The sky had only just begun to brighten when the faint rustling of movement and quiet voices could be heard.
Wei Ning opened her bleary eyes and saw that Grandma, Mother, and Second Aunt were already awake, sorting through their bundles in the corner of the room.
“Mother, the clothes we changed out of back then were exchanged with the guards for these five coarse-cloth coats.”
“We don’t have any other clothes. We have to take off these prison uniforms, so we’ll need to buy some clothes.”
Mother’s worried voice drifted over.
Second Aunt lowered her head without saying anything.
“Ah… Let’s go talk to Qian’er and Chong’er and see what they think.”
Grandma sighed wearily.
The three women then opened the door and carried their bundles to the room next door.
Wei Ning remained awake, watching the morning light filter through the torn window paper. In the thin beams of light, countless tiny specks of dust floated and danced.
Beside her, Wei Ci, her second uncle’s ten-year-old daughter, and Wei Yuan, her third uncle’s two-year-old daughter, were still sleeping soundly. They shared a single worn gray coat.
Wei Ning had one covering her too, still warm from her mother Yang’s body heat.
The night had been cold. The northern wind had blown through the rotten window paper, and the thin coat barely kept them warm. Yang had held Wei Ning in her arms, deliberately covering most of the coat over her daughter.
I probably won’t be able to go back.
Wei Ning sighed.
She got up and pulled the coat over the two children curled up beside her.
She opened the door and went next door as well.
Dwelling on sadness was never Wei Ning’s style.
Since she was already here, she might as well accept it.
Adapt. Change. Live well.
Just like when she was a child—somehow, life would always get better.
She pushed open the half-closed door next door. The wooden door gave a crisp creak.
The quiet conversation inside immediately stopped, and everyone turned toward her.
Except for six-year-old Wei Zhao, everyone in the dim room was already awake.
Grandma, Yang, and Second Aunt were sitting beside the kang. Father and Second Uncle were standing, while Wei Yan, Wei Xiao, and Second Uncle’s eldest son, Wei Jin, were sitting on the floor.
“Morning.”
Wei Ning greeted them.
“It’s Ning’er.”
Grandma answered.
Wei Ning entered, closed the door, and sat down beside Wei Yan.
The others glanced at her before returning to their previous discussion.
Grandma held their entire remaining fortune—less than twenty taels of silver.
“We have to report to the Hundred-Household Office later. We can’t keep wearing these prison uniforms. At the very least, everyone needs one set of coarse linen clothes.”
“We don’t have anything here either. Pots, bowls, utensils, bedding, quilts, farming tools, cooking equipment… Everything needs to be bought.”
“There’s money to spend everywhere. How can these twenty taels possibly be enough? How are we supposed to live?”
Father Wei Qian sighed.
“We have to live somehow. Father went to great lengths to save all of us. We’ve made it through such a difficult journey. How can we give up now?”
Second Uncle Wei Chong nodded.
“Exactly. We’ll take things one step at a time. Let’s get through the immediate problems first.”
“Once we start working, we’ll receive rations. If we live frugally, we won’t starve.”
Wei Yan added, “I can also look for copying work. I could copy books at night to earn some extra money for the family.”
Wei Xiao said, “My handwriting isn’t good, but I can hunt. There seem to be plenty of mountains outside the city.”
Wei Jin spoke hesitantly.
“I… I’m not particularly good at anything. I’ll do whatever you tell me to do.”
Second Aunt said, “I’m fairly good at needlework. I can embroider handkerchiefs and things like that.”
Mother added, “I’m decent at martial arts, and I have some strength.”
Grandma’s eyes filled with tears.
“Yes… yes. Our Wei family members are all good children. If we work together, we’ll get through this hardship.”
She took out ten taels of silver and handed them to Second Uncle.
“Chong’er, you’re familiar with business matters. Take the money and go with your wife to buy everyone a set of clothes first.”
Second Uncle nodded.
The couple put on two of the old coats and hurried out.
“After we report in, we’ll buy some household necessities and medicine for Ning’er and Yan’er.”
“For now, let’s see if we can at least tidy up the rooms and courtyard.”
Grandma’s instructions were brisk and orderly.
She truly was someone who had grown up through hardship. When trouble came, she could hold everything together.
Everyone answered and went outside to work.
They carried the larger pieces of rubbish and miscellaneous things from each room into the courtyard.
After all, they didn’t even have a broom or water. There wasn’t much they could do.
As the sky grew brighter, Wei Ning stood beneath the veranda of the main house and finally got a clear look at their surroundings.
There were two rooms on the left. The one closer to the outside was the kitchen.
Inside was a clay stove blackened by years of smoke. The originally yellow-brown walls had also been stained black.
Only the wall facing the courtyard had a small window. Light filtered through it, but it was hardly enough to illuminate the room.
The other rooms were arranged similarly.
Apart from the earthen kang built along the walls, there was no furniture whatsoever.
Wei Ning examined the structure and discovered that all the earthen kangs were connected to one another and linked to the stove in the kitchen.
As long as they lit the fire, the kangs would gradually become warm.
The room doors and courtyard gate were all made from crude, old wooden boards. Almost every window was broken.
It wasn’t raining now, so she had no idea whether the thatched roof leaked.
This place…
Just getting it into a condition where they could live comfortably would probably consume all twenty taels, and it still wouldn’t be enough.
Last night it had been too dark to see the surroundings clearly.
Now, looking into the distance, she saw rows of similar thatched and mud houses.
Some were larger, some smaller, but the buildings were laid out fairly neatly, with clearly defined rows and lanes.
Unlike the chaotic rural houses she remembered from later generations, where buildings were often constructed wherever there was space, leaving alleys so narrow that even a bicycle couldn’t pass through.
Just as everyone had nearly finished cleaning, Second Uncle and Second Aunt returned.
Each person had bought one set of simple coarse-cloth clothing: a short shirt and long trousers.
They were secondhand clothes, only about forty or fifty percent new—not new garments.
Second Aunt had estimated everyone’s sizes based on her experience.
They weren’t a perfect fit, but at least everyone could wear them.
Once everyone had changed and gathered in the main room, Second Uncle handed the remaining money to Grandma.
His brows were tightly furrowed as he slowly said,
“Mother, this is what’s left—seven taels and nine hundred and thirty copper coins.”
“Supplies are scarce here at the border, so everything costs more than it does inside the pass. A new set of coarse-cloth clothes for an adult costs three hundred copper coins, while children’s clothing costs two hundred and fifty.”
“I… I thought our money is already so tight that we have to save every coin we can, so I bought these secondhand clothes instead.”
“Even secondhand clothes cost one hundred and eighty copper coins for adults and one hundred and fifty for children. Buying one set for everyone cost us two taels and seventy copper coins.”
Grandma’s eyes widened in shock.
After a moment, she sighed helplessly.
“Ah… Life is difficult for poor people in these times. You did the right thing. Right now, we have to make every coin count. As long as they can be worn, that’s enough. As long as they can be worn.”
Wei Qian’s eyes reddened.
His voice choked with emotion.
“Mother, your son is useless. You’ve already grown old, and now even a new set of clothes has become a luxury for you.”
“What are you saying?”
“At a time like this, staying alive is what matters. These material things aren’t important.”
The gloomy atmosphere in the room finally began to lift, and everyone’s spirits slowly returned.
“It’s getting late. Let’s report in first. When we return, we’ll discuss how to settle everything and arrange things as quickly as possible. Tomorrow, all of you will have to start working.”
“Yes.”
Everyone answered together.
They left the house and followed the direction the guards had pointed out the previous night.