After both parties explained their intentions, Shu Wanxiu and her nephew, as the new owners of the thatched hut, had no choice but to change course and lead the way.

The original residents of Wupai Village followed behind in an orderly fashion, though their voices gradually quieted.

As the saying goes, “Going up the mountain is easy, but coming down is hard.” For the aunt and nephew pair, however, it was “Coming down is hard, and going up is hard too.”

Shu Wanxiu had been fleeing the famine for a long time, and her body was severely depleted. Not only had her regular monthly menstruation stopped, but back in the refugee shelter outside Fangyuan County, she had felt listless every day. She would often grow drowsy after drinking her relief porridge and spend most of the day huddled in a corner with Shu Shouyi, sleeping.

Having not eaten for the better part of the day and having traveled a long way, her legs had felt weak on the way down the mountain, but at least moving her feet had been less strenuous. Now, half-pulling and half-leading Shu Shouyi up the slope, she was truly panting for breath.

As a result, by the time she led the group to the thatched hut, only a faint glimmer of light remained in the sky.

The villagers lit the torches they had prepared for their return journey ahead of schedule. After inspecting the two rooms, the aunties who had come along ordered the men to fetch water. The house originally had no basins or buckets, but Pang Lizhang’s wife, Chen Sanhe, had been thoughtful and meticulous, bringing a full set of cleaning supplies.

There were no wells on the mountain, so two of the men went together to the stream at the foot of the mountain to fetch water.

The others found tasks for themselves. Some took brooms to give the rooms a rough sweep and clear out the cobwebs, while others used the torchlight to pull up the weeds under the eaves and around the house.

Chen Sanhe inspected the inside and outside of the house, then bundled some weeds into a makeshift whisk. She swept the dust off the surface of the partially collapsed stove and called Shu Wanxiu and Shu Shouyi over to eat.

She was a rather buxom woman, but she worked with brisk efficiency.

She placed the bamboo basket she had been carrying steadily on the stovetop and lifted the bamboo lid. Inside were two shallow bowls of dry rice and a small dish of savory pickles.

Farming families cooked just enough for their household’s usual consumption each day no more, no less.

It was impossible that the Pang family’s dinner tonight would have had two extra bowls of dry rice. Chen Sanhe had later asked her daughter-in-law to cook a new batch. There hadn’t been time to prepare another dish, so she had simply taken some pickles from a jar and stir-fried them.

Shu Wanxiu stared at the small dish.

Pickles. She used to eat them often back home, but she hadn’t had them in a long time since fleeing the famine.

In the refugee shelter outside Fangyuan County, they had only two meals of thin porridge a day. It could keep them alive, but it had no extra flavor. Now, just looking at the color of that dish of pickles made both their mouths water in anticipation.

Although Shu Wanxiu was not yet married, she was keenly aware that she was no longer the young girl who could rely on her parents, brother, and sister-in-law. After settling in Wupai Village, she would have to manage all her social interactions and exchanges of favors herself.

The imperial court had now settled them, not only providing them with a house but also allowing them to collect a monthly portion of relief grain from the county until next year’s autumn harvest.

Shu Wanxiu didn’t know if Pang Lizhang had told his family that they could receive relief grain from the court, but she had no intention of feigning ignorance.

So she held onto Shu Shouyi and, with great effort, suppressed her appetite with reason. “We have already troubled Pang Lizhang and Auntie so much today. How can we have the nerve to accept such a fine meal from you for free?”

“It’s true we haven’t had our evening meal, but thanks to the court’s compassion, we have received relief grain. I was originally planning to start a fire and cook, but alas, I have no cookware. Just now, I was leading Shouyi down the mountain with the intention of brazenly going to Auntie’s house to borrow a small pot or an iron pot.”

After saying this, she thought it over and felt it sounded a bit off, so she quickly added, “I wonder if Auntie has any spare cookware at home? If so, I would only need to borrow it for three days.”

Chen Sanhe smiled as she looked at Shu Wanxiu.

“I have a small pot at home. You can go and get it.”

“But it’s so late today. Are you going to refuse the food I brought and insist on running up and down the mountain on an empty stomach, just to make things hard for yourselves?”

Shu Wanxiu felt abashed under her gaze and lowered her head, somewhat at a loss.

Chen Sanhe stepped forward, smoothed her straw-like hair, tucked it behind her ear, and then took her hand, pulling her to the stove.

“Hurry and eat with your nephew.”

“Good girl, you can come to my house to get the pot tomorrow.”

With the food right in front of her, the hesitant and struggling Shu Wanxiu could no longer maintain her reserve.

On the road as a refugee, she couldn’t count how many times she had been ravenously hungry. One incident, in particular, had left a shadow on her heart.

That time, they hadn’t managed to beg for a single bite of food for two consecutive days. The whole family’s eyes were green with hunger.

As night fell, they finally managed to beg for half a flatbread from an old man. The family divided it into small pieces.

She couldn’t bear to eat it all at once. Despite being desperately hungry, she only took a small bite and cherished the rest, tucking it into her robes.

Who would have known that another family of refugees traveling with them saw her put it away? When she wasn’t paying attention, a half-grown boy suddenly rushed out, pinned her to the ground, and snatched that small piece of flatbread, stuffing it into his mouth on the spot.

What could be done in such a situation? Even if her father and brother beat the boy, he would die before spitting out what he had already eaten.

So, ever since then, she always felt a sense of crisis when she ate.

Eat! Eat quickly. Only what was in her stomach was safe.

Now, Shu Wanxiu and Shu Shouyi buried their heads and wolfed down their food, oblivious to everything else.

Delicious! The pickles were perfectly seasoned; they were definitely the most delicious pickles she had ever eaten in her life.

The taste of the dry rice was also wonderful, so satisfying to eat. Two or three bowls of porridge were not as filling as this one shallow bowl of rice.

The meal tasted of happiness. By the time she had eaten the last grain of rice in the bowl, Shu Wanxiu, while satisfied, belatedly realized… her table manners had been atrocious.

She felt extremely embarrassed by her lack of decorum, but when she hesitantly raised her head, she saw that Chen Sanhe was no longer nearby and had already gone elsewhere to help clean.

The mountain breeze gradually cooled her flushed face. She packed the bowl and chopsticks back into the basket, told Shu Shouyi to stay by the door and not run off, and went to find some work to do herself.

With many people, most of whom were adept at managing household affairs, the two small rooms were tidied up in the blink of an eye.

The aunties came up with a clever solution for the broken bed leg, propping it up with a few thick pieces of firewood.

They said there was an old carpenter in the village and that they could ask him to help fix it later.

Shu Wanxiu nodded obediently on the surface, but in reality, the sense of happiness from her full meal was rapidly fading.

Without any payment to offer, how could she ask someone to come and help fix the legs of the bed and stools?

She thought the method of using firewood to prop up the bed leg was quite good. At least it was usable for sleeping, and not having stools to sit on wasn’t a huge problem either.

Compared to the bed and stools, it seemed the roof was in more urgent need of repair!

During the day, she had seen at least four or five places where it leaked. They couldn’t live in a leaky house forever.

But… then again, repairing the roof would have to wait. They didn’t even have a pot for cooking or a basin for fetching water.

Since she had agreed to borrow Auntie Chen’s pot for only three days, what would they cook with after that?

The more she thought about it, the more her head swam with worries.

After the house was tidied up, the neighbors did not linger. Shu Wanxiu suppressed her anxieties and saw them out.

“Thank you, Lizhang, and all the aunties and uncles. You’ve worked so hard helping me today. I’m ashamed that I couldn’t even offer you a bowl of water to quench your thirst. I’m truly sorry.”

“What are you talking about? You’ve just arrived in the village, and nothing is settled yet. It’s nothing for neighbors to lend a hand. There will be plenty of time in the future! As for a bowl of water, you can just owe us!”

Chen Sanhe’s voice was not quiet, and she let out a hearty laugh at the end.

The others behind her heard and laughed along.

Shu Wanxiu’s expression relaxed, and she replied cheerfully, “Alright. Next time you aunties and uncles come up the mountain to cut firewood or are just passing by, please feel free to stop by and rest. I will be sure to treat you well.”

After watching everyone descend the mountain, Shu Wanxiu’s mood remained quite good.

Having seen so much evil while fleeing the famine, she had been quite alarmed when she first saw so many people coming up the mountain, though she had forced herself not to show it.

After this brief interaction, she felt that most of the villagers of Wupai Village were warm and simple-hearted, and most should not be difficult to get along with.

She stood in place for a long time, and the cold wind only made her feel refreshed.

“Come on, Shouyi. Let’s go start a fire with Auntie.”

She had originally planned to go down the mountain to borrow a flint, but unexpectedly, the villagers had left a torch for them.

Since she had a source of fire, she wouldn’t have to ask for another favor.

Shu Wanxiu carried the torch into the half-collapsed wooden shed. She chose a softer spot on the ground and dug a pit with a stick. Then, she used the torch to light some leaves for kindling before adding larger pieces of firewood to keep it burning.

As the fire gradually grew, she carefully placed the earthenware pot on it.

Earlier, when two of the uncles had brought water up the mountain in wooden buckets, she had taken the opportunity to wash the pot and fill it with water.

Just before starting the fire, she had taken out the medicinal herbs hidden at the bottom of the grain sack and added them to the pot.

About half an hour later, the medicine in the pot was ready, and there were plenty of preserved embers in the pit. Shu Wanxiu removed the pot and buried the embers with dirt. Then, she inserted a thin stick into the pit and gently pried open a small hole to let air in.

With such a large pile of preserved embers, the fire wouldn’t go out overnight. When she needed a fire the next day, she could just dig away the dirt on top, place some dry leaves or pine needles on the embers, and blow on them to reignite the flame.

As for why she didn’t do this in the stove? Because there was no ash left in the stove.

Ash could be used as fertilizer, so it, like many other things in the house, had probably been taken by the villagers after Pang Lizhang’s eighth grand-uncle passed away.

Rather than starting a fire in the stove and then having to dig up dirt to cover it, it was simpler to just dig a small pit directly in the dry ground.

Having preserved the fire starter, Shu Wanxiu set one worry aside. After watching Shu Shouyi finish his medicine, she led him back to the bedroom.

On their first night in their new home, she had Shu Shouyi sleep on the inside of the bed, placed the sack of rice between them, and extinguished the torch. Covered by the thin quilt Auntie Chen had given them, she felt content and happy.

All night, she guarded the sack of rice and her nephew, and slept soundly.