Chapter 71: Come on
Dusk, like snow water mingled with ink, gradually seeped into the corners of the cave. Aunt Liu, hunched over, her bony hands clinging to the protruding rocks on the cave wall, held her breath with every step. Wang Xiaobin and the others were still whispering about something. The firewood in the fire pit crackled, casting their shadows on the rock wall like a group of ferocious ghosts.
The soles of her cotton shoes had long been worn through, and snow particles were pouring down the uppers, freezing her toes so hard they felt like they were being bitten by a cat. But even more than that, the burning anxiety in her heart was even greater. Hiding behind the crevice, she had heard everything clearly. Those people were plotting more than just a bowl of hot soup; the greed in their eyes threatened to devour the Wu family's meager winter food reserves. Although Yuetang had been rude before, she was now at least sincere. The Wu family had also helped her family a lot along the way, and she couldn't help but repay this favor.
The wind whipped snow flakes against her face, stinging her. Aunt Liu gathered her torn scarf and trudged up the mountainside toward the small cave. The Wu family had offered to visit that cave, a long-forgotten abandoned cave. Under Wu Yuetang's direction, it had been tidied up, with wooden doors and wooden shelves, and a state-of-the-art fireplace and floor heating, making it much warmer than the larger cave. Catching sight of the orange glow from the cave's entrance, her frozen legs suddenly regained strength, and she scrambled towards it.
"Yuetang! Yuetang girl!"
The cave door creaked open, and Wu Yuetang came out carrying a bowl of hot porridge. Seeing her, she quickly stepped aside and said, "Aunt Liu? It's snowing so hard! Why are you here?"
Wu Shoutian and Li followed closely behind, towels in hand. From inside the cave came the laughter of the Qi family's son. The two families were dining around the fire pit. The aroma of the broth simmering in the iron pot, mixed with the fragrance of rice, filled their nostrils.
Aunt Liu collapsed on the floor upon entering, her lips trembling from the cold, purple, and she couldn't utter a single word. Wu Yuetang quickly ladled a bowl of hot soup into her hands, and Li took out an old cotton-padded jacket to cover her. Only after she finished the hot soup did Aunt Liu regain her composure and recount everything she had heard in the cave.
"...They said Wang Xiaobin would come early tomorrow morning to ask for soup, and they said...they said if you don't give it to him, they'll find another way!" Aunt Liu slapped her thigh anxiously. "That group of people's eyes are red. Aunt Sun and Chen Chunhe are gossiping behind your back, saying that you've taken in a hunter, but even a bow and arrow is useless. If they really push you to the limit..."
"You dare to rob us, huh?" Wu Yuetang took over, a cold smile curling her lips. The firelight danced in her eyes, icing the smile. "I thought it was nothing, but you think our family is like meat on the chopping block, ready for anyone to take a piece?"
She turned and added a piece of wood to the fire pit. Sparks flew, illuminating the clear contours of her face. "When the village was hit by a flood, I begged my father to give half of the harvest from our only two acres of paddy fields to Wang Xiaobin's family, hoping he would remember our past kindness. Now, fortunately, we have voluntarily withdrawn from the cave to avoid being an eyesore to certain people. Instead, we have become their 'fat sheep'. It really proves the old saying that greed is like a snake swallowing an elephant."
"Then...what if they really come to make trouble tomorrow?" Aunt Liu was still anxious, rubbing her cracked hands and sighing.
"Don't worry, Aunt Liu," Wu Yuetang turned around, her eyes brightening. "If they want to come, they can. This isn't a charity, nor is it a place where anyone can run wild." As she finished speaking, a faint beep echoed in her mind—it was the system's alert. If anyone within two kilometers harbored ill intentions towards her, the alarm would sound. It had been ringing constantly since Wang Xiaobin and the others were planning in the cave, but the distance was too great, and she hadn't known what they were planning. So the alarm was so faint, she hadn't paid much attention.
"Don't be careless," Wu Shoutian suddenly said, his brows knitted into a knot, his pipe clattering against the stone table. "Though Aunt Sun's gang are greedy, they can't cause any big trouble. What I'm afraid of is..." He paused, his Adam's apple rolling, "your grandparents' side."
Mrs. Li sighed heavily. "Your grandfather used to live with us before the famine. He treated your second uncle's son like a treasure and gave him all the last of our family's food. Your second uncle even sent a message a few days ago saying your grandmother wants you to send over the game the Ye family's son hunted, saying it's 'the eldest branch of the family's filial piety.' At this critical moment, if they knew we have food and drink here, they wouldn't be afraid of the cold and snow..."
"They want more than just game," Wu Yongqiao said, his voice as deep as the ice outside the cave. "Back then, in order to seize our tile-roofed house, they stuffed wet firewood into the stove in the middle of the night, giving Dad a high fever for three days in the dead of winter. Now that they see we're still alive, who knows what even more despicable tricks they'll come up with."
Wu Qingeng also nodded and looked at Wu Yuetang: "Little sister, those bastards are just making noise at best. Grandpa, grandma and second uncle's family are the ones who can really kill. They only care about benefits and don't care about blood ties at all."
The wind outside the cave grew stronger, stirring up snowflakes that rustled against the stone walls. Wu Yuetang stared at the dancing flames in the fire pit, her fingertips unconsciously rubbing against each other.
Ye Jingchen, who had been standing silently aside, walked closer and looked down at her little movements. This was her habit. She would do this whenever she was struggling or thinking about something and couldn't make a decision.
"Let them come, I want to see what they will do." Ye Jingchen's face was cold and angry. Not to mention Wang Xiaobin and Aunt Sun, after all, they had no blood relationship. But if these biological grandparents could do something, it was really beyond his expectation.
"Dad, Mom, we think we should learn from the young man from the Ye family and just break off the relationship. Since the separation, my grandparents have come to look for us more than once or twice, and now they are on the road fleeing from the famine, and they still won't stop. It's better to just break off the relationship."
The person who said this was Wu Zhiyun, who had been sitting in the corner wolfing down his rice. He had been feeling resentful towards his grandparents' family for a long time, long before the family split up, but the huge pressure of filial piety made him feel suffocated.
"Okay, I got it." She spoke slowly, her tone calm but with unquestionable certainty, "I'll take care of Wang Xiaobin. As for grandpa and grandma..." She raised her eyes and looked at her two brothers and Ye Jingchen, "Let's prepare firewood and guard the cave entrance. If they dare to come, don't blame us for not recognizing this marriage."
Then Wu Yuetang paused, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he said another sentence.
"Whoever offends our country will be punished, even if he is far away."
The firewood in the fire pit crackled, casting shadows across the rock face. Aunt Liu looked at the family before her and suddenly felt reassured. Perhaps, in this heavy snowfall, the Wu family, cherished by the entire village, would be the ones truly able to weather it.
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