Li Xia didn’t dare to delay her afternoon work. After finishing her meal, she rested for a mere fifteen minutes before donning her gloves, hoisting the bamboo basket over her shoulder, and heading toward the riverbank. The May sun was already somewhat fierce, baking the ground until it was hot to the touch. She walked along the shade of the trees, but her eyes remained busy—specifically picking the tender alfalfa and goosefoot that the pig loved to eat. In less than four hours, her bamboo basket was packed full. Carrying the heavy load of pigweed, she hurried back home. Once there, she first chopped the pigweed into fine pieces, mixed it with bran, added water, and poured it into the feeding trough. Only when she saw the black pig happily munching away did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Taking advantage of the empty kitchen, Li Xia quickly pulled a meat bun, an apple, and a bottle of milk out from her lucky draw system to eat. Biting into the meat bun, her mouth was filled with savory oil; the apple was crisp, sweet, and juicy; and the milky fragrance of the milk carried a soothing warmth as it slid into her stomach. She finished it all in a few bites, then hurriedly crumpled the packaging into a ball and threw it into the hearth fire, only setting her mind at ease once she watched the paper ball burn to ashes.
Next, it was time to prepare dinner. Li Xia carried a small bucket to the riverbank to fetch water, running back and forth three times before the water jar was filled to the brim. She then took the bucket and water ladle to the vegetable garden to water the crops—the tomatoes had just formed green fruits, and the cucumber vines completely blanketed the trellises. She cautiously navigated around the seedlings to water them, deeply terrified of damaging the tender leaves. After watering, she pulled a handful of fresh garlic and cilantro, calculating in her mind: stir-fried eggs with garlic would be aromatic, the cilantro could be blanched for a cold salad, and she could cook a pot of wild vegetable porridge.
The eggs were taken from her system; she didn’t dare touch the family’s inventory. Mother Yuan viewed their eggs as precious commodities, essentially hoarding them to trade for salt. Li Xia cracked open the eggs, the golden liquid sliding into the bowl, and stir-fried them until the entire room drifted with a rich aroma. The blanched cilantro was sprinkled with salt and vinegar, making it crisp and refreshing. The wild vegetable porridge was simmered until thick, the fragrance of the rice blending with the fresh scent of the wild greens, making one’s mouth water just from smelling it. She tossed the eggshells into the hearth fire to burn, ensuring not a single flaw was left behind before finally stopping to rest, sitting by the stove to await her family’s return.
Before the sky turned completely dark, Li Xia heated another large pot of water—her family had been working in the fields all day, completely caked in mud, so coming back to a comfortable shower would be nice. Just as the water was ready, she heard Fourth Brother’s voice from outside the door. Father Yuan and Second Brother walked in front, carrying hoes on their shoulders, the welts from the carrying pole still visible, while Mother Yuan, Eldest Sister, and the others followed behind, their faces mask-like with exhaustion.
The moment Third Sister stepped through the door, she caught sight of the stir-fried eggs on the table and shot Li Xia another fierce glare. She had been bending her waist in the fields all day until her legs felt nearly broken, yet Fifth Sister had been leisurely cooking at home; the jealousy in her heart grew like wild weeds. Seeing the stir-fried eggs, Mother Yuan’s heart instantly tightened, and she walked over quickly, a hint of heartache in her voice. “Fifth Sister, why did you fry the eggs?”
Hearing there were eggs, Fourth Brother’s eyes lit up instantly, and he leaned over the table to sniff them. “Mom, we have eggs to eat tonight.”
Li Xia hurriedly explained, “Mom, these aren’t our family’s eggs. They’re wild pheasant eggs I picked up on the slope while harvesting pigweed. There were only three, and I thought I’d improve everyone’s meals a bit.”
Mother Yuan let out a sigh of relief, though she couldn’t help but nag, “Wild pheasant eggs are still eggs; next time you find some, keep them to eat slowly.” Despite saying this, she still handed the chopsticks to the children. “Eat up, eat up, it’s a rare find.” In reality, it wasn’t that the family couldn’t afford to eat two eggs, but rather that she was accustomed to hard times and always thought of saving everything.
The family gathered around the table to eat. Having sneaked a meal in the afternoon, Li Xia barely moved her chopsticks, only taking small sips of her porridge. Seeing that Fourth Brother didn’t have enough porridge to drink, she even poured some of the porridge from her bowl into his. Mother Yuan took note of this and picked up a piece of egg to place in her bowl. “Don’t give it to your fourth brother, eat it yourself.” She had noticed long ago that her youngest daughter hadn’t touched a single piece of egg.
“Mom, I didn’t go down to the fields this afternoon, so I’m not hungry.” Li Xia placed the egg into Third Sister’s bowl instead.
Looking at the piece of egg in her bowl, Third Sister suddenly felt a bit awkward. Just at noon, she had been complaining to Eldest Sister about Fifth Sister being delicate and Mom being biased, yet Fifth Sister had given the only piece of egg to her. Remembering how whenever the family ate meat in the past, Fifth Sister would also always share the meat in her bowl with her and Fourth Brother, her heart swelled with even more guilt. Fifth Sister was young and lacked the physical strength for hard labor, so it was only right that Mom coddled her a bit more; for her to hold a grudge over this was indeed going too far. She didn’t say anything, silently splitting the egg into two halves, placing one half back into Li Xia’s bowl and stuffing the other into her own mouth.
During the night, Li Xia lay in bed, her body shaking uncontrollably and her eyelids twitching violently. In her hazy state, she dreamed of the leeches from earlier that day again—densely packed leeches crawled all over her body, their dark-brown forms engorged round from sucking blood, slowly making their way up her face, looking as though they were about to burrow into her nose. Terrified, her tears flowed freely, yet she didn’t dare open her mouth to scream—she feared that the moment she opened her mouth, the leeches would crawl down her throat and into her stomach, so she could only bite her lip tightly, enduring the torment in her dream.
Just as dawn broke, Eldest Sister got out of bed. Rubbing her aching waist, she called out, “Third Sister! Fifth Sister! Get up quickly to start working!”
Third Sister climbed out of bed slowly, grimacing in pain the moment she bent her waist. “Ouch, ouch, ouch, my waist! It hurts to death! And my thighs feel like they’ve been beaten with a stick!” She complained as she got off the bed, yet she still reached out to pat Li Xia. “Fifth Sister, stop sleeping, get up!”
Eldest Sister also rubbed her waist and sighed, “Just endure it. It’s always like this when you first start planting seedlings. Move around more in a bit, and once it goes numb, it won’t hurt anymore.” She looked back only to see that Li Xia was still lying in bed motionless, so she called out again, “Fifth Sister, hurry up and get up, it’s time to go pick pigweed.”
Seeing that Li Xia didn’t respond, Third Sister gave her a shove. “Don’t slack off. Mom already said you don’t have to go down to the fields, and you still want to sleep in?”
Looking at Li Xia’s completely motionless form, Eldest Sister suddenly felt something was amiss—normally, she would wake up after being called twice, so why was there no reaction today? She walked over and bent down to look. Li Xia’s face was flushed bright red, looking like a thoroughly ripe persimmon. Reaching out to touch her forehead, the scalding temperature frightened her into instantly withdrawing her hand. “This is bad! Fifth Sister has a fever!”
“What? A fever?” Third Sister also hurried over, reaching out to touch Li Xia’s face. The heat radiating into her fingertips caused her to instantly panic. “It’s truly so hot! Hotter than the hearth!”
Forgetting her aching waist, Eldest Sister hobbled toward Mother Yuan’s room, shouting as she ran, “Mom! Mom! Get up quickly! Fifth Sister has a fever!”
Mother Yuan was sleeping deeply, but hearing the shouts, she sat up abruptly. Putting on her shoes, she ran toward Li Xia’s room. She rushed to the bedside, reaching out to touch Li Xia’s forehead and then her back. The scalding temperature caused her heart to tighten violently. “Fifth Sister! Fifth Sister! Wake up! Tell Mom, where does it hurt?”
Li Xia felt as though she had fallen into a scorching desert, her entire body aching, yet she couldn’t pinpoint exactly where the pain was. In her delirium, she heard someone calling her and wanted to open her eyes, but her eyelids felt as heavy as lead, refusing to open no matter what. Her throat was dry and painful, as if a fire were raging within it. She wanted to drink water, but she didn’t even have the strength to make a sound, leaving her awareness to drift aimlessly within the scorching darkness.