Hearing that Pei Qin planned to leave home and take Madam Fang and the others with her, Lady Chen immediately began to scoff, "As if you could keep them from starving? Once you step out of Old Pei's House, see if anyone bothers with you enough to give you a bite to eat! Once you leave Back Mountain Village, I bet you'll freeze or starve to death! Are you going to sell yourself and become a sister prostitute to feed them? Or are you planning to take your mother and all of you to become sister prostitutes together?"
"Keep going! Say more!" Pei Qin crossed her arms over her chest and glanced at Old Pei with a mocking look, relaxed and watching Lady Chen.
Old Pei certainly knew how vile Lady Chen's curses were. For the sake of the second house's succession, they had decided to let the eldest son, Jian Xiao, represent both houses, which seemed somewhat unfair to Pei Loaer's wife. But the wife of the eldest had a harder lot in her heart, and as the head of the family, he always tried to treat everyone equally.
Lady Chen continued her tirade, berating Pei Qin for hitting her, for being defiant and unfilial, and for running away from home to become a sister prostitute, claiming she was a disgraceful, shameless woman just like her mother.
Pei Qin's expression turned grim as the corners of her mouth twisted slightly, her gaze calm as she watched Lady Chen rant incessantly.
People who knew her understood that this meant she was about to take action. A good man wouldn't fight with a woman, but Pei Qin was a woman! She was not restrained by any norms about not hitting other women; she would even beat children if it came to that.
"Shut up!" Old Pei shouted sternly.
Seeing Old Pei scold her, Lady Chen stopped her verbal abuse with an ugly look on her face.
"Wenli will be taking the exam next spring; there's no need to quarrel over such trivial matters!" Old Pei shouted again.
Lady Chen, thinking of the expenses for her eldest son to take the imperial examinations, including the hefty bribes required for successful advancement, remembered Qian Dog's two acres of low-grade land which could sell for twelve taels of silver. She glared hatefully at Pei Qin, holding her tongue. That wretched girl, I will find plenty of ways to deal with you in the future!
Lady Zhu, of course, could think of this too, but she had even more on her mind. There wasn't much land for the family, and there wasn't enough food to feed everyone. Having an extra two acres of land would yield quite a bit more grain. Looking at Lady Fang, she said, "You spoke so poorly earlier. Your father has always been on yours and your mother's side, even standing with you when Da Ya, that wretched girl, beat and cursed her elders. Come here and help your sister-in-law up right now!"
Just now, she had received a couple of slaps while trying to help.
Lady Fang, taking hold of Pei Qin, looked at her with beseeching eyes, "Qinqin..."
Pei Qin wasn't heartless, she just didn't respond well to harsh treatment. Seeing Lady Fang like this, gripping onto her as if clutching at her last lifeline, her heart softened, and she relaxed her stance.
Si Ya pushed her from behind, "Aren't you going to help your aunt up quickly?" Their grandfather was actually taking their side now, her elder sister needed to hurry!
Lady Zhu intended for Lady Fang to help Lady Chen up, as a way for Lady Fang to subtly submit to Lady Chen. Pei Qin pushed aside Lady Fang, who was about to help, and strode forward, grabbing Lady Chen's arm and yanking her upright.
"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! You're killing me!" Lady Chen cried out, clutching her arm.
"Do you want to roll up your sleeve and compare your arm with my face, and my mother's face?" Pei Qin chuckled.
Old Pei glanced at Lady Fang's half-swollen face, then at the clear slap mark on Pei Qin's face, and led the ox to the backyard pen, "Now go make dinner!"
Fearing that Pei Qin would become violent again and also concerned she might decide to run away from home once more, Lady Fang quickly pulled her along to the kitchen.
The living standards of Old Pei's House used to be quite good, but had been declining ever since Pei Loaer died. These past few years, as they scrimped and saved to gather money for the Pei family's eldest grandson, Pei Wenli, to go take the exams, the whole family had been tightening their belts even more.
Dinner was cornmeal soup with old fried green beans, and under Lady Zhu's vigilant watch, only a spoonful of oil was added. The staple was corn grits and millet wows.
Luckily, Pei Qin remembered how to use flint to make fire, and she managed to get the fire going.