorted without weakness.

"Does a fool's words count?" Bai Xue raised her chin, the corners of her mouth curling into a cold smile, thinking she was too green to compete with her.

"You may not trust the word of an idiot, but you should trust mine!" A sharp glint flashed through An Hao's eyes, "If I lie about today's incident, I will not die a good death! Mom, do you dare make such a poisonous vow?"

Bai Xue was taken aback, and after hemming and hawing for a while, she said, "I...I wouldn't curse myself..." An Hao sneered, shook off An Shuchao's hand, and went back to her own room.

This was giving Bai Xue a taste of her own medicine; to deal with someone unreasonable like Bai Xue, one had to use unreasonable methods!

Upon entering, she was surprised to find An Ping in her room.

"What are you doing here?" An Ping shook the book in his hand, "This is the book you borrowed last month. You didn't return it, so I came to find it myself."

"Sorry. I forgot about it with all the busyness."

An Ping snorted lightly, and as he was leaving, he stopped, "An Hao, don't spout nonsense like hoping for death in the future! It's annoying to hear!"

Surprised by his words, An Hao asked, "An Ping, are you showing concern for me?"

"Hmph. Don't flatter yourself!" An Ping glanced at her and walked out.

Just as he stepped out, he slipped with a thud, and yelled angrily in the courtyard, "Who's so annoying, pouring dishwater everywhere!"

An Hao burst into laughter from inside the room, the gloominess in her heart scattering away. Although An Ping wouldn't admit it, she could feel that her brother was somewhat different from before.

The next morning, An Hao got up early before dawn.

She checked the results from the previous day and was quite satisfied with the outcome, then carefully unwrapped the hawthorn cakes, cut them neatly with a knife, weighed them accurately, wrapped them tidily in cellophane, and packed them into a large basket before setting out.

The basket was heavy, bending An Hao's back as she carried it.

She had timed the day perfectly–today was market day in town, and being close to the end of the year, it was sure to be bustling.

Indeed, as soon as she left the house, she ran into Old Chen from the neighborhood, who was also heading to the market early. An Hao rode along with his ox cart toward the town.