Li Zhuzi was the old master’s childhood companion. The two had joined the army together, and Li Zhuzi later died on the battlefield. Out of brotherly loyalty, the old master had continuously supported Li Zhuzi’s wife, née Wang, and his son, Li Shun, after his death. Li Shun was also a man who knew gratitude, and when he grew up, he insisted on secretly joining the army behind the old master’s back, hoping to earn merit and distinction to repay the old master’s kindness.
Unexpectedly, while returning to the capital on official business, he lodged at the Ye estate and died on the night the Ye family was slaughtered.
Li Shun’s wife had just given birth to a pair of twins and was recuperating from childbirth. When she heard of her husband’s death, she abandoned her mother-in-law and the two swaddled infants, unable to bear the grief, and followed him in death.
The old master felt a sense of guilt and had been supporting the Li family all these years. But now times were hard for everyone, and they themselves were tightening their belts to get by.
When Ye Xiaojin and the others arrived, a crowd had already gathered outside the Li family’s rammed-earth house, discussing something.
Seeing Old Master Ye and the others approach, they crowded around them.
Ye Hong held great prestige in Shuiwan Village. Many villagers had received his kindness, and with his military achievements from the past, the common folk held an inexplicable reverence for the battlefield general who had protected them. Whenever anything important happened in the village, they would seek his counsel.
Ye Hong nodded slightly in greeting to the crowd. Hearing the commotion, Village Chief Li Deming came out of Li Zhuzi’s house and went straight to Ye Hong, supporting his arm as they walked inside. “Uncle Ye, the old lady seems to be at her end—it’s starvation. She’s the first, but she won’t be the last in the village. If this continues, everyone will have to start planning to flee the famine.”
“Let’s go in and see first.” Ye Hong sighed. He knew all too well that if things continued this way, everyone would have no choice but to flee. Years of consecutive disasters and an unmerciful ruler—it was the common people who suffered.
Ye Xiaojin had a rough understanding of the history between the Li and Ye families, and she knew even better that her grandfather could not let go of his concern for the Lis. So upon entering the house, she walked straight to the bedside.
Having experienced abandonment by her birth parents as a child and then being trained by an assassin organization for ten years, Ye Xiaojin had always been indifferent to everyone and everything except her grandfather. But now, seeing the state of the old woman on the bed, her heart gave a violent shudder.
That was hardly the appearance of a human being—it was clearly just a layer of skin draped over a skeleton, worse than the refugees she had seen in Africa. Looking at the other villagers in the room, each was sallow and gaunt, with sunken cheeks. Life in the village was far more difficult than she had imagined.
Given the old woman’s condition, feeding her porridge might not work.
Ye Xiaojin noticed two half-grown children kneeling by the bedside, holding the old woman’s hand and sobbing quietly. She knew these were the Li family’s two children, so she said to them, “Is there any boiled water at home? Go get some boiled water—warm would be best.”
The two children stared at her blankly. After a moment, the boy shook his head, then, as if remembering something, scrambled up from the ground. “I’ll go boil some now.”
Ye Xiaojin handed the bowl of porridge to Lao Zhuang. “Grandpa Zhuang, go help him, and add some boiled water to the porridge and cook it until it’s softer.”
Lao Zhuang had been chagrined at his own muddled thinking—he had actually let the young miss carry the porridge all the way from home. Now hearing the young miss give him a task, he immediately agreed and followed the Li boy toward the kitchen stove.
“Grandfather, Grandma Wang has been hungry for too long. Her intestines are already disrupted, so it’s not suitable to feed her porridge just yet.”
The old woman’s surname was Wang. She had been widowed not long after marrying into Shuiwan Village, so most villagers addressed her by her maiden name—Auntie Wang or Grandma Wang. This was recorded in the original owner’s memories.
“Does Xiaobao have a way?”
“There’s a formula in my head—adding some salt and sugar to cool boiled water can replenish some energy. Once she recovers a bit, feed her some soft, well-cooked congee. There might be a chance to save her. I’ll go home and find some sugar and salt.”
She remembered seeing a bit of sugar left when she had tidied up the house.
She then looked at the crowd. “I know everyone cares about Grandma Wang, but having too many people in the room won’t do her any good. Please spread out into the courtyard as much as possible.”
No one moved; they looked toward Ye Hong and the other man standing in the room.
Ye Xiaojin remembered him from her memories—he was Doctor Li, the only physician in the village.
Doctor Li nodded at her words. “Miss Ye makes a good point.”
The reason he hadn’t suggested everyone spread out was that Aunt Wang was starving. Taking out one’s own family’s grain to save Aunt Wang’s life would mean letting one’s own family starve. Besides, even if she were saved for this meal, without the next one she would still starve to death. No one had surplus grain left.
Since she couldn’t be saved anyway, everyone staying in the room could at least see Aunt Wang off when she breathed her last.
But now the Ye family had brought food, and the Ye girl seemed to have a method of treatment, so he said to the crowd, “Let’s go outside and wait.”
Ye Hong knew that the formula his granddaughter mentioned was one passed down by the Taoist master, and he nodded. “Go quickly.” He then led the crowd outside.
Ye Xiaojin paid no mind to the crowd’s astonished gazes and rushed home as fast as she could to fetch the sugar and salt. Taking the boiled water from the Li family boy’s hands, she added the salt and sugar, stirring until they were fully dissolved. After blowing on it to cool it down, she fed it to Grandma Wang bit by bit with a spoon.
Fortunately, Grandma Wang was still conscious and knew how to swallow. After the bowl of salt-sugar water was finished, Ye Xiaojin set down the bowl and kept watch by the bedside, waiting for the old woman to wake.
“Sister Jin, will my grandmother wake up?” The girl kneeling by the bed looked at Ye Xiaojin timidly.
Ye Xiaojin looked at the two gaunt children, their gray clothes so faded the color was indiscernible, both with sallow, malnourished faces. The boy, born earlier, was the older brother, named Li Kangping, and the younger sister was called Li Kangan.
The original owner hadn’t been close to them. In their eyes, Ye Xiaojin was a young lady of high standing, so Li Kangan was somewhat afraid of her—but she wanted an answer from her even more.
“She will,” she said firmly. Grandma Wang was starving; as long as there was food, she could live. After speaking, she pulled the two kneeling children up. “If you ruin your knees from kneeling, Grandma will feel heartbroken when she wakes up.”
Hearing this, Li Kangan’s tears, which she had just held back, burst forth like a broken dam. “We didn’t know Grandma hadn’t eaten. I was so hungry, and Grandma said she’d already eaten, so I ate everything. I’m so stupid—I ate all of Grandma’s share.”
Ye Xiaojin felt a complicated mix of emotions. She wasn’t good at comforting others, so she simply ruffled the child’s hair. She too hoped Grandma Wang would recover. Setting aside the matter of her grandfather, she recalled from her memories that when the original owner had her first period, it was Grandma Wang who had held her close and taught her about matters of womanhood. Though it was the original owner who had experienced it, thinking of it now still warmed her heart—it was a warmth she had never known in her previous life.
“Ding…”
“Host has saved a life. Reward: 5 Points.”
A bullet-chat suddenly appeared before Ye Xiaojin’s eyes.
Saved a life? That meant… Grandma Wang wouldn’t die? At least not for now.
Ye Xiaojin let out a sigh of relief and immediately turned to look at the person on the bed. Sure enough, Grandma Wang had already opened her eyes, her lips moving faintly. “Kangping… Kangan…”
At the sound of their grandmother’s call, the two children rushed to the bedside, crying and laughing at once.
Ye Xiaojin set down the cooled congee and sat by the bed to feed Grandma Wang, but the old woman shook her head, pressing her lips tightly shut, her gaze drifting toward the two children. Ye Xiaojin guessed she must be reluctant to eat it herself, wanting to save it for the little ones, so she said, “Grandma Wang, you eat. They’ll have something to eat too.”
Seeing this, Li Kangping quickly added, “Grandma, you eat. Only when you’re full can you get better. My sister and I just ate.” He patted his stomach to emphasize the point.
His younger sister, Li Kang’an, followed suit, puffing out her belly and patting it as well. “Grandma, we’re all full. You need to eat and get better. Don’t leave me and big brother… wuwu…”
Grandma Wang looked weakly at her grandchildren for a long moment, tears slipping from the corners of her eyes. At last, she opened her mouth and sipped down the congee brought to her lips, mouthful by mouthful.
The people in the courtyard, hearing the commotion, filed in one by one to see what was happening. Doctor Li stepped forward to take her pulse, then nodded to the crowd.
Everyone let out a sigh of relief—she had made it through.
Ye Hong, supported by Lao Zhuang, also walked in. “Old sister-in-law, you’re confused. As long as one lives, there’s hope. If you’re in difficulty, tell us. We’ll all put our heads together and find a way. We’ll get through this somehow.”
“I’ve been… too much… of a burden… to you…”
“Zhu Zi and I were as close as brothers, and Shun’er met his end in my home. If you say such things, what face do I have left…” Ye Hong’s expression was heavy with shame as he sighed. “It’s my incompetence. I failed to take care of you all.”
Grandma Wang struggled to shake her head, and as if that weren’t enough, she waved her hand to stop Ye Hong from continuing. The Ye family had already done more than enough for them. Had it not been for Ye Hong’s help back then, she and her orphaned children would have long since gone underground to reunite with her husband—let alone have grandchildren now.
She had never blamed Ye Hong for Li Shun’s death. She also knew that Ye Hong carried guilt in his heart, which was why, when he had helped her and the two children before, she never refused—as long as it eased his conscience. But now, in these years of famine, the Ye family could barely keep themselves alive. She could no longer be selfish and drag them down.
“Don’t worry. We’ll find a way to deal with the food problem. You just rest and recover well—don’t trouble your mind with anything else.” With that, Ye Hong, supported by Lao Zhuang, left the Li household.
Ye Xiaojin said her goodbyes to Grandma Wang and the two children, then followed the others out of the Li home.