The oyster shells were plentiful, piled up almost as tall as Chengzhou.
They needed to be burned in small heaps, for fear of setting fire to the nearby fence.
Outside the courtyard, Chengzhou quickly burned two piles of shell ash.
“Chengzhou, come back for dinner—”
Shi Yin called out in a drawn-out voice, sounding just like the tone of the Jiang family’s sister-in-law next door calling Wangshan, and remarkably like her grandmother’s tone from her past life calling her home.
“Coming—” Chengzhou called back. He shoveled two loads of earth around the fire pit and ran home.
Shi Yin had prepared the evening meal using the existing clay pot. Lacking seasonings, it was hardly a delicacy.
Fortunately, the salted fish had been dried for long enough that its meat was firm, and its salty, savory flavor was stewed out, seeping into the thick porridge of mixed wheat grains and millet, adding a savory richness. Coupled with those two wild amaranth plants chopped finely and stirred into the porridge, a fresh hint of green wildness was added to the savory aroma.
The three of them ate the entire pot of salted porridge completely clean.
“Kisses, Mommy.” Rong’er puckered her little mouth, with grains of rice from her meal still stuck to her face.
Shi Yin wiped her mouth for her: “Kisses? Why kisses?”
After forcefully planting a smacking kiss on Shi Yin’s face, Rong’er patted her own tummy and said, “Tummy eat, Rong’er no eat.”
Shi Yin immediately understood Rong’er’s little thought and said with amusement:
“Hahaha, Rong’er means her tummy still wants to eat, but Rong’er doesn’t want to eat anymore, is that it?”
Rong’er nodded shyly.
Shi Yin touched her little tummy, which was bulging like a rubber ball.
“Tummy won’t eat anymore either. Rong’er ate too much today; Mommy will cook for you again tomorrow.”
Rong’er touched her tummy and reluctantly nodded: “Tummy eat tomorrow.”
Chengzhou also looked at his sister with amusement, standing up to stretch his back.
Without a table, it was indeed inconvenient, leaving his back sore and legs numb.
He was just about to reach out to tidy up the clay pot and the few tree twigs used as makeshift chopsticks when Shi Yin stopped him:
“Chengzhou, I’ll clean up. Take Rong’er out to play a bit more to digest the food, so you’ll sleep more peacefully tonight.”
“Okay, Mother.”
Chengzhou responded, pulling Rong’er along to find the little lamb for fun.
The little lamb’s courage had grown considerably by now, no longer shrinking timidly into a corner in silent immobility as it had when first brought back.
At this moment, it was poking its head around, sniffing greedily at the fragrance of the grain sacks, unable to resist leaning forward to nibble on the corners of the burlap sacks.
Whenever Shi Yin saw this, she would give it a slap, but the little creature learned no lesson at all, remaining as stubbornly playful as ever.
Chengzhou had no choice but to watch the grain sacks carefully, grabbing a few handfuls of dry grass to feed the lamb.
When Shi Yin returned after tidying up and saw the skinny appearance of the lamb, she thought for a moment, then scooped a handful of black soybeans to hand over.
Seeing this, Rong’er clamored to feed it herself.
With Chengzhou watching over her, Shi Yin let her be.
She then conveniently retrieved more black soybeans, placed them in a clay basin, and added fresh water to soak them, intending to sprout some bean sprouts to eat tomorrow.
After finishing all this, the sky had turned completely dark.
Not a single household in the village lit an oil lamp; the entire island was wrapped in total darkness.
In Shi Yin’s stove, a few embers still remained. She poked at them and added some firewood to keep it from going out.
After securing the doors and windows, she straightened the sheepskin mattress, embraced the children, and passed another night.
Perhaps Lady Shi’s cold-blooded, unwavering killing had truly frightened them, or perhaps it was because of the Jiang family; in short, no one disturbed them again that night.
Early the next morning, Shi Yin woke up and began weaving baskets.
Shrubs and vines were abundant on the island, and vine tendrils were a common sight. Cutting a couple of them and stripping the bark was enough to weave a basket.
This was her grandmother’s craft from her past life.
What Shi Yin wove was not exquisite, but it was functional.
By the time Chengzhou and Rong’er woke up, Shi Yin had already finished weaving a large vine basket.
After a simple breakfast, Shi Yin planned to take Chengzhou and Rong’er up the mountain to explore and cut some clean reeds to lay on their bed.
Sleeping on the hard, cold ground for the past few days with only a sheepskin mattress underneath had left her bones aching all over.
It was no wonder Sun Da had preferred to sleep directly on a pile of straw.
However, since so many rats were hidden in the old straw cleared out earlier, Shi Yin felt truly repulsed in her heart. She would rather burn all those old grasses as firewood and go through the trouble of cutting new grass than ever use them again.
“Mother, if we all leave, will our home attract thieves?” Chengzhou asked with some worry.
Shi Yin placed the crossbow inside the basket:
“It definitely will. Although those gangs are gone, petty thieves will not be lacking.”
Sun Da’s house originally had no door lock, and even if it did, the windows were extremely easy to climb. It was merely a crude dwelling that kept out honest folk but not thieves.
Looking at her son’s worried expression, Shi Yin couldn’t help rubbing his head, smiling as she gestured toward a spot on the nearby hillside: “Lead the sheep up the mountain. We’ll play a game of waiting for the hare to run into the tree.”
Chengzhou looked in the direction of his mother’s gaze, quickly reacted, and followed his mother up the mountain with excitement.
As Shi Yin walked toward the back mountain, people in the courtyards she passed poked their heads out to look, whispering among themselves.
Before long, two men sneakily slipped toward Shi Yin’s courtyard, with a woman lingering behind them to keep watch.
After seeing this, the eldest Jiang sister-in-law returned to the room and informed Jiang Song.
After pondering for a moment, Jiang Song said, “We can manage for a moment, but not for a lifetime. If this Lady Shi cannot even protect this house, I fear she can hardly accomplish great things. Let us wait and observe first.”
Jiang Song harbored some expectations for this Lady Shi in his heart. Listening to her words, she was not only capable of leaving the island, but even dared to plan a life-risking business like salt smuggling—how could she fail to handle such a minor matter of petty thievery?
After looking around for a moment, the two men slipped into the courtyard and entered the house. A moment later, each emerged carrying a burlap sack stuffed full of grain.
The woman stood at the fence gate, poking her head about to cover them.
However, just as the two reached the courtyard fence gate, before the three could rejoice for even a second, two crossbow arrows split the air and arrived.
“Chengzhou, you can aim so accurately from this distance?” Shi Yin looked at the crossbow arrow lodged firmly in the chest, her eyes filled with praise.
Chengzhou raised his chin slightly, his tone carrying pride: “Mother, I have been riding horses and practicing with bows since I was three. All these years, I have never slacked off.”
Shi Yin smiled and gave him a thumb up, standing on a large rock to gaze into the distance at the arrow she had shot herself.
Hmm, neck and neck.
The mother and son had not gone to the back mountain, but had circled directly back to a nearby hillside, where a giant boulder provided a commanding high position to view their own courtyard.
Although the distance was not short, the weapon in hand was a military-standard crossbow, whose range far surpassed ordinary recurve bows.
“Mother, Brother, look at Rong’er! Look at Rong’er!”
Below the rock, Rong’er was too short to climb up, calling out urgently in frustration.
Shi Yin smiled and said, “Be good, Rong’er. We are catching thieves. You and Brother wait for Mommy here; Mommy will be back in a moment.”
Looking at the crossbow in her mother’s hand, Rong’er knew it was important business—important business where she couldn’t be noisy—so she nodded and obediently followed behind Chengzhou.
Shi Yin bounded off the giant boulder with long strides, holding the crossbow as she walked back to the small house.
Before she even drew near, she heard that woman wailing loudly there:
“My husband! How could there be such a cruel person! We’ve been starving for three days and only came to borrow a little grain, yet it cost us our lives! Heavens, open your eyes! This Lady Shi wears a human skin, but does the deeds of a beast! Is there still any law and order left—”