Village Chief Li and Old Lady Li exchanged a glance. Old Lady Li said:
“Daya, Erhu, and Third Girl, hurry and sit down to eat. From now on, you are the heads of your own household. If you have any problems, just come to your Village Chief Grandpa and me. We will help with whatever we can.”
Liu Qingyan led Erhu and Third Girl in thanking the Li family.
The three siblings ate with tears in their eyes. At this moment, the steamed corn buns tasted especially sweet. This meal became the most unforgettable memory in their lives.
Many years later, they would still vaguely remember its taste.
There is a saying: adding icing on the cake is easy, but sending charcoal in snow is hard. Help received at one’s lowest point is something one never forgets.
The village chief’s family had three sons, who had been busy all day helping repair the house.
The eldest was Li Dajiang, his wife Bai Cuilian;
The second was Li Dahe, his wife Zhao Qin;
The third was Li Dahai, his wife Liu Xiaolan.
The village chief was fifty years old, and Old Lady Li was forty-eight. Their sons’ names followed the pattern “river, river, lake, sea”—but they ended up with only three sons, missing the “sea.”
The family was prosperous. The eldest son had two sons and one daughter; the second son had one son and one daughter; the third son currently had one son.
They were all kind and hardworking people, and their living conditions were better than most families in the village.
After the meal, Old Lady Li insisted several times that the siblings stay the night.
But Liu Qingyan felt she had already troubled them enough and did not want to keep relying on others. She knew they had to become independent sooner or later.
So Erhu and Third Girl helped their sister back to the shabby straw hut.
At first glance, Liu Qingyan still found it hard to accept.
Although their old family home was not good, it was still better than this.
When Erhu opened the door, he quickly said:
“Sister, the house was in really bad shape. The village uncles helped repair it. All the things inside were also brought by the aunties and sisters-in-law from their own homes. Otherwise, we wouldn’t even have anything now. At least it looks like a home now.”
“Erhu, Third Girl, we must remember everyone who helped us. When we are able in the future, we must repay them twice over.”
“Don’t worry. With sister here, our life will only get better. At least we are free now—we won’t be beaten by those people at the old house anymore. Isn’t that something worth being happy about?”
“Sister, we’ve finally severed ties with them. I will work hard and never let you and Third Sister go hungry.”
Truly, children from poor families mature early—an 11-year-old boy already considered himself the pillar of the family.
“Sister, I will also help you and brother work. We won’t be beaten anymore. That’s so good. I’d rather we live a hard life together than go back there.”
These words reflected their true feelings.
“Don’t worry. With sister here, I won’t let you suffer.”
She pulled both children into her arms, and the three of them hugged and laughed.
After a while, Liu Qingyan stretched out her hands, and the three of them high-fived each other. The children didn’t understand at first.
She taught them to clap hands while saying:
“Come on! Let’s work hard and live a better life! Let those monsters at the old house regret everything! Our parents’ deaths were caused by them—the old family will one day face retribution!”
What she didn’t say out loud was that it wasn’t only their parents’ deaths—the original owner’s death was also caused by that old madam.
Back then, military conscription could have been avoided by paying money, but the old madam refused to spend it and instead sent her second son off to war. Few soldiers ever returned.
When the second daughter-in-law fell ill, the old madam refused to hire a doctor and she died as well. Even Daya herself had been pushed and hit her head fatally.
She would avenge all these grievances for the original owner.
In her heart, she silently said:
“Daya, rest in peace. I will take good care of your younger brother and sister. I will also avenge you and your parents.”
After saying this, she suddenly felt the heaviness in her chest lift—perhaps the original owner’s lingering resentment had finally been released.
Night soon fell, and there was no oil lamp in the house, so they had to go to bed early.
Liu Qingyan shared a blanket with Third Girl, while Erhu had one to himself. The blankets were thin and worn, but fortunately it was spring and not too cold.
It was hard to imagine how these three children survived winter with such bedding. If they had gotten sick, they likely would not have survived.
Liu Qingyan, as a former special forces soldier, had endured harsh conditions before, but compared to what these children had suffered, her past hardships felt insignificant.
The three of them were all thin and small, and the tiny bed could barely fit them.
She felt the first thing they needed to change was their names—Daya, Third Girl, and Erhu were too unpleasant.
Fortunately, their mother had given them proper names when they were young, but the old madam forbade using them, saying “cheap names are easier to raise.”
Daya’s real name was Liu Qingyan, meaning graceful appearance, noble character, intelligence, and elegance.
Erhu was Liu Qingyi, meaning talent and free-spirited elegance.
Third Girl was Liu Qingyou, meaning calmness and serenity.
One could tell their mother came from a good family; otherwise, how would she have been educated?
Even in such hardship, she never stopped teaching the children to read and write. Although they had no books, they had learned to write using sticks on the ground.
After thinking for a while, Liu Qingyan asked:
“Do you two still remember your real names?”
“Yes, sister. I remember—I am Liu Qingyi.”
“Yes, sister, I remember too. I am Liu Qingyou. Sister is Liu Qingyan.”
“That’s good. Since we’ve severed ties with them, we won’t use those old names anymore. From now on, let’s use our real names.”
“Okay, sister. Liu Qingyi sounds much better than Erhu. But Grandma didn’t allow us to call it.”
“No, not Grandma anymore—she’s just Old Madam Liu now.”
“Yes, I don’t like the name Third Girl either. Liu Qingyou is much nicer.”
“Qingyi, Qingyou—then from now on, we’ll tell everyone our real names. You’ve all had a long day. Let’s sleep now.”