The divorce went through successfully. Madam Liu and her two children left the Gu household with nothing but a few pieces of clothing.
“Mother… where are we going?”
Six-year-old An’an looked around fearfully.
Dusk was falling, and from the forest on the back mountain came intermittent howls of wolves.
Although everyone said wolves wouldn’t come down the mountain, he still trembled in fear.
Madam Liu’s natal family had never valued daughters. They would never take in the three of them. Her brows knitted tightly.
Could it be that she could only lead her children to starve on the roadside?
“Mother,” Gu Nianzhi said, “let’s go to the broken huts at the foot of the northern mountain.”
At the foot of the mountain to the north of the village stood three thatched huts. A family had once lived there, but because it was too close to the mountain and had no fence for protection, the parents and child were all killed by wolves that came down to forage at night.
The place had been abandoned for years. Several holes gaped in the roofs.
“But that place is too close to the mountain—it’s dangerous,” Madam Liu said hesitantly.
She’d seen that family’s bodies herself and had helped clean up afterward.
The memory of severed limbs made her shiver even now.
Gu Nianzhi didn’t care.
A roof was a roof. Standing at the village entrance to freeze in the wind wasn’t any safer.
“Mother, no matter what, it’s still somewhere we can stay. We have no money and no food—having a place to land first will give us time to figure things out.”
Hearing this, Madam Liu found the logic sound.
So the three of them headed north.
At the foot of the mountain, the three dilapidated thatched huts came into view.
Weeds over a meter tall surrounded them, the structures crumbling everywhere. After much effort, they finally found one hut with relatively intact walls and settled inside.
That night, animal cries echoed from the mountain, and wild grass outside rustled in the wind.
The three huddled close together.
“Good thing it’s not winter,” Madam Liu murmured. “Otherwise the three of us would freeze to death.”
Compared to her worry, Gu Nianzhi was calm.
“Mother, it’s summer. There are plenty of wild vegetables and fruits in the mountains. If we’re diligent, we won’t starve.”
Madam Liu relaxed a little at her words.
That was true.
Life was hard for everyone, but Lihua Village was close to the mountains. With enough effort, wild vegetables alone could keep them alive.
Thinking this, the three fell into a deep sleep.
It was the most peaceful sleep they’d had in a long time.
No Gu Dachui muttering beside them.
No Old Madam Gu’s shrill curses at dawn.
At first light, Madam Liu went outside to pull weeds.
Since they were living here now, the grass around the hut needed to be cleared.
When Gu Nianzhi and her brother woke up, the yard in front of the hut had already been mostly cleaned.
“Nianzhi, An’an,” Madam Liu said, “pull the weeds behind the house. I’ll go dig up some wild vegetables for lunch.”
She somehow dug a tattered vegetable basket out of one of the huts and headed up the mountain.
Gu Nian’an rolled up his sleeves, ready to pull weeds, but Gu Nianzhi stopped him.
“An’an, let’s go catch fish by the river!”
Catch fish?
Gu Nian’an immediately thought of the big river by the village. The current was fast—several uncles had drowned there while fishing.
“No!” he said firmly. “Mother said we’re not allowed near the river!”
“Then… do you still want to eat fish?”
“…!”
Gu Nian’an thought for a few seconds, dropped the weeds in his hand, and ran over.
“I want to eat!”
Seeing his greedy little face, Gu Nianzhi laughed and ruffled his hair.
“Come on. Big sister will take you to catch fish.”
They ran to the river and stopped at a hidden bend.
The rushing water made Gu Nian’an shrink back instinctively.
“Sis… I’m scared!”
He didn’t want to be swept away.
“Don’t be afraid. You wait here—Sis will go catch the fish.”
Seeing her roll up her pants and step toward the water, Gu Nian’an grabbed her in panic.
“Sis! I don’t want fish anymore! Let’s go home!”
Gu Nianzhi looked at his tense, conflicted little face and led him to sit aside.
“You wait here. If I don’t come back within the time it takes an incense stick to burn, go find someone.”
“…Okay.”
After calming him down, Gu Nianzhi quickly entered the water.
The river wasn’t very deep—just over two meters—but the current was strong and could easily sweep someone away.
While Gu Nian’an wasn’t paying attention, she slipped out on the other side through the reeds, went into her space, and took out one four-jin grass carp and three crucian carp weighing over a jin each. She threaded them together with grass.
When the timing felt right, she ran back toward Gu Nian’an carrying the string of fish.
From far away, she saw him anxiously scanning the riverbank.
“An’an!”
Hearing her voice, Gu Nian’an turned around happily.
“Sis!”
His eyes nearly popped out.
So much fish!
He’d never seen that much meat in his life!
Relieved she was safe and thrilled beyond words, he ran circles around the fish.
“Sis, aren’t these heavy?”
That big one was almost as tall as him!
“Not heavy at all,” Gu Nianzhi said cheerfully. “Not even ten jin.”
Though her body was only eleven years old, years of farm work had given her great strength.
Carrying these fish home was nothing.
At noon, Madam Liu returned with a small basket of wild vegetables—only to see her two children pinning a huge grass carp to the ground and scraping off its scales with stones.
“Nianzhi! An’an! Where did this fish come from?!”
“Sis caught it!” Gu Nian’an replied proudly, hands still pressing the fish down.
Madam Liu looked at her daughter.
Heavens!
The girl was soaked head to toe, scraping scales like it was nothing!
This was disastrous!
If anyone saw this…
Madam Liu hurriedly dragged Gu Nianzhi into the hut and told Gu Nian’an to watch the fish.
“Mother? What are you doing?” Gu Nianzhi asked, confused.
“Look at you—your clothes are a mess! What would people think?!”
Seeing Madam Liu’s panic, Gu Nianzhi finally remembered—
This was ancient times.
A woman’s reputation mattered more than life.
If someone saw her like this, it wouldn’t be marriage waiting for her—it would be a pig cage.
Too dangerous.
She didn’t want to marry.
She definitely didn’t want to die.
After changing into old clothes Madam Liu dug out of a cloth bundle, Gu Nianzhi went back out to finish scaling the fish.
Gu Nian’an beamed.
Thinking about eating fish soon made his mouth water uncontrollably.
“Nianzhi, you must never go to the river again,” Madam Liu warned. “A few years ago, a child fell in and not even the body was found.”
“Mother, we have nothing to eat. Any food we can find helps.”
Seeing she still didn’t seem repentant, Madam Liu kept lecturing.
“There are so many wild vegetables in the mountains. We can eat our fill just digging those—no need to risk your life at the river.”
She didn’t ask for wealth or comfort. Just to keep her children fed and alive was enough.
“Once things settle, I’ll find laundry work at a landlord’s house. You two gather wild vegetables and dry them. We’ll get through winter somehow.”
Hearing this, Gu Nianzhi felt her future plunge into darkness.
She had mountains of supplies in her space—yet here she was eating wild vegetables and breathing cold air.
What kind of suffering was that?
No matter what, she had to find a way to earn money—to bring her supplies into the open.
Otherwise, when the migration came next year, they’d be starving one day and full the next.
“Mother,” she said firmly, “they say the bold starve full and the timid starve to death. I’d rather die full than starve slowly.”
Madam Liu turned to her six-year-old son.
Gu Nian’an was wiping drool from his mouth, nodding enthusiastically in agreement.
Madam Liu: ……
In the end, it was her own uselessness that made her children suffer with her.
She carried the wild vegetables down to the river.
Since they had fish now, she might as well wash the vegetables and dry them.
At least winter would be a little easier that way.