Old Madam Lin had pushed her way to the front of the crowd. Embarrassed by the looks people had been giving her, she hurriedly plastered on a fake smile and said to the woman beside her,
“Of course! Those three children are my grandchildren. No matter how hard things get, I’ll bring them with me. I’d never abandon them!”
Widow Liu nearly laughed out loud.
If she hadn’t lived next door to the Lin family and witnessed Old Madam Lin and Liu Cuihua tormenting those three children day after day, she might actually have believed her lies.
“Quiet, everyone!”
The village chief struck the bronze gong again.
“Go home today and pack your belongings. Bring whatever dried food and clothing you can carry. Three days from now, at dawn, everyone will gather beneath the big locust tree at the village entrance. Don’t be late! If anyone misses the departure, we won’t wait!”
The crowd gradually dispersed.
Groups of villagers headed home, their faces clouded with worry.
Meanwhile, Lin Wanxing had just finished splitting firewood with her younger brother and sister.
Old Madam Lin strode back into the courtyard. The moment she saw them, she remembered the strange looks Widow Liu and the others had given her earlier, making her even angrier.
She glared at Lin Wanxing.
“You useless girl! Can’t you see any work that needs doing? Worthless money-losing brat! Get up the mountain and dig for wild vegetables. Otherwise, you lazy thing can just starve!”
Lin Wanxing lowered her head obediently.
“Yes, Grandma. I’ll go right away.”
Seeing that she was still docile, Old Madam Lin jabbed a finger into her forehead before huffing and stomping back into the house.
Lin Wanxing picked up Xiaoshi and Lin Yaya, grabbed two cloth bags, and headed toward the mountains.
After half a year of drought, the rice jars of nearly every household in Qinghe Village were almost empty.
With nothing left to eat, the villagers had turned to digging wild vegetables.
As a result, nearly all the common edible greens on the mountain had already been picked clean.
Fortunately, Lin Wanxing recognized shepherd’s purse, purslane, and lamb’s quarters—all edible plants mentioned in the novel.
But after searching for a long time, they found only a few sparse clumps.
“Finding wild vegetables is harder than I thought…”
She sighed.
Just then, her eyes caught sight of a patch of vibrant green.
Wasn’t that wild lettuce?
There was such a large patch of it, yet no one had harvested it.
Without hesitation, she crouched down and began digging.
“Big Sister, you can’t eat that! It’s incredibly bitter!”
Xiaoshi frowned so hard his brows nearly met.
Only then did Lin Wanxing realize that it wasn’t because she’d been lucky.
The villagers simply disliked its bitterness and refused to eat it.
She smiled at Xiaoshi.
“Don’t worry. It’s edible. I’ll cook it for you someday, and you’ll see. Come on, help me dig.”
Though still puzzled, Xiaoshi obediently squatted beside her and began pulling up the wild lettuce.
Nearby, Lin Yaya carefully placed the harvested greens into their cloth bags.
Once they had gathered enough, Lin Wanxing didn’t take everything home.
She removed only a small portion for appearances’ sake and hid the rest in a secluded spot deep in the mountains.
Seeing that there was still plenty of daylight left, she told her younger siblings to continue searching for edible plants while she quietly took a detour to Granny Zhang’s house.
Granny Zhang was the village’s barefoot doctor.
She was kind-hearted and had often treated the original owner whenever she fell ill as a child.
“Granny,” Lin Wanxing said softly, her eyes reddening as she pretended to be weak, “I’ve been feeling cold all over lately. Could you spare me some medicinal herbs?”
Granny Zhang reached out and felt her forehead before sighing.
“You poor child. You’re always being bullied. No wonder your health is so fragile.”
She went inside and returned with a small bundle of herbs.
“These are for treating colds. Boil them in water and drink it. If it’s not enough, come back and I’ll give you more.”
Lin Wanxing thanked her repeatedly.
Although she recognized many medicinal herbs thanks to her university studies in traditional Chinese medicine, there was no guarantee she’d be able to find them during the escape. It was always better to prepare in advance.
In the mountains, cuts and bleeding were almost unavoidable.
Dandelion and mugwort both had hemostatic properties.
So whenever she came across either plant while searching for vegetables, she dug them up as well and stored them together with the hidden cache of wild greens.
That night, after everyone was distracted, Lin Wanxing slipped into the kitchen to look for tools.
A pile of broken farming implements lay stacked in one corner.
She picked out a rusty hatchet with a chipped blade and a loose wooden handle.
“Big Sister, can this still be used?”
Xiaoshi leaned over curiously.
“It will, after I sharpen it.”
She hid the hatchet deep inside the firewood pile in the courtyard.
Then she retrieved the cracked clay pot they had used for porridge earlier that day.
Although one side of the rim was chipped, it could still hold water.
She wiped it clean with a cloth before tucking it away inside the woodpile as well.
Late that night, after everyone in the household had fallen asleep, Lin Wanxing quietly got out of bed.
Carrying the hatchet and a whetstone, she crept into the courtyard.
Under the faint moonlight, she patiently sharpened the blade.
The coarse stone quickly rubbed her palms raw.
By the time the edge gleamed, her hands were aching terribly.
To make it easier to grip and prevent blisters, she wrapped several strips of old cloth tightly around the handle.
Once that was finished, she returned indoors and took out the original owner’s worn clothing.
She cut them apart and sewed two small cloth pouches.
Then she added hidden pockets inside her own clothes and Xiaoshi’s, concealing the stitches beneath the inner lining so no one would notice.
Only after finishing everything, well into the night, did Lin Wanxing finally fall into a deep sleep.
“You little bitch! Lazy bones! Are you still not up?”
Old Madam Lin’s shrill voice suddenly echoed from outside.
Lin Wanxing jolted awake.
The next moment, the door was flung open.
Old Madam Lin stood there gripping a wooden stick, glaring at her viciously.
Not wanting to waste words arguing, Lin Wanxing quickly got dressed and walked outside.
While Old Madam Lin wasn’t paying attention, she discreetly tucked the two cloth pouches she had sewn the previous night into her clothing.
“And you two! Still lying there? Waiting to drink the northwest wind instead of breakfast?”
Old Madam Lin barked at Xiaoshi and Lin Yaya.
The two little ones hurriedly scrambled out of bed and followed after Lin Wanxing.
Behind them, Old Madam Lin continued glaring hatefully at the three siblings.
Entering the kitchen, Lin Wanxing first glanced outside to make sure no one was nearby.
Then she whispered,
“Xiaoshi, keep watch at the door for me.”
Only after he nodded did she quickly walk over to the half-filled sack of rice.
From inside her clothes, she took out the two cloth pouches she had prepared.
Each could hold a little over two catties—just over a kilogram—of grain.
Carefully, she scooped rice into the bags.
After every scoop, she smoothed the surface inside the sack so it looked untouched.
Afraid that taking too much at once would be noticed, she filled them with only about three catties of coarse rice altogether.
She hid one pouch inside her own concealed pocket and the other inside Xiaoshi’s.
Only then did she begin cooking the morning porridge as though nothing had happened.
“You wretched girl! It’s been forever! Is the food still not ready? Are you trying to starve this old woman to death?”
Old Madam Lin’s furious roar came from outside again.
“Almost done! It’ll be ready in just a moment!”
Lin Wanxing answered quickly.
Just as she had done the day before, she quietly ladled out a portion of the thicker porridge before Old Madam Lin’s voice startled her.
She hurriedly hid the bowl she had set aside, then, as usual, poured another ladle of water into the pot and brought the diluted porridge back to a boil.