On the outskirts of Qingniu Village, there was a narrow little alley, crowded, cramped, and run-down.
The road was full of puddles, and human and animal waste could be seen everywhere.
This was where the poorest families in the village lived, along with ordinary peasants who survived by working their own land.
Jinyuan had only been away for one day.
And yet, when she returned to this familiar environment, she felt strangely uncomfortable.
When she arrived in front of her tiny home, she pushed open the battered door.
It was full of holes.
You could even see straight into the house from outside.
A sense of decay and desolation immediately washed over her.
“Big Sister! Big Sister’s back!”
Her five-year-old younger brother was gathering firewood in the courtyard.
The moment he saw her, he ran over excitedly and wrapped his arms around her waist.
Jinyuan felt happy, but at the same time, she felt a small headache coming on.
Her clean clothes were already dirty.
When she got back, Big Sister Jinyi would probably scold her.
But seeing her little brother still made her happy.
“Big Sister!”
Her three-year-old brother, who had been playing beside the doorway, also ran over.
He threw himself at her with his little black, dirty hands.
Jinyuan’s headache got even worse.
“Dayà? Why are you back?”
Hearing the commotion, her mother came out of the house.
The first thing she felt when she saw her daughter was joy.
But the very next moment, her eyes filled with fear.
“You’re too reckless! How dare you run away and come back?”
Her mother rushed over, grabbed her daughter, and roughly pulled away the two little boys who were still clinging to her.
One of them even fell to the ground and began crying, but the woman didn’t have time to worry about him.
She could think of only one thing.
She had to send her daughter back.
Her family’s situation was already bad enough.
If those people reported Dayà for running away…
The consequences would be unimaginable.
“Mother, I didn’t run away. I asked for permission to come back.”
“You asked for permission? You only arrived yesterday! And they already let you come back? Do you think your mother is an idiot?”
“Mother, believe me or not, I really did ask for permission. Besides, I came back because I had something to do. I’ll see Father, and then I have to go back.”
“Really?”
A weak voice came from inside the house.
“Is that Dayà? Has my Dayà come back?”
“Father!”
Jinyuan’s eyes reddened, and she hurried into the room.
The house was barely a dozen square meters.
The roof was made of thatch.
There was only one bed inside.
To say that the house was completely empty would have been an understatement.
There were several holes in the walls, all of them patched with straw.
The only bed in the house was used by whoever needed it most.
Everyone else slept on straw spread across the floor.
A middle-aged man, extremely thin and frail, was lying on the bed and struggling to sit up.
The moment he saw Jinyuan, tears began streaming down his face.
“Dayà… Father has failed you.”
“Father, don’t say that.”
Jinyuan’s own eyes filled with tears.
She helped him lie back down.
“Father, I’m living very well. The house I live in keeps out the wind and rain. I have a blanket to sleep under at night, and the food is much better than what we have here.”
Jinyuan took out the money.
“Yesterday, Sir was in a good mood because there was something to celebrate, and today he gave us a reward. I brought it back for you. You have to use it to treat your illness.”
“Something to celebrate…?”
Jinyuan’s father froze.
His eyes filled with indescribable sorrow.
“Damn bastard! Damn bastard!”
He raised his fist and slammed it hard against the edge of the bed.
Jinyuan was bewildered.
What’s wrong with Father?
Wasn’t this supposed to be a good thing?
Her mother, who had followed her into the room, was equally stunned.
The same sorrow appeared on her face.
She wanted to embrace her daughter and cry with her.
But when she saw Jinyuan walking normally, she began to suspect that perhaps things weren’t what she had imagined.
The woman led Jinyuan behind a half-collapsed wall.
“Take off your trousers. Let me see.”
Jinyuan’s face turned red.
“Mother, what are you talking about?”
“Take them off!”
A moment later, her mother asked in confusion,
“What celebration did Sir say he was having?”
“I don’t know. Sir only said there was something to celebrate. He didn’t explain what it was.”
Jinyuan’s mother let out a sigh of relief.
She went over to her husband and quietly explained what had happened.
The two of them seemed to have a weight of a thousand jin lifted from their shoulders.
Only then did they remember that Jinyuan had mentioned money.
“What about the money you mentioned?”
Jinyuan took out the two small money pouches and handed them to her mother.
“There are two hundred copper coins here. Use them to buy Father’s medicine.”
“One hundred is mine, and the other hundred belongs to one of my sisters. She doesn’t seem to have any family, so she lent me her money. I’ll pay her back when I receive another reward.”
Her mother stared at the pouches.
“What good people… They’re all such good people.”
Then she looked at her daughter with a smile.
“Looks like you’ve been lucky. You’ve ended up in a good family.”
“When your father and I are able to, we’ll have to set up a longevity tablet for Master Zhao.”
A longevity tablet was a traditional way of expressing gratitude and wishing someone a long life.
“Mother, I’ve been here for a while now. I should go back too.”
Jinyuan stood up.
“Next time I receive a reward, I’ll bring some more home.”
Her mother opened her mouth.
She wanted to refuse.
But she didn’t have the courage to do so.
In the end, all she could tell her daughter was to work hard when she returned, do her best to serve Master Zhao, and that one day she would have to repay such enormous kindness.
Jinyuan couldn’t help feeling a little embarrassed.
After all, she couldn’t exactly tell them that she barely had any work to do there and could spend most of the day doing nothing.
She walked out through the door.
Before leaving, she turned around and looked at her ruined home.
Although her family was still living in terrible conditions, the future suddenly seemed much more promising.
Sir had said that they would receive a reward every month.
One hundred copper coins a month.
In a year, that would amount to one liang and two qian of silver.
That was roughly half of her family’s annual expenses.
She was only eight years old.
And I can already help support my family!
The pride she felt at that moment was immense.
So as she walked, her steps gradually became lighter.
The only bad thing was that she had gotten her clothes dirty.
She was worried that Big Sister Jinyi would scold her when she returned.
Looks like next time I come home, I’ll have to teach my little brothers how to keep themselves clean.
Sir really liked things to be clean.
As expected, the three girls who had asked permission to return home all came back.
Just as Jinwen had said, unless they were complete idiots, none of them would try to escape.
They ate well.
They slept well.
They barely had any work to do.
Sir was a good person.
And, on top of that, they received a monthly allowance.
Thinking about it…
Even the lives of young ladies from a landlord’s family probably aren’t much better than this!