Chapter 26 Hu Datian hesitated, wanting to say something but stopping himself…

Hu Datian hesitated for a moment before saying, "Azhu, today your second uncle and aunt told me that a wealthy family is willing to pay fifty taels of silver to find an unmarried girl to marry the River God to pray for rain. Our family is almost out of food..."

When Wei Yin saw A Zhu, he was completely stunned.

For the next two days, when Hu Datian returned from work, he didn't dare to face Azhu, so he would always take a cigarette and sit under the eaves to eat it by himself.

As Ah Zhu watched the food in the house dwindle, and Hu Datian, exhausted from working every day, could only bring home so little food and water, she tried to secretly save her own food and water. But as a result, Wei Yin experienced what it meant to go hungry.

That day, Hu Datian went out to work early in the morning. Wei Yin asked A Lang to take A Yu and A Hu with him, while she carried the embroidery and went to the city alone.

Ah-Zhu tried to sell some of these things to earn some food for her family, but with the drought this year, even eating and drinking are difficult. Who would buy these things?

Wei Yin could only carry a pile of embroidery around, her throat burning with thirst and her hands and feet weak with hunger.

She arrived near a small teahouse.

Wei Yin saw that right there in the small teahouse, her mother-in-law, Madam He, was sitting outside drinking tea with an old woman.

Ah Zhu didn't recognize Madam He; she just swallowed hard and looked at the tea and pastries in Madam He's hand.

In the teahouse, the old woman took another plate of hibiscus pastries from the waiter and carefully presented them to Madam He, saying with a smile, "Madam, please try these pastries. You love the hibiscus pastries from this place the most."

Madam He then picked up a piece from the small dish, but after only taking one bite, she frowned and spat it out. She immediately picked up a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from her forehead: "It used to taste alright, but why is it so greasy today?"

The old woman laughed: "It's so dry these days, there's never a shady spot all day long. It's so hot it's unbearable, of course people will find it sweltering."

Madam He: "That's true. I would feel much more at ease if I had a bowl of chilled osmanthus honey cheese to eat."

“Oh, my lady, what a year this is! Many families are going hungry, let alone ice. We do have some ice in our ice cellar, but it’s all reserved for the old master. Please bear with it for now and have some tea.”

"What's so good about this tea?" Madam He suddenly added, "The old master is most afraid of the heat, so let's make a bowl of iced osmanthus honey cheese and send it to his room tonight."

“I just heard from the person who takes care of the old master the other day that he has been complaining about the heat lately, saying that it would be nice if it rained.”

Madam He chuckled softly.

He gave the old woman the hibiscus pastry he had only tasted a bite of and the tea, then got up and left.

Wei Yin was listening intently to Madam He and the old woman talking when she saw her body suddenly move towards the teahouse against her will.

Her eyes fell on the spot where Madam He had just been sitting.

It turned out that under the stool was the piece of hibiscus pastry that Madam He had just spat out.

Wei Yin then saw Ah Zhu hesitate for a moment, but finally couldn't resist her hunger and grabbed the piece of pastry that Madam He had eaten and that was now covered in dust, and stuffed it into her mouth.

But as she was eating, Wei Yin saw Ah Zhu and started to cry in distress.

At night, the Hu family members sat outside in the courtyard, hungry, while Ah Lang kept himself awake reading.

Wei Yin came to them carrying a bundle of things.

Ayu and Ahu were immediately drawn to the question: "Sister, what are you holding?"

Wei Yin just smiled and said, "A Lang, come here to your older sister too."

Upon hearing this, Ah Lang put down his book and came over: "What's wrong, sister?"

Wei Yin then opened the bundle, revealing several pieces of clothing that were neither new nor old. They were of various sizes, but all were made to fit perfectly, and some simple patterns were specially embroidered on them.

"I noticed that you've been wearing the same clothes for years without changing them, so I made one for each of you three and your father. Try them on and see if they fit."

"Clothes?" Ah Hu exclaimed in surprise, "Ah Hu has new clothes to wear!"

Ayu, being a girl who always loved beauty, was overjoyed to hear this.

Only Ah Lang had sharp eyes: "Sister, these clothes look like the dowry mattresses that Mother left you! These were Mother's dowry for you! Why did you cut them up?"

Wei Yin was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "If we keep this quilt, it will only go bad in a few years. It's better to let you use it now. When Ah Lang gets his degree and becomes an official, we can buy a new one for your sister."

Ah Lang felt that his sister's expression was strange, and something didn't seem right no matter how he listened.

Wei Yin didn't give him a chance to think, picked up his shirt and handed it to him: "Quickly put it on and let your sister see it."

Ah Hu, thinking about the new clothes, forgot everything else and quickly pulled Ah Lang up: "Second Brother, let's try them on quickly."

After Ah Lang was pulled away, Wei Yin took her younger sister Ah Yu's hand. Ah Yu was more spirited and assertive than Ah Zhu, and her temperament was similar to Ah Lang's, but she wasn't as cold as Ah Lang.

"Ayu, come here," she said. "Your older sister will let you put it on and see."

Wei Yin took off A Yu's outer garment and put her in this new one. The new garment was light red, and it made the little girl look extremely bright and beautiful.

“My Ayu is a blessed woman, and everything will surely go smoothly for her in the future.”

Ayu was still a child and didn't quite understand her older sister's heavy tone. She just snuggled into Wei Yin's arms and said, "Older sister, older sister loves Ayu the most."

Ah Lang and Ah Hu had also changed their clothes. Ah Lang was tall and thin, and looked a little awkward in his new clothes. Ah Hu, being younger, didn't seem to notice anything amiss. He was much more lively and happily twirled around in front of Wei Yin.

"The clothes my sister made are beautiful!"

Wei Yin smiled and patted her head, then held A Lang's hand, "A Lang, besides me, you are the eldest child in our Hu family. You must take good care of A Yu and A Hu."

Ah Lang frowned and said, "Sister, what do you mean by that? Why would you say something like that?"

Wei Yin smiled and said, "My sister will be getting married in the future, so of course you'll have to take care of the family."

Upon hearing this, Ah Lang breathed a slight sigh of relief and continued reading his book.

Ayu nestled in Weiyin's arms, gazing at her second brother who was reading, and tugged at Weiyin: "Sister, sister, sing that song you used to sing for us, 'The Little Insect,' for a long time."

Wei Yin was puzzled for a moment, but A Zhu's memories quickly surfaced, and she began to sing.

"The firefly, red every night."

"Fly to the west, fly to the east."

"I have a student in my family."

"Make me a little lantern."

He read until the third watch of the night.

Ah Lang smiled as he looked up from the book at them.

-

The scene shifts, and Wei Yin is now dressed in an ill-fitting wedding gown, sitting alone in the corner of the stone house, hugging her knees.

The stone house was tightly closed and pitch black.

All that could be heard was the howling of jackals from the back mountain.

Ah Zhu was terrified and wanted to escape, but she thought of her hungry younger siblings and her father's aching back, so she forced herself to endure it.

After staying there for an unknown period of time, one day, Wei Yin suddenly heard a noise coming from the corner of the stone house.

"Look, there seems to be a hole over there!"

This is a child's voice.

Then, Wei Yin heard a familiar voice that surprised her greatly: "Really? How come there's a hole?"

The child speaking was none other than Afu.

"Ah Fu," another child said, "wasn't your eldest uncle's older sister locked up here praying to the River God for rain?"

Afu nodded: "That's right, she's so silly, she doesn't even know that my uncle made her marry the River God to cure my illness!"

Wei Yin sensed that Azhu was completely stunned.

Another child asked, "So, do you think she's starved to death yet?"

Afu thought for a moment, then pushed aside the weeds, crouched down, and peered into the stone house. But the entrance was too small, and the inside of the stone house was dark, so he couldn't see anything. He then kicked the entrance with his foot: "Hey, Azhu, are you dead?"

Wei Yin was too weak to speak.

Another child whispered, "She doesn't seem to be dead yet. I can hear her breathing. Ah Fu, I heard your older sister is terrified of snakes. My father just caught a few snakes last time, including two non-venomous ones. Do you dare to put them in there to scare her?"

“I…” Afu hesitated.

"You're not scared, are you?"

Upon hearing this, Afu immediately stiffened his neck and said, "You wouldn't dare!"

"Okay, then I'll bring the snake over, and you can put it in!"

A moment later, there was movement outside again. It seemed that the other child had brought the snake over and asked Afu to put it into the hole. Wei Yin vaguely heard the hissing of the snakes, and there was more than one. She wanted to run, but her legs were too weak.

Then, long, slippery things climbed up her knees.

Several snakes seemed to stand up halfway in the darkness, and Wei Yin could vaguely see their long, forward-leaning necks.

She stared in horror, but before she could dodge, the snake had already stretched out its neck and bit her hand.

She screamed in pain.

The child who had been talking to Afu exclaimed in surprise, "Afu, why is she screaming in so much pain? You didn't put the poisonous ones in there too, did you?"

"ah?"

"What should we do? Is she going to be poisoned?"

"Oh, she's so stupid! Doesn't she know to hide? Doesn't she know snakes bite?... Let's hurry and get out of here before anyone sees us!"

The stone house was dark, and Wei Yin didn't know what kind of snakes they were. After being bitten, she felt her body gradually go limp, and the wound was especially hot, swollen and painful.

Azhu tried to get away, but the snakes kept crawling over her body, some biting her, others just crawling around aimlessly. She couldn't escape, and could no longer bear it. She frantically dug at the stone wall with her fingers, calling out for Hu Datian, trying to get out.

No matter how she called out, no one responded.

After seven days, even Wei Yin was so tormented that she couldn't tell whether she was Wei Yin or A Zhu anymore.

When Wei Yin regained consciousness, she found herself drifting aimlessly along the mountain path. She couldn't remember who she was at all, and just kept walking along the path. Occasionally, she would hear a gentle young man's voice calling something behind her. But when Wei Yin turned around, she could only see two drunken farmers walking towards her from behind. They were arm in arm, drunkenly helping each other walk towards her. When the other man looked up and saw her, he suddenly called out "A-Zhu" "A-Zhu". Then, not long after, they started scratching wildly with their fingers until their fingers were raw and rotting, before jumping down the mountain path.

Wei Yin glanced at him with a puzzled look before turning around and continuing to walk forward.

After that, she would occasionally run into a few people.

They would glance at her and start frantically scratching their fingers until they were raw, then jump down the mountain path.

One night, Wei Yin heard the boy's voice again. She didn't want to pay attention to him, but he kept calling "Sister Wei," which was so noisy that it gave her a headache. So she had no choice but to turn around and look.

Wei Yin saw that it was a tall, thin boy of sixteen or seventeen years old, holding a green umbrella.