“Heartless?” Lin Sisi let out a cold laugh, her voice suddenly rising. “Selling your own niece for grain—that’s what you call giving her a way to live?”
“If I hadn’t dragged my sick body and fought to the death back then, my little sister would’ve been sold off, and I would’ve starved!”
“You stole grain, tried to sell a child, and snatched rations—what part of that makes you fit to be an elder? Now that you’re begging me, suddenly we’re ‘family’ again?”
The surrounding villagers began murmuring. Someone nodded in agreement. “It’s true. Everyone in the village knew about Lin Lao’er trying to sell the girl and steal grain.”
“Sisi fought with her life to protect her sister and the food. It wasn’t easy.”
Seeing public anger turning against him, Lin Lao’er’s eyes shifted. He stepped closer and lowered his voice like a rat stealing oil.
“Girl, I know you hate me. But I’ve got something to tell you—about your father’s background. If you don’t listen, you’ll never know the truth in this lifetime.”
Lin Sisi frowned, her fingers tightening. “My father’s background? What trick are you trying now?”
“I’m not tricking you!” Lin Lao’er hissed, leaning closer until his breath brushed her ear. “Your grandmother wasn’t your father’s birth mother! And him getting taken for conscription this time—wasn’t a coincidence!”
Lin Sisi felt as if lightning had struck her. For a moment she couldn’t find her voice. “What nonsense are you spouting? My father was Grandma’s biological son. Everyone knows that!”
“Knows my foot!” Lin Lao’er snapped, spittle nearly flying into her face.
“She was pretending all along! Before she died, she told me the truth and made me swear not to tell your father—she was afraid it would break his heart.”
“Now she’s gone. If I don’t tell you, you’ll stay in the dark forever!”
Her heart pounded like a drum against her ribs.
She stared into his eyes, sharp as blades. “Is it true?”
“Absolutely true!” Lin Lao’er thumped his chest. “If I’m lying, may lightning strike me dead!”
“Let me explain everything clearly, and you give my family two—no, three—sacks of grain. Otherwise, I’ll take this secret to my grave, and you’ll never know!”
Silence fell. Even Li Shi stopped wailing.
Lin Sisi studied his anxious, calculating expression. Inside her, two voices warred.
She despised his greed and cold-heartedness—but this concerned her father’s identity, and perhaps even her mother’s safety.
After a long pause, she finally spoke, her voice trembling faintly. “Fine. I’ll trust you once. Tell me clearly. If it’s true, you’ll get the grain.”
Delight flashed across Lin Lao’er’s face. He pulled Li Shi aside and whispered:
“Back when your grandfather was young, he went north for business. Somehow, he came back carrying a baby.”
“Your grandmother didn’t want to accept him at first, but your grandfather persuaded her. They kept it secret from everyone.”
“This conscription? It wasn’t supposed to include your father. Think about it—your family had silver. You could’ve avoided it.”
Lin Sisi’s fingers dug into her sleeve, nails biting into flesh.
There were holes in his story—but combined with her mother’s sudden trip to Anzhou and what her elder brother had told her, she couldn’t dismiss it.
“You’ll get your grain,” she said at last, turning toward Lin Zheng. “Brother, give Lin Lao’er’s family three sacks. Coarse grain. Not the fine kind.”
Lin Zheng had overheard everything. He hesitated. “Sisi, can we trust him?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted, eyes steady. “But Mother is in Anzhou. We must figure out Father’s situation. We can’t let anything happen to her.”
Though reluctant, Lin Zheng carried over two heavy sacks and dropped them before Lin Lao’er. “Take them and leave. If you lied, I won’t spare you.”
Lin Lao’er beamed, wrinkles bunching at the corners of his eyes. Li Shi stopped crying and hurried to help lift the grain.
Before leaving, Lin Lao’er turned back. “Girl, I told you the truth! Hurry to Anzhou and save your father and mother—if you’re too late, you’ll regret it!”
Yang Auntie approached and sighed. “Sisi, why go through this trouble? That man’s mouth holds few truths. And your mother’s situation in Anzhou… who knows?”
“I know,” Lin Sisi said with a faint smile. “But they’re my parents. I can’t ignore it.”
Night deepened. Both villages gathered around bonfires. Several families’ grain sacks were already flattened against their sides.
Village Chief Li crouched by the fire, poking sparks into the air. “Quiet down. I have something to say.”
The chatter died.
Village Chief Wang continued, “We counted household by household. Seven or eight families are almost out of grain. Adults might endure, but the elderly and children won’t.”
“What do we do?” Aunt Zhang from Dahe Village cried. “There’s not even grass left here!”
“Less than twenty li ahead is Qingxi Town—the necessary stop on the road to Anzhou.”
“I discussed it with Village Chief Wang,” Chief Li said. “We’ll send a few people into town. First, to buy grain. Second, to gather news—especially about the scope of conscription and the road conditions to Anzhou.”
“Into town?” someone hesitated. “With all the chaos, is it safe?”
“Better than waiting to starve,” Lin Zheng stood, firelight flashing against the hatchet at his waist. “I’ll go.”
Gu Qinglin rose as well. Since his family’s grain had been stolen, he’d grown steadier. More importantly, his family truly lacked food now.
“I’ll go too. I can read and keep accounts.”
Zhang Zhuang thumped his chest. “Count me in.”
Zhao Hu stepped forward, broad and strong. “I’ll protect everyone.”
Village Chief Li nodded. “Good. Lin Zheng, Gu Qinglin, Zhang Zhuang, Zhao Hu—four men—”
“Wait.” Lin Sisi stood from the haystack. “Village Chief, I’m going too.”
Lin Zheng frowned immediately. “No! It’s dangerous.”
“Precisely because it’s chaotic, I should go,” she replied firmly. “A woman asking around draws less suspicion.”
“And aside from Old Li knowing a bit of bone-setting, no one else knows medicine. I learned some from Mother. We’re short on herbs. I can restock.”
And she had her own matters to investigate.
Her parents’ situation was a tangled mystery. She couldn’t afford to wait ten more days for the next town.
Village Chief Li considered, then nodded. “She’s thoughtful and capable. Another person means more security.”
Village Chief Wang agreed. “She handled the water search well last time.”
Lin Zheng sighed. “Fine. But stay close. No wandering.”
“Understood.”
She then turned to the chiefs. “Grain prices may have risen. Two villages’ worth of grain requires silver we don’t carry. Those who want grain should hand silver to the chiefs first. They’ll record it. When we return, we settle accounts—refund more, charge less.”
Village Chief Li nodded approvingly.
He announced, “Those who wish to entrust grain purchases, hand in part of your silver now. I’ll record everything clearly. No confusion.”
People lined up.
“I’ll pay!” Yang Auntie stepped forward with broken silver. “All coarse grain for my family.”
“I need seven hundred wen worth!”
“One liang here!”
Village Chief Li recorded each entry on a scrap of cloth, passing it to Gu Qinglin for verification. Lin Sisi stood nearby, calm and steady, reassuring everyone without words.
“I’m not paying.”
From the corner, Li Erzhu of Dahe Village folded his arms, sneering. “Who knows if you’ll even buy grain? What if you’re cheated? Then what—my family drinks the northwest wind?”
The fire crackled loudly in the sudden silence.