After the meeting at the village head's house, Yuxi Village maintained a twenty-man patrol that circled the village day and night.
Even so, without good news from the county office, no one could rest easy.
The tension and fear hanging over the villages refused to dissipate.
The year's end crept closer day by day amid this oppressive atmosphere.
A fire crackled vigorously in the Lin family's main hall, the door half-shut to keep out the raging wind and snow, the other half left ajar to let the smoke drift out.
"Ren zhi chu, xing ben shan, xing xiang jin, xi xiang yuan…"
The children's clear, bright voices drifted out from behind the door, perfectly synchronized, brimming with vitality, brightening the snowy scene outside.
"Uncle, what does 'xing ben shan' mean?"
"So that's how you write 'ren'—a pole with two legs underneath!"
"Giggle giggle!"
Baixiang sat together with her two older brothers, dressed in the little padded jacket her mother had made for her—a deep blue old fabric for the outer layer, with white orchids embroidered around the collar and cuffs.
The little girl with her two small pigtails, her face made even fairer by the deep blue jacket, easily outshone her two brothers, making them look like little darklings by comparison.
Following her uncle's lead in reading and learning characters alongside her brothers, the little girl would occasionally flash her tiny millet-like teeth in happy laughter, swaying side to side with glee—so adorable that anyone would find it easy to smile.
Granny Lin was simmering medicine by the fire. Whenever she heard the children's crisp laughter, she would unconsciously break into a smile and glance over. "Learning to read and write is a good thing—whether it's a boy or a girl, knowing more and understanding more is always a blessing."
"Mother's right, that's exactly it!" Zhang Cuie didn't pause her shoe-sole stitching, answering without even lifting her head.
Li Sulan teased her, "In a moment, Mother's going to call you a bootlicker again."
This drew laughter from everyone around.
No matter what Granny Lin said, the second daughter-in-law was always the first to jump in and agree—a complete mother's pet. This wasn't just known throughout the Lin family; the whole village knew it.
Zhang Cuie wasn't the least bit annoyed by the teasing. Instead, she retorted with full confidence, "What bootlicker? What Mother says is right! I'm just stating facts!"
"Yes, yes, it's facts." Granny Lin shook her head helplessly, scolding with a smile, "You're not a bootlicker, you're a cuddle-bug. You come to me for coddling more often than your two children do."
Everyone around: "…Hahaha!"
Zhang Cuie snorted, raising her eyebrows smugly.
So what if she cuddled?
Her mother-in-law doted on her and was happy to indulge her—she loved cuddling up to her mother-in-law.
Back in her natal home, she'd never been cherished. Only after marrying into the Lin family did she learn what it felt like to have a mother's love and backing. In her heart, her mother-in-law was her own mother.
Thick steam billowed from the spout of the medicine pot, layers of bitter herbal scent filling the air.
Granny Lin wrapped a rag around the pot's handle, poured the dark medicinal liquid into a prepared clay bowl, and rose to head toward the inner room.
As she turned, the smile on her face faded, and a suppressed worry surfaced in her eyes. By the time she pushed open the door and entered the room, she had tucked the worry away again, forcing a composed expression.
Hearing the door close, the smiles on the adults' faces by the fire also faded.
Li Sulan's delicate brows knitted together, her expression low and heavy. "Mother's worried inside. I checked the remaining herbs today—the ginseng slices are almost gone."
Father's health depended mainly on ginseng slices for Essence Restoration. Without them, the other herbs were hardly effective at all.
But ginseng slices were terribly expensive.
She estimated there wasn't much silver left in the house.
Mother didn't show it in front of them, but she was worrying behind their backs—they all knew it.
Zhang Cuie lowered her eyes, driving the embroidery needle through the thick sole with heavy, urgent strokes, gritting her teeth and muttering, "I'll go back to my natal home tomorrow! Even if I have to claw it out of them, I'll get some silver!"
"Don't you dare! Have you forgotten Mother said not to go back asking for things? Last time you went back, you came home with your head bloodied. If Mother hadn't gotten word and gone over with a cleaver to demand you back, who knows how badly they'd have bullied you. Let's think of another way."
While the sisters-in-law talked, Lin Jiang sat nearby in bowed silence, staring at the book resting on his knee with nothing but bitterness in his eyes.
Second Brother was on patrol duty today, and Eldest Brother had found odd work in town—both had left early in the morning.
Only he, also a son of the Lin family, could only stay home, rotting away.
After his right hand was crippled, he'd become nearly useless himself. He couldn't do heavy labor, no one would hire him, and he couldn't earn a single coin for the family.
He couldn't even support himself, let alone be filial to his parents.
He was nothing but a waste.
The children, though young, could sense the shift in atmosphere. Their reading voices faded away.
"I still have over a dozen embroidered handkerchiefs I haven't sold. There's still half a month before New Year's—if I rush, I can embroider another batch, and selling them during the holiday should earn us a bit of silver." Li Sulan, momentarily unaware of the commotion beside her, bent her head close to Zhang Cuie and calculated in a low voice. "Plus, Eldest Brother's odd job will pay out too. We'll scrape together what we can to tide us over."
"Erhe gets half a month off after today's patrol shift," Zhang Cuie said through gritted teeth. "Tomorrow, I'll have him go find work with Eldest Brother! All the village men have been heading to town in groups lately—safety in numbers."
She hated to let her man take such risks. Until those mountain bandits were dealt with, who could say when they might run into trouble?
But life had to go on.
With the family in such dire straits, they had to find a way to get through it.
"Mother, are ginseng slices very expensive?" The child's soft, sweet voice suddenly cut in, her little head with its two small horn-shaped braids poking between the two women, her big blinking eyes full of curiosity.
"You little girl, why are you curious about everything?" Zhang Cuie, quick-tempered as she was, answered without missing a beat, reaching out as she spoke to block the child from the fire. "Of course ginseng slices are expensive—that's ginseng! A thin little piece the size of a pinky finger costs over a hundred coppers! Hey, hey, don't get too close to the fire, careful the flames don't lick you and burn—that hurts. Song'er, Bai'er, take your sister over to the side a bit!"
"Baixiang, be good and play with your brothers over there." Li Sulan patted her daughter's head, gently pulling her away from the fire, not continuing the ginseng slice topic.
Getting by in life was the adults' business, and worrying was the adults' worry too.
Lin Jiang scooped his little niece up and set her on his knee, spreading open a book. "Come, let Uncle teach you to read."
Sitting on an adult's lap, her small body held steady by one arm, her back against a reliable, warm embrace—this unfamiliar experience made Baixiang freeze for a moment, then her eyes curved into a gentle smile.
Since coming here, so many, many things felt new.
And she liked every new thing.
The little child swung her feet and shook her head happily in the adult's arms, her little horn braids bouncing and dancing with the motion—utterly adorable.
Half of the gloom in Lin Jiang's chest dissipated, and an unconscious faint smile tugged at the corners of his lips. Even the faint, unusual herbal scent emanating from the child smelled especially pleasant to him, soothing his mind.
…Lin Jiang's smile froze mid-curve, his gaze snapping to the little horn braids bobbing before him.
An herbal scent?
He'd smelled it once before—so it was coming from little Baixiang?
But such a small child—if she hadn't been drinking herbal medicine long-term, how could she carry a medicinal fragrance on her body?
His thoughts churned in an instant. Lin Jiang's brow furrowed, and as he fell into contemplation, a cold glint flashed in his eyes.
Only one possibility came to mind.
Baixiang hadn't lived well before.
Perhaps she'd had an illness requiring long-term medication, and after her family grew tired of her, they'd abandoned her.
At that thought, Lin Jiang's arm tightened. The small, soft bundle in his arms only deepened the pity rising in his heart.
Lost in his thoughts, Lin Jiang didn't notice that his right hand had unconsciously gripped harder as he held the child—yet it no longer ached with the unbearable, stabbing pain it once had.