Chiang Xiao felt a wave of intense disappointment.
It seemed that although the pen had returned with her, it might be because the time for it to be normally activated had not yet come or because she had just been reborn and coincidentally was in her weakest state. She could summon the Magic Brush, but she was still unable to wield it freely.
She had wanted to draw something to punish Ho Laidi, but now it looked like she would have to endure it for a while.
But Chiang Xiao's disappointment was only momentary.
Once she recovered her health, she naturally would be able to use the pen. There was no need to rush.
In the meantime, Ho Laidi had already barged in.
Chiang Xiao's gaze grew cold.
One thing she hated most about the people of Old Chiang Family was that no matter what the time or the situation, they always did this, barging into her room without restraint.
In their eyes, Chiang Xiao had no semblance of privacy.
The door curtain was violently flung open, then dropped with a whoosh, striking Grandma Ge Liutao, who followed through the door, in the face.
Anger was mounting inside Chiang Xiao.
Ho Laidi, in her fifties, had hair that could barely be tied back with a black hairband, strands escaping and held in place behind her ears with plain black hair clips. Dressed in coarse blue-grey clothes and wearing brown plastic slippers, she stood around one meter sixty-eight. In the village, women as tall as her were rather rare. Moreover, with her dense eyebrows and sharp gaze, thin lips, and a face that suggested she wasn't easy to get along with, she'd been controlling the Chiang Family for more than two decades, and was seen as a figure of great authority in the eyes of the Family members.
Ge Liutao, petite and delicate, would subconsciously cower in her presence. So, even when struck by the door curtain flung by Ho Laidi, she didn't dare to express her dissatisfaction or make a sound.
Chiang Songhai also came in, concerned that Little might faint again as she had nearly done so earlier. He truly feared another altercation with his sister-in-law.
He couldn't understand why the once silent Little had now become so sharp-tongued.
"Sister-in-law, Little is still sick..."
Chiang Songhai's words were cut off as Ho Laidi strode over to the bed, looming over Chiang Xiao with a scrutinizing gaze. Those eyes, although the lids drooped slightly with age, were always penetrating, filled with judgment and disdain—looks that Chiang Xiao knew all too well.
Previously, she had also been somewhat afraid of this uncle's wife.
'Uncle's wife' is the local dialect for an elder brother's wife; it might be incomprehensible to those in the city.
"Little, get out of bed and stand up," she commanded coldly.
Hearing this, Chiang Songhai's frown deepened. "Sister-in-law, Little has a fever and no strength. She needs to rest in bed."
"Rest my ass!" Ho Laidi suddenly flared up in anger, turning to glare fiercely at Ge Liutao, "Aunt, every single one in the Chiang Family is hardworking in the home and fields. Yet you, you gave birth to Qingzhu, treating her like a precious gem, and she disgraced herself at 17 by getting involved with some ruffian and then had a child without a father. And now you've surpassed yourself, treating her like the daughter of a wealthy family. In these eight villages around us, I've never heard of any girl in her teens not doing chores. Does she have the heart of a lady, or the life of one? Pretending to be fragile all the time—whom is she trying to impress?"
Ho Laidi's voice was so loud that it made Chiang Xiao's head spin even more.
But she knew she couldn't afford to pass out. If she did, history would repeat itself; during her unconsciousness, the basket of eggs would have to be compensated to Guiying, and her grandfather would go up the mountain to gather herbs.
Chiang Xiao mustered her strength to sit up, ignoring Ho Laidi, and said to Ge Liutao, "Grandma, I'm so hungry. Could you go stir-fry some dishes for me?"
After hearing Ho Laidi's words, Ge Liutao's face turned pale. Her daughter's affair had always been a sore point for her, and Ho Laidi, seizing any opportunity, never hesitated to jab at her most painful spot.