The unpleasant words squeezed into her ears like bugs. Xia Sanghuan couldn't help but sneer. During the time she was away, these people hadn't changed at all.
She walked in the direction of the old house. For some reason, there was a strange excitement welling up in her heart.
This excitement lasted until she saw the cooking smoke rising from the chimney of her own house.
She frowned at the smoke. Without even thinking, she knew who was living inside.
She picked up the firewood knife placed at the door and without hesitation kicked the door open. Even the door bolt was broken by her kick.
There was no way. Her family's door was just that fragile. The new residents didn't even bother to repair it.
Holding the knife, she stood at the door and looked at the people in the room, who were gaping in astonishment.
Because she was backlit, it was hard to see her expression.
But one thing was for sure: she was extremely angry.
She scanned the room and said coldly, "Get out of my house."
The male host of the family was startled by the commotion at first. Then when he realized it was just a young girl, he thought to himself. If he were to "get out" obediently just because of a little girl's threat, where would he put his face?
For a moment, the people sitting at the dinner table didn't move. They just confronted her silently.
Until Xia Sanghuan suddenly swung the knife at a chair placed at the door.
"Get out! Can't you understand human language?"
Seeing that she was serious, they had no choice but to leave. The male host quickly led his wife and children around her and ran out, afraid that the firewood knife would fall on them the next second.
She looked back at the family coldly, which made the male host break out in a cold sweat.
As she walked further into the house, she swung the knife at things, smashing all the things that didn't originally belong to this house into pieces.
She walked up to the dinner table and kicked it over. The freshly cooked food scattered all over the floor with a clatter.
The male host outside couldn't hold it in any longer. He quickly walked into the house and shouted at her, "Who the hell are you? What are you doing going crazy in my house?"
She looked back, sneered, and said,
"Your house?"
"Aren't you ashamed to say this is your house?"
"If I remember correctly, you're the son of Granny Ma, right?"
"Did your mother give you this house?"
She turned around. Holding the firewood knife, she looked as if she would pounce on the man in front of her and slit his throat the next second.
"Someone died in this house."
"Your mother is lucky to be a witch. How dare she let you live in this house?"
"Aren't you afraid that one day when my father comes back to have some fun, he'll take your whole family's souls away?"
Hearing what she said, the man realized that she was the daughter of Xia Laosi, the original owner of this house.
Xia Laosi was dead, and his two daughters had been taken away. So it was only natural that this property was taken over by Granny Ma, the most prestigious woman in the village. She gave it to her good - for - nothing son as a place to live.
She lifted the knife and pointed it at the man in front of her.
"Either go back now and tell your mother that I'm back, or let me cut you so you can go down and accompany my father. You choose."
Although he was a strong and able - bodied man in his prime, he was still scared out of his wits by the young girl in front of him.
Following the principle of "a wise man doesn't fight when the odds are against him", he led his wife and children and almost fled in a hurry towards Granny Ma's house.
Seeing the family go far away, Xia Sanghuan casually threw the firewood knife aside and began to focus on looking for what she was looking for.
She walked into Xia Laosi's original bedroom, climbed onto the kang, and started rummaging through the cabinet.
If she remembered correctly, the only photo of their family of three was here.
At that time, she was too sad and left in a hurry, so she forgot to take the photo with her.
When she opened the cabinet, she found it was already filled with all kinds of things belonging to Granny Ma's son's family.
She frowned, endured the nausea, and threw the things inside out of the window until the cabinet was empty. But she still couldn't find what she was looking for.
The photo had been thrown away.
The photo was placed in a wooden frame. She had saved up for a long time to buy that frame.
Unless someone was really blind, they couldn't have missed that frame.
She sat there, pursing her lips, lost in thought.
After a while, she jumped off the kang and silently went to pick up the firewood knife she had thrown away earlier.
Before she had walked a few steps out of the door, Granny Ma came scolding with her son.
"Xia Sanghuan, you jinx! What's your purpose for coming back to Qingshanpo now!"
She stood there expressionlessly, holding the knife, and said calmly, "I'm just coming back to my own house. What purpose could I have?"
"Pah!"
"Everyone in Qingshanpo knows that you were the one who killed Xia Laosi! I advise you to get out of Qingshanpo quickly, or we villagers won't mind coming to punish you again!"
Looking at the old woman who was jumping and shouting in front of her like a shrimp, she couldn't help but find it a bit ridiculous.
"Where's my father's photo?"
Hearing her irrelevant answer, Granny Ma was obviously stunned for a moment.
"Your father was killed by you. Why are you still thinking about..."
Before she could finish speaking, Xia Sanghuan did the same thing as when she threatened Granny Ma's son and hacked at a support beside her.
The support couldn't withstand the blow and immediately turned into wood chips and scattered all over the floor.
"..."
Granny Ma stared at the broken support on the ground and silently swallowed back the second half of her sentence.
"Where's my father's photo?"
Seeing that she didn't answer, Xia Sanghuan's face darkened even more.
"Don't make me ask a third time."
"Or do you want to experience that feeling again?"
Granny Ma remembered the last time. Xia Sanghuan did something to her, and she immediately started foaming at the mouth and fell to the ground. The pain was like walking through the gates of hell.
Just the thought of that feeling made her shiver.
Coupled with the fact that Xia Sanghuan was now threatening her like a living Yama with a knife in her hand, she didn't dare to say anything more.
She swallowed hard and said shiveringly, "It's in front of your father's tomb."
After hearing Granny Ma's words, Xia Sanghuan decided to spare her for now. After all, the most important thing was to get her father's photo back.
Before she left, she looked back at Granny Ma and her son and said coldly, "If I come back and find anyone in this house, no matter who it is, I'll kill them all."
After saying that, she turned around and walked towards Xia Laosi's tomb.
Actually, she wouldn't do any illegal things like killing or setting fires. But these words could still have some effect on these ignorant mountain villagers.
She carried on her back a bamboo basket she had found in the house. In the basket were the fruits, flowers she had bought in Yuntan, and some snacks that Xia Laosi liked to eat when he was alive.
Xia Laosi's tomb was built in the best location on Qingshanpo. It even had the largest area, which made all the old people in the village envious at that time.
After all, in such a backward place, the larger the tomb, the higher the status, and the better the family one would be reborn into.
She walked step by step towards the tomb and saw her father's tombstone.