In no time at all, the crowd that had gathered outside the Liu family’s gate to watch the commotion had dispersed, leaving not a single person behind.
Old Master Liu glared at the “damn bastards” in his heart. Useless when it matters most.
Fear flickered in his eyes as he glanced at the “big fool.” Then he made a decision—he would go find the village head and have Liu Ye expelled from the Liu family. Once that happened, they wouldn’t even need to kill her; she would starve to death on her own.
With a cold snort, he turned and quickly headed toward the village chief’s house.
Liu Ye tossed the shovel back into the yard. That old man was definitely going to gather help. She couldn’t stay here and wait to be captured. Even though she was stronger now, as the saying went, “two fists can’t beat four hands.” She needed to run.
Right—firestone!
She rushed into the kitchen, grabbed the firestone, and stored it into her space. Then she quickly fled the Liu household and headed to an abandoned old house at the village entrance. With practiced movements, she climbed onto a pile of firewood.
In the bird’s nest she had discovered yesterday while collecting eggs, there were now five eggs lying there. Her mood instantly brightened.
She waved her hand and stored the eggs into her space. Great—five more eggs! So that nest didn’t belong to just one chicken, but five hens laying there. The eggs she had collected yesterday must have all been good ones too.
Liu Ye glanced toward the neighboring White family.
Just now, during all that commotion, she hadn’t seen Brother Bai come out to watch. It seemed he didn’t like gossip or crowds.
At that moment, Old Man Bai from the White family came out of the house, walked to the wall, unbuttoned his pants, and began relieving himself right there.
Liu Ye was so startled she quickly lay flat on the firewood pile. What the heck?!
Soon after, Bai Zilin also came out of the house. When he saw his father urinating at the wall again, his face darkened with anger. He then noticed the figure lying on the neighboring woodpile—Liu Ye. The “foolish girl” had come again. His father was really something…
“Dad, why are you peeing at the wall again? Isn’t there a latrine at home? Can you not behave a little?”
Old Man Bai pulled up his pants and shouted, eyes wide with anger: “This is my house! I’ll pee wherever I want! Who are you to control me?! Hmph! Don’t think just because you’ve learned some skills and can hunt a bit, you can boss me around! Get lost! Do whatever you’re supposed to do and stop nagging me!”
After shouting, he didn’t even go back inside. Instead, he left the yard and headed toward the village—toward the village chief’s house.
Bai Zilin let out a tired sigh. He leapt onto the courtyard wall and looked toward the woodpile where Liu Ye was lying.
“Stop pretending to be asleep. I know you’re awake. Just now… you didn’t see anything, right?”
Liu Ye sat up from the hay, pushed her messy hair aside, revealing a dark little face and eyes that sparkled like stars.
“I didn’t see the front, hehe. But your dad’s butt is pretty white…”
Bai Zilin: “…”
He knew it.
His father was going to drive him crazy one day.
“Next time you see my father come out of the house, don’t look at him,” he said helplessly. Then he asked, “Right, I heard some noise from your house earlier. Was that your family?”
Liu Ye nodded. “Yes. I beat up my father, mother, grandfather, and grandmother. They wanted to kill me. I didn’t want to die, so I fought back. Brother Bai, do you think I did the right thing?”
Bai Zilin’s expression turned serious. He nodded firmly.
“You did the right thing. When you’ve been pushed far enough, you don’t need to endure anymore. Especially since they wanted to kill you—you weren’t injured, were you?”
Liu Ye smiled and shook her head. “No. They didn’t even touch a single hair on my head. The ones injured were all from the Liu family. But I can’t go back there anymore.”
She looked a little troubled.
“In times like this, with droughts everywhere, I don’t even have a single copper coin on me. I have no house, no land… Brother Bai, do you think I should go to town and work as a maid for a rich family?”
Bai Zilin shook his head immediately.
“Not a good idea. Being a maid in a wealthy household isn’t easy. If the master is unhappy, being beaten or scolded is the least of it. Some cruel young ladies or masters even kill maids for entertainment and bury them in their gardens as fertilizer. The Zhao family in town… anyway, don’t go. You should stay in the village.”
Liu Ye shrank her neck in pretend fear.
Turned into flower fertilizer? So those historical dramas weren’t exaggerating after all.
“That’s scary. Then I won’t go to town to be a maid.”
She changed the topic. “Brother Bai, how many people are in your family?”
Bai Zilin sat on the wall, casually swinging his legs.
“Four. My father, my mother, and my younger sister. My sister is called Bai Zimei. She doesn’t like going out or playing with other village girls, so you probably haven’t seen her.”
“Oh.” Liu Ye recalled the fragmented memories of the original girl—there really was no information about Bai Zimei.
She looked up at the moon rising in the sky.
“Brother Bai, how long do you think this heat will last? When will it rain? The little river in the mountains seems like it’s about to dry up.”
Bai Zilin sighed.
“Who knows? I’ve been hoping for rain every day too. Not only is the mountain river drying up, even our well is almost dry. Several families in the village already have completely dry wells. Other villages too. Even the town is affected. People are saying if it doesn’t rain soon, they’ll flee south to escape the famine—some groups have already started organizing.”
“I heard that in Yuncheng, about a hundred li away, all the villages and towns have been abandoned. It’s turned into an empty city. If it still doesn’t rain, our whole family might head south too. Foolish girl, what about you?”
Liu Ye scratched her messy hair.
She didn’t really have a plan yet. But if everyone left for the south, and the village and town were emptied out, she would naturally go too.
“If everyone leaves, I’ll leave too. I heard the south has spring-like weather all year round—it must be much better than here in the north. I won’t come back then. Brother Bai, will you come back?”
Bai Zilin gave a bitter smile and shook his head.
“You’re thinking too far ahead. Whether we can even make it south alive is uncertain. The journey is long, and anything can happen on the road. No food, no water… it’s going to be hard.”
Curious, Liu Ye asked, “Brother Bai, how much is grain now?”
Bai Zilin thought for a moment.
“Last time I went to town, white rice was 80 wen per jin, white flour 100 wen per jin, coarse grain 20 wen per jin. Everything else is expensive too—I didn’t ask in detail.”
“Oh right, I saved you a chicken drumstick. Wait here, I’ll get it.”
He jumped down from the wall.
Liu Ye swallowed. A chicken leg? She didn’t mishear, did she?
Soon, Bai Zilin returned. He leapt back onto the wall and handed her the drumstick.
“Eat. I saved this especially for you….”
Liu Ye accepted it with surprise and gratitude.
“Thank you, Brother Bai… then I’ll accept it.”
Bai Zilin smiled and nodded.
“Go ahead and eat. The wild chicken was a bit lean, so there isn’t much meat on the drumstick. I’ll have to go up the mountain earlier tomorrow.”