Chapter 1

"Sister, it's time for dinner." A young man's voice came from outside the door, followed by slightly hurried footsteps. The door curtain woven with grass beads was lifted, and a young man came in holding a chipped ceramic bowl.

Gu Xinxin knew without even looking that the ceramic bowl contained millet porridge, which was so thin that you could see a person's reflection in it. Besides that, there were a few pickles floating on the water.

The young man put the ceramic bowl aside, helped Gu Xinxin up first, then sat on the edge of the bed and held the bowl to feed Gu Xinxin.

Gu Xinxin quickly raised her hand: "I can do it myself. I have gained some strength in the past two days."

No need for a spoon or chopsticks, just tilt your head back and the bowl of porridge goes into your stomach - you can't savor the pickles in it carefully, otherwise it will be so sour and bitter that you will even vomit bile.

Another meal.

Gu Xinxin put down the bowl with a melancholy look on her face. Half the day had already passed. Well, as long as she could make it through the afternoon, she could have dinner.

She pursed her lips, suppressing the hunger in her still empty stomach, and asked the young man, "Arong, have you eaten yet?"

Gu Xiangrong nodded quickly: "I have eaten."

As soon as he finished speaking, his stomach growled loudly, so loud that the young man was stunned. After a moment, he lowered his head in embarrassment, wishing he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

Gu Xinxin stretched out her hand: "Help me up."

The stepmother she remembered wasn't a good person. She was always busy with work, work, work. Now that the original owner was sick, why would she be so kind as to leave food for her?

So what she ate was most likely the boy's rations. Although it was a little small, he probably wanted to keep himself from starving.

Gu Xiangrong quickly supported her arm and pulled her up: "But do you want to go to the toilet?"

Gu Xinxin shook her head, walked out of the room and headed towards the opposite side. The Gu family's house was a very classic small courtyard house with three main rooms. One room was where Gu's grandmother lived, and another was where Gu's parents lived. In the middle was the main hall with a dining table.

There are two east and west wing rooms. Gu Xinxin and her stepmother's daughter Gu Qiuhe live in the east wing, while Gu Xiangrong and her stepmother's son Gu Wenshu live in the west wing. The west wing is used as a kitchen and a granary. There are two rooms on the back: a toilet and a utility room.

There is a jujube tree in the middle of the yard, which is said to have been planted by Gu Xinxin's mother. Now it is summer, and there is a shade under the jujube tree. There is a wooden table against the trunk.

Gu Xinxin just took a quick look and went straight into the kitchen.

Gu Xiangrong finally realized what was happening and quickly said, "There's no food left. This is all my parents left for me this morning..."

Gu Xinxin asked, "Grandma, have you eaten yet?"

Gu Xiangrong pursed his lips before saying, "I left some for grandma too. She's already eaten it."

Gu Xinxin chuckled and ordered Gu Xiangrong: "Go get a hammer."

Gu Xiangrong uttered an "ah" and hesitated: "Sister, what do you want to do?"

"Open the cabinet." Gu Xinxin said. Gu Xiangrong was immediately frightened: "Grandma will definitely come to stop us if she hears it. Dad and Mom will also be angry when they come home tonight and see it. Then Dad will beat people again..."

Gu Xinxin waved her hand: "I have a way, just listen to me. Besides, if you don't listen to me, my sister and I will starve to death sooner or later."

Gu Xiangrong still didn't dare: "You won't starve to death. I'll give all my food to you, big sister. You'll be fine in two more days. When you're able to work, mother will give you food."

Gu Xinxin was helpless. The young boy had been brainwashed so thoroughly that he could only eat if he worked.

She said with a stern face: "Are you going to listen to me or not? You know I'm sick now. I can't get angry. If I get too angry, I might faint."

Gu Xiangrong looked puzzled: "Really?"

Didn't he hear the doctor say not to get angry? No, his eldest sister didn't see a doctor when she was sick.

I think someone told me I shouldn't get angry. The angrier I get, the worse my illness gets.

Forget it, since I have an impression of it, it is probably true.

He paused, then decided to go all out. When his parents came back, he'd say he'd broken the door open himself. He turned and went to the utility room, quickly returning with a hammer. Following Gu Xinxin's instructions, he smashed the lock hard.

Old Mrs. Gu stuck her head out of the window: "Arong, Arong, what are you doing?"

Gu Xinxin hissed, but Gu Xiangrong remained silent. The young man was very strong, and even if he hadn't eaten, he could easily deal with this small padlock and knocked it off in just a few hits.

Gu Xinxin took out the egg box from the cabinet, asked Gu Xiangrong to light a fire, and then threw the eggs in one by one.

Gu Xiangrong tried to speak again and again, but was glared back at by Gu Xinxin again and again. He didn't dare to make Gu Xinxin angry, for fear that she would really faint, so he could only work in silence.

The old woman staggered out of the house: "Arong, I've been calling you for a long time, what are you doing?"

Seeing the eggs in the pot, the old lady's expression changed: "You two are so brave."

Gu Xinxin smiled and said, "Grandma, do you want to eat?"

The old lady glared at him. Gu Xiangrong quickly stood up and stopped Gu Xinxin from behind. "Grandma, I wanted to eat. I was so hungry that I smashed the cabinet open. If you want to scold me, scold me. It has nothing to do with my sister."

Gu Xinxin stuck her head out and asked again, "Grandma, do you want to eat?"

She described the taste of the egg: "The egg white is soft, and the yolk is very soft. In one bite, it's half egg white and half yolk. The egg flavor is rich, just like eating a piece of divine meat..."

Gulp gulp.

Two sounds.

One sound came from the young man in front of him, and the other sound came from the old lady at the door.

Gu Xinxin smiled and said, "I cooked a lot, so it's okay if grandma eats two. Just push it to me when the time comes."

Old Lady Gu said, "You cheap bastard, how greedy are you? Don't you know these eggs are for money? Besides, it's the old and the young at home who should eat eggs to nourish their bodies. You're just a teenager, why are you eating eggs?"

Gu Xinxin raised her eyebrows but said nothing.

Gu Xiangrong protected her: "Grandma, my eldest sister is sick, she needs to take care of herself."

"She has a cheap and tough life, there's no need to mend it!" Old Mrs. Gu snorted, "You two have gotten into trouble, so don't expect me to plead for you."

She turned around and went back to the house, so that she could say that she had scolded them. But who knew they were so bold as to continue cooking and eating.

Gu Xinxin smiled at Gu Xiangrong and said, "Look, she's not stopping me now."

Gu Xiangrong was worried: "When Dad comes back, he will really beat people up. He's very strong and it hurts..."

And when they hit, they don't care where to hit, they hit the head, back, arms, buttocks, legs, wherever they are hit.

Gu Xinxin asked, "How long does it take to get from our home to the county town?"

"It would take two hours if we had an oxcart, and six hours if we walked," Gu Xiangrong said, then paused and asked, "Sister, do you want to go to the county town? I'll take you there when you're better. You're sick now, and we don't have any money."

He was afraid that Gu Xinxin would be angry, so he said, "I've been going with Da Niu and the others to catch cicada monkeys these days. I'll find some cicada shells and sell them to the doctor in our village. I can get a few copper coins for them. Then we can go there by ox cart."

Gu Xinxin raised her chin and pointed at the eggs in the pot: "Use this for the fare."

Anyway, it was hot, so she boiled the whole basket of eggs, probably more than 30 of them. They couldn't finish them, and they couldn't keep them anymore, so they just used them to their full potential and didn't want to waste them.

Gu Xiangrong opened his mouth and said after a moment: "Sister, if we eat the eggs and then go to the county town, Dad will definitely beat us to death when he comes back."

If you make one mistake, you may still be able to save your life, but if you make too many, you may lose your life.

Gu Xinxin told him to pack his clothes quickly: "It's already this late. If you go to the county town, you probably won't be able to come back tonight. You'll have to stay overnight. Pack two sets of clothes."

Gu Xiangrong was a little anxious: "Where will we stay if we don't come back? I'm a man, I can just find a place to stay for the night, but you're a girl..."

How can a girl stay out all night and not come back?

Gu Xinxin ignored him and took out all the eggs from the pot herself - it had been a quarter of an hour, and they had been cooking over high heat, so they should be cooked by then.

After rinsing them in cold water, Gu Xinxin immediately cracked two open on the stove, not caring about the heat, and put them into her mouth. After eating two, she felt that the hunger in her stomach was slightly relieved.

Gu Xiangrong was watching from the side and swallowing his saliva.

Gu Xinxin stuffed some food into his hands, but he refused to take it: "Save it all for Big Sister. We'll hide it in the well. It will keep for a day or two."

Gu Xinxin urged him, "You have to finish it today. It's too hot to keep it. Besides, there will be tomorrow's meal. If you don't eat, grandma might come and eat it all."

After saying that, he stuffed the egg into his mouth. When Gu Xiangrong opened his mouth, he was filled with the soft, chewy and fragrant taste of the egg. He was only a thirteen-year-old boy who had been starving all day. How could he resist such temptation? Subconsciously, his teeth moved closer together and the egg in his mouth was split into two.

It’s already been eaten...Gu Xiangrong couldn’t bear it anymore.

All things are difficult at the beginning, but once you get started, the rest will be easy.

While eating eggs, Gu Xiangrong went into the house to pack clothes. He took most of the remaining eggs and put them into the package. He also brought some water in a water bag, and then helped Gu Xinxin out the door.

Old Mrs. Gu waited for a long time, but Gu Xiangrong never brought her eggs.

She thought about the time and was worried that Gu Xiangrong and his sister had finished eating the eggs, so she quickly got up from the bed and walked to the kitchen in two or three steps.

When I walked in, I almost died of anger - there were only two eggs on the stove and a large area of ​​egg shells on the floor.

"You bastards, you gluttons, why don't you just choke to death?" She cursed at them while cracking the two remaining eggs. The aroma of the eggs filled her nose, and Mrs. Gu immediately stopped cursing and wolfed down the two eggs.

After finishing the meal, I still felt unsatisfied, but when I looked around, there was no third one left.

He had no choice but to turn back while continuing to curse: "How come you two didn't fall to death on the way?"