Ye Qing froze at the question. She had been so busy thinking about how to fill her stomach in the days ahead that she had completely forgotten about this matter.
Now that Shi Fengxia had brought it up directly, Ye Qing turned the question over in her mind.
First of all, going back to her birth family was definitely out of the question. From everything she could recall in the original body’s memories, her worthless father and cruel stepmother were far from decent people. They had never treated the original girl as their own daughter, or even as a proper human being.
If she returned there, Ye Qing was honestly afraid that one night she would lose control and take a knife to both of them.
As for going to her uncle’s house…
Ye Qing dug deep into the original body’s memories, managing to pull up a few faint impressions of her maternal relatives, but those all dated back to before her mother had passed away.
Ever since her mother’s death, she had lost almost all contact with her mother’s side of the family. Though they all lived in villages nearby, not a single one of them had come to visit her in all these years. To turn up unannounced now and live under someone else’s roof would surely mean a hard, uncomfortable life.
Less than a minute later, Ye Qing had already made up her mind.
She lifted her head and met Shi Fengxia’s gaze. “I’ve decided to stay here with the Xiao family. I can earn my own share of food.”
Pushing another log into the stove, she asked frankly, “Do you think the Xiao family will accept me and let me stay?”
“If you’re asking me, I really don’t know!” Shi Fengxia replied automatically. “Right now, my mother-in-law is the one who makes decisions around here. But she’s such a kind woman—she should agree, I suppose.”
Having said that, Shi Fengxia let out a quiet breath of relief, inwardly feeling grateful.
Thank goodness, thank goodness. If Ye Qing stayed, then the betrothal gifts wouldn’t have been spent in vain. After all, they had paid good money in silver and grain. If Ye Qing had run off and they couldn’t get the gifts back, her brother-in-law would have to pay another full dowry to marry later—that would have been a terrible loss.
Thinking of the money already handed over, Shi Fengxia grumbled. “If you ask me, all of this still comes down to your parents. They say once you have a stepmother, you get a stepfather too—and that saying is certainly true. But I never imagined anyone could treat their own daughter so badly.”
The thought alone made her angry. As she stirred the food, her ladle clattered loudly against the edge of the pot. “If your father hadn’t been so greedy that day, demanding such a huge dowry all at once, our family wouldn’t be struggling to get by like this.”
“Come to think of it, you and Xiao Yang are about the same age—both old enough to start seeing someone. If this hadn’t happened, maybe one day you would have met someone you liked on the road and ended up happy together. But never mind, never mind… what am I even rambling about? At the end of the day, it’s just your father and stepmother being too greedy. No one sells their own daughter like that!”
Shi Fengxia was filled with resentment just talking about it, and let loose a whole string of complaints. Only after she finished did she remember that Ye Qing was standing right there.
She was badmouthing the girl’s own father; no matter how terrible he was, surely his daughter would feel hurt hearing it?
Shi Fengxia glanced sideways at Ye Qing, hesitating whether she should apologize.
But Ye Qing didn’t even twitch an eyebrow, nor did she say a word in defense.
In fact, she was already making plans in her head: once her strength fully returned, she would find out exactly what had happened the day she fell into the river—and then she would march over to the Ye family and demand the dowry back.
She had been turning this idea over in her mind ever since she woke up, but had kept it to herself because her body was still weak and she knew nothing about the current situation at the Ye household.
Ye Qing remained silent, feeding the fire steadily.
Shi Fengxia, exhausted after working all morning, eventually ran out of steam. While she continued cooking, she thought it over carefully and decided that this arrangement might actually work out well.
Even though her mother-in-law hadn’t given her approval yet, Shi Fengxia was already happy to accept Ye Qing as her sister-in-law.
One tending the fire and the other preparing the meal, the two worked together peacefully to finish cooking.
Before leaving, Shi Fengxia looked Ye Qing up and down—so thin and frail, like a bundle of dry straw—and still left her a large bowl of corn porridge.
Next, she took out three large gourd canteens, filled them with cooled boiled water, and poured all the porridge from the pot into a big clay jar. Tucking both items under her arms, she turned to leave.
Ye Qing hurried to follow, wanting to help carry the things. “I’ll come with you. It’ll give me a chance to walk around the village.”
“Not a chance!” Shi Fengxia said. “You’re sick—just stay home and rest. Once you’re fully recovered, there’ll be more than enough work for you to do. Besides, this isn’t heavy at all. Before I was pregnant, I could carry all this and still hoist you right onto my shoulders!”
Ye Qing looked down at her own slight frame and fell silent, unable to argue.
With both hands full, Shi Fengxia nudged Ye Qing back into the yard with her hip and gestured for her to close the gate. “Stay put and rest. If you get tired, just go lie down. The sooner you heal, the sooner you can work alongside us.”
“Aren’t you the one who said you want to earn your own food?”
Since Shi Fengxia had put it that way, Ye Qing stopped trying to follow.
She drank the whole bowl of porridge in one go, and immediately felt her eyelids growing heavy. Yawning widely, she climbed onto the brick bed and went back to sleep.
This body was truly in a state of severe depletion; even with her special abilities helping, she still felt drained. Once she lay down after eating, Ye Qing drifted off into a deep slumber.
When she woke again, sunlight had faded from the room, leaving it dim and shadowy.
Stepping outside to check the sky, she guessed it must be late afternoon. Just as she wondered why the workers hadn’t returned yet, footsteps sounded from beyond the gate.
Ye Qing looked over and saw the whole family coming back from the fields.
Every one of them was covered in dirt, their faces etched with utter exhaustion. They had carried their hoes upright over their shoulders when they set out that morning; now, the tools dragged heavily along the ground.
As soon as they stepped inside, they dropped their farm tools and went straight to wash their hands and drink water.
Once they had freshened up, the men went off to tend to their private plot behind the house, while the women stayed indoors to start dinner.
Having worked nonstop all day, each of them had earned a full day’s work points, and by now they were so hungry their stomachs felt hollow.
Chen Xiuzhi washed her hands and walked into the kitchen, followed closely by Shi Fengxia.
Ye Qing glanced between them and also stepped inside.
Chen Xiuzhi turned to look at her. “Why are you up and in here? Go back and rest on the bed.”
“I’ve slept all afternoon—if I lie down any longer, my head will go flat,” Ye Qing explained. “Maybe it’s because I’m eating properly here, but I’m recovering much faster than I expected. I can walk around the house now, and I even helped Sister-in-law make lunch today.”
Shi Fengxia nodded eagerly beside her, beaming. “I reckon it won’t be long before she’s strong enough to come out and help in the fields too. That’ll be one more person in the family earning work points!”
With five able-bodied adults in the household, Shi Fengxia could already imagine how much easier their lives would soon become.
“You child…” Chen Xiuzhi’s heart softened when she heard this, but she didn’t look quite as pleased. “All we eat here is corn porridge. Hardly anything special to help you heal.”
Ye Qing said nothing in reply.
The truth was, whether for the original body or for herself from her past life, plain corn porridge was already a rare treat. It didn’t matter if it was corn porridge—any food that could be safely swallowed was a blessing.
Seeing Ye Qing remain quiet, Chen Xiuzhi washed some sweet potatoes and turned to comfort her. “Don’t you worry about your health. We already called the village doctor for you, and he said there’s nothing seriously wrong. You’ve just been going hungry for too long—too thin and malnourished. Eat well, rest for a few more days, and you’ll bounce right back. Besides, we don’t need your labor right away. There’s no rush.”
Ye Qing nodded. Seeing Shi Fengxia walk toward the stove ready to light the fire, she stepped forward. “Let me do that. You sit down—doesn’t standing make your belly feel heavy and uncomfortable?”
Shi Fengxia patted her stomach gratefully and turned away to chop vegetables.
For a moment, the kitchen filled with a lively chorus of sounds: the crackle of kindling catching flame, the steady thud of the knife on the cutting board, and the clink and clatter of pots, bowls, and ladles against one another. This was what a home was supposed to feel like.
Chen Xiuzhi exchanged a glance with Shi Fengxia, then spoke up gently. “Xiao Ye, Fengxia has already told me what you’ve decided. If you want to stay here, you’re welcome to stay. From now on, you’ll be my daughter-in-law, and you’ll build a life together with Xiao Yang. No matter how you came to be part of this family, now that you are here, you belong. You are one of us.”
As she said these words, Chen Xiuzhi’s cheeks flushed bright red, clearly unused to speaking so openly and warmly.
She added rather stiffly, “As long as we all pull together as one, our days are sure to get better.”
No sooner had she said it than she waved her hand, flustered. “Never mind, never mind. I’m not used to talking like this—it feels awkward.”
“Speaking of which, we’ve been so busy washing up and getting dinner ready that I nearly forgot the most important thing!” Chen Xiuzhi suddenly smiled, and Shi Fengxia’s face lit up too.
Mother and daughter-in-law looked like they were about to reveal a wonderful surprise. Chen Xiuzhi went out to the yard and brought in the wicker basket belonging to the eldest son. It was covered with a layer of dry twigs—good for starting fires.
When she brushed the twigs aside, the basket was full to the brim with dark, muddy lumps that looked like some kind of plant root. They were so caked in soil that Ye Qing couldn’t tell exactly what they were at first glance.
“Are these wild kudzu roots?” she guessed.
Chen Xiuzhi shook her head with a smile, picked up one piece, and took it outside to wash it clean. Once the dirt was scrubbed away, its dark brown outer skin was revealed. Ye Qing recognized it immediately. “These are wild yams! How did you find so many wild yams?”
She was absolutely delighted—so much so that she felt like clapping her hands.
It had been eight or nine years since she last ate wild yams. The last time had been early in her previous life, when she had first ventured into the mountains and dug up plenty of them; back then, there was still enough food to fill her belly.
Later, as the climate grew more extreme and unpredictable, edible plants became scarcer and scarcer.
Chen Xiuzhi explained happily, “We’ve been running low on grain lately, and there’s barely enough to go around. Today, Xiao Yang and I covered some of the eldest brother’s work so he could finish early and head into the hills to look for food. And look—he found all these leftover wild yams that were missed during last year’s harvest. There’s quite a lot!”
“If we stretch them carefully and mix them with sweet potatoes and cornmeal, this should last us another four or five days.”
“After eating nothing but sweet potatoes for so long, it’ll be nice to have a change of taste tonight,” Shi Fengxia said, grabbing another yam to wash. “Ma, don’t cook too much tonight. Let’s just eat until we’re half full. There’s no work to do after dinner, so eating more would only waste food.”
“Fair enough,” Chen Xiuzhi agreed. “I’ll steam a small potful, and we’ll have something solid to eat tonight.”
The whole family’s spirits lifted at the sight of the basket of wild yams, and Ye Qing perked up too, eager to help.
But since she was still supposed to look like a weak, recovering patient, she didn’t try to do too much. She only took on tasks she could easily manage—washing the yams and tending the fire.
Smoke rose from the Xiao family’s chimney, and the kitchen buzzed with activity. Before long, dinner was ready and set on the table.
Shi Fengxia called the men back from the private plot. The family of four, now five with Ye Qing, gathered around the table.
Everyone’s face was bright with anticipation at the thought of the wild yams they were about to eat.
That evening’s meal was still corn porridge mixed with sweet potatoes, but this time it was served alongside soft, tender steamed wild yams. Chen Xiuzhi also added a plate of pickled chili peppers that had been preserved the previous year.
Having eaten roasted sweet potatoes, boiled sweet potatoes, and sweet potato porridge for half a month straight, the sharp tang of the pickled peppers made the meal feel a little harsh on the stomach for everyone but Ye Qing—yet they still ate with great relish.
Especially the steamed yams: each bite melted in the mouth and naturally made one’s mouth water. Ye Qing closed her eyes in pure enjoyment.
After two bites, she felt a little dry and washed it down with a sip of water. Still holding half a yam in her hand, she picked up a slice of pickled chili and popped it into her mouth.
The moment it touched her tongue, the fiery spice hit her hard and sent her into a violent coughing fit.
It had been years since she last ate chili peppers back in the apocalypse, and she was completely unprepared for the strong flavor. She coughed uncontrollably until her face turned bright red.
The two men of the Xiao family stared at her in confusion, unsure what to do. Shi Fengxia, on the other hand, burst out laughing.
“Told you to slow down! You ate it too fast and too eagerly—now look, you choked!” Still laughing, she quickly poured Ye Qing a cup of cool water. “Drink this to clear your throat. If you can’t handle spice, don’t try to act tough!”
With that, she deliberately picked up two more slices of chili, winked at Ye Qing, and chewed them with obvious enjoyment.
Ye Qing couldn’t help but laugh. This family really was something special.