Liu Ye patted her chest, then squatted on the ground and rubbed the corn kernels off the cobs.
Great! The black soil had expanded, and now she finally had seeds. She was going to plant the entire field with crops. By the next harvest, the black soil would surely become even larger.
Liu Ye stripped kernels from a full twenty ears of corn, filling half a sack. Carrying it, she headed to the field to sow the seeds. She dropped one kernel every footstep or so. Whether the spacing was too far or too close didn’t matter—she didn’t know how to farm anyway. As long as something grew, it was fine.
She scattered seeds in front, and the seeds behind her automatically burrowed themselves into the soil. There was no need to cover them by hand, saving her a great deal of effort.
An hour later, Liu Ye successfully planted the two mu of black soil. She ate a cucumber and a tomato before flashing out of the space. The moon had already risen outside.
Moving deftly, she climbed onto the woodpile and pulled apart the chicken nest on top.
Five more eggs.
Whose chickens were laying them, anyway?
Who cared?
Without hesitation, she tossed the eggs into her space and lay down on the haystack to rest. Once the Bai family’s lamps went out, she would deliver the fish to Big Brother Bai.
Next door at the Bai residence, Uncle Bai stared at the blackened mush in the basin and nearly fainted from anger.
“Damn it! Didn’t I tell you not to burn the food again? Are your ears stuffed with chicken feathers? You stupid woman! Get out! Get out, do you hear me?!”
Terrified, Madam Bai dropped to her knees with a thud, crying miserably with tears and snot running down her face.
“Husband, I was wrong! I really didn’t mean to burn the food! Waaaah… Please don’t drive me away. A married daughter is like water that’s been poured out. Alive or dead, I belong to you. Where could I possibly go? Waaaah… I… Our stove is hard to use. The thatch keeps smoking. Husband, maybe… maybe you could go chop some firewood in the mountains? Firewood doesn’t smoke as much…”
The moment Uncle Bai heard that she wanted him, a scholar, to chop wood in the mountains, he exploded.
“You’ve got some nerve!”
He stepped forward and slapped her.
Smack!
“Ah!”
Clutching her stinging cheek, Madam Bai collapsed to the floor crying.
“Waaaah… Husband, I was wrong! Don’t hit me! I was wrong! I was wrong! Waaaah…”
Bai Zimei, leaning against the wall, quietly slipped away and returned to her room.
As time passed, the Bai household gradually fell silent.
Liu Ye sat up on the woodpile. Seeing that the lights in the Bai house had gone out, she climbed over the wall.
Arriving outside Bai Zilin’s room, she took out the bowl of grilled fish from her space and gently pushed open the door.
To her surprise, Bai Zilin was sitting upright against the kang bed rather than lying down. Someone who didn’t know better might think he had been waiting for her.
In truth, he had.
He had gone hungry for another day and secretly hoped the silly girl would bring him food.
And she had come.
“Silly girl, you’re here…”
Liu Ye handed him the bowl.
“I caught some small fish by the river and grilled them. I’ve already eaten. These are for you, Big Brother Bai.”
Looking at the fragrant grilled fish, Bai Zilin swallowed discreetly.
“You really ate already? Silly girl, don’t starve yourself just to save food for me. If that’s the case, I won’t eat it.”
Liu Ye had clearly heard him swallow.
She shoved the bowl into his hands.
“I really ate. Hurry up and eat. Oh, and I have bad news. The stream in the mountains has dried up. I picked these fish out of the riverbed. And it’s been unbelievably hot these past few days. I don’t think it’ll be long before people in the village start talking about fleeing south to escape the famine.”
Seeing him still holding the bowl without eating, she nudged it closer.
“Come on, Big Brother Bai. It’s so hot. If you don’t eat it soon, it’ll spoil.”
Bai Zilin picked up a tiny fish and slowly took a bite.
“Mmm. It’s delicious. Just a bit fishy without salt. Silly girl, there’s salt in my kitchen. When you leave later, take it all. My mother won’t be using it anyway.”
Liu Ye smiled and nodded.
“Okay.”
She glanced at the water bucket and saw that only half a bucket remained.
“Big Brother Bai, you sure drink a lot of water. Did your mother make the food too salty?”
Bai Zilin nearly burst out laughing.
After a long sigh, he said, “My parents plan to starve me to death. They don’t bring me food at all… Silly girl, I… I really don’t want to burden you. You’re already having a hard enough time as it is. I…”
Snapping out of her shock, Liu Ye understood what he meant.
“Don’t say that, Big Brother Bai. Honestly, my life isn’t hard at all. I live pretty freely by myself. I can find food, and I can help you. Otherwise, how do you think I survived in the Liu family all these years and still ended up doing so well? Hehehe.”
Her simple and kindhearted words moved Bai Zilin deeply.
Blinking hard twice to force back his tears, he made a decision in his heart.
“If my leg really recovers someday… would you let me take care of you instead?”
Liu Ye casually nodded.
“Sure. But there’s something I don’t understand. Aren’t you your family’s only son? Then why are your parents… so awful to you? The Liu family treated me badly because they thought I was stupid. Hehe… Well, actually, I stopped being stupid a long time ago. After they kept treating me badly, I just pretended to be stupid. But you’re not stupid at all.”
Bai Zilin gave a bitter smile and took a large bite of fish.
“I know the reason. But it’s not convenient for me to tell you. Maybe I’ll tell you someday. Maybe I’ll never tell anyone. It’s not exactly something honorable.”
The moment he said that, Liu Ye’s imagination ran wild.
Big Brother Bai must be—
Maybe his father had him with another woman outside the marriage.
Or maybe his mother was already pregnant when she married his father.
Or perhaps he was a baby his mother—or father—had picked up and adopted from somewhere.
Or maybe…
Hehehe.
Seeing her grinning foolishly to herself, Bai Zilin poked her arm.
“What are you thinking about?”
“Huh? Nothing! Um… Big Brother Bai, you keep eating. I’ll head back now.”
Liu Ye spoke with a guilty expression.
Bai Zilin reminded her,
“Don’t forget to take the salt from the kitchen.”
Liu Ye nodded.
After quietly leaving the room and gently closing the door behind her, she went into the neighboring kitchen.
She promptly stored the salt jar in her space.
Originally, she wanted to look for some cooking oil, but couldn’t find any. Instead, she discovered a large bag of rapeseed.
Rapeseed was good!
Without the slightest hesitation, she stored that in her space too.
Then she noticed a bamboo steaming tray hanging on the kitchen wall.
Big Brother Bai’s mother probably wouldn’t need that either.
With a wave of her hand, it disappeared into her space.
In the corner stood a kneading board.
She figured Big Brother Bai’s mother wouldn’t need that either, so into the space it went.
The large iron pot on the stove looked pretty good too.
Without hesitation, she collected that as well.
After leaving the kitchen, she spotted a small handcart beneath the window.
Big Brother Bai’s mother probably wouldn’t need that either.
With another wave of her hand, she stored it in her space.
Only then did she climb back over the wall and jump onto the haystack to sleep.
The next morning, Liu Ye was awakened by a piercing scream.
Sitting upright, she dug at her ears and grumbled irritably,
“Who has no sense of public decency? Who’s screaming like a ghost this early in the morning?!”