“Mother? Big sister? You’re back!” Yingzi put down her bowl and chopsticks, sprang up, and excitedly threw herself into Wu Chunlan’s arms.
“Look at you, all covered in food.” Wu Chunlan smiled and helped her wipe the rice grains from the corner of her mouth.
Unlike his sister, who was so focused on eating, Shitou got up quickly and scurried to Wu Chunlan’s side, calling out “Mother, Big Sister” with a thick, nasal tone.
He Mingyu walked into the room smiling, carrying the maltose and sweet cakes she had bought at the big market. She glanced at the food on the table—five bowls of brown rice with a plate of stir-fried wild vegetables and eggs in the center. Though there were more greens than eggs, it looked glistening with oil. He Dalang’s precious son, He Dengke, was buried in his food, looking as if he wanted to dive right into his ceramic bowl.
“Back already? Did you get the cloth?” Mrs. Li asked as she stood up with a smile. “I stir-fried eggs for dinner. Yingzi and Shitou have already eaten two bowls of rice each.”
“I got a piece of red cloth. Mother said it’s festive, so I already left it at home.” He Mingyu lied straight-faced. She placed the sweet cakes on the table and said with feigned gratitude, “It was a lot of trouble for you and Uncle today. I specially bought some cakes for Dengke to sweeten his mouth.”
As soon as He Dengke heard his name, he immediately pushed his face out of the ceramic bowl. His fat cheeks hung down, forming a greedy and dull curve. “What is it? Mother! I want to eat! Hurry up and open it for me!”
“Yes, yes, yes.” Mrs. Li hurriedly opened the oil paper, broke off a piece of sweet cake, and fed it to He Dengke, who was about the same age as Shitou. Her doting was plain for all to see.
The expectations He Dalang and Mrs. Li had for him were written plainly in his name, “Dengke,” which implies passing the imperial examinations. Since he was young, he had been sent to a private school and had already taken the fajie examination twice, but failed to make the list. He Dengke also had an older sister; she vaguely remembered that she had been married off early, and no one bothered to ask how she was doing now.
He Dengke smacked his lips, letting the sweetness spread in his mouth. He rolled his eyes and nudged He Mingyu, saying, “When are you getting married? Dad said that after you marry, I’ll have endless sweet cakes and meat…”
Mrs. Li quickly tapped him, a hint of embarrassment appearing on her face. “You child, what are you spouting?”
“Mother, I’m not spouting nonsense!” He Dengke looked at her defiantly and then at He Dalang. “Dad told me a long time ago…”
He Dalang’s right eyelid kept twitching, fearing he might say something else. Gritting his teeth, he slapped him hard across the mouth. “When did I ever tell you that! What nonsense are you talking about! Shut up!”
He Dengke had always been pampered and coddled by his family. This was the first time he had ever been slapped, and he was stunned for a moment. Before he could even cry, Mrs. Li, who was standing nearby, shoved a huge piece of sweet cake into his mouth. “Eat the sweet cake, eat the sweet cake!”
She then looked up at He Mingyu and said sheepishly, “Yuniang, Dengke is still a child. He doesn’t understand anything; he’s just talking nonsense. Please don’t take it to heart.”
“Aunt, I understand.” He Mingyu showed an understanding smile. “Besides, what Dengke said isn’t wrong. As an older sister, if I marry well, I should naturally treat my own family well. This good marriage is thanks to you and Uncle for worrying about me. I will never forget this kindness, Yuniang won’t.”
Seeing her like this, the smile on Mrs. Li’s face became a bit more genuine, and she was slightly surprised. “It is enough that you know.”
The two families exchanged a few more pleasantries, and then He Mingyu and Wu Chunlan, along with Shitou and Yingzi, walked along the country path toward their own home.
Shitou, who was usually quiet, suddenly called out, “Big Sister.”
“What is it?” He Mingyu looked at him curiously.
To her surprise, Shitou didn’t answer directly but signaled for her to walk slower. Soon, the two of them put a significant distance between themselves and Wu Chunlan and Yingzi.
“Go ahead,” He Mingyu said, turning her head to look at him.
The boy’s eyes flickered with complicated emotions. He opened his mouth, looking as if he had more to say.
“What is it? Did something happen?”
Shitou kept his head down, his fingers incessantly twisting the hem of his clothes. After struggling for a moment, he spoke softly, “Big Sister, are you and Mother… intending to leave me and Yingzi at Uncle’s house?”
“What?” He Mingyu didn’t understand what he meant at first.
There was a sense of grievance in Shitou’s tone. “Are you and Mother planning to abandon us…?”
His voice grew lower and lower, filled with a thick, sobbing tone. “I will only eat a little bit of food from now on, please don’t leave me and my sister behind, okay? Big Sister, I beg you…”
His tears began to fall more heavily. He Mingyu, however, burst into a giggle and reached out to pat his head. “What is going on in that little head of yours? Rest assured, Mother and I will absolutely never leave you or Yingzi behind.”
“Really?” Shitou asked, sobbing, before two more tears slid from the corners of his eyes. “I don’t believe it… Big Sister, you must be lying to me, woo woo woo.”
He Mingyu hadn’t expected him to have such a strong reaction. She stopped smiling and spoke very solemnly, “Big Sister wouldn’t lie to you. Did you hear something today at Uncle’s house?”
A tangled expression appeared on Shitou’s face. After thinking for a moment, he said, “I saw Mother take all the silver from the house this morning… I thought…”
She was stunned. So that was why.
He Mingyu felt a pang in her heart. He had seen it early in the morning but held back from asking. She didn’t know how anxious he had been all day, or how he had been counting the hours until they returned.
He was far too sensible.
Regarding the move, Wu Chunlan had asked if they should tell them. It was she who insisted on keeping it a secret, thinking that Shitou and Yingzi were young and afraid they might let something slip. She hadn’t expected it to cause such a misunderstanding.
He Mingyu gave him a big hug and whispered, “Big Sister will tell you a secret, but you can’t tell anyone…”
As night fell, strange insect sounds periodically emanated from the low bushes.
Wu Chunlan held Yingzi tightly, her body trembling uncontrollably, while Shitou pressed his lips together and silently tied the knot on the last bundle.
“Is everything packed?” He Mingyu lowered her voice, her eyes fixed on her.
Wu Chunlan tied two lighter bundles onto Yingzi and took a deep breath, as if using all her strength, then nodded heavily. “Let’s go.”
It was the dead of night when people were deep in sleep. He Mingyu slung her bundle over her shoulder, adjusted the dry goods hanging around her neck that were getting in the way, cautiously opened the courtyard door, and turned back to beckon the three of them to follow.
The He family hadn’t been very wealthy these years, but they still had quite a lot of things once they started packing. They didn’t want to throw this away, and that could still be used… Therefore, besides the bundles He Mingyu and Yingzi carried, Wu Chunlan also carried a huge bamboo basket on her back, almost overflowing with items.
The most important thing was the large iron pot, now strapped to Shitou’s back, making him look exactly like a little turtle. He also carried two bamboo baskets on his arms, already filled with who knows what.
The faint starlight outlined the blurry contours of the path. The four of them, like rats afraid of the light, hurried along the path out of the village with uneven steps. Any slight movement made their hearts jump.
After the initial tension passed, a wave of intense sleepiness and fatigue set in. Half an hour after leaving the village, the youngest, Yingzi, began to stumble, humming softly, “Big Sister, I’m so sleepy…”
Although Shitou didn’t say a word, his breathing had become noticeably heavier. Wu Chunlan, however, despite having a limp, didn’t show any signs of discomfort and even coaxed Yingzi in a low voice, “Be good, we’ll be there soon.”
They walked from the fourth watch to the fifth watch, from the pitch-black night to the break of dawn. Once the village was far behind them, the four dared to sit on the edge of a field to rest. Or rather, as soon as the two little ones sat down, they began to sway with exhaustion.
By the dim light, He Mingyu suddenly noticed that Wu Chunlan had her eyes slightly closed, her face pale without a drop of color. Her heart sank suddenly, and she instinctively lifted her trouser leg. The ankle of her limping right foot was already swollen.
“Mother, you…” It felt as if something was blocking her throat. “Why didn’t you tell me…”
“It’s fine, it’s fine.” Wu Chunlan hurriedly pulled her foot back and smiled. “Mother isn’t in pain, really. Let’s hurry on. It’s almost dawn; if they find out… Mother cannot watch you marry that man!”
He Mingyu’s heart felt as if it were wrapped tightly in a giant net, tightening and tightening again. In her past life, she was an orphan who struggled alone in the culinary world and rarely needed to consider others in such detail. She had been too focused on calculating how to save money and how to hurry, completely ignoring Wu Chunlan’s physical limits and forgetting that Shitou and Yingzi were just two children…
She suddenly felt a stinging sensation in her eyes. Since transmigrating, she had always viewed Wu Chunlan as an ally to be persuaded and a responsibility of this body. But at this moment, seeing her trying to force a smile, something hardened inside He Mingyu softened quietly.
“Wait a little longer.” Her voice was hoarse, filled with guilt and self-reproach.
When the eastern sky turned the color of a fish belly, there were finally people on the main road. An old man driving a donkey cart, loaded with goods, was traveling leisurely toward Bianjing City. He Mingyu immediately went forward and eventually spent six coins to persuade the old man to take them as far as Nanzun Gate.
Sitting in the bumpy donkey cart and looking at her listless family, He Mingyu suppressed the heartache in her heart and tried to use a light tone to stir up their interest in their new home. “Shitou, Yingzi, you don’t know, but the little courtyard we rented is great! There is a red-fruit tree in the courtyard, this thick!” She gestured with her hands. “When autumn comes, the tree will be full of red fruits. Then Big Sister will knock them all down and make them into candied hawthorns. They’re sweet and sour, so delicious!”
Yingzi, who had been spiritless, immediately raised her head. Her big eyes turned bright and shining with anticipation. She swallowed her saliva and asked, “Big Sister, what is a candied hawthorn? Is it really delicious? Then I want to eat lots and lots. I want to eat them in the morning, eat them in the evening, eat them sitting under the tree, and climb the tree to eat them!”
He Mingyu smiled and pinched her cheek. “Of course it’s true. When the time comes, Big Sister will make a whole bunch. The outside will be a sweet sugar shell, and the inside will be sour red fruit. I’ll let you eat your fill.”
She turned to look at Shitou and smiled. “There is a side room next to the kitchen. You are growing up and you are the backbone of the family, so that will be your room in the future.”
Hearing this, Shitou’s body stiffened imperceptibly, and he slowly turned his head to look at her.
In his memories, his father had built a small bed in the corner of the main room, and that was all the space he had. Now, Big Sister was saying he would have a separate… room in their new home?
He looked at He Mingyu, his hands unconsciously clenched into fists, his lips moving as if he wanted to confirm something, but in the end, it turned into a solemn, heavy “Mm!” squeezed from his throat.
Wu Chunlan, sitting to the side, watched as He Mingyu dissipated the gloom on their faces with just a few words, her heart filled with complex emotions. When He Erlang died suddenly, she only felt that there was endless fear ahead. How was a widowed, limping woman supposed to raise three children? In the hardest days, she had even thought of following He Erlang.
But almost overnight, the daughter who didn’t understand the world yesterday seemed to have been awakened by something. She took on the burden of this family without hesitation with her still-tender shoulders. Wu Chunlan felt satisfied, even grateful—grateful that the heavens had finally left them a way to survive. But after satisfaction, there was more heartache. She looked at the smile Yuniang wore, pretending to be relaxed; it was truly more heartbreaking than seeing her cry.
She didn’t know if Bianjing City was a deep pond or a tiger’s den; she only knew she had to venture there with her daughter and son. For the first time, she felt a faint but real sense of inner strength.
She reached out and gently held He Mingyu’s hand. The two did not speak, but they both knew: even if the road ahead was difficult, they would walk it together.
The donkey cart swayed and arrived outside Nanzun Gate. Outside the city, the crowd was bustling—people carrying burdens, pushing carts, and driving donkeys, one after another.
“Let’s eat first,” He Mingyu suggested.
Wu Chunlan tugged on her sleeve and said in a low voice, “Yuniang, why spend money to eat? When we get home, I’ll roll some noodles for you; that would be much more cost-effective…”
As she spoke, she started to walk away and signaled for the two little ones to follow. He Mingyu hurriedly stopped her and pointed with a smile at the steaming bun stall nearby. “Mother, we still have to clean up the courtyard when we get back. We won’t have time to cook. Let’s eat a little here; it can count as celebrating our move.”
Seeing Wu Chunlan’s resistance, He Mingyu immediately leaned in close and lowered her voice. “Besides, we are going to sell food too. Let’s try their craftsmanship to see how they price things.”
With that, she reluctantly nodded, though she specially added, “Don’t buy too much!” Yingzi was so happy she started spinning in circles on the side.
After the long, dusty journey, combined with their ragged bundles and bamboo baskets, the group stood out conspicuously in front of the bun stall. He Mingyu said, “Shopkeeper, how are the buns sold?”
The stall owner was a brawny man. He scanned them, a look of undisguised disgust appearing on his face. “Go, go, go! Where did you beggars come from? Don’t block my business, and don’t pass your poverty and bad luck onto me!”