Mo, a parent himself, felt compassion. He touched Guan Guan’s face. “Little one, don’t cry. Uncle is just taking your brother to see a doctor. We’ll bring him back when he’s better.”

Fang Pozi resisted the urge to snatch back the money; it contained about one hundred and eighty cash, enough to buy several pounds of pork to nourish her grandson and granddaughter. But Wei Zhi’s future was more important. She pretended to be humble, looking at Li Maode. “Village Head, we’ve paid for the medicine, and he’s gone for treatment. But this child of unknown origin… shouldn’t the Wei family take care of him? We have many children, we can’t afford another mouth to feed! You decided to place Wei Cheng with us, but this child… we can’t handle him!”

Li Maode glanced at the small child, his little feet purple and red. He picked him up, feeling the child’s struggle and crying, soothing him. “Don’t cry, don’t cry. Uncle will find you a home, alright?”

Guan Guan sobbed, wiping his tears with his chapped hands. “Want… want Brother…”

“No, Cheng is a child too.”

The village head looked at the villagers. “I’ll ask the heads of neighboring villages if this child belongs to anyone. Until we find his parents, who’s willing to take him in for a few days?”

The onlookers fell silent. In the snowy mountains, whose child would wander off? Even poor families wouldn’t let their children go without shoes. This child looked neglected, unlikely to have parents. Taking him in for a few days meant taking on a burden.

A woman asked, “Boy or girl?”

The village head examined Guan Guan. Girls usually have birthmarks. “He’s a boy.”

The woman fell silent, whispering to someone nearby. “If he were a girl, I’d take him. He could be a child bride for my eldest son. Boys eat more, and we have little land and need to marry him off, it’s too much of a loss.”

Someone chuckled, glancing at her. Her eldest son was thirteen, a simpleton. She was quite calculating.

The village head sighed. If no one wanted him…

“Village Head, I’ll take him!”

It was Wang Zhuangzi. He smiled, seeming embarrassed. “My wife and I have only a daughter and a son after ten years of marriage. We’ve always wanted a son, but my wife’s health suffered after giving birth… I’ll adopt this boy.”

Li Maode frowned. “Zhuangzi, you’re kind, but your family isn’t well-off, and your mother is ill. Forget it.”

“No! Village Head, don’t stop Zhuangzi from being kind.”

Fang Pozi, fearing the responsibility, said, “Alright then, Lanqiu, go, take this child’s things from Wei Cheng’s room and send them to Zhuangzi’s house!”

Liu Shi agreed.

Wang Zhuangzi bowed. “Thank you, Aunt Fang, thank you, Village Head.”

He took Guan Guan from the village head, smiling affectionately. “Good son, call me Father.”

Guan Guan didn’t like him. He reached for the village head, crying softly. “No, no, want Brother, want Brother.”

Wang Zhuangzi chuckled, patting the child’s head, swearing to the village head that he would treat the child as his own.

Li Maode, considering Wang Zhuangzi an honest man, nodded.

Liu Lanqiu brought a ragged bundle, throwing it at Wang Zhuangzi. “Shut up! If you keep mentioning your brother, he’ll get beaten! If you want your brother to be okay, go with your father!”

Fang Pozi pulled Liu Shi, reminding her of the onlookers.

Guan Guan understood, his large eyes filled with confusion and tears. He sniffed, no longer resisting as Wang Zhuangzi happily carried him away.

Wang’s house wasn’t far from the Wei’s. Wang Zhuangzi kicked open the door, shouting, “Wife! Come out!”

Zheng Shi saw her husband carrying a tear-stained, sleeping boy.

She exclaimed, “Where did you get this child!”

Wang Zhuangzi explained, seeing Zheng Shi’s anger, he gestured for silence, clearing his throat. “Quickly, let’s put our son on the kang to sleep, then give him some good food!”

After closing the gate and putting the child on the kang, their children gathered around curiously.

Zheng Shi checked the bundle, finding only worn tiger-head shoes and a dirty clay pot. She threw the things on the kang, whispering to Wang Zhuangzi, “Zhuangzi, what are you thinking! We’re already struggling! You brought home another mouth to feed! You’re killing me!”

Wang Zhuangzi beckoned her closer. “Don’t worry, I heard that in the city, disabled beggar children can earn one hundred or eighty cash a day, maybe even silver from rich people!”

Zheng Shi’s eyes lit up. “You mean…?”

Wang Zhuangzi smiled. “We’re going to get rich!”

Guan Guan woke up on the warm kang, covered by a patched quilt. He looked around the unfamiliar room with red eyes.

“Oh, good son, you’re awake.”

Wang Zhuangzi and Zheng Shi entered.

Zheng Shi put a bowl of cabbage soup and a piece of coarse grain bread in front of him, coaxing him gently. “Son, you must be hungry, eat.”

Guan Guan swallowed, afraid to approach, hiding his chapped hands.

“Don’t be afraid, this is your home, I’m your father, she’s your mother.”

Wang Zhuangzi chuckled, giving Zheng Shi a look. “He’s probably scared by the Wei family. Let’s go out and let him eat alone.”

After they left, Guan Guan looked at the food, his stomach rumbling.

“Brother.” Guan Guan wiped his tears. “Guan Guan hungry.”

Wang Zhuangzi peeked through the curtain, stepping back, whispering to Zheng Shi, “He ate the soup, hid the bread.”

Zheng Shi frowned, sending their children to play.

“We don’t have extra food for him to eat or hide. He’s hiding the bread for that Wei Cheng boy!”

Zheng Shi angrily said, “When are we selling him!”

“Feed him for now. After the fuss dies down, stop giving him food. He’s going to be a beggar anyway. Thinner and yellower is better.”

Wang Zhuangzi’s eyes gleamed. “Selling him now is too obvious. Let’s wait until the eighth or ninth day of the twelfth lunar month when we buy New Year’s goods. I’ll take him to the city to sell him, and you can tell people he got lost in the market.”

Zheng Shi’s heart raced. “How much will we get? Enough for this month’s food?”

“Cash? Hmph, this kid is dirty and thin, but cute. I won’t sell him for less than five taels of silver!”

“Five taels of silver!”

Zheng Shi lowered her voice, repeatedly praising the plan.

Inside, Guan Guan hugged his bread and clay pot, huddled in the corner.

Wang’s eight-year-old daughter, Pingjie, and six-year-old son, Ange, played with a skipping rope. Pingjie looked at Guan Guan. “Want to play?”

Guan Guan shook his head.

The siblings stopped, curious about Guan Guan.

“What are you doing with that clay pot? Give it to me!”

Ange tried to grab it, but Pingjie stopped him. “You can’t grab other people’s things.”

Guan Guan hugged his pot tighter.

Ange asked, “Why are you in our house?”

Pingjie glanced at her brother. “He’s our family now. Didn’t Mom and Dad say he’s our brother?”

Ange nodded, pushing Guan Guan’s head. “You have to call me Brother.”

Guan Guan looked at him, his eyes reddening. “No, I… have a brother.”

“Where’s your brother?”

Guan Guan didn’t answer.

Wang’s house was small and dilapidated. The paralyzed grandmother had one room, the family of four slept on a kang in another, with a small storage room for rice and vegetables.

Zheng Shi didn’t bother with Guan Guan at bedtime, letting him sleep by the kang edge without a quilt.

When Zheng Shi and Wang Zhuangzi were snoring loudly, Guan Guan, his eyes filled with tears, hugged his clay pot, curled up against the wall. He missed sleeping with his brother on the cold bedboard.

Was his brother hurt? Did it hurt?

Guan Guan missed his brother.

At the Wei family…

Even after the candles were blown out, groans of pain came from Wei Sannian’s room.

Liu Shi massaged Wei Sannian’s back, scolding, “How did you twist your waist? I told you not to go to the mountain! It’s almost the New Year, and you smell of medicine!”

“Shut up! Why did I go to the mountain? For you! If you weren’t envious of Er Sao’s bracelet, would I have gone?”

Wei Sannian couldn’t admit he hurt his waist beating Wei Cheng, blaming it on the unsuccessful frog hunt and the wolves.