After finishing their meal, Wei Nan and her little sister said goodbye to everyone and headed home, carrying the medicine that had been prepared.
Along the way, they drew countless stares.
Wei Nan even noticed that many people, upon seeing them, went out of their way to call neighbors and family to come and watch.
Some stood in the courtyards, while others opened the windows upstairs, craning their necks to get a better view, as if afraid of missing anything.
It made little Wei Pei so nervous that her head nearly sank to her chest.
As they entered the residential compound, the crowd not only grew larger but also began pointing and whispering about them.
It was clear that everyone had just heard the broadcast and knew that Liu Qiangquan’s self-criticism was directed at this taller young girl in front of them.
The residents, who rarely had any entertainment, were now excited as if it were a festival.
Although they wouldn’t stop Wei Nan to ask questions, their murmurs carried openly, without any attempt to hide them.
Wei Pei kept lowering her head, so much so that from Wei Nan’s perspective, all she could see was the back of her sister’s head.
Suddenly, Wei Pei stumbled. If Wei Nan hadn’t grabbed her tightly, she would have fallen over completely.
The little girl was so embarrassed that she almost forgot how to walk.
“Stand up straight! Chest out, head up!”
Wei Nan pulled her sister back upright and commanded in a low, serious voice.
Startled as she was, Wei Pei instinctively reached out again, clutching her sister’s sleeve tightly.
Wei Nan sighed silently in her heart, took her sister’s hand in her own, and said in a serious, determined tone, “Xiao Pei, we haven’t done anything wrong. There’s nothing to be afraid of, and no need to panic.
Stay with me, lift your head! Look ahead, and walk forward with big steps!”
Her words seemed to inject a surge of strength into the little girl.
Gradually, color returned to Wei Pei’s face, and her eyes grew resolute.
She nodded solemnly, imitating her sister’s posture, eyes fixed ahead, chest out, head held high, walking with the composure of a victor.
The house hadn’t been lived in for two days, and the stove had long since gone out.
As soon as they entered, Wei Pei, without needing her sister to say anything, squatted by the stove and began to rekindle a fire using the remaining straw.
Wei Nan looked on, realizing she couldn’t be of much help, and instead went into the inner room, frowning at the small bed made from a door panel.
She was certain that this house had never originally had only this one bed. That spendthrift Wei Damin had probably taken all the furniture back to his mother’s place after his wife passed away.
The past wasn’t worth dwelling on, but now that Wei Pei had returned, how could such a narrow door panel, barely a meter wide, possibly fit both of them?
And it wasn’t just the bed. There were also the blankets.
The quilt they used yesterday had been brought back by the original owner of the body. It was small and thin, definitely not enough for the two of them.
Wei Nan sighed and walked back to the kitchen.
“Xiao Pei, do you mind using that man’s bedding?”
Wei Pei froze for a moment, then realized that by “that man,” her sister meant their father.
She had been sent away at the age of three and had almost no memory of him.
Nor did she have any emotional connection.
So hearing her sister refer to him this way didn’t feel strange at all, it seemed entirely natural.
She shook her head, eyes wide with a hint of surprise, as if to say, “As long as there’s a blanket, who cares whose it is?”
Wei Nan sighed again.
Although she still felt uneasy about touching his things, there didn’t seem to be any other solution.
She turned to the balcony and pulled the trunk back inside.
From the trunk, Wei Nan took out the bedding and moved two of the long tables used for guests in the dining room into the bedroom.
She arranged the tables together, laid the quilt on top to test it, and found it worked well enough.
Fortunately, Wei Pei was still young; for the time being, she would be able to sleep on it just fine.
Even so, looking at the makeshift, crude bed, Wei Nan still felt very uncomfortable.
She turned to her sister, who had come in after stoking the fire, and comforted her: “Once you’re better tomorrow, I’ll wash and fix up this bedding before you use it. Tonight, we’ll just squeeze together. Don’t worry, sister will make sure to get a proper bed as soon as possible.”
Wei Pei had no objections to her sister’s decision.
After finishing tidying up, she tugged at Wei Nan’s clothes, signaling her to follow to the kitchen.
Wei Nan was a little surprised but quickly followed; this was the first time her sister had proactively made a request of her.
By now, the fire was burning brightly, and the room had noticeably warmed.
Wei Pei led her sister to the cupboard, opened the lower cabinet, and pointed inside. “Sister, let’s not buy meals from the canteen anymore. We can cook ourselves from now on.”
Wei Nan looked in the direction her sister was pointing.
Inside the cupboard were two full bags of flour, over half a jar of cooking oil, some miscellaneous grains, and durable seasonings like salt, dried chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, and star anise.
It was obvious these were all ingredients Wei Damin had used when running his restaurant.
Seeing Wei Nan stay silent, Wei Pei’s expression grew anxious.
But the little girl clearly wanted to argue a bit more.
Clenching her fists, she continued her dry, earnest plea: “I asked Sister Ling today. She said a portion of stir-fried cabbage costs five cents, and adding a bit of meat costs ten cents! Ten cents could buy half a cart of cabbage! Sister, let’s cook ourselves. You don’t have to worry; I can go to the market and gather vegetables, it won’t cost anything!”
Looking at her sister’s expectant eyes, Wei Nan felt both heartache and helplessness.
She was too embarrassed to tell Wei Pei the truth—
That her sister was absolutely useless when it came to cooking.
Expecting her to cook…
Even if she dared to, she wouldn’t dare let her sister eat it!
But clearly, this couldn’t be hidden forever.
So she steeled herself and said, “Xiao Pei, let’s just eat at the canteen for now. I’ll work hard to find a job, don’t worry, I won’t let either of us go hungry. You have to trust me on this.”
“As for cooking…”
She cleared her throat, a trace of embarrassment appearing on her face. “Well… I’m not very good at it. Look, I can’t even keep a fire going properly.”
Wei Pei’s eyes widened in shock.
She looked at Wei Nan with complete disbelief.
No wonder she was surprised, after all, in Wei Pei’s understanding, girls in the countryside start helping with chores almost as soon as they can walk.
By the time they’re small, they’re already assisting in the kitchen for their grandmother.
“I can! Sister, I can cook!” she suddenly puffed out her chest, her eyes shining with pride.
“You can?”
Now it was Wei Nan’s turn to be astonished. After all, Wei Pei was only a little over six years old this year.
Lighting a fire was understandable, but cooking… she was still shorter than the stove!
“I can stir flour soup, make wild vegetable paste, and I can shape steamed corn buns and wrap dumplings…” Wei Pei counted off on her fingers like listing treasured skills.
But the more Wei Nan listened, the angrier she became!
She just felt that the people in the Wei family were all heartless!
Such a small child, how could they be so cruel as to make her do all this?
Did they feed their conscience to the dogs?!
She couldn’t help thinking about what she herself was doing at six.
And that comparison made her nearly lose her composure.
She reached out and pressed her hand against her sister’s frostbitten little hand, speaking softly: “Our Peipei is amazing, you’re even better than sister. Tonight, can you teach sister how to cook? Let’s go wash our hands now and put some oil on your little hands.”
Looking at her sister, she spoke as if to her most beloved treasure, her voice gentle and sweet, as if it had sugar in it.
Wei Pei’s voice immediately stopped.
She quietly lowered her head, staring at the hands clasped with her sister.
She only felt how soft and warm her sister’s palm was, holding her hand like this was incredibly comforting.
Her little face flushed without her realizing it, and the corners of her tightly pressed lips lifted slightly.
Wei Pei nodded vigorously, then obediently let her sister pull her over to fill a basin with water and press her hands into it.
Wei Nan soaked her sister’s hands in warm water, then took out the frostbite cream she had gotten from Sister Ling and carefully applied it to every sore spot.
Looking at her sister’s thin, dry little hands covered in tiny cracks, her hatred for the Wei family deepened even more.
Dinner was made by Wei Nan.
Wei Pei stood on a small stool next to her, acting as the supervisor.
Even with such a “skilled worker” watching, Wei Nan, unsurprisingly, ended up making a pot of cornmeal porridge.
A very large pot, enough that the two of them probably couldn’t finish it in a single day.
It was the result of constantly adjusting, adding water when there was too little, adding flour when there was too little.
After cooking with her sister, Wei Pei was in a daze, staring at Wei Nan with an incredulous expression.
It seemed impossible for her to believe that the clumsy person from earlier could actually be her sister!
Wei Nan appeared nonchalant, but when she turned her back, she couldn’t stop the twitching between her brows.
Being stared at so openly by a six-year-old made her feel embarrassed, even humiliated.
“What are you staring at? If you’re done, come help me take apart the bedding!”
After the meal, Wei Nan finally lost her patience and poked her sister on the head.
Wei Pei said “Oh” softly and obediently followed her inside.
Wei Nan planned to dismantle Wei Damin’s old bedding and, while nothing was happening at night, wash the sheets and covers.
This way, tomorrow Wei Pei could sleep on the temporary bed set up on the dining table.
It was still makeshift, but far better than cramming together on the door panel.
Wei Nan had never dismantled bedding before, but she had seen her grandmother make small mattresses for her younger cousins.
She figured the process would be similar.
Wei Nan first put a pot of water on the stove to boil, intending to scald and wash the sheets, then together with her sister, lay the mattress on the table and begin undoing the seams along the edges.
Wei Pei looked on for a while, felt she had nothing to do, and then started rummaging through the box.
“Sister, take apart this padded jacket too. We can use the stuffing in the quilt.”
Wei Pei pulled a padded vest belonging to Wei Damin out of the box and said this.
“Okay, bring it over. I’ll take it apart in a bit,” Wei Nan said, glancing at it.
“No need, I can do it,” Wei Pei replied.
She went to the kitchen to fetch a pair of scissors, then sat on the small stool next to her sister and began dismantling it.
Seeing her tiny hands holding such a big pair of scissors, Wei Nan was a little worried.
But when she saw how skillful Wei Pei was, she said nothing further.
The two sisters busied themselves with their tasks, and the room fell quiet for a moment.
At that moment, Wei Pei suddenly exclaimed, “Ah!” and then shouted excitedly, “Sister, money! Money!”
Wei Nan jumped in surprise and quickly looked down.
She saw her sister holding a handful of money up to her, shaking it excitedly, “There’s money in the jacket pocket! Money!”
Wei Nan instantly perked up and sprang off the bed.