Chapter 2: From Now On, Qingtian Is My Daughter

Madam Ye, after all, was a woman carrying a child in her arms. No matter her speed or stamina, she was no match for Shan Laoda.

“Why are you snatching my child?! Give her back to me!” Shan Laoda’s thunderous voice exploded behind her ears like a clap of lightning.

Startled, Madam Ye’s whole body trembled. She didn’t dare look back. Holding her breath, she ran desperately all the way back to their resting spot before she finally let out a sigh of relief.

Second Sister-in-law of the Ye Family saw her and rushed up, asking, “Elder Sister-in-law, what’s going on? Were you chased by a wild dog or something?”

Before she could finish her sentence, Shan Laoda stumbled in behind them in a wretched state.

He had fallen several times along the way, tearing his pants and slamming his head into a large rock.

Shan Laoda’s features were already fierce to begin with. Now, with blood streaming down his face, he looked even more terrifying.

Big Brother Ye immediately stepped forward, shielding his wife behind him as he asked, “What happened?”

The other three brothers said nothing, but each of them picked up a stick, standing behind Big Brother Ye, ready to support him.

Shan Laoda took two steps back and said, “Ye Laoda, ask your wife what she did! Hand over my daughter right now!”

Madam Ye said anxiously, “You mustn’t give her to him, Husband! He’s no good! He wants to trade Qingtian for another child to eat!”

Hearing this, the four Ye brothers were utterly stunned.

They’d heard of such things happening during times like these, but never imagined it would occur right under their noses.

Ye Laosan and Ye Laosi, both hot-blooded and impatient by nature, couldn’t hold themselves back any longer. They rolled up their sleeves, ready to beat him up.

Madam Ye held the emaciated Qingtian tightly in her arms, her maternal instincts overflowing like a surging river. There was no way she would hand the child back only to see her suffer again. Clenching her teeth, she declared, “Isn’t it food you want? I’ll trade you some grain instead!”

Shan Laoda immediately made an outrageous demand. “Then I want a sack of corn and a sack of millet!”

“Pah!” Ye Laosi spat on the ground and cursed, “You look like a sack of millet!”

“I raised her to this age, didn’t I? No matter what—” Shan Laoda’s words were cut short when Ye Laosi raised his massive fist, causing him to shrink back and admit defeat. “Th-Then just a sack of millet!”

“One sack of corn!” Big Brother Ye finalized the deal with a firm tone. “Don’t push your luck. Take what you’re given.”

They had been fleeing famine for over half a month now—who still had something as rare as millet in their possession?

Even having a few dry kernels of corn meant you were better off than most.

Unable to fight and unwilling to risk further conflict, Shan Laoda finally gave in. “Fine, fine!”

“Laosi, go get a sack of corn for him!”

Ye Laosi ran over to the cart and pulled out a full sack of corn. Just as he was about to leave with it, his wife, Madam Guo, grabbed his arm and asked, “There’s still half a sack left we haven’t even finished. Why are you giving away a whole sack? That’s the last one we have!”

“Big Brother told me to take it,” Ye Laosi replied as he lifted the sack and walked off.

Madam Guo hurried after him to see what was going on, only to witness Ye Laosi handing the entire sack of corn to Shan Laoda.

Madam Ye immediately declared, “From now on, Qingtian is my daughter. She has nothing to do with your family anymore!”

“I’ve got my own son—who cares!” Shan Laoda said smugly as he weighed the sack in his hand, satisfied, and walked away.

Madam Guo exploded on the spot. During a time of famine, food was life!

Now that the sack of corn was gone, the family was left with only a little over half a sack. How many days could that last for so many people?

“Elder Sister-in-law, have you lost your mind? You gave away that much grain just to bring back some half-dead girl?”

Ye Laosi immediately pulled Madam Guo back. “What are you yelling for? How can you speak to Elder Sister-in-law like that?”

“What did I say that was so wrong?!” Madam Guo raged. “Everyone else is tightening their belts to stretch what little food we have, and she just gives away a whole sack with a single sentence?!”

Big Brother Ye said in a low voice, “I’ll do my best to go out and hunt more. I won’t let everyone starve.”

Madam Ye quickly added, “I’ll eat less from now on too. We’ll save the child’s portion from our own.”

“Easy to say,” Madam Guo scoffed. “But hunting only works if you catch something!”

She turned to rally support. “Second Sister-in-law, Third Sister-in-law, don’t you agree with me?”

Second Sister-in-law of the Ye Family frowned. “We can’t just stand by and watch a child die.”

Third Sister-in-law of the Ye Family was even sharper-tongued. “Big Brother and Sister-in-law have done the most for this family—first helping raise our younger brothers and find them wives, then helping to raise their children. What’s the big deal about using one sack of corn?

“Besides, that corn came from the family’s harvest, and you’ve only been married in for a few days. None of us have any complaints—what business is it of yours?!”

Madam Guo hadn’t expected the backlash to turn on her. Furious, she stomped her foot and stormed back to the cart to complain to Old Madam Ye.

Madam Ye grew anxious. “Husband, we didn’t inform Mother about this beforehand. Do you think she’ll be upset?”

“It’s fine,” Big Brother Ye reassured her. “Mother said long ago that if we came across a good child, we could bring them back and raise them.

“I think Qingtian is just right. Our whole family is full of smelly boys—finally, we’ve got a little girl to dote on!”

As he spoke, he noticed that Madam Guo had already left in a huff. Leaning closer, he whispered to Madam Ye, “Don’t worry. Before we left home, Mother secretly stashed two sacks of grain under the cart and told me about it. The others don’t know.

“I’ll also head out more often to find food. I won’t let anyone in the family go hungry.”

Only then did Madam Ye feel relieved. She looked down at the child in her arms and said softly, “Qingtian, from now on, we’re your Father and Mother, alright?”

Qingtian blinked, not yet answering, when five rowdy boys came rushing over and surrounded her tightly.

“Back off! Don’t scare my daughter!” Big Brother Ye stepped forward and knocked each of them lightly on the head.

“Qingtian is your younger sister now. From this day forward, the lot of you better act like real big brothers—play with her, look after her, and protect her. Got it?”

“Meimei is so skinny!” said Ye Changrui, the eldest of the children, with a worried look.

Her neck wasn’t even as thick as his arm—it looked like it might snap if someone wasn’t careful. Could she even be taken out to play?

“What’s so great about having a younger sister anyway? She’s tiny and scrawny. Who’d want her?”

Fourth Brother, Ye Changfeng, curled his lip in disdain, but his eyes remained glued to Qingtian, unable to look away.

The other three boys, however, were much more carefree, shouting at the top of their lungs.

Ye Changxue yelled, “Meimei, I’m your second brother!”

Ye Changzhao chimed in, “I’m your third brother…”

The youngest, Ye Changlin, couldn’t squeeze through the crowd and had to jump up and down, shouting, “I—I’m a brother too!”

Qingtian had never encountered anything like this before. She blinked her wide eyes, too intimidated to speak.

Madam Shan used to say all the time how hard it was to raise her.

They were counting on her to marry well one day and bring in a hefty bride price—so they could afford to get her little brother a wife.

But now, in this new home, there were five older brothers.

And she was just one little girl… could she really be worth enough to bring in that much bride price for all of them?

If she couldn’t bring in enough bride price, would everyone start to resent her?

Qingtian sucked on her finger, frozen in place by the thought.

“You must be hungry. Come, let’s go eat.” Madam Ye gently coaxed her, then called out to the nephews, “You boys, go wash your hands too.”

The boys were hungry too, of course, but having a new little sister was clearly more exciting than a bowl of tree bark and grass root porridge with barely a grain of rice.

“I’m not going! I want to stay with Meimei!”

“There’s no meat anyway—whoever wants it can have it!”

Little Ye Changlin rubbed his flat, sunken belly and asked, “Auntie, when can we have meat again? Linlin’s all skin and bones.”

Seeing the sparkle of drool at the corner of his mouth, Qingtian couldn’t help thinking the same.

Meat must taste really good… if only she could try it just once.

No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than something dark and feathery with a long tail came flapping wildly through the air.

Ye Changzhao spotted it first and shouted, “A pheasant! It’s a pheasant!”

“Where?!” Ye Changlin hadn’t even located it yet when he suddenly felt something heavy land on his head.

Everyone turned to see a wild pheasant perched squarely atop his head, calmly preening its feathers—Madam Ye’s eyes widened to twice their size in disbelief.

She stammered in a small voice, “L-Linlin, don’t… don’t move.

“If you move, that meat that came knocking on our door will fly away!”

The other four boys also held their breath the moment they saw the wild pheasant. Then, from different directions, they all lunged at it—boys and bird all ended up in a tangled heap on the ground.

Bang—

“Ah—ow!”

“Oww—!”

“You’re crushing me—!”

The five children rolled into a chaotic pile on the ground.

Madam Ye, holding Qingtian in her arms, could only fret on the side. “Hold it down! Don’t let it get away!”

After a burst of wild commotion—

Ye Changrui emerged from the pile of children, chicken feathers stuck to his head and a muddy footprint stamped across his face—no one could tell who had kicked him. Gritting his teeth, he crawled out with great effort and, like a victorious general, raised his right hand to display the spoils of war: a wild pheasant, now nearly plucked bald.

The other four boys scrambled up one after another.

Though all of them were covered in dirt from head to toe, their faces were beaming with wide grins as they cheered in a flurry of excited voices.

Madam Ye was all smiles, her joy overflowing. “Oh my, they always say pie falls from the sky, but who knew a wild pheasant would too?!”

Though Ye Changlin had been squashed beneath his older brothers and pecked by the pheasant a few times, he still joined in the celebration. “We finally get to eat meat!”

Qingtian tugged gently on Madam Ye’s sleeve and asked in a soft voice, “Is meat… tasty?”

“Of course it is! You—” Madam Ye suddenly stopped mid-sentence, a realization hitting her hard.

The reason Qingtian had to ask… was because she’d never tasted meat before.

A sting rose in Madam Ye’s nose, and she choked up as she said, “Mother’s going to stew that pheasant right now. In just a little while, our Qingtian will finally get to eat some meat.”