As dusk approached, Wang Jincai’s wife Lin Xinghua was the last one coming down from the mountain.

She carried an empty basket in her hand, which had been full when she went up the mountain. Now empty, it was clear she had given the entire basket of vegetables to the Shu family.

During her trip up the mountain, seeing the two skin-and-bones children had genuinely made her feel sorry for them.

But on her way down, she began to feel somewhat heartbroken about the vegetables and ten eggs she had given away.

Muttering to herself as she walked, she said, “What do men know about managing a household? I think four or five eggs would have been plenty, but he insisted on giving ten. That spendthrift fool! With four chickens at home and two of them not laying eggs lately, how many days will it take me to save up ten eggs? A single egg could fetch two coins at the market… Oh dear, my money!”

Amid her own grumbling and the gurgling stream, Lin Xinghua crossed the log bridge and suddenly came to an abrupt halt.

She withdrew her left foot, which had been heading toward home, mysteriously picked up a weed-beating stick, and crouched down to poke through clumps of wild grass.

“What’s given away can’t be taken back, but those two Plymouth Rock Chickens we feed so well at home are always flying out.”

“I bet they are laying eggs just not at home.”

“Those sneaky things hiding to lay eggs outside are as useless as that spendthrift husband of mine!”

After searching four patches of grass without success, she came upon a particularly dense clump. Rolling up her sleeves, she approached it. “Hmph, they must be laying here.”

…

“Why aren’t they here?”

Lin Xinghua grumbled as she searched several more spots without finding so much as a single chicken feather.

But she was already convinced there was something wrong with the two Plymouth Rock Chickens at home. Failing to find anything only fueled her determination instead of discouraging her, and she continued searching along the downstream side of the creek.

She had no idea how far she had gone when she looked up again to find the moon hanging in the sky.

“It’s this late already?”

Apart from the faint sound of flowing water, only the croaking of frogs and chirping of insects remained in the surroundings. Lin Xinghua hadn’t expected a casual search to unknowingly last so long. While inwardly complaining about her husband for not coming to look for her, she hurriedly turned back toward home.

Although there shouldn’t be many snakes around at this time of year, she had purposely searched through grassy areas on her way here. If something suddenly darted out and brushed against her feet in the dark, it would probably scare the soul right out of her.

So after retracing her steps for a short while, she changed direction. Using both her vegetable basket and weed-beating stick to push aside the wild grass, she cleared a path and rushed away from the creek as if her pants were on fire, eventually reaching a bare, grassless trail.

She had only half a moment to relax before tension seized her again.

Because ahead came a rumbling sound. She couldn’t tell if it was an illusion born from fear, but the ground seemed to tremble slightly? As if something heavy was rolling over it.

At this moment, Lin Xinghua deeply regretted her actions.

If only she hadn’t gone looking for those eggs.

With every two steps the sound drew closer, she unconsciously retreated two steps. Unfortunately, there were no houses nearby nowhere to seek help or take shelter.

Mercifully, the heavens didn’t leave her in terror for long.

“Xinghua? Wife? Where are you?”

Though the voice sounded somewhat distant, Lin Xinghua immediately recognized it as her husband’s. Forgetting all about the strange presence ahead, she yelped as if bitten by a dog’s tail and shouted back at the top of her lungs, “Over here!”

“Husband! Come get me!!”

Before Wang Jincai could respond, another slightly puzzled voice reached Lin Xinghua’s ears first.

“Aunt Lin?”

It was a young man’s voice, somewhat familiar though she couldn’t quite place it.

Most importantly, the rattling sound had stopped.

Lin Xinghua still couldn’t see anyone, but since her husband would arrive soon, she no longer felt afraid. She stopped backing away and sharply demanded, “Who are you?”

“Huff, huff.” Two soft blowing sounds came through the darkness, followed by the crackle of flame.

A young man emerged from the shadows holding a fire starter.

“I’m Xun Yi.”

Lin Xinghua raised her head in the firelight and saw the handsome features it was indeed that young lad Xun Yi.

“Why aren’t you home at this hour? What are you doing wandering around outside?”

Still shaken from the earlier scare, Lin Xinghua spoke rather aggressively, completely unaware that she herself was also out wandering at night.

Xun Yi took a step back, using the fire starter to illuminate a wheelbarrow behind him loaded with two baskets of iron materials. “I’m returning from buying iron materials in the county town.”

Despite being a tall, well-built man who usually spoke little and worked the physically demanding trade of blacksmithing, one shouldn’t assume he was rough around the edges.

Noticing Lin Xinghua’s agitated tone and expression, he realized the noises he’d made traveling in the dark had frightened her.

“My apologies for not speaking up sooner.”

Learning he was returning from purchasing iron materials, Lin Xinghua’s anger instantly dissipated.

“Never mind, never mind. I was delivering vegetables down the mountain and remembered our chickens might have laid eggs outside. I kept searching along the water’s edge and lost track of time. Can’t blame you.”

Figuring her husband would arrive shortly, Lin Xinghua decided against groping her way alone in the dark and remained standing there. “How many days were you gone to the county town this time?”

Xun Yi answered methodically, “Two days.”

“Stayed at an inn again?”

“Yes.”

Lin Xinghua clicked her tongue enviously. She’d never even been to the county town, let alone had the chance to stay at a paid inn. She couldn’t help probing further, “Staying at an inn must be more comfortable than home, right?”

Xun Yi thought for a moment and denied it.

“I stayed in a lower-class room a common sleeping platform shared by twelve people. Not as good as home.”

“What?” Lin Xinghua’s eyes widened. “How can the county town be like that? Even the poorest family in our village, Wang Mazi’s, doesn’t live like that!”

Well, Wang Mazi’s family was indeed poor twenty-one people across four generations crammed into just six rooms, living very tightly packed.

Compared to that, the county town inn didn’t seem so great either not even as good as the village.

But then again, Wang Mazi’s family wouldn’t be the poorest anymore.

Lin Xinghua’s eyes shifted slyly as she calculated Xun Yi’s departure date it should have been two days ago. He definitely wouldn’t know a refugee family had settled in the village.

“You probably don’t know yet…”

When Wang Jincai came panting up with a torch, he saw the Xun Family lad standing there holding a fire starter, listening intently to his wife’s endless chatter.

Hah! If they weren’t of different generations, he’d really be seeing red.

“I went up the mountain looking for you once, and the Shu family girl said you’d already come down. I thought you’d gone visiting, so I searched the village for you again. Tell me, what have you been doing all this time?”

Lin Xinghua was still full of grievances!

“The hens laid eggs outside, and I lost track of time while searching for them. What?! Don’t you know to call out louder when looking for someone? If you don’t shout, how would I know you’re looking for me?!”

Truth be told, it was all because of this wasteful husband’s excessive generosity – waving his hand and giving away ten eggs. But this wasn’t something to say in front of outsiders. She’d have to pour out her bitterness again when they got home.

“Alright, it’s getting too late. We’re heading back. Young Xun, you’ve been away for several days, you should return home early too.”

After exchanging a few arguments and leaving these words, the couple walked home shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand.

Xun Yi watched their retreating figures disappear into the distance, blew out the flame of his fire starter, and resumed pushing his wheelbarrow toward his home at the foot of the mountain.