She suddenly remembered—if Qingyou and Qingyi woke up and couldn’t see her, wouldn’t they panic?
They would definitely be anxious. She needed to leave the space.
So she tried focusing her mind and silently formed the word “exit” in her thoughts. And just like that, she came out.
She was back on the shabby straw bed in the hut. Fortunately, her younger brother and sister were still asleep.
After this whole ordeal—first dreaming about her parents, then discovering the space—the mix of sorrow and joy left her unable to fall asleep for a long time. In the end, after counting who knew how many sheep, she finally drifted off.
Even in sleep, she remained alert. It was a habit formed from her life in the military.
They had just severed ties with their family today and only had two taels of silver on them. The three of them were just children without any adults, so she worried someone might be eyeing their money. Before going to bed, she even had Qingyi place a thick wooden stick beside the bed for protection—just in case. Thankfully, nothing happened that night.
At dawn, all three children got up.
Liu Qingyan was used to waking early for training, while Qingyi and Qingyou had grown up in the old household, where they had to get up before dawn to work—otherwise the old madam would beat and scold them.
After drinking the spirit spring water yesterday, Liu Qingyan felt much better than before. Her head wasn’t as dizzy, and she had more strength when walking.
There was still no water to wash her face. The only container was a chipped water jar given by Uncle Li. They hadn’t had time to clean it yesterday before night fell, and without a bucket, they couldn’t fetch water either.
Qingyi said, “Sister, I’ll go next door to Aunt Wang’s house to borrow a bucket and fetch some water.”
“Big sister, I’ll go help second brother carry water. You stay at home and don’t move. Wait for us.”
“Go on, just be careful not to fall,” she replied.
Although they were young, the siblings had done all kinds of work in the old household before. Carrying water was nothing new to them.
After a while, Qingyi and Qingyou came back carrying water. Liu Qingyan wanted to clean the water jar, but the two children stopped her.
“Sis, you’re still injured. Don’t move. I’ll wash it.”
They scrubbed it two or three times before it was finally clean. The water in the bucket was also used up, so the two brothers went out again to fetch more.
Just then, someone called out, “Daya, are you home?”
Liu Qingyan quickly walked out and saw a girl of about twelve or thirteen. Her features were fairly delicate and she could be considered pretty, though her skin was a bit dark. When she smiled, she showed a row of neat white teeth.
This girl was the daughter of their neighbor, Aunt Wang. Her name was Wang Xiaoyu, and she could be considered the original host’s best friend.
Whenever the original owner had no food, Wang Xiaoyu would secretly bring her and her siblings something to eat.
The Wang family were outsiders who had moved there when the original owner was around six years old. Uncle Wang was Wang Dafu, and Aunt Wang was Zhao Lanzhi. They had two children: their daughter Wang Xiaoyu and a nine-year-old son named Wang Tieniu.
“Xiaoyu, you’re here. Come inside,” Liu Qingyan said.
Yesterday, Uncle Wang and Aunt Wang had even helped clean up their house while she stayed home to watch Tieniu.
“My mom told me to bring you breakfast. Where are Erhu and Sanya?” Wang Xiaoyu asked, placing the food on the only small table.
“Thank you, Xiaoyu. Please thank Uncle Wang and Aunt Wang for us. We don’t have anything at home right now—not even rice. We were just worrying about what to do.
Oh Xiaoyu, do you have any extra rice at home? I’d like to buy some. I can’t go to town right now because of my injury.”
“I don’t know how much rice we have at home. I’ll have to go back and ask my mom. How is your injury?”
“The village doctor said the wound is quite deep and will take some time to heal.”
“Your grandmother… sigh, well, she’s not your grandmother anymore. That old Madam Liu is just too cruel.
Cutting ties with them was the right choice. From now on, the three of you can live your own lives and won’t have to be beaten or scolded anymore.
If you ever need help with anything, just call me. If I can’t do it, I’ll ask my parents to help you.”
Xiaoyu held her hand as she spoke. Being suddenly grabbed and chatted with by a girl her age made Liu Qingyan a little uncomfortable—she still hadn’t fully adjusted to the fact that she was only thirteen now.
She was still trying to adapt to this identity.
Xiaoyu had often brought food for the siblings before. The original owner had nothing to repay her with, so she had taught Xiaoyu and her younger brother Wang Tieniu how to read and write.
When Uncle Wang and Aunt Wang saw their children learning to read and write, they were very happy. After all, in a rural ancient village, literacy was extremely rare—only a few wealthy families could afford to send their children to school.
While they were talking, Qingyou and Qingyi came back carrying water again. The two boys politely greeted, “Xiaoyu-jiejie is here!”
“You went to fetch water? You’re really capable! Come eat breakfast—my mom told me to bring it for you,” she said with a smile.
“Thank you, Xiaoyu-jiejie. Thank you, Aunt Wang,” the boys replied.
Breakfast was coarse grain porridge and a plate of stir-fried wild vegetables. Xiaoyu left after delivering the food.
“I’ll head home now. After you finish eating, I’ll come back to take the bowls and plates,” she said.
“Alright, Xiaoyu.”
The siblings began eating. Liu Qingyan, however, couldn’t really bring herself to eat much.
The wild vegetables were fine—at least they were pure greens—but the coarse grain porridge wasn’t very tasty. Seeing how happily her younger siblings ate, she could only force herself to finish it.
Qingyi washed the bowls. With no oil on them, they were easy to clean.
Liu Qingyan then had Qingyi carry the dishes while she and Qingyou went to Aunt Wang’s house next door.
Seeing her arrive, Aunt Wang quickly came out to greet her with concern. “Daya, your head injury hasn’t fully healed yet. Xiaoyu could have come to pick up the bowls later. Why did you come yourself? Are you still dizzy?”
“Aunt Wang, I’m much better now. I’m still a little dizzy, but walking a few steps is fine. Besides, Qingyou is helping me,” she said.
“Qingyou? Who is Qingyou?”
“Qingyou is Sanya. We’ve already severed ties with the old household, so we won’t be using those nicknames anymore.
My mother gave us proper names when we were young, but Old Madam Liu wouldn’t allow it, saying ugly names are easier to raise.
My name is Liu Qingyan, my second brother is Liu Qingyi, and my younger sister is Liu Qingyou. I’ll have to trouble Aunt Wang to help spread our real names in the village.”
“That Old Madam Liu is really unreasonable! Such nice names and she wouldn’t let you use them?” Aunt Wang said angrily. “Come in and sit, Qingyan.”
“I heard from Xiaoyu that you want to buy rice. We don’t have much left either. How about this—your Uncle Wang is going to town today to buy rice anyway, so he can bring some back for you.”
“That would be wonderful, Aunt Wang. But how much is rice per jin? I’ve never been to town before, so I don’t know the prices.”
“Brown rice is five wen per jin, coarse flour is eight wen per jin. How much do you want?”
“Then we’ll take twenty jin of brown rice and twenty jin of coarse flour.”
“Alright. Let Qingyi go with your Uncle Wang to town. He can also help buy other things you need. Your family doesn’t have anything right now, after all.”