Chapter 7: The Crime of Gender 7
Old Chen wore a sour expression, sitting on a small stool at the side. Her mouth rattled incessantly as she chastised Mrs. Bai, without any specific reason, just endlessly finding faults and scolding.
Qin Shuangshuang watched her mother, who was the target of Old Chen's anger, her heart filled with compassion. She noticed a large pot on the stove boiling hot water, meant for everyone to wash with, clean, but usually not available for Qin Shuangshuang and Mrs. Bai.
After Qin Shuangshuang grew older and could gather firewood from the mountains herself, Old Chen reluctantly allowed her and Mrs. Bai to use hot water to wash, for fear that Qin Shuangshuang, who had the strength of a half-grown man, might go on strike.
Qin Shuangshuang picked up a gourd ladle, scooped some water from the pot, and poured it into Mrs. Bai's basin where she was washing vegetables. The icy water immediately warmed up!
Mrs. Bai looked at her daughter with reddened eyes. Although she knew her daughter would undoubtedly be scolded by Old Chen, she felt warmhearted and thought all grievances were worth it for such a considerate daughter.
Sure enough, just as Qin Shuangshuang poured the hot water into Mrs. Bai's basin, Old Chen erupted in anger, shouting, "You worthless, money-wasting wretch! Doesn't it take firewood to boil hot water, you spendthrift?"
Qin Shuangshuang's small face remained calm as she snorted coldly, "All the firewood at home is gathered by me from the mountains. If grandma makes mom use cold water again, I won't have the strength to carry firewood back! Let grandma and grandpa go gather firewood themselves!"
The Chen Family was so infuriated by Qin Shuangshuang's backtalk that she almost fell backward, and she was about to raise her voice even louder to continue scolding!
But before she could open her mouth, Qin Shuangshuang retorted again, "Grandma needn't accuse me of being unfilial and heartless. There's no family in this world that makes a five-year-old granddaughter do an adult's work gathering firewood from the mountains. No matter how it's told, grandma is in the wrong. If grandma scolds me again, I'll go cry to the village about her mistreating me, and we'll see who the villagers believe."