In the Great Zhou Kingdom, a hundred and eight thousand miles away from the capital, the cries of a baby could be heard from a small roadside, attracting the attention of a passing couple.
The sallow-faced, emaciated woman looked toward the source of the sound: "Father, listen, isn't there a child crying?"
The man had sunken eyes and a hunched back, ignoring her. "You probably misheard. You should leave now."
The woman walked for a while, and the crying grew closer and closer. "No, it's not right, his father, there really is a child."
Following the sound, I found a gray swaddled baby covered with a thin layer of pudding.
Lifting the corner of the blanket, the child inside looked like a little monkey, red and tiny, constantly searching for something with his mouth.
Unwrapping the swaddling clothes revealed a baby girl, who looked to have been born only a few hours earlier. "Dad, come quick!"
She waited until the man got close before saying, "It's a girl. What a tragedy, throwing her away after only one day."
In their area, poor families believe that daughters are useless and a waste of money, and most newborn female infants are abandoned.
The man glanced at it without any reaction. "Let's go, there's still a long mountain road ahead."
The man, battered by life, just wanted to get on his way as soon as possible, to cross that mountain before he could get home.
If we have time left when we get back, we can dig up another acre of mountain land.
The woman looked at the swaddling clothes, closed her eyes, and resolutely put the baby down, quickly following the man's steps.
The baby in the swaddling clothes felt uneasy and cried even more heartbreakingly. The woman, who also had children, couldn't bear to hear the crying.
"His father..." Before he could finish speaking, the man turned around and said expressionlessly, "If you walk faster, you won't be able to hear me."
The woman walked closer and closer to the crying, and a voice in her head urged her to pick up the baby.
'Take her with you; she'll bring good fortune to your home.'
The woman stopped, turned back, picked up the child, and said, "Father, let's take her home."
"We need to feed the dog anyway. If we leave her here, the wolves from the mountain will come down soon."
She couldn't bear to see her daughter carried away by wolves; it was a living, breathing person, not some kitten or puppy.
The man remained silent. "You know our family's financial situation, we..."
The woman interrupted him anxiously: "Let's take her back and raise her first. If someone wants her, we'll give her away. We'll raise her for as long as we can."
"If she grows up safely, she can become Shi Tou's or Xiao Shi's wife."
The man was somewhat tempted by these words. They lived deep in the mountains and forests, where it was very difficult for men to find wives unless it was through a marriage exchange; otherwise, they would remain bachelors.
His family has three sons.
A man's silence is interpreted by a woman as tacit consent.
The little girl in her arms was crying loudly. The woman looked around to make sure no one was watching, then pulled open her clothes and said, "Don't cry, Niu Niu, eat."
Actually, the woman kept her for another reason: the voice said she was a blessed child.
If it can really bring good luck to the family, I don't mind suffering a little more.
However, she didn't intend to tell anyone about it, not even her own man.
The mountain road back was very high; it was the only way for the villagers of Maocao Village to go to the market. There were many wolves and other animals in the deep mountains.
So whenever there's a market day, the villagers would gather in large groups. Today, the couple was slow in buying things and missed the time to go back with the other villagers.
They were walking in the mountains, where it was eerily dark as night fell. Wolves howled above them, and a woman huddled close to a man, clutching her child.
His voice trembled as he spoke: "His father..."
The man took the child and held him in his arms, then took her hand and said, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, let's walk faster."
The woman turned around and saw several wolves sitting on the hilltop. She was so frightened that her legs went weak. The man, sweating profusely, comforted her, "Don't turn around, don't be afraid."
Normally, they would have been the wolf's meal long ago, but today was strange; the wolf just watched them walk out of the deep mountains without moving an inch.
The woman looked at the child in her husband's arms and felt that it was because of her that they were safe and sound.
The village where they lived was a long way from the deep mountains, and it was full of thatched huts and mud-walled houses, hence the name Thatched Village.
Dozens of families of various surnames live here; they migrated here during the war years.
"Da Nian, Da Nian's wife, why are you only coming back now?" The couple who picked up the child were Su Da Nian and his wife Liu from Maocao Village.
The people asking them questions were the elderly people who had gone to the market with them that morning.
Su Danian lowered his head in shame, his dark face flushed: "I didn't manage to buy any good quality grain earlier, so I thought I'd wander around a bit more. I didn't realize it was so late."
The old man sighed, strongly disagreeing: "If we can't buy it, we can go next time. That deep mountain is dangerous. What will happen to your children if something happens?"
Su Danian nodded to indicate that he would never do it again.
Just as they were about to leave, they heard crying, and the old man realized that the child in Su Danian's arms was a baby.
His cloudy eyes were filled with shock. "Where did this child come from?"
Liu dared not speak, and Su Danian explained, "Uncle, we picked this up by the roadside."
"Is it at the entrance to the mountains?"
Seeing that his guess was correct, the old man slapped his thigh and said that he was confused, "What, what can I say?"
“We saw that kid just now, but nobody dared to interfere. More kids mean more mouths to feed, you…”
"Before it gets dark, hurry up and carry it to the muddy ravine."
Niba'ao was where children who died young were left in the village. Some baby girls were also abandoned there. It was close to the deep mountains, and any child left there would eventually become food for wolves.
Su Danian forced himself to say, "Uncle, we plan to raise her. If she grows up, she can become Shitou's wife."
Seeing that he couldn't persuade them, the old man shook his head and told them not to regret it.
Seeing her husband's pale face, Liu lowered her head, unsure of what to say.
The man handed the child to her and walked ahead, saying, "Go back, the children must be starving."
When the two returned home, smoke was already rising from the kitchen, and they were just waiting for their cornmeal to be cooked.
"Grass, Stone"
A small, thin boy, about five years old, rushed out of the house, his bright eyes fixed on her. "Mom, you're back!"
Liu patted his head and praised, "Oh, you're so good. Look, I've brought you a wife. Do you like her?"
The little boy didn't know what a wife was, but he knew what liking someone meant.
Mrs. Chang jokingly told him, "If you like it, you can take care of it yourself, okay?"
He nodded as if he understood, and followed Liu into the house, watching her place the swaddled baby on the bed. "Watch over your little sister, I'm going to help my older sister cook."
Stone was puzzled. Wasn't he supposed to be talking about his wife? Why is it his sister again?
Curious, I leaned closer, and accidentally pressed my little hand against the swaddling clothes, which immediately caused the baby to cry loudly.
Startled, he quickly pulled his hand back and patted the swaddled baby like his mother would pat her younger brother, coaxing, "Don't cry, little sister, be good."
Sure enough, the baby stopped crying and happily climbed up to pat him even harder and more enthusiastically.
This completely enraged the baby in the swaddling clothes.
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