Chapter 3

While Uncle Shen and his wife could return to bed, next door in the Chen household, the elderly Mr. and Mrs. Chen, being light sleepers due to their age, were awoken by the noise.

Mr. Chen, listening intently for a while to the unceasing knocking, got out of bed and peered out of the window.

Mrs. Chen, propping herself up, asked her husband, “What’s happening?”

Mr. Chen, squinting in the moonlight, looked closely, “It’s little An from the Shen family knocking on the door in the middle of the night. Could something have happened in the mountains?”

Hearing this, Mrs. Chen also got up and joined her husband at the window, “Indeed, it’s true.”

Seeing that no one from the Shen family was answering the door, the old lady frowned, “The Shens are truly heartless. Pushing their eldest nephew into military service before he was of age, losing his life, and now the last bloodline of the Shen family is just left to fend for themselves, those poor little kids out on the mountain.”

“That Sang woman, although called their sister-in-law, is barely a few years older than little An and Ning. She can hardly manage a household.”

Indeed, she couldn’t. Mr. Chen thought of the small plot of vegetables allocated to the main family of the Shen house, which his wife had given to Sang Luo. Now, those sprouts were either dead, lacking fertilizer, or infested with pests, none growing properly.

“Don’t know what Mrs. Li was thinking in choosing her. Sang Luo can't do any farming, and the three of them together, how can they possibly survive?”

Mrs. Chen turned to put on her clothes, “I’m going out to check, in case it’s something serious.”

Mr. Chen didn’t stop her.

The Chen and Shen families had fled famine together and settled here nine years ago. They didn’t know each other before, but had joined forces halfway through their escape. Additionally, the Chens had lost their eldest grandson to conscription over two years ago, and he hadn’t returned, rumored to be in the same unit as Shen Lie.

On one hand, they grieved for their brother, and on the other, their grandson. Now, seeing the plight of the children in the main Shen household, whether it was empathy or shared sorrow, their hearts softened.

While there was still no movement from the Shen household, next door the Chens unlatched their door.

Hearing the noise, Shen An turned to see Mrs. Chen opening the gate, waving him over, “Little An, come here.”

Shen An, who was about to raise an alarm to embarrass his uncle into giving him some lifesaving grain, deflated upon hearing Mrs. Chen's call.

His sister-in-law couldn’t wait any longer.

He almost ran over, dropping to his knees before Mrs. Chen could speak, “Granny Chen, my sister-in-law is in a bad way. If you have any food, could you spare me some? I need to get it to her immediately.”

Thinking of his sister-in-law's barely perceptible breath when he left, tears streamed down Shen An’s face.

With his elder brother gone and the household divided, Shen An was acutely aware that he and his sister only had their sister-in-law to rely on. He couldn’t bear to think what life would be like living in the mountains with just his sister if their sister-in-law were gone too.

He had little hope that his uncle and aunt would take them back into the family home. At best, like these past days, they would give them a bite of food every couple of days, just enough to keep them alive. But what about the winter? Were there wild animals in the mountains? And what if they got sick?

With their sister-in-law around, he and his sister at least had a sliver of courage. Without her, he dared not even contemplate their future.

Upon hearing Shen An’s words, Mrs. Chen’s heart skipped a beat. She asked anxiously, “Is it hunger?”

Shen An nodded, then shook his head, “Yes, hunger, and she seems to be sick too. She said she’d be fine after lying down, but since this afternoon, she’s been asleep and won’t wake up, no matter how much Ning and I call her.”

Mrs. Chen had experienced famine and had seen people starve or thirst to death.

Hearing this, she guessed it was severe hunger.

Indeed, Sang Luo had escaped the famine and probably ruined her health on the journey.

“Wait for me, I'll go up the mountain with you,” Mrs. Chen said, turning back into the house to get food without further ado.

Mr. Chen had heard their conversation from inside and now came out, “I'll accompany you there.”

Seeing his wife heading back inside, he added thoughtfully, “Get some malt sugar.”

Mrs. Chen nodded. If it was indeed hunger, salt and sugar dissolved in water could help. She turned to ask Shen An, “You have salt at home, right?”

Shen An nodded quickly, “Yes, we do.”

“Alright then.”

Mrs. Chen entered the house, measured out a litre of rice, and, thinking of her eldest grandson who used to follow Shen Lie around, and now both of them gone, her eyes welled up. She bit her lip and measured out another litre of rice, then sealed the rice container and took out two pieces of malt sugar, a luxury her family rarely indulged in, and hurried out of the house.

Mr. Chen handed his wife a bamboo stick for walking through the grass and took a stick for himself. Closing the courtyard gate behind them, the three of them hastened towards the mountains.

As they walked, Mrs. Chen asked Shen An about the situation at home. The more she heard, the more worried she became for the siblings. With Shen Lie gone and Sang Luo being ineffective, she wondered how these three would manage to survive in the future.

……

In the grass hut on the mountain, Shen Ning was spoon-feeding her sister-in-law hot water.

While drinking, Sang Luo was also worried, not about the future, but about how to find food in the immediate term.

She couldn't count on finding anything near their mountain home, unless she resorted to eating leaves... Indeed, there were edible leaves in the nearby mountains, but she couldn’t recall their exact location from the original owner's memories.

There was no point in hoping for help from the twins’ uncle and aunt. Even if she could borrow grain in the middle of the night, given Mrs. Li’s past behavior, it would be just enough to keep them alive.

She needed to gather enough strength to go out and find food. Otherwise, not only her, but the two children continuing to survive on sporadic meals would eventually ruin their health.

If they were to experience extreme hunger again, especially if all three of them were in that state... Sang Luo doubted she would be lucky enough to have another miraculous escape, to be saved by a kind-hearted little girl finding wild fruits by moonlight, or a young boy borrowing grain to save her life.

Thinking this, Sang Luo lowered her eyes, not daring to meet Shen Ning's gaze.

Because the person the siblings wanted to save was already gone. She was merely someone who had received incredible fortune, inhabiting the original owner's body and continuing to live.

Just as she lowered her eyes, hurried footsteps approached the hut, the voice preceding the arrival, “Ah Ning, I got some grain!”

The door burst open, and a skinny boy, thin as a stick, rushed in like a bullet.

As it was a young woman’s dwelling and in the middle of the night, Mr. Chen stayed outside, while Mrs. Chen followed Shen An into the hut.

With just one glance, Mrs. Chen inwardly cursed the cruelty of Shen’s parents again.

Could this even be called a house? It was barely better than a ruined temple where beggars might stay.

Aside from a bench and a makeshift bed of planks, with a few farming tools standing against the wall, there was hardly anything in the hut.

The stove was made of piled stones, and a chipped clay pot along with three sets of bowls and chopsticks were placed on a rock slightly larger than a small basin, sparing them from being on the ground.

And Shen An’s critically ill sister-in-law, Sang Luo, was indeed in bad shape, sitting on the floor against the wall, relying on Ah Ning to feed her water.

Mrs. Chen, who had survived a severe drought and famine, could guess the situation without asking. She didn’t think Sang Luo would choose the floor over a bed for no reason.

Without delay, she placed the bag of rice down, saw the scant amount of hot water in the pot, swiftly dropped a piece of malt sugar into it, and put the other piece in an empty bowl. Next to the bowl, she noticed a small jar with a lid, opened it to find only a bit of salt left at the bottom.

She pinched a bit of salt into the clay pot to dissolve in the water and beckoned Shen Ning over, pouring the salt and sugar solution into the bowl Ning was holding, “Go feed this to your sister-in-law.”