"Cough, cough…" Seeing the children draw near, Old Man Lin turned his head away and coughed twice, barely suppressing the itch in his throat before turning back. His gaze lingered on the three children's faces, filled with joy and longing. "Song'er, Bai'er, Xiangbao… why have you come in?"
"Grandfather, my name is Baixiang, not Xiangbao." Baixiang blinked and corrected him in her soft, gentle voice.
Old Man Lin's weathered face broke into a smile, his voice warm. "Grandfather knows—our good girl is called Baixiang. Grandfather calls you Xiangbao because, in Grandfather's eyes, little Baixiang is a child as precious as a treasure."
The two Lin brothers, unwilling to be left out, eagerly chimed in. "Grandfather, Grandfather, I want to be a treasure too! I'm Songbao!"
"I'm Baibao! Baibao!"
"Alright, alright—all three of you are treasures of our family… cough…"
Baixiang quietly gazed at the old man who was beaming with laughter. Her small hand rested over her heart, where a warmth spread that felt very comfortable. She liked this feeling.
Was she… a child as precious as a treasure?
"Alright, you two little monkeys, take your sister out to play. You can't stay here long—if your grandmother finds out, she'll scold you… and she scolds fiercely." After a moment, Old Man Lin shooed them away.
The itch in his throat was growing stronger and stronger; he could barely hold it back any longer.
The children were all young—they couldn't stay here too long, lest they catch the disease qi.
Lin Huaisong and Lin Huaibai were indeed afraid of being scolded by their grandmother, so they reluctantly took Baixiang's hands and prepared to sneak back to the main hall.
Baixiang slipped away from their grasp and moved closer to the old man. Standing on her tiptoes, she reached out her small hand and gently touched his throat. "Grandfather, does it hurt?"
The child's little fingers still carried the warmth from the egg she had held, and her touch on his neck was light and soft. That faint warmth seemed to spread from his neck all the way to his heart. Old Man Lin was momentarily stunned, then unconsciously broke into a smile, his gaze on his good girl growing even gentler. "Grandfather doesn't hurt, not at all."
"You'll get better." The child's bright, dark eyes fixed on him, and her small face was so serious when she said it, as if she were making a solemn promise.
This made Old Man Lin smile even more, and he responded in kind. "Grandfather will get better. When Grandfather is well, I'll take Xiangbao and your brothers out to play together."
Watching the children duck their heads and tiptoe out of the room, watching the door open and close again, Old Man Lin finally withdrew his reluctant gaze.
Whether it was his imagination or not, after Xiangbao had touched his throat, the itch he had been barely able to suppress had actually subsided. Even the long-standing congestion in his chest had eased considerably, and his breathing had suddenly become smoother.
The thought flashed through his mind, and Old Man Lin shook his head with a wry smile, not giving it much thought.
It must be that the eldest son and his wife had finally had a child, and Xiangbao was so well-behaved and adorable—his spirits had lifted so much that even his ailments felt lighter.
The sound of snow being swept outside stopped.
Lin Jiang set the bamboo broom by the door of the main hall, then entered and sat down by the fire. The ring of crushed snow clinging to his shoe edges melted immediately near the heat, leaving a damp ring on the floor.
He tucked both hands into his sleeves and gave a slight sniff. "Mother, Sister-in-law, Second Sister-in-law—do you smell something? It's a bit like the smell of herbs, but fresher and more pleasant—"
He didn't get to finish before he was cut off.
Granny Lin nodded toward the small clay pot by the fire, its steam drifting out. "I'm decocting medicine for your father right now—what else would that smell be but the medicine?"
With that, she glanced at her youngest son, then grabbed his right hand from his sleeve and began kneading his wrist, her eyelids drooping slightly. "Your face is white from the pain, and you're still trying to hide it. If you really want to hide it, tuck your face into your sleeve too—then we won't see it."
Lin Jiang: "…"
Seeing her brother-in-law put in his place, Zhang Cuie gloated without mercy. "Got scolded, didn't you? Serves you right. If you'd just listened to Mother instead of being so stubborn."
Li Sulan looked at the young man with his awkward expression, finding it both amusing and bittersweet. She took a newly sewn wrist guard from her sewing basket and handed it over. "I used some old cotton I had left over. Try it on in a bit."
"Sister-in-law, save the cotton for Baixiang's padded jacket—she still doesn't have winter clothes—"
"There's no shortage of cotton. I took apart an old jacket and the cotton from it is more than enough to make a full set of winter clothes for the child."
The wrist guard was covered in gray-blue cloth, with fine, even stitching and a thin layer of cotton padding inside. Though it wasn't as soft as new cotton, it felt warm and comforting to the heart.
Lin Jiang looked at his eldest sister-in-law, then at the old woman bowing her head to knead his wrist. His chest swelled with emotion, and his nose suddenly stung with a hint of sourness. The doubt he'd had earlier was forgotten entirely.
Time slipped quietly by in warmth and tranquility.
Lin Dashan and Lin Erhe arrived home in the late afternoon, covered in dust, both wearing grim expressions as they came through the door.
Granny Lin had just finished feeding her husband his medicine and was coming out when she saw their faces. Her heart gave a jolt. "What's wrong? Did you run into trouble registering the child's household?"
"No, the household registration is settled. The village chief personally accompanied us on the trip, and the town office didn't make any trouble." Lin Dashan entered the house. He was tall and imposing, a man of nine chi in stature, and his mere presence in the main room brought a considerable sense of pressure. Coupled with the three finger-length red scars on the left side of his face and the strange, clouded left eye with its unfocused pupil, he looked even more intimidating at first glance.
After letting the chill from outside dissipate, he scooped up the little girl who was sitting obediently by the fire and pinched her chubby little cheeks affectionately. "Baixiang, from now on you're your father's and mother's child, a child of the Lin family. Your name will be Lin Baixiang."
With that, he set the child down, pulled a palm-sized sugar cake from his chest, divided it into three portions, and handed them to the three children. "Song'er, Bai'er, take your little sister over there to eat your cakes and play for a while."
Lin Huaisong and Lin Huaibai didn't hesitate for a moment, leading their sister aside. They were old hands at this scene.
Whenever the adults had important matters to discuss, they always shooed them away so they couldn't listen.
But there were cakes to eat—sugar cakes! Golden on both sides and sprinkled with sesame seeds! They'd been craving this very thing just moments ago!
Eating cakes was what mattered; kids didn't care about listening to adults talk business!
"Crunch, crunch, crunch! Little sister, eat up! It's so good!"
"This is the sugar cake I told you about—sweet, it's got sugar in it! Crunch, crunch, crunch!"
Baixiang had never seen anything like this before. She held the cake in her hand and stared at it for a good while before taking a big bite.
Joining the crunch-crunch-crunch chorus, the flavor she tasted made Baixiang's eyes go wide, her pupils shining bright.
Delicious!
So this was what sweetness tasted like!
Lin Huaisong and Lin Huaibai couldn't help but laugh at her reaction. Their little sister was so amusing—eating eggs, eating sugar cakes, she always looked like she was tasting things for the first time, as if she'd never had anything good to eat in her life.
Having sent the children away, Lin Da and Lin Er took their seats by the fire, deep worry etched across their brows as they addressed the family members waiting for answers.
"Bandits have taken up in the mountains north of here—no one knows when they showed up. Last night they came down and robbed silver and grain, killing six villagers from Dashi Village. The county office has posted wanted notices, and now everyone in town and the surrounding villages is on edge."
At these words, all the women in the main room gasped in fright.
Granny Lin's face went pale, her lips trembling. "Heavens! How did something this big happen? …Six lives lost! Those heartless beasts who kill without blinking!"
Zhang Cuie was so frightened she dropped the scissors in her hand, both hands instinctively clutching her husband's arm. "Father of my children, those bandits haven't been caught yet, have they? Don't go into town these days, and don't go to any other villages either! It's freezing cold now, there's no work to be done in the fields—you just stay home and hibernate through the winter, don't go out! I forbid you from going out! If you happened to run into them and something happened, I—I couldn't go on living, I'm telling you!"
"What nonsense are you spouting? Don't scare the children." Lin Er scolded, though he reached up to pat the back of his wife's hand to soothe her.
Li Sulan clutched her embroidery needle tightly, her heart heavy with dread.
People like them—common folk scraping by—couldn't afford to offend the powerful, couldn't afford to provoke the wicked. They depended on heaven for their meals, living in constant fear, humble as ants, asking only for a bowl of porridge and a serving of rice, yet even just surviving was so hard.
Such was this world.