Liuyè picked up the basket and hid it behind the firewood pile—actually she stored it in her space. She shifted the firewood higher to cover it, then quickly returned to sit beside Bai Zilin.
Not long after she sat down, the Bai family of three arrived in a fierce manner.
Bai Shuisheng was holding a wood-chopping knife. He pointed it at Bai Zilin and cursed:
“You beast! How dare you bully your sister! I’ll kill you!”
Wang Liniang quickly rushed forward and blocked Bai Zilin, crying out hysterically:
“Husband, don’t! Zilin has always been filial, he didn’t do it on purpose! He must have wanted to give us the apples in person—Zimei must have misunderstood! Our Zilin is the most filial child, when have you ever seen him keep food for himself? Only beasts don’t think about their parents! Husband, put the knife down, don’t scare the child…”
Liuyè immediately understood what was going on. These two were clearly performing a double act—one playing the bad cop, one the good cop—just to trick them into handing over the apples. How shameless, really. All for a few lousy apples, they had no shame left at all.
She looked at Bai Zilin and saw his face remained expressionless. It seemed he had already seen through them too.
Bai Shuisheng snorted and clasped his hands behind his back.
“Hmph. Let’s see just how filial you really are—whether you still remember the kindness of me raising you all these years!”
Wang Liniang turned to Bai Zilin again, her tone soft and coaxing:
“Zilin, mother knows you’ve always been filial, never eating alone. You always think of your father, your mother, and your sister first. What a good child you are. The family has no water now, your parents are thirsty. Zilin, let that fool hand over the apples. It’s so hot outside, I feel dizzy and weak from standing too long…”
Bai Zilin slowly lifted his eyes—completely emotionless—and looked at her coldly.
“Whose mother are you, exactly? I still have the severance document in my chest. The moment I pressed my fingerprint on it, our mother-son relationship was cut off. From then on, I have nothing to do with the Bai family. And to begin with, I was never even a member of the Bai family.”
He paused, then continued with a sharp, icy voice:
“You don’t even know who my real father is. You married that poor wretch Bai Shuisheng after getting pregnant with some unknown man’s child. So tell me—do you even remember who my father is? Do you still meet that man behind his back?”
“Last year, I saw you under the willow tree at the village entrance at night, meeting a man. Who knows what you were doing? Could it be… you’re pregnant again? Hahaha—Bai Shuisheng, congratulations, you’re about to be a father again!”
The courtyard went completely silent.
Wang Liniang stood frozen, shaking all over, unable to respond. She stared at Bai Zilin in disbelief. She never expected him to speak so brutally—she was his mother, how could he humiliate her like this?
But at the same time, she felt a chill run down her spine. She didn’t dare look back.
Because behind her, Bai Shuisheng was already shaking with rage.
“You filthy woman! You’ve been cheating on me! I’ll kill you!”
He raised his knife and slashed at her.
Wang Liniang let out a piercing scream, turned, and ran desperately toward the village.
“Ahhh! Don’t kill me! He’s lying! He’s framing me! I didn’t do it! Help! Murder!”
Bai Shuisheng chased after her with the knife:
“You shameless woman! I’m going to kill you today!”
Their shouting gradually faded into the distance.
Only Bai Zilin and Liuyè remained in the courtyard.
Bai Zimei, seeing things turn bad, had already run away earlier.
Liuyè gave Bai Zilin a thumbs-up.
“Big Brother Bai, you’re amazing. Seriously impressive. I didn’t expect a few words from you to make them fight each other… But what you said was pretty serious. Do you think Bai Shuisheng might actually kill Wang Liniang?”
Bai Zilin sneered slightly.
“Don’t worry. He doesn’t have the guts. He’s just a coward. You’ll see—they’ll be back soon.”
Liuyè nodded. “Alright… but when they come back, do you think they’ll still come asking for apples?”
Bai Zilin shook his head. “Hard to say. Their skin is thick enough.”
Liuyè agreed deeply.
“Big Brother Bai, you’re not full yet, right? I’ll get you another apple.”
She was about to stand up when Bai Zilin grabbed her and pulled her back down.
“No need. I’m full already. We’re heading south soon—it’s a long journey, so we have to save food. Most importantly, water is scarce. Liuyè, I’ve decided we’ll leave later than the village group. After they all leave, then we go. I still have some silver. When we pass through town, we’ll buy grain, water skins, and clothes. I’ll get you two pairs of shoes, and I’ll also get two pairs for myself. We won’t be able to walk far in ill-fitting shoes.”
Liuyè didn’t expect him to still have silver—and to even think about buying her shoes and clothes. She immediately felt she hadn’t helped the wrong person.
“Got it, Big Brother Bai.”
In truth, both of them were wearing straw sandals. They were actually quite comfortable—soft and light. But they wore out quickly. She thought she should weave more later, for both of them. Cloth shoes wouldn’t last long on such a long journey anyway, and Bai Zilin probably didn’t have much silver left. They needed to save it for food.
Soon, the couple next door returned, still arguing loudly.
Liuyè listened carefully for a while but heard nothing about coming over again. Only then did she relax.
Good—they knew when to stop. If they dared come again, next time she would beat them herself.
As night fell, the heat didn’t ease. Instead, it became even more stifling. Even sitting still caused sweat to pour.
Liuyè worked in the firewood pile, making two straw beds about the size of actual beds. One for her, one for Bai Zilin.
She then dug out the basket from its hiding place, took out two apples, and handed one to Bai Zilin.
“This is dinner. Eat it. You can’t sleep hungry.”
Bai Zilin didn’t refuse and took it. He was hungry again anyway.
They finished the apples quickly.
Without needing help, Bai Zilin pushed himself up with his stick, step by step, and hopped over to the straw bed, lying down quietly to sleep.
Liuyè went to the corner to relieve herself, then returned and lay down.
But in the middle of the night, she suddenly woke up.
She quietly sat up and looked at Bai Zilin, who was sleeping heavily and snoring.
Confirming he was deeply asleep, she carefully climbed up, flipped over the wall, and went next door.
When she returned again, she was carrying Bai Zilin’s bow.
And five of the Bai family’s laying hens—raised carefully by Bai Zilin—had also been taken into her space.
Not a single feather would be left for that couple.
She snorted inwardly.
Everything would be kept for Big Brother Bai’s nourishment—and she would eat too.