Night had settled into silence.
Gu Changxing’s family of six crowded together on the kang in the side room of their cramped home, gathered around a flickering candle as they stared at the lengthy family separation agreement.
“Big Sis, are we really going to separate from Grandma?”
Chunqi tilted her head up to look at Gu Qingqing, her large eyes filled with unease.
She was already eight years old, but years of malnutrition made her look no older than five or six.
Gu Qingqing affectionately rubbed the little girl’s head. “Chunqi, do you want to separate from Grandma?”
Chunqi instinctively nodded, but when she caught sight of her father sitting across from her, she hurriedly shook her head.
Still, the corners of her mouth drooped miserably, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t force them back up.
Gu Qingqing was utterly charmed by her obedient little sister. She pulled the girl into her arms, then looked around at the rest of the family one by one.
“Father, Mother, Brother, Xia’an, do you want to separate?”
Her voice was soft, but every word of address carried a weight that seemed almost unbearable.
Gu Changxing suddenly felt uneasy.
“Qingqing, what are you trying to say? Didn’t we agree that this would only be a sham separation?”
Gu Qingqing didn’t answer.
Instead, she repeated each word slowly.
“You. Want. To. Separate?”
Silence filled the room.
After a moment, Madam Liu finally spoke, her voice carrying deep exhaustion.
“Yes. How could I not want to?”
“I want to! I want to!”
Gu Ping’an raised his hand eagerly, his lips puckered in frustration.
“Grandma only likes Uncle and Gu Jinbao. If we separate, she won’t be able to help Gu Jinbao bully me anymore, and she won’t be able to take my corn bun away and give it to him!”
He was eighteen years old. He had inherited Gu Changxing’s tall build, and despite rarely getting enough to eat, he had still grown to nearly six feet tall.
His youthful face was fresh and handsome, but there was an innocence about him that seemed far too childish for his age. His eyes were especially bright and dark.
Gu Qingqing nodded before turning her gaze to Gu Xia’an.
The little boy was curled up in Liu’s arms, his lips pressed tightly together. Before he could even get the words out, tears had already begun rolling down his cheeks.
Everyone was startled.
“Xia’an, what’s wrong? If you can’t bear to leave Grandma and Grandpa, then we won’t separate. Why are you crying?”
For once, someone was finally taking his side.
Gu Changxing couldn’t hide the relief and happiness in his voice as he spoke with concern.
Gu Xia’an wiped his tears fiercely and looked unusually serious.
“Father, I want to separate. I’ve dreamed about it! Once we’re separated, Mother won’t have to do the dirtiest and hardest work in the household anymore. She won’t have to wash everyone’s clothes, either. Grandma and Aunt won’t be able to bully us anymore. And most importantly, once we’re separated, Grandma won’t be able to sell Big Sis, Big Brother, Second Sis, or me whenever she feels like it!”
Gu Changxing awkwardly tried to defend them.
“What happened this time was only because your grandmother was confused for a moment. We’re family. When it comes to work, we shouldn’t divide things between us. And from now on, you aren’t allowed to say things that could damage the unity of the family.”
Gu Qingqing frowned.
There was far more to those words than he realized.
“Xia’an, did you hear Grandma and Aunt talking about something?”
Gu Xia’an clenched his fists, hatred flashing in his eyes.
“Grandma said that once Big Sis’s marriage was settled, she’d sell Big Brother to a black coal mine. She said the people there liked strong young men like him, especially the kind who were strong but not very bright.”
As if he suddenly remembered something, he looked at Gu Qingqing with guilt.
“Big Sis, I didn’t know what they meant when they said they were arranging your marriage. I’m sorry!”
Gu Qingqing reached across the kang table and gently wiped away his tears.
“It’s all right. In the end, you were the one who saved Big Sis. Our Xia’an is amazing.”
The moment the coffin was carried into the house, Gu Xia’an realized something was wrong and immediately ran toward the county town.
When there was no work to be done in the fields, Gu Changxing earned money carrying heavy loads at the county dock. That day, Old Madam Gu had deliberately sent Liu to bring him food, all so she could get the two of them out of the house and keep them from interfering.
Gu Xia’an ran so hard that he lost one of his shoes. Even so, he managed to find his parents in the county and bring them home.
But they were still too late.
Gu Qingqing sighed inwardly.
This family was good. Their only problem was that they had been cursed with terrible luck.
But it didn’t matter anymore.
She was here now.
She gently brought the conversation back to the matter at hand.
“What about selling you and Chunqi? What happened there?”
“Grandma said she wanted to find Uncle a wife in the county, but there wasn’t enough money in the household. She told Aunt to hurry up and settle Cousin Laidi’s marriage. Then Aunt said we could sell me and Second Sis.”
“That’s nonsense!”
Gu Changxing became anxious.
“You two are still so young. What family would want to buy you? Xia’an, even if you want to separate, you can’t make up stories like this about your aunt and grandmother.”
“I’m not making it up!”
Gu Xia’an lifted his chin, his red-rimmed eyes filling with tears.
“Ordinary families wouldn’t take us, but Aunt said… she said we could sell us to a brothel! She said Second Sis and I look alike, and that some rich men like children who look like that!”
He didn’t actually know what kind of place a brothel was.
But anything that could be spoken of in such a way by his aunt and grandmother couldn’t possibly be a good place.
After saying this, Gu Xia’an could no longer hold back.
He collapsed onto the kang table and began sobbing.
Gu Changxing looked as though he had been struck by lightning.
His eyes were filled with disbelief.
“No… No, that’s impossible. It can’t be. You must have heard them wrong!”
“Father, how long are you going to keep lying to yourself?”
Gu Qingqing pulled the trembling Chunqi tightly into her arms, her voice turning cold.
“Do you want to wait until every one of us has been sold? Or until Mother has been worked and tormented until there’s nothing left of her but bones?”
“Father, do you know how dark it was inside that coffin? Do you know what it feels like when you can’t breathe? Do you know how terrified and desperate your daughter was at that moment?”
She raised one hand and spread her five fingers beneath the brightest part of the candlelight.
Her thin, emaciated fingers were covered in countless tiny cuts and calluses. They were so rough that they hardly looked like the hands of a fifteen-year-old girl.
But what was even more horrifying were the dried, dark-red crusts of blood covering all five fingertips.
Those wounds had been left by the original Gu Qingqing after she regained consciousness inside the coffin.
Driven by her desperate will to live and her longing for her parents, brothers, and sisters, she had clawed at the coffin again and again with her bare hands.
Her fingernails had been torn back.
She hadn’t stopped.
The skin on her fingertips had been rubbed raw.
She hadn’t stopped.
Her tears had run dry.
She still hadn’t stopped.
Not until the very last trace of oxygen inside the coffin had been consumed.
Gu Changxing’s pupils contracted violently, as though someone had driven needles straight into them.
He buried his face in his hands, his voice trembling with pain.
“How could they do this? How could they possibly do this?”
Liu gritted her teeth, fighting back her tears. She reached out and gently stroked Gu Changxing’s hunched back.
“Changxing, for my sake, and for the sake of giving the children a chance to survive, let’s separate from them.”
“If you want to be filial to your parents, you can still come and help them with their work. You can bring them food, drink, and whatever grain we can spare. Just don’t let them have control over the children anymore.”
“Yes… Yes, we can’t let them control the children anymore.”
Gu Changxing murmured, still struggling to accept the reality.
“But… but we agreed this was only going to be a sham separation. What are we supposed to tell my parents? What if I talk to Mother? If she promises not to sell the children, then perhaps we can continue living with them.”
Gu Qingqing drew a deep breath.
She really wanted to crack open her foolish father’s head and see whether it was filled with brains or nothing but bean curd.
She forced herself to calm down and spoke gently.
“Father, who do you think Grandma loves more, you or Aunt?”
“Qingqing, you can’t compare the two. Your aunt is a woman. It’s only natural that your mother favors her more. Your father is tough and thick-skinned. I don’t need anyone to favor me.”
Even now, he was instinctively making excuses for Old Madam Gu and her daughter.
Gu Qingqing was so exasperated that she almost laughed.
“So you’re admitting that Grandma loves Aunt more, aren’t you?”
“Yes, but…”
“No ‘but’!”
Gu Qingqing cut him off, her voice growing firmer.
“Even though Grandma loves Aunt so much, weren’t Cousin Zhaodi and Cousin Pandi still sold by her?”