The sky was still early, with a few remaining stars refusing to drop from the firmament. The early autumn morning was already beginning to turn slightly chilly. Sister-in-law Shan’er told Song Xia not to follow her around blindly and get in the way, so Song Xia ended up sitting in the courtyard with Sister-in-law Shan’er’s three young children, staring at each other with wide eyes.
Sister-in-law Shan’er’s youngest daughter blinked her large eyes, tucking her hands between her legs as she obediently looked at the strange older sister in front of her.
Finding the girl’s fixed gaze rather amusing, Song Xia smiled back kindly and teased playfully, “What’s your name?”
Perhaps because she was in her own courtyard, the little girl wasn’t shy at all, replying to Song Xia in a muffled, babyish voice.
“Xiaohua~”
“Xiaohua~ What a pretty name. How old are you then?”
This question seemed to exceed Xiaohua’s comprehension. She turned her head and cast a pleading, questioning look at the two older children beside her.
One of the kids, built as sturdy as a little calf, loudly answered on Xiaohua’s behalf while pointing at another little boy sitting next to him: “Xiaohua is three years old! My name is Shen Jiang, and his name is Shen Yun!”
Song Xia curiously glanced at the other little boy beside them. Compared to Shen Jiang, he looked much more delicate and refined, also appearing as the quietest and shiest of the three children. Seeing Song Xia look at him, Shen Yun merely lowered his head, blushed, and offered a faint smile.
Song Xia found it quite interesting; these three children truly had completely different personalities.
Before long, Sister-in-law Shan’er walked out of the house carrying the food and distributed it to everyone seated.
The moment the bowls hit the table, the three children grabbed theirs with both hands and began devouring the food voraciously.
In the current era, crop yields were poor, and most people were still struggling with hunger. Being able to fill one’s stomach was already a tremendous luxury.
Even though Sister-in-law Shan’er had tried to make things as presentable as possible by inviting Song Xia to eat with them, in Song Xia’s eyes, this breakfast was still exceedingly meager.
A bowl of thin, watery porridge made from coarse grains like beans and millet, accompanied by a small dish of pickled vegetables. Yet even such simple fare caused the three children to emit satisfied, piggy-like grunting sounds as they ate.
To Song Xia’s surprise, however, Sister-in-law Shan’er also handed her a small, blackened coarse-grain steamed bun (momo).
“Sister-in-law Shan’er, you really are being too polite. A few pieces of pastry aren’t worth all this. You and Brother Shen helped us move so much luggage yesterday, and I don’t even know how to thank you properly. Today you even specially called us to eat together. No one’s family has an abundance of wealth, and this momo…” Song Xia declined politely. Almost immediately, she felt three pairs of eyes staring longingly at her—specifically, staring at the small momo in her hand.
“Oh, goodness! You lot are such gluttons! Starved ghosts reincarnated, every single one of you! You never feel like you’ve eaten enough! Eat your own food!” Sister-in-law Shan’er caught the children’s expressions and immediately used her chopsticks to tap them each on the head while scolding, “Those pastries yesterday were gifts from Miss Song for you to eat! Look at the way you’re all acting over a single momo today! If you don’t want your porridge, get out of here right now and go cut grass!”
After scolding the children, she turned back to Song Xia. “Little Song, don’t pay them any mind. Day in and day out, these little rascals only think about eating! Not a single meal leaves them starving, though! Just eat your own food and ignore them. Since they had good things yesterday, missing a meal today won’t hurt them at all!”
Sister-in-law Shan’er was brisk and efficient in her actions, and her speech was just as fast-paced. Holding that small piece of steamed bun, Song Xia was left half-laughing and half-crying. She could only flash an “I’ve-got-no-choice” expression at the children before slowly beginning to eat.
Once the children realized there was no more food to be had, although they felt a bit disappointed, they weren’t terribly upset. Slurping down the very last grain of rice in their bowls, they slammed the dishes onto the table and scattered outside in a flurry of shouts and laughter.
“Slow down! Keep an eye on Xiaohua! Don’t let her run around randomly!” Sister-in-law Shan’er shouted toward their retreating backs. Shen Jiang waved an arm and shouted back a loud acknowledgement without even turning his head.
Song Xia watched their family with a smile, slowly sipping her porridge.
In truth, Song Xia couldn’t stomach very much. Her body had been starved and depleted for far too long; aside from the time the day before yesterday when hunger drove her to wolf down a plate of pastries, her stomach had actually kept up a dull, lingering ache over the past few days. Song Xia knew this was the result of digestive function breaking down after prolonged starvation.
In her previous life, she had watched her senior female fellow student diet herself right into a hospital visit; upon examination, it turned out to be a severe case of gastric ulcers. From then on, her senior sister couldn’t eat anything too cold, too hot, too spicy, or too sweet, and had to wave a permanent goodbye to good food. Back then, whenever Song Xia looked at her senior sister’s health-maintenance meal sets, she thought an existence where one couldn’t even enjoy good food sounded utterly terrifying.
Therefore, the moment Song Xia felt stomach pain for the first time in this life, she grew extremely vigilant and made up her mind to nurse this body back to good health. Eating fine food and traveling were her favorite things in her past life, and she wasn’t about to give them up in this one.
Sister-in-law Shan’er filled Song Xia’s bowl to the brim with porridge. Song Xia could tell that the rice grains in her bowl were even more numerous than what Shen Jiang and the others had. After drinking half a bowl of porridge and eating half a steamed bun, Song Xia genuinely couldn’t eat another bite. When she set her bowl and chopsticks down, she ended up receiving a thorough lecture from Sister-in-law Shan’er.
“Little Song! Why are you only eating this tiny bit? Is my family’s food that unpalatable to you?” Sister-in-law Shan’er felt a bit displeased, which made her speak with blunt directness.
“How could that be? It’s very delicious, it’s just that my appetite is too small, and I really can’t eat any more,” Song Xia hurriedly explained. Seeing that Sister-in-law Shan’er still looked unhappy, she added, “Since there happens to be half a bowl of porridge and half a momo left, if you don’t mind, Sister-in-law Shan’er, I’d like to take them back for my husband to eat. Once he finishes, I’ll wash the bowls and bring them right back to you.”
“I was worried city folk wouldn’t be used to our rustic countryside food!” Hearing this, Sister-in-law Shan’er’s expression softened, and she spoke in a brisk, cheerful tone. “How can you take just half a bowl back for your man? Men need to put in heavy labor and exert physical strength! Just wait, I’ll top it right back up for you to take back to your husband!”
Seeing Sister-in-law Shan’er stand up and prepare to ladle out more food for her, Song Xia was startled and rushed to stop her. “Sister-in-law Shan’er, have you forgotten? Shen Huaijing’s health isn’t good; he drinks herbal medicine more often than he eats meals! He usually has a very small appetite, so half a bowl is plenty. After all, he practically fills his stomach with medicine alone, plus…”
Song Xia paused for a brief second before continuing, “With the way he is, what kind of physical labor could he possibly do? This food is better left for Brother Shen to eat when he comes back from working the fields!”
Besides, Song Xia muttered inwardly, who knows if that guy will even eat this country food? If he refuses it, wouldn’t it all go to waste? I absolutely cannot let Sister-in-law Shan’er fill this bowl to the brim!
Hearing Song Xia’s words and recalling the celestial, immortal-like figure of a man she had laid eyes on yesterday afternoon, Sister-in-law Shan’er agreed that he certainly didn’t look like someone cut out for farmwork. Furthermore, her own husband would indeed need a proper meal when he returned later. Abandoning her intention to add more food, she instead looked over Song Xia with a assessing eye.
“Well now, Little Song, how is it that you two suddenly packed up and moved out to the countryside like this? Looking at your husband, he doesn’t seem like the sort to…”
Song Xia caught the unspoken implication behind Sister-in-law Shan’er’s words. Although she herself still resembled a regular country girl to some degree, no matter how one looked at Shen Huaijing, he didn’t fit the profile of someone who would ever end up in a place like this.
Yet since Song Xia herself hadn’t fully figured out what kind of family conflicts existed within the Shen household, she could only hide behind a vague laugh and align with the official narrative provided by the Shen estate: “Shen Huaijing’s health isn’t good, so he came to the countryside to recuperate.”
“How could the countryside ever compare to the city? I’m afraid you two might have been tricked!” Sister-in-law Shan’er understood the subtext well and cast a knowing, secretive wink at Song Xia. “Is there an older brother or someone similar back in the family? Even if he needed to recuperate his health, he should have gone to recuperate on one of the family’s own private manors. Who on earth gets sent to recuperate in a house that hasn’t been lived in for all these years!”
Song Xia could only offer a bitter laugh, genuinely clueless about the details. But from her perspective, being out here was actually much better; nobody knew her here, which paradoxically made it easier for her to conceal her identity.
Seeing that Song Xia could only respond with a helpless, resigned shake of the head, Sister-in-law Shan’er’s curiosity was immensely satisfied. With her sharp, discerning eye, she could tell at a glance that Song Xia was not lying.
The moment Sister-in-law Shan’er had laid eyes on the two of them yesterday, she felt they made an odd couple—one looked like an out-of-reach noble young master she had never seen the likes of before, while the other resembled an ordinary, pretty village girl from her own neighborhood. Even the lavish garments Song Xia wore were ill-fitting, hanging loosely and shabbily on her frame.
Song Xia was extremely thin, which made her eyes appear remarkably large by contrast. Even so, Song Xia’s mental state and demeanor looked exceptionally bright and spirited.
Observing Song Xia, Sister-in-law Shan’er noted that she didn’t act at all like a girl raised in a poverty-stricken household where regular meals were scarce; rather, she came across more like a daughter raised with affection in a relatively well-off family in the village—generous, open, and cheerful. Song Xia possessed both the unpretentious kindness of a rural maiden and the articulate breeding of a city-bred young lady. From their conversation, Sister-in-law Shan’er could sense that Song Xia was well-read and educated.
Could she be the daughter of some scholarly village tutor? Though she’s thin as a rail… I wonder how these two ever ended up tying the knot, Sister-in-law Shan’er guessed privately to herself.
Song Xia had no inkling that Sister-in-law Shan’er had essentially pieced together her background through guesswork. Because the concept of time-travel didn’t exist in this world, Sister-in-law Shan’er simply found Song Xia slightly unusual before quickly rationalizing it away in her own mind. The look she directed at Song Xia grew increasingly warm, familiar, and enthusiastic.
Feeling a bit prickly under Sister-in-law Shan’er’s intense scrutiny, Song Xia shifted backward slightly with a hint of awkwardness. Unsure why the other woman’s gaze had suddenly turned so peculiar, she probed tentatively, “Sister-in-law Shan’er, is something wrong?”
“Nothing at all! Not a thing!” Sister-in-law Shan’er slapped her thigh with a laugh. “I just took a liking to you because you have such a kind, congenial face, girl. Now that we’re neighbors, we’ll definitely have to visit and interact a lot more from now on!”
“Mmm!”
“Xiaxia, do you mind if I call you Xiaxia?” Sister-in-law Shan’er asked warmly, taking Song Xia by the hand.
“Of course not, Sister-in-law Shan’er,” Song Xia smiled. In truth, she grew quite fond of Sister-in-law Shan’er; her bold, enthusiastic personality reminded her of her former thesis advisor’s wife. Hearing Sister-in-law Shan’er address her so familiarly stirred a wave of fond nostalgia.
“Xiaxia, no matter what happens, since we’re here now, we’re going to live our lives well,” Sister-in-law Shan’er said earnestly. “Whether it’s the city or the countryside, as long as we put in the hard work, our lives won’t turn out poorly!”
Sensing that Sister-in-law Shan’er was attempting to comfort her, Song Xia gripped her hand back in return. With a resolute gaze directed both at Sister-in-law Shan’er and inward at herself, she stated, “I understand. A life belongs to oneself; as long as people are well, anywhere is the same!”
“That’s right!” Sister-in-law Shan’er beamed with gratification, growing even more fond of Song Xia. The girl was perceptive and clear-headed!
After exchanging a few more words with Sister-in-law Shan’er regarding past matters, Song Xia carried the half-bowl of somewhat cooled porridge back home.
As soon as she stepped inside, she saw that Shen Huaijing had already changed into casual wear and was sitting by the bedside drinking water.
By this time, the sun had gradually climbed higher, and the gentle morning sunlight streamed through the window onto Shen Huaijing’s face—a scene that ought to have been profoundly aesthetic, had it not been ruined by his frighteningly pale, bloodless complexion.
“Here, this bowl of porridge was specially ladled out for you by Sister-in-law Shan’er next door. I was afraid you wouldn’t be used to it, so I asked her to serve a smaller portion. Hurry up and eat it; you only had a single piece of pastry last night, and pastries can’t substitute for a real meal.”
With a straight face and an unblinking gaze, Song Xia lied to Shen Huaijing, passing off the half-bowl of leftover porridge as something specially prepared for him. Joking aside, she thought, if I told him this was my leftover food, there’s no way he would ever eat it!
Yet even when told it was prepared specially for him, the fellow still had no desire to eat.
“I’m not hungry. You eat it,” Shen Huaijing refused flatly, his gaze refusing to even drift toward Song Xia’s direction.
This left Song Xia utterly speechless.
“Come on, if you don’t eat anything, are you planning to starve yourself and ascend to immortality?” Song Xia walked over, noticing that the water in Shen Huaijing’s cup didn’t possess a shred of warmth. She guessed instantly that he was drinking the exact same pot of water she had boiled the night before.
“The water you’re drinking was boiled by me too—are you planning to stop drinking water as well?” Song Xia’s voice was gentle, but the words carried a distinct trace of exasperation.
For the second time, Song Xia caught Shen Huaijing casting that same look of surprise her way.
What are you staring at? I didn’t say anything wrong! Song Xia stared defiantly right back at him without yielding an inch.
And so, the two of them sat there locking eyes in a mutual staring contest.