Riverbend Village is surrounded by mountains on three sides, and Li Yao’s home sits at the foot of the West Mountain.
The house consists of four thatched rooms, the thatch long since rotted and blackened, with two gaping holes in the roof. A small, drafty lean-to serves as the kitchen.
“Mother,” the eldest daughter-in-law, He Xiaoya, said softly, “I’m going to go make dinner.”
Li Yao was so hungry she felt like her chest was sticking to her spine; stars were dancing in her vision. It was definitely time to eat.
“What are you making?” Li Yao asked.
“Wild vegetable soup,” He Xiaoya replied in a small voice.
The “wild vegetable soup” He Xiaoya made was essentially a pot of boiling water with wild greens tossed in. It lacked even a single drop of oil, and she didn’t even use salt. It was bland enough to be flavorless, yet it was harsh enough to scrape the throat and scour the gut. While it was certainly “healthy” in a sense, what Li Yao needed right now was nutrition.
“Let’s have something else today.”
Li Yao went to the bedroom. In the cabinet, there was a small bag of brown rice—about three jin—and four eggs that had been sitting there for who knows how long. This was the original owner’s last bit of life-saving food.
She handed the bag and the eggs to He Xiaoya and commanded, “Cook it all. And make it into dry rice, not porridge.”
He Xiaoya knew this was the family’s final stock, but since her mother-in-law had given the order, she didn’t dare question it. She hurried to the kitchen with the rice, though she secretly scooped out a small half-bowl and hid it on the top shelf, just in case.
While He Xiaoya prepped the rice, Li Yao went to the slope behind the house to dig up some wild scallions and garlic. By the time she returned, He Xiaoya had already strained the rice and was getting ready to boil the greens.
Li Yao quickly stepped in. “I’ll handle the cooking.”
He Xiaoya was stunned. Ever since she had married into the family, she had done all the chores; her mother-in-law had never once lifted a finger. Was she really going to cook for herself today?
Li Yao checked their supplies: only a half-bowl of salt remained, and the oil jar was scraped nearly dry.
Fine, she thought. Stir-fried wild vegetables and steamed egg custard.
After cleaning and chopping the wild scallions and garlic, Li Yao had He Xiaoya stoke the fire and get the wok piping hot.
“Watch closely,” Li Yao said. “From now on, this is how you’ll cook.”
Li Yao didn’t plan on cooking every meal herself in the long run, so the best strategy was to teach someone else the ropes.
“Yes, Mother,” He Xiaoya replied, not daring to be careless, her eyes glued to every move.
When the oil was hot, Li Yao tossed in the garlic to release its fragrance, added a pinch of salt, and threw in the drained wild vegetables.
Sizzle!
The intense heat of the clay stove flash-cooked the greens, and she pulled them off the heat immediately.
As she looked at the vibrant green vegetables, shimmering with oil and smelling heavenly, He Xiaoya swallowed hard. Her heart ached as if it were being cut by a knife. Usually, when she cooked, she only dared to dip a goose feather into the oil and brush the bottom of the pan—and even then, her mother-in-law would scold her for wasting oil and being a poor housekeeper.
Yet, her mother-in-law had used that much oil for a single dish. At this rate, they’d eat through thirty jin in a year!
What shocked her even more was when Li Yao brought out the four eggs.
“Mother, what are you doing with those?” He Xiaoya asked, bewildered.
“Steamed egg custard.”
He Xiaoya had eaten egg custard before, but she had never seen anyone use four eggs at once!
Li Yao beat the eggs with salt and a splash of rice water until smooth, placed the bowl on top of the steaming rice, and waited for it to set. Once finished, she sprinkled a handful of fresh scallions over the top. The custard was delicate and silky.
Li Yao didn’t rush to serve the meal. Instead, she scooped out the fluffy rice, leaving the crispy guoba (scorched rice crust) at the bottom of the pot. She drizzled a little oil around the edges, let it fry over a low flame until golden and crispy, chopped it up with a spatula, and sprinkled it with salt. Another dish—crispy, golden, fragrant fried rice crust—was ready.
“Let’s eat,” Li Yao said.
Outside in the yard, the children had already been salivating for ages, drawn by the tantalizing aromas drifting from the kitchen. Yet, once the food was set on the table, not one of them dared to reach for their bowls. They all waited, eyes downcast, for Li Yao to distribute the food.
There was a generous amount of rice from the two-plus jin of brown rice, and each person received two full bowls. Li Yao split half the egg custard between the children and herself, and gave the entire remaining half to He Xiaoya.
“Mother, why are you giving me so much?”
He Xiaoya stared at the half-bowl of custard, afraid to even touch her chopsticks. In the past, whenever she had dared to take an extra bite of food, her mother-in-law’s chopsticks would have struck her hand. She had endured so much bitterness because of those rules. Yet today, she had been given a full half-bowl of egg custard—the equivalent of two whole eggs! Her mother-in-law seemed like a completely different person.
“I gave it to you, so eat it,” Li Yao commanded. “You must finish your rice and eggs, and eat plenty of vegetables. Just have a taste of the rice crust; it’s hard to digest.”
This girl was the frailest in the entire family. Furthermore, having been married for over half a year, she could become pregnant at any time; her health needed to be the top priority.
“Everyone, start eating.”
The four children immediately picked up their bowls. They hadn’t had this much rice, this much oil, or food this delicious in so long. They ate with such fervor that it was a joy to watch. The crispy, fried rice crust was particularly popular—golden, crunchy, and savory—making them want to swallow their own tongues in delight. Once finished, little Wang Sisan even licked his bowl clean, leaving it shinier than if it had been washed.
“Mother, that rice crust was amazing! We have to make it like that again!”
Unlike Wang Sisan’s carefree joy, Dazhuang and He Xiaoya wore expressions of quiet anxiety. They were full for now, but what about tonight? What about tomorrow?
After her meal, Li Yao drank a bowl of thick rice soup, finally feeling her strength returning. She grabbed a stool and sat on the edge of the courtyard, looking out over the village and the vast, barren fields. It was time to think carefully about how to keep this family alive.
A great drought had begun last year, causing a sharp decline in grain production nationwide. It was said that in many places, people could no longer afford to eat and had begun fleeing in mass migrations. Coupled with the wars that had been raging along the western borders for decades, the national treasury was nearly empty, leaving the imperial court unable to look after the common people.
Riverbend Village had managed to harvest a bit of grain last year thanks to its proximity to the mountains, but this year, there was nothing. No family had any surplus food left, and the wild greens had been foraged to the point of extinction. If they wanted to survive, they had to find a way into the great mountains.
To the west, across five or six small ridges, lay the vast, endless Ten Thousand Mountains. The woods were dense, choked with vines, filled with toxic miasma, and home to wolves, tigers, and leopards. Even professional hunters didn’t dare to enter lightly.
But to Li Yao, this was nothing.
She had been abandoned in the deep wilderness at age ten and survived on her own for at least a month. At fifteen, she had crossed the Amazon rainforest alone—and came out the other side having gained weight. Compared to that, these mountains were no more daunting than visiting her childhood home. As long as she didn’t wander too far, she would be back before dark.
Having made up her mind, Li Yao cut a piece of old bamboo to craft a simple bow and arrow, then called the whole family together.
Wang Sisan’s eyes lit up when he saw the bow. “Mother, is this for me?”
“Move aside. What is a child doing with a bow?” Li Yao replied. “All of you are coming into the mountains with me this afternoon.”
“Go into the mountains? Why?” He Xiaoya asked weakly, fear etched onto her face.
She had heard that a family in White Cloud Village had hit rock bottom a few days ago; they had eaten all their remaining food in one last meal, then consumed arsenic together. She worried her mother-in-law might be planning the same thing. “Mother, actually… we still have half a bowl of rice left…”
“That bit of rice you hid isn’t even enough to make a decent porridge for one person,” Li Yao said. “Soon, you will forage for wild vegetables and medicinal herbs while I see if I can hunt a few wild chickens or rabbits.”
The children stared at her in wide-eyed shock. Since when did Mother know how to hunt?