Chapter 135 Promise
Chen Yanqing handed the bowl back to Xiao Cui, smiling and trying to strike up a conversation: "Little girl, what's your name? How old are you?"
Xiao Cui took the bowl, wiped the rim of it with her sleeve, and whispered, "You can just call me Xiao Cui. I just turned twelve."
"Twelve years old?" Chen Yanqing was taken aback and subconsciously looked at the little girl in front of him.
She was short and looked no more than eight or nine years old. Her face was sallow and she was thin. Her arms were as thin as sticks. She didn't look like a twelve-year-old child at all.
A pang of sorrow gripped his heart, and he instantly realized it was caused by hunger.
After putting the bowls down, Xiao Cui started making dinner.
Chen Yanqing caught a glimpse of her emptying the basket into the stone mortar in the corner of the yard and couldn't help but ask again, "What are you going to do with all this mud and wild vegetables?"
As Xiao Cui stirred the yellow mud and wild vegetables with a wooden stick, she replied, "To make mud cakes."
Upon hearing this, Chen Yanqing was filled with disbelief. "How can you eat this? The soil is coarse and contains impurities. Eating it will harm your health!"
Xiao Cui continued stirring the mixture in her hands, not turning her head, and said, "We've run out of food at home a long time ago. Eating this will keep us from starving. If we don't eat this, we'll just starve to death."
As she spoke, she skillfully shaped the mixed mud into palm-sized cakes and placed them on the broken pot with a chipped corner in the yard.
There wasn't much firewood under the pot; only a few dry branches were slowly burning, and the rising smoke made her cough incessantly.
"Have you and your grandmother always been eating this?" Chen Yanqing's voice trembled slightly.
He grew up in Lingnan and had seen poor families make a living by eating wild vegetables, but he never imagined that someone would be forced to eat soil.
Xiao Cui nodded without saying anything, but her hands kneaded the mud cakes even faster.
Before long, the gray mud cakes were baked over the weak fire, emitting a strange smell mixed with the earthy odor.
As soon as dinner was ready, Xiao Cui scooped two bowls into a broken bowl and handed them to Li Yuanzhao and Chen Yanqing, saying sensibly, "If you didn't bring any food, eat this. It's not very tasty, but it'll fill you up."
Looking at the rough, yellow mud cake mixed with grass and leaves in the bowl, Chen Yanqing felt nauseous.
But Li Yuanzhao reached out and took it without hesitation, and took a bite.
The astringent taste of soil and the bitter taste of grass leaves instantly filled my mouth, and the rough particles scraped my throat painfully.
Li Yuanzhao's expression changed slightly, his brows furrowed almost imperceptibly, but he still chewed slowly and swallowed with difficulty.
It turns out... the world is always more difficult than people hear or see.
At this moment, Xiao Cui, carrying another mud cake, turned to go into the thatched hut, intending to feed her grandmother who was lying on the bed.
Upon seeing this, Li Yuanzhao immediately gave Chen Yanqing a wink.
Chen Yanqing immediately took out the wheat cakes, which were the only dry food he and Li Yuanzhao had left. He quickly walked to Xiao Cui's side and said, "Xiao Cui, this is for you and Grandma. Don't eat the mud cakes."
Xiao Cui's eyes lit up when she saw the wheat cake offered to her, but quickly dimmed again. She shook her head: "No, you still have a long way to go and need food. Besides..."
She lowered her head, her voice muffled, "If I taste the white flour, I might never be able to stand the taste of this mud cake again. Thank you for your kindness."
Seeing her cautious manner, Chen Yanqing felt a tightness in his chest, and could only gently place the wheat cake on the wooden table.
Li Yuanzhao didn't say anything more, but instead stood up and said, "We should go."
Chen Yanqing hesitated for a moment, but eventually turned and followed Li Yuanzhao out of the courtyard.
As soon as they reached the courtyard gate, Li Yuanzhao untied the reins of his chestnut horse, led it to the courtyard wall and tied it up, then mounted Chen Yanqing's horse.
Chen Yanqing instantly understood her intention.
He rarely saw such a "warm" side of Li Yuanzhao, and was momentarily shaken, feeling even more respect for her.
"This horse is for you." Li Yuanzhao pulled on the reins and turned around. "Whether you kill it for meat or use it to carry you and Grandma to the south to escape famine, it's up to you."
"How can this be?" Xiao Cui quickly refused, "Such a fine horse is too valuable..."
"Consider it a thank you for the water and mud cakes today," Li Yuanzhao interrupted her.
She paused, then looked into Xiao Cui's eyes and added, "Wait a little longer. Life won't always be this hard. In a few days, you, your grandmother, and everyone like you will have white flour cakes to eat every day, and you won't have to eat mud cakes anymore."
Her voice wasn't loud, but it sounded incredibly heavy.
Although Xiao Cui didn't know who this inexplicably awe-inspiring older sister was, looking into her eyes, she couldn't help but believe what she had said.
The two rode away into the distance, their figures gradually disappearing around the corner at the village entrance.
Xiao Cui slowly walked to the chestnut horse, gently stroked its smooth mane, and whispered clearly in the direction they had left, "Thank you..."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com