Before her eyes stretched an endless expanse of yellow.
The soil in the fields was parched and cracked, and the scorching heat made it hard to breathe. With every breath, it felt as if a ball of fire was about to explode inside her chest.
A timid, cowering woman carried a little girl of only three or four years old in her arms, and finally left the child behind a large boulder.
“Don’t blame me. Times are hard this year—blame your own fate!” Old Mrs. Su cast one last glance at the girl.
During the drought, everyone’s face was sallow.
Only hers was fair, like a porcelain doll.
At this moment, she was sleeping soundly with her eyes closed, her rosy little face sweet and adorable.
Old Mrs. Su gritted her teeth, steeled her heart at last, and abandoned the child in the boundless yellow wilderness.
Among the weeds, the sleeping little girl slowly opened her eyes.
Her gaze fell on Old Mrs. Su’s retreating figure, her eyes deep and unfathomable.
She watched Old Mrs. Su’s back for a moment, then closed her eyes again and went back to sleep.
Old Mrs. Su involuntarily shivered, feeling as if something was watching her.
Rubbing at the goosebumps on her skin, Old Mrs. Su left the weeds without hesitation.
The moment she got home, she saw three people blocking the doorway. Seeing her return empty-handed, they hurriedly asked, “Where’s little sister?”
“What little sister? From today on, you have no little sister!” Old Mrs. Su spat viciously, her attitude matter-of-fact, as if what she had thrown away was just a dead dog, not a living, breathing person.
Zhouzhou was a child adopted by the eldest branch.
As long as Su Dazhuang was around, Zhouzhou at least had something to eat.
However, two days ago, Su Dazhuang had gone hunting in the mountains and had not been heard from since.
Once the Su family became convinced he was dead, they decided to start by getting rid of the adopted Zhouzhou.
Meanwhile, the good-natured Second Brother rushed toward her, anxiously saying, “She is our little sister! She’s so young, and there’s a disaster raging out there—I’m going to find her!”
Second Brother started to rush outside, but Old Mrs. Su yanked him back. “What do you mean, find her?”
“Get back here, all of you!”
Old Mrs. Su pulled Second Brother down to the ground, tearing open a large gash on his arm that instantly ran with blood.
The boy’s already gaunt little face grew even paler.
Old Mrs. Su stepped forward and planted her foot on Second Brother’s injured wrist, grinding it down hard a couple of times.
Second Brother grimaced in pain, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
Old Mrs. Su was trying to break his hand—to make an example of him so the other two wouldn’t dare go looking for Zhouzhou!
Old Mrs. Su stood with her hands on her hips, glaring furiously. “You know perfectly well what it’s like out there right now. So many people have starved to death already—one more won’t make any difference! Besides, she’s not my own flesh and blood!”
Second Brother was already seven or eight years old, yet he was skin and bones, not even as tall as his five-year-old cousin from the second branch. He glared at Old Mrs. Su with hatred, his whole body trembling with rage.
“That family gave us so much silver back then, but not a single copper coin was ever spent on Zhouzhou—and now you’re driving her out too!”
Old Mrs. Su had always favored the second branch.
Old Mrs. Su had pocketed all the silver Zhouzhou’s maternal family had left with the Su family before departing. Before the drought, she had bought a new house for the second branch, had new clothes made, and stockpiled plenty of grain.
Zhouzhou, meanwhile, could only eat chaff and vegetables every day in their household, yet she never complained.
Such a good child, and Old Mrs. Su threw her away just like that!
“Aren’t you afraid of retribution for what you’re doing?!”
Second Brother was so furious he wanted to kill someone, his eyes red, nearly weeping blood.
“Retribution? Don’t worry, the place I left her wasn’t out of the way. What if someone spots her, takes her in, and gives her a good life?” Old Mrs. Su spoke without a flicker of shame, her face full of mockery, a sneering smile tugging at the corner of her lips.
With the drought raging now, who would possibly be willing to take in a child of unknown origins?
In times like these, people might even resort to cannibalism.
Their little sister was only three and a half years old. If someone set their sights on her, she could lose her life!
The three brothers couldn’t accept it. Seeing Old Mrs. Su stubbornly blocking them and refusing to let them search, the hot-tempered Second Brother simply stormed into the kitchen, grabbed a kitchen knife, and threatened, “If you won’t let me find my sister, I’ll take you down with me!”
His eyes were bloodshot, and though the hand gripping the knife trembled, his resolve was firm.
The commotion from the Su family drew the nearby neighbors out to watch, their eyes filled with barely concealed disgust.
Old Mrs. Su’s face burned with shame.
After all, abandoning a child was nothing to be proud of.
“You little brats, shut your mouths right now!”
Old Mrs. Su hurried forward, trying to grab the three of them, but she tripped over a stone that had somehow appeared underfoot, her head slamming into the wooden gate of the small courtyard. Blood gushed out instantly, and she sat on the ground wailing in pain.
Everyone thought Old Mrs. Su got exactly what she deserved.
“She can even abandon a child? Has Old Mrs. Su no conscience at all? Serves her right for cracking her head open!”
“Ah, who knows how that Su family child is doing. In this weather, I’m afraid her chances are slim.”
“Let’s hope heaven protects that poor child…”
Seeing this, the three boys, thinking of their sister still out in the wilderness with her life hanging in the balance, put everything else aside and immediately ran off in the direction Old Mrs. Su had come from.
“Zhouzhou!”
“Zhouzhou!”
They shouted at the top of their lungs. In the withered yellow field, a few blades of dry grass swayed slightly.
The three rushed over in delighted surprise. Behind a rock, the little girl’s cheeks were flushed red from the sun, yet she was still fast asleep, looking utterly innocent and untouched by the world—a sight that nearly melted their hearts. Relief flooded through them instantly.
“Thank goodness, Zhouzhou is safe!”
Eldest Brother carefully lifted Zhouzhou from the ground, his eyes rimmed with red as he looked at his two younger brothers. “We can’t go back home.”
If Old Mrs. Su could abandon Zhouzhou once, she could do it a second time.
Their branch of the family didn’t even have a single able-bodied worker—they had already been cast out.
“Eldest Brother, I remember there’s a run-down haunted house at the village entrance.”
That house was said to be haunted; no one was willing to live there.
The three children put their heads together and headed for the haunted house, carrying Zhouzhou on one of their backs.
The house’s four walls were full of gaps letting in the wind, and the straw on the roof was almost entirely gone. Fortunately, it was a drought, so there wasn’t much need for warmth and shelter from the cold.
After settling Zhouzhou, the eldest, Su Ci’an, went out to search around and only managed to find some wilted wild greens.
The haunted house had only one broken pot, which had to be tilted just right while cooking to keep anything from spilling out.
The greens in their mouths were bitter and tough, and Third Brother Su Ciyu couldn’t hold back—his tears fell with a plop. “Eldest Brother, does Grandma just not want us anymore?”
“It’s my fault for being useless, for not being able to protect you.”
As Su Ci’an spoke, he clenched his small fists.
Their father and mother were missing, and their maternal grandparents’ home was too far away—they didn’t know the way. The other villagers were all struggling to look after themselves and wouldn’t bother with them at all.
At this point, they had truly reached the end of the road. Was death the only fate awaiting them?