Mrs. Ye reacted like she was looking at something dirty. She frowned as she ordered Auntie Ding, "Go get the pot of fire. Don"t let her into the house if she doesn"t step over the pot, such a jinx, this one!"
The eldest daughter-in-law returned home after a long illness and the first thing to greet her was not concern but repugnance.
Xinghe was all the more certain Xia Meng did not have a good life.
Auntie Ding quickly returned with the pot of fire.
The pot was large and inside the pot were sagebrush and paper talismans…
They really treated Xia Meng like some kind of evil spirit.
"Light it up!" Ye Qin ordered excitedly. Auntie Ding gladly obliged and the things inside the pot combusted with a "whoosh".
The flames leaped up instantly, almost the height of half a grown man.
"Quick step over it," Ye Qin demanded like willful child that had been given too much leeway.
Step over it?
Xinghe smirked. The bursting flame aside, the size of the pot alone would give a normal person difficulty to step over it, much less one with a disability like her.
This was a set-up done on purpose to humiliate her.
"Xia Meng, what are you doing standing frozen there? Quick step over it or you"re not allowed into this house!" Ye Qi ordered her rudely.
Mrs. Ye also added unkindly, "What? You want to bring the misfortune into my house?"
"From the way I see it, it is the Ye family that bears the misfortune," Xinghe"s voice rang clearly across the living room, "If not, would I have attempted suicide inside the house?"
Ye Qin and Mrs. Xi widened their eyes in shock. Xia Meng would not normally say a word no matter how hard they came down on her, but today, she dared to openly defy them…
Mrs. Ye who appeared to have a permanent, dissatisfied scowl on her face scoffed, "You must have lost your mind to say something like that. Fine, if you look down on our Ye family so much, then get lost and don"t ever come back!"
"That"s right, get lost and don"t rely on us Ye Family if you can," Ye Qin supplemented, adding fuel to the fire.
Xinghe smirked and turned to leave.
She really had no intention to stay in a place like this. It was undeserving of her presence!
Ye Qin yelped happily watching her leave, "The dumb woman has nothing on her, she"ll only end up a beggar without our charity! I can"t wait to see that happen!"
Mrs. Ye ordered Auntie Ding, "Remember to be on the lookout tonight. Don"t let her squirm her way back in."
"Yes, madam," Auntie Ding responded loudly.
This bunch of women were all waiting to see Xia Meng fail; they reveled in her misery and were waiting for her to crawl back to them, begging for forgiveness.
After all, this was not the first time Xia Meng ran away from home. She always ended up back at the house after spending a whole day wandering aimlessly outside.
It was exactly because Xia Meng had nothing and no marketable skills that she had no choice but to suffer Ye family"s torment.
That was why Mrs. Ye and the crowd of women were not at all worried when Xia Meng turned to leave because eventually Xia Meng would return with her tail between her legs. She would die of starvation without the Ye family.
Little did they know, they were dealing not with Xia Meng but Xia Xinghe!
When Xinghe reached the gate, she ran into a couple that was returning.
The man and woman were taken aback when they saw her.
"Where are you going?" The man demanded with disgust, "Sit quietly if you"re so free, why are you traipsing all over the place?"
Based on his domineering att.i.tude, Xinghe had to a.s.sume this was Xia Meng"s husband.
The woman beside him leaned on his body like a spineless snake. She even smirked at Xinghe provocatively.
Xinghe sighed inwardly. Based on everything she had observed thus far, this Xia Meng sure was a failure at life!
Chinese ritual used to chase away the bad luck that stuck to the person who stepped over the fire pot.