Chapter 6
Under the blazing sun, a figure silently walked to the front of the Shu family's house.
"Wanxiu?"
"Shu girl?"
She shouted twice, but no one answered for a long time.
"Strange, there's no one around the house. Could they have gone to rest for lunch?"
Shu Wanxiu was half asleep, unable to tell whether someone was calling her in a dream or out of sleep. She was too tired and sleepy to investigate whether it was real or not, and just wanted to turn over and continue sleeping.
Contrary to her wishes, as she turned over, a pair of icy little hands frantically pressed against her face.
"Auntie, someone's here!"
Hearing the panicked and sobbing voice, Shu Wanxiu was suddenly awakened.
Before even seeing their surroundings clearly, their first instinct was to pull Shu Shouyi behind them, yelling, "Quick, hide behind your aunt! Where's the stick?!"
"A stick?! Auntie, there's no stick!"
The child could no longer hold back, and tears streamed down his face.
Shu Wanxiu looked around in a daze.
"Is that crying? Are you inside?"
The sounds outside the window carried a strong sense of doubt. Hearing the approaching footsteps, Shu Wanxiu suddenly came to her senses.
By the way, she has already settled down in Wupai Village, Fangyuan County. It's not on the road to escape famine, nor in a refugee shack. The place they live in has doors, windows, and walls, so no one can approach them unnoticed and harm them while they are sleeping.
My heart, which had been pounding like a drum, hadn't even calmed down before it started pounding again.
There are people outside; they must keep Shouyi's hysteria a secret.
"Shouyi, don't cry anymore. The famine is over, and we have a new home. Don't be afraid. No one will steal our food, and... there won't be any bad people anymore."
She lowered her voice and tried to comfort him with a few words, and Shu Shouyi's bewildered eyes gradually focused.
Seeing this, Shu Wanxiu breathed a sigh of relief.
"You stay inside. It seems a neighbor has come. Auntie will go outside and check. Don't be afraid." Touching his dry, soft hair, Shu Wanxiu deftly opened the door and went out.
"Aunt Chen?"
Shu Wanxiu was somewhat surprised when she saw the person standing outside.
Chen Sanhe laughed and said, "Did I come at the wrong time?"
Shu Wanxiu quickly denied it, saying, "I was just confused from sleeping and neglected my aunt."
She did manage to boil some water today, but the problem was there was no chair to sit on. She pushed open the door to the main room and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Auntie, there are no chairs in the house. I'll go get you a bowl of water. If you don't mind, you can sit on the threshold and rest for a while."
Although it was a thatched hut, both rooms had thresholds, and they were quite high, like low stools, which were just right for sitting.
Shu Wanxiu turned around and went to pour water, leaving Chen Sanhe looking hesitant.
There are rules about where you can sit on the threshold. If a child sits on the threshold, some of the elderly people in the village will scold him.
Never mind, children don't understand these customs, and the main reason is that this house is too empty.
She followed him to the kitchen, where Shu Wanxiu rinsed a bowl with cold boiled water, then poured out a bowl of water and handed it to Chen Sanhe with both hands.
Chen Sanhe took it and placed it on the stove.
She took down the basket she had been carrying and said, "I said I'd come to see you later this morning, not for any other reason than to bring you some vegetables."
She took things out of the basket one by one: a bunch of flat vegetables, two stalks of wild mustard greens, and many large yellow-shelled eggs.
"No, Auntie, this is unacceptable! You've already given me so many vegetable seeds today."
Chen Sanhe looked at her teasingly, "What, can you eat vegetable seeds?"
What did you eat before you grew the vegetables?
"I saw the patch of land where you finished weeding. It must have been hard work to prepare it, right? It takes quite a while for the seeds to grow and be ready to eat! Auntie is giving you some vegetables, so please eat them without being too polite."
Shu Wanxiu was speechless.
After putting his things down, Chen Sanhe recalled the crying he had just heard and asked, "Where did your little nephew go? I called you several times outside but no one answered. Then I heard him crying. Was that him?"
Chen Sanhe asked casually out of curiosity, but Shu Wanxiu had to concentrate and answer carefully.
“He’s inside. We were all resting for the afternoon. Because he was frightened several times on the way to escape the famine, his body and temperament have become weak and sensitive. Sometimes he cries out in his sleep.”
"Oh, can't sleep well?" Chen Sanhe clicked his tongue and said, "A child being frightened can be a big deal or a small one. If it's not handled properly, it can lead to a serious illness. There's an old woman at the east end of our village who can perform exorcisms. If your nephew keeps having trouble sleeping, you must take him there as soon as possible to have her draw a Taoist talisman."
Fearing that Shu Wanxiu might not understand the seriousness of the matter, he emphasized again: "A child this age is at the age when his character is being formed. If he is not cured, he will grow up to be a coward."
It was originally just an excuse, but after Chen Sanhe pointed it out, Shu Wanxiu really started to think about it carefully.
Shu Wanxiu slept soundly last night and was not sure if Shu Shouyi woke up during the night. However, when they were in the refugee shed, he would often twitch uncontrollably while sleeping or suddenly wake up from a deep sleep.
He woke up before me, looking so panicked. I don't know if he was having hysteria or if he was still haunted by the horrific things he had seen on his escape route.
After thinking for a moment, Shu Wanxiu pursed her lips and asked, "Auntie, what's the name of the old woman who can perform the ritual of calming the spirit? Which household does she live in at the east end of the village?"
Seeing that she had taken his words to heart, Chen Sanhe naturally answered all her questions without reservation.
“That old woman’s surname is Pang. In this village, most people have the surnames Pang and Wang. There used to be only one family with the surname Xun who fled from the Central Plains ten years ago. Now, your family has been added to the list with the surname Shu.”
"There's only one house with an apricot tree in front of it at the east end of the village. That's Grandma Pang's house. It's easy to find."
After finding out the location, Shu Wanxiu hesitated for a moment, then nervously asked Chen Sanhe how much it would cost to request a talisman.
Chen Sanhe felt sorry for him seeing his tense and wary expression.
She gently comforted her, "Don't worry, Grandma Pang doesn't rely on this to make money. Usually, when a child in the village gets frightened, they go to her to draw talismans. The more polite families will give her one or two eggs as payment, and those who are not so well-off will just say a few words of thanks."
"Don't yellow paper and cinnabar cost money?"
Shu Wanxiu had only seen a Taoist priest draw talismans on paper when she was a child. She was full of questions at the time and kept asking her elders for a long time. She always remembered that the materials for drawing talismans were yellow paper and cinnabar.
Neither of these materials is cheap.
Chen Sanhe was taken aback by the question, "What yellow paper and cinnabar?"
After a few breaths, he asked in return, "In the North, do they use yellow paper to draw talismans to calm a child's spirit?"
Shu Wanxiu shook her head blankly; she thought the South was the correct place.
Chen Sanhe chuckled and said, "The talisman is drawn by hand, on the forehead."
Knowing she had misunderstood, Shu Wanxiu laughed.
Having inquired about everything, she decided to observe him tonight. If Shu Shouyi really couldn't sleep well at night, she would take him down the mountain to have his spirit calmed tomorrow.
After finishing a bowl of plain water while standing, Chen Sanhe said he was going back, and Shu Wanxiu hurriedly followed behind to see him off.
"By the way, don't go out this evening."
"At Chenshi (7-9 AM), the villagers gathered at the village entrance to discuss how to settle you. In general, each family will do their part. One family will contribute two chairs, and another will contribute some needles and thread. It has been agreed that they will be delivered to you this evening."
Shu Wanxiu never expected such a good thing to happen. When she heard it, she thought she had misheard. Her breath caught in her throat, and she stood frozen in place.
Unaware of anything, Chen Sanhe glanced back at the house behind him.
“I remember when I was cleaning your house last night, I could see the stars when I looked up from the bedroom, which shows how bad the leak was. Don’t worry about it, in about ten days, the neighborhood chief will organize everyone to come and repair your roof.”
After saying all this, Shu Wanxiu didn't respond. Chen Sanhe looked to her side in confusion and saw that the girl who was just a step away from her was already in tears.
She was taken aback and quickly asked, "Why do you look like this? Aren't these two good things?"
Shu Wanxiu blinked, and two lines of tears instantly welled up in her eyes.
This time, she did not answer Chen Sanhe's question first.
She was very puzzled, so even though she was choking up, she still asked, "Auntie... why is everyone so kind to us?"
When a windfall falls from the sky, this is the girl's first reaction.
Chen Sanhe couldn't quite describe the taste; he only felt a sudden astringency in his mouth.
"What a silly girl." She took a breath and said, then reached out and poked Shu Wanxiu's forehead.
"I don't know about the relationships between neighbors in other villages, but the 21 households in our Wupai Village have always gotten along quite well. If one family is in trouble, the others will lend a hand."
“From now on, you will also be residents of Wupai Village. It is only natural that everyone should help you settle down.”
"I have answered your question today, so you will not need to ask others this question again in the future. Just remember that human relationships can only be maintained through give and take, otherwise others may help you once or twice, but they will not help you a third time."
Hearing these heartfelt words, Shu Wanxiu wiped away her tears and nodded repeatedly.
Chen Sanhe disliked seeing people's eyes red like rabbits. After saying these necessary words, he couldn't wait to leave, as staying any longer would only make him feel more depressed.
"Auntie knows the way down the mountain, you don't need to see her off."
Seeing that Shu Wanxiu was still following closely behind to see her off, she waved her hand and said impatiently, "Alright, go back now."
Even after Chen Sanhe returned home, Shu Wanxiu had no heart to sleep anymore. She went back and led Shu Shouyi, whose emotions had calmed down, to continue reclaiming wasteland.
I was so tired that my hands got blisters, but by late afternoon I had finally finished turning over the vegetable patch. There were quite a few grass roots that had broken off in the soil when I pulled weeds earlier, so I dug them up and piled them up separately.
Strike while the iron is hot. The sun is strong today, so I put the weeds I pulled out this morning aside to dry.
Shu Wanxiu burned the grass on the spot, and then cleaned up all the ashes from the fire over the past two days, transporting them to the vegetable garden and spreading them evenly on the soil.
After the grass and soil have cooled down after burning, divide a plot of land in two, planting flat vegetables in one section and winter mallow in the other.
She knew that relying on such a small amount of wood ash wasn't enough to provide sufficient base fertilizer.
So after planting the vegetables, she drank all the boiled water she had made that morning, took the empty pot down the mountain to fetch water twice, watered the ground, and also poured the rice water she had saved in advance in the morning into the gourd ladle.
From now on, I'll use the rice water to water the vegetables every day; I think that should help them grow strong and healthy.
Shu Wanxiu had just finished tending to the vegetable garden, covered in dust, and hadn't even had time to cook yet; it was already evening.
Just as Aunt Chen had said, many villagers went up the mountain together to deliver things.
This time, Chen Sanhe didn't come over, but Village Chief Pang did.
He led Shu Wanxiu and Shu Shouyi to stand at the door, and whenever someone brought an item, he would introduce the person to Shu Wanxiu and her niece.
Gradually, Shu Wanxiu memorized many faces, and the two empty rooms were gradually filled with many objects.
In a short time, this solitary thatched house standing halfway up the mountain transformed from being bare and destitute to resembling a home.
Shu Wanxiu, who witnessed all of this, did not burst into tears as she had when she first heard the news in the afternoon, but she was still overwhelmed with emotion and mixed feelings.
She was filled with gratitude that words could not express. She not only bowed to each of the elders who came to thank them on behalf of Shu Shouyi, but also kept this kindness firmly in her heart.
A note from the author:
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Lettuce: a vegetable that brings great wealth.
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