Today, the heavens were finally kind. The long, unending drizzle had at last stopped. In the west, the evening sky glowed with a brilliant golden hue mixed with silver-gray. As the sun sank lower, the colors grew increasingly dim.
Wen Zhiheng finally returned at this hour.
He carried two wild pheasants and a plump rabbit in his hands. His face was filled with exhaustion, yet a faint smile touched his eyes.
Rui'er was the first to notice Wen Zhiheng's return.
He hurried forward and threw himself into Wen Zhiheng's arms, his voice thick with tears.
“Uncle, you finally came back. Rui'er is so hungry.”
With his free hand, Wen Zhiheng pinched Rui'er's cheek.
“Your uncle will roast some meat for you later. You can have all the chicken legs, all right?”
“Mm…”
Everyone gathered around Wen Zhiheng, talking to him, while Wen Zhiyuan took the game from his hands.
Chen Shiyi silently pulled out the shrubs and weeds around the house. A fire had already been lit inside. Burning it would drive away some of the dampness. She had gathered and tied up the firewood one branch at a time after searching through the woods.
It should be enough for tonight.
As she worked, she glanced at the eldest young master.
Several tears had been ripped into his clothes, and there were several bloody scratches across the backs of his hands. Chasing down these small animals had evidently taken some effort.
He was unfamiliar with the area, but fortunately, he knew some martial arts and had managed to hunt a few animals. Otherwise, everyone would have had to go hungry.
The earlier firestarter had been borrowed by Wen Zhiyuan from Old Yu. Now he was preparing to go and borrow a knife from Old Yu to butcher the game.
Unexpectedly, Old Yu's fat body came rolling toward them.
When he saw what Wen Zhiyuan was carrying, his sleepy eyes suddenly lit up. His swollen, fleshy hand snatched the animals away, and a sinister smile spread across his lips.
“Just enough to cover half a month's rent.”
Everyone present was instantly terrified.
He had taken their game. What were they supposed to eat?
They had eaten nothing since the two pieces of flatbread that morning.
Wen Zhirou hurried forward to stop him.
“We'll pay the rent later. This is food for our entire family tonight.”
Old Yu's expression changed at once.
“What did you say?”
Wen Zhirou was about to retort, but Wen Zhiheng pulled her back.
He spoke to Old Yu calmly.
“Brother Yu, it's already too late today, and we really couldn't find anything else to eat. If you take our food, our entire family will have to go hungry.”
Old Yu's eyes swept over Wen Zhiheng. Though the man before him was down on his luck, the bearing he carried was impossible to ignore. Someone like that was best not offended completely.
He took ten copper coins from his person and tossed them to Wen Zhiyuan.
“I, Old Yu, am kindhearted. I can't bear to see others suffer. I'm giving you a bargain.”
With that, he carried off the game Wen Zhiheng had just hunted and swaggered away.
The entire Wen family was so furious that they ground their teeth.
When Rui'er saw the meat being carried away just as it was about to reach his mouth, he immediately began wailing.
“Uncle, my tummy is so hungry. I want to eat the chicken legs…”
Wen Zhiheng quickly picked him up and said in a deep voice, “Don't cry, Rui'er. Your uncle will get some for you tomorrow.”
With the ten copper coins, Wen Zhiyuan bought ten rice balls from the Fengming Mine. Everyone received one. They did not dare eat the remaining ones, instead planning to save them for tomorrow—for Wen Zhiheng, Wen Zhiyuan, and Rui'er.
The two men had to work in the mine, while Rui'er was still only a child.
Everyone looked somewhat dispirited. After eating, they went to the pond to clean themselves up a little, then sat on the floor of the house with their backs against the walls, their heads hanging as no one felt like speaking.
The floor was covered with dried grass Chen Shiyi had gathered from the woods. She had roughly woven it into two mats. At least they would not have to sleep directly on the muddy ground.
Wen Zhiyuan had somehow obtained a bamboo cup and was about to give Rui'er some water.
Chen Shiyi glanced over and hurriedly shouted, “Don't drink it!”
After yelling, she swiftly rose and snatched the cup from Rui'er.
A soft, slick, greasy insect slowly crawled out from the wall of the bamboo cup. Black patterns writhed incessantly across its body, making it utterly disgusting.
Wen Zhirou, who was beside them, went pale. She had just drunk from that cup. With a scream, she hurried outside, frantically clawing at her mouth before vomiting.
Madam Wen's expression was also extremely unpleasant.
“What is that?”
“A leech.”
Wen Zhiyuan continued, “They're also called bloodsucking worms. They live in ponds and fields.”
Madam Wen pressed a hand to her aching head.
“How are we supposed to drink water from now on? We don't even have a pot to boil it in.”
Chen Shiyi had followed Wen Zhirou outside as soon as she ran out. She patted her back and gently comforted her.
“Are you all right?”
Wen Zhirou waved her hand, indicating that she was fine now. Her face, however, was deathly pale, without the slightest trace of color.
The night had grown deep, and it was extremely quiet outside the house. Only the wind passing through the woods could be heard, along with the croaking of frogs rising and falling across the fields, mingled with the soft chirping of insects.
In the middle of the house, the fire gradually died down.
Perhaps because of their exhaustion, Rui'er fell into a deep sleep in the arms of the Second Young Madam, while the other women had already entered their dreams.
Chen Shiyi did not sleep. With her eyes lowered slightly, she listened to Wen Zhiheng and Wen Zhiyuan speaking.
“At the beginning of the Chen hour tomorrow, you and I must go to the Fengming mine shaft to work. We won't return until the beginning of the You hour. You and I can endure it, and the mine provides food, but what are Mother, Zhirou, and the other women to do?”
“Elder Brother, there are still a few rice balls left. They can divide them among themselves in the morning. We'll eat less and bring the remaining food back.”
“But then they'll have to go hungry all day. How can they endure that?”
“There's no other way. Once we have some time, we'll go up the mountain, hunt some game, and exchange it for money. We'll get through these days somehow.”
“We'll both be gone working, leaving the women here. What if they encounter some villains? Sigh, I really can't feel at ease.”
“Elder Brother, we've only just arrived. For now, this is the only arrangement we can make. Compared with having our bodies torn apart from our corpses, life still offers us at least a sliver of hope, doesn't it?”
Firelight flickered in Wen Zhiheng's dark eyes.
“Game isn't so easy to hunt in the mountains. Today, I only managed to return without an empty-handed because of another person's guidance.”
“We have to keep enduring. We must survive.”
Chen Shiyi felt miserable as well.
During the exile journey, at least someone had provided them with food. The food had been neither good nor sufficient, but at least they had not had to worry every day about how they would find something to eat. Now, they could not even solve the problem of finding safe water to drink.
What were they supposed to do in the future?
She was simply too hungry, and Chen Shiyi slept very uneasily.
There was a rustling sound inside the house, as if something were moving. Chen Shiyi rubbed her eyes and, by the light of the fire that had not yet completely gone out, looked around the room. She discovered something utterly horrifying.
The rice balls left over from the previous night had been hung from the roof beam to keep insects and ants from getting to them. Who could have imagined that, at this moment, countless mice with glittering eyes would be crawling all over the beam?
They densely covered the ropes, climbing and hanging from them. More and more mice kept piling onto the ropes from behind, all fighting to reach the rice balls suspended in the air.
Directly beneath the rice balls lay Miss Wen, fast asleep.
Chen Shiyi stared at the swaying rice balls and shouted, “Miss, wake up!”
Her cry startled everyone in the house awake. Wen Zhirou blinked sleepily, not knowing what had happened, when suddenly, a huge mass of black, furry creatures fell directly onto her body before swiftly scattering in every direction.
Chen Shiyi had already started forward, but she was too late to stop it.
Wen Zhirou covered her head with both hands and screamed like a madwoman.
Chen Shiyi hurriedly dragged the hysterical Wen Zhirou to her feet and pulled her to a place where they could stand.
The mice that had fallen covered the entire floor of the house in a tightly packed mass. Fighting over the few rice balls, layer upon layer of mice piled on top of one another, forming a mountain of mice.
Everyone inside the house went deathly pale. Wen Zhiyuan held Rui'er in his arms as the child cried so hard he could barely catch his breath.
“Quick, get outside!”