Xinghe's sharp gaze swept all of them as she replied with a chuckle, "What if I don't want to?"
Ye Qin didn't expect her to reject her order.
Her go-to response was anger.
"You don't want to? You don't have a right to object! Our Ye family hasn't been feeding you out of charity; we will not be crippled by a good-for-nothing!"
Ye Qin purposely brought up Xinghe's physical disability. She even smirked while looking pointedly at her crippled leg.
She was humiliating Xinghe, hitting her point of shame.
Xinghe's didn't mind it one bit, she even nodded at her humiliation. "You're right, you shouldn't keep a good-for-nothing around. Don't worry, I shall show myself out."
Ye Qin blew her top off when Xinghe turned to leave.
She ran forward to block Xinghe's path and laid it into her, "You're openly opposing me, are you? I ordered you to go make lunch, did you not hear me‽"
"You're no longer a little girl so how can the Young Miss of the Ye family scream at someone like that? Where's your sense of decorum?" Xinghe reminded her lightly.
Ye Qin sneered. "You're lecturing me now?"
She glared at Xinghe like a ruffian, like she was a gangster girl.
"Speak, are you lecturing me or not? Who gave you the right to lecture me? You're a good-for-nothing that survives solely on our Ye family's charity so how dare you talk to me like that?"
"Young Mistress, you've indeed crossed the line." Auntie Ding sided with Ye Qin.
That was crossing the line? You people have seen nothing yet.
Xinghe smiled. "I'll repeat myself, this good-for-nothing is leaving of her own accord to save your Ye family the displeasure of taking care of me, so will you let me leave or not?"
"Not, go make lunch! In fact, you are responsible for all the household chores today or I'll personally exact your punishment!" Ye Qin threatened.
Ye Qin's favorite pastime was bullying Xia Meng so how would she let such a good stress-reliever go?
Xia Xinghe inwardly sighed as she looked at Ye Qin.
There is a demon living in all of us, but most people have learnt to keep it under wrap.
However, in Ye Qin's case, she was in possession of another human who she was allowed to bully and abuse without consequences. It required great virtue to not let one's inner demon take advantage of another's weakness but Ye Qin was, in Xinghe's eyes, an indefensible, wild child.
Xinghe narrowed her eyes. "Fine, but I don't know how to cook. If you want to exact so-called punishment, let's see you try."
"You…" Ye Qin was beside herself with anger.
"Fine, you ask for it!" She turned to grab at a nearby broom and swung it at Xinghe.
Xinghe was ready. She grabbed at the broom, twisted it out of Ye Qin's hands and proceeded to land a hit on the back of her hand.
Ye Qin screamed in pain, and almost instantly, a red welt appeared on her pearly white skin.
"Oh my God!" Auntie Ding screamed like she was witnessing a murder, "Xia Meng, how could you attack the Young Miss, are you crazy‽"
She was so angry and shocked, she dropped her usual polite speech.
Ye Qin also didn't expect Xia Meng would counter her attack. She widened her eyes and was as angry as a mad b*tch. "Xia Meng, how dare you hurt me‽ How dare you!"
"Why is it so noisy down there?" Mrs. Ye asked with authority as she sauntered down the stairs.
"Mom, this b*tch just hit me," Ye Qin complained with tears in her eyes.
Auntie Ding pulled on Ye Qin's hand to show Mrs. Ye. "Madam you see, Young Mistress is really too much. One should never resort to physical violence."
When Mrs. Ye saw the bruise on her precious daughter's hand, she was understandably livid.
She glared at Xinghe with extreme fury. "Xia Meng, how dare you rebel against us? Auntie Ding, go teach her a harsh lesson, a lesson that she will never forget!"