Although you may not be full every day, if you never know what it feels like to be full, being half-hungry and half-full will not be so unbearable.
My parents and brothers and sisters were busy plowing the fields and chopping wood every day, and then they would bring back some wild vegetables in the evening. Sometimes if they were lucky they would bring back a few mushrooms, which they would cook for dinner. If they were lucky, they would catch a rabbit or a snake, or even better, a few frogs, and that night would be as happy as New Year's Day.
Xue Tao, barely able to walk, would go to the fields with her parents, bare-bottomed, and lie in the mud playing with earthworms, watching the sun, hoping it would set quickly so it would be dinner time. For young Xue Tao, two daily meals of porridge filled with wild vegetables were her lifeblood.
She vaguely remembered that around the age of four, an official came and told her father that the Dachen army had won a great victory in the war against the Liang Kingdom and needed more laborers to carry the spoils. So, the official, holding the county magistrate's order, took her eldest brother away, saying that he could return in the autumn and receive a reward from the court.
Twenty autumns have passed, and my brother still hasn't returned.
(Lin Hai vaguely remembered that twenty years ago, the Chen Dynasty army, led by the then-son-in-law Shen Junli, had been surrounded after advancing rashly. To rescue him, the Chen Dynasty launched its first mobilization, organizing a full 300,000 troops, plus 600,000 civilians. Claiming a million-strong army, they attacked the Daliang Empire's fortresses, but were ultimately surrounded, with less than a few tens of thousands of the million-strong army escaping.)
Later, officials announced that the imperial court had won a great victory over the Liang Kingdom and needed to reward the army, thus imposing a "levy of military pay." The officials, bearing the imperial order, took away all the family's food reserves and their only two chickens. With winter approaching, Xue Tao's parents, looking at her and her brother, tearfully married her off to Qian, a scholar from the city, as a concubine.
(Yes, after breaking through the siege, the Prince Consort Shen Junli once again raised an army to seek revenge, and was beaten again)
When the bride was being sent off, her elder sister was carried into the back door of Mr. Qian's house by her parents. Xue Tao had just glanced at Mr. Qian, a man with white hair, when her father covered her mouth and carried her away.
"Your sister will be able to eat enough in the future, it's okay." This is what Dad said to Xue Tao.
Within two years, Qian Xiucai died.
Later, a servant came to the Qian family and asked my father to collect the bodies, saying that my sister coveted the Qian family's property, stole things from the house, and was beaten to death by the mistress.
My father and mother found my sister outside a mass grave. They didn't dare let Xue Tao and my brother see my sister's appearance, so they buried her in a hurry.
My mother was seriously ill and my father couldn't afford medicine.
When Xue Tao was seven years old, a smiling aunt came to their home. Her father called Xue Tao and her younger brother without telling her mother. The aunt gave them each a piece of candy and asked them to eat it. Her younger brother had never eaten candy before and swallowed it without chewing it. The aunt frowned when she saw this. Suddenly, she noticed that Xue Tao was holding the candy in her hand without eating it. She asked her why she didn't eat it, and she said she was leaving it for her mother.
Aunt and dad talked in the yard for a long time, and Xue Tao was lying at the door watching. Finally, Aunt took out a cloth bag and gave it to dad, then walked in, took Xue Tao's hand and walked out.
Xue Tao did not look back. The moment she saw the aunt, she understood what was going on. After all, although it was the first time that the aunt came to her house, she had been to the village several times. Every time she came, the village would lose several playmates.
Not long after, Xue Tao arrived at Qingfeng Tower and was named Xue Tao. Her mother said that this was the name of a famous prostitute in ancient times, and it would bless her to become famous in the world in the future.
Having said this, Xue Tao raised her head, looked at the ceiling, and tried hard to hold back her tears: "Sir, the true story is not pleasant to listen to. It really is not pleasant to listen to."
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