Chapter 15: People Have Entered the Village

    He had never seen pig offal before. This was his first time washing it. It smelled bad, but his sister said it was delicious and needed to be washed several times. If it was soaked in water, the smell would fade. His sister knew how to cook with salt and make charcoal. In his heart, his sister was as capable as Brother Xiao. He believed everything his sister said.

    Xie Jiu’er slept for more than an hour. When she woke up, it was completely dark. Chopping sounds came from the kitchen, which meant Zhou shi was already cooking.

    Xiao Jinyu was resting in his room, and Wuyang was helping Zhou shi add firewood. When Xie Jiu’er entered, there was a pile of thinly sliced lean meat on the cutting board, along with ground moss and dog milkweed. Zhou shi saw Xie Jiu’er’s sleepy appearance at the door and smiled lovingly. “Jiu’er’s awake. You must be tired from rendering the fat today!”

    “I’m fine,” Xie Jiu’er yawned and said slowly.

    “Wait a little while; we’re having roasted taro and mushroom stir-fried meat tonight,” Zhou shi said, skillfully working at the stove.

    Perhaps she had smelled too much oil while rendering the fat during the day, but Xie Jiu’er wasn’t hungry at all in the evening. She ate a roasted taro and went back to sleep. When night fell completely, heavy snow started falling.

    Before falling asleep, Xie Jiu’er felt fortunate that they had enough food before the snow blocked the mountain. The kang was heated by Zhou shi, and red-hot charcoal was placed on the floor. The family had never lived so comfortably.

    They didn’t have to worry about freezing or being hungry. When the weather was cold, they could sleep more. They didn’t have to worry about someone standing in the courtyard and scolding them for being lazy and not working or sleeping in. It was really good.

    The next day, the sky was gloomy, and the snow hadn’t stopped. The snow in the courtyard had already reached their ankles. Xie Jiu’er got up and took out the pig offal that Wuyang had been washing for several times, drained the water, and buried it in the snow. She remembered that her grandfather often used snow to remove the strange smell from the offal, and the effect was good.

    They were destined to stay at home today. For breakfast, each person drank half a bowl of porridge and ate a roasted taro. The weather was getting colder; it was truly the coldest time of the year.

    Fortunately, Xie Jiu’er made charcoal every other day. Even if she didn’t make it for five or six days, there would be enough charcoal. They already had two rabbit skins.

    The first rabbit skin was made a few days ago. The second one was made in the same way, using ancient methods to tan it into soft leather.  They tied ropes to both ends, and two simple rabbit neck warmers were ready.

    Zhou shi looked at the neck warmers in her hands, a smile on her face. She stretched out her rough, cracked hands and touched the soft fur inch by inch. “My daughter is so skillful.  Those heartless people bullied you badly before. But Mother’s skin is thick and doesn’t need this. You two siblings can each have one.”

    Wuyang blinked. A few days ago, Brother Xiao had told him that as the man of the house, he should learn to protect his sister and mother. “Mother, I’m a man; I’m not afraid of the cold. You and Sister can each have one of these neck warmers; I don’t need one.”

    He then struck a pose he thought was cool.  Seeing Wuyang’s comical look, Xie Jiu’er and Zhou shi burst into laughter. Zhou shi scolded him with a smile, “You little brat, you’re so cocky.”

    In the end, Wuyang and Jiu’er couldn’t refuse Zhou shi, so the two neck warmers ended up around their necks. Xiao Jinyu’s clothes were much better than theirs; keeping warm wasn’t a problem.

    After eating, Zhou shi and Xie Jiu’er took turns chopping meat, and Wuyang actively brought firewood. They had a quick lunch and worked until dark before finishing rendering the meat and storing it in jars.

    In the afternoon, a commotion suddenly came from the usually quiet village. Xie Jiu’er quickly got up. “With such heavy snow, how come I hear people entering the village?”

    She went to the door to check and saw a large group of people arriving in the village. “They’re refugees.”

    Xiao Jinyu appeared at some point, looking at the ragged men, women, and children downstream of the village with a thoughtful expression.

    “From their accent, they should be from nearby. But didn’t they all leave? Why are they back?”

    Xie Jiu’er looked suspiciously at those people rummaging through things in the village, making a lot of noise. Some people had already started breaking branches from trees to make fires.

    “Let’s go and ask what’s going on?” Xiao Jinyu said, walking toward the door. Xie Jiu’er followed closely behind.

    Seeing the two of them coming, an old man’s face lit up. “There are people in this village.”

    Hearing this, the others looked in their direction. A dark-faced man looked greedily at them. “If there are people, there’s food, right?”

    The old man glared at him disapprovingly. “The war is over, don’t have any bad thoughts. Even if there is food, it belongs to them. We should be polite.”

    When they arrived, Xiao Jinyu pursed his lips and looked at Xie Jiu’er. Xie Jiu’er stepped forward. “Grandpa, which village are you from? Why did you come here?”

    The old man smiled at Xie Jiu’er. “Girl, our village is still several mountains away. It’s getting dark, and the snow is so heavy, so we want to stay in your village for one night. We’ll leave at dawn tomorrow.”

    “Didn’t everyone nearby leave? Why did you come back?”

    Xie Jiu’er asked in confusion, already guessing that a new dynasty had probably been established.

    “Well, isn’t there no more war now? We originally wanted to find a richer village to settle down, but the court wouldn’t allow it. They said that everyone should return to their original place. After surviving the winter, next spring, the court will distribute seeds according to the population. If they find out that someone is from another place, they won’t distribute seeds.”

    The old man hung his head dejectedly, looking very aggrieved.

    Then, he belatedly asked, “Girl, you didn’t flee, did you? You don’t look like you’ve suffered outside.”

    Xie Jiu’er looked behind the old man.  It was true. Their clothes were tattered and dirty, their feet and hands were covered with frostbite and scabs; they looked like mud sculptures. One could only tell their age from their figures.

    “Yes, my brother was injured and couldn’t endure the hardship of fleeing, so we didn’t leave.”

    She looked at the dozens of people opposite, afraid they might have bad intentions, and added dryly, “Fortunately, he’s recovered now.”

    “Is that so? Girl, I can see that you haven’t gone hungry. You have food. Could you spare some for us? We haven’t eaten anything for two days. We were almost home, but my old woman was cold and hungry and didn’t survive last night’s snow. She starved to death in a village below,” the old man bowed, begging.