Chapter 5

Yun Shuang watched her leave, then turned around and crouched down beside Goudan, who was clearly troubled and remorseful after realizing he’d made a mistake. She spoke gently, “Do you understand that what you did was wrong?”

Goudan was a smart child. Angry as he was, he still realized that his words had brought a lot of trouble for his mother. He turned his head away and muttered, “I know.”

“Where did you go wrong?”

Silence.

Yun Shuang let out a wry chuckle. This kid was like a sealed jar—no telling who he inherited that temperament from. She deliberately kept a stern face and said, “Goudan, listen carefully. No matter the situation, before you can protect yourself, you can’t just rush out and confront people. That will only hurt you and those around you. Do you understand?”

The skinny boy’s body suddenly trembled slightly. His expression twisted with emotion, and he suddenly turned his head, eyes red, shouting, “But they’re clearly the ones in the wrong! All the village kids are whispering that you’re going to marry that fool, and that Erya and I will have to call him Father! I don’t want you to marry that fool! I won’t call that fool Father!”

Yun Shuang furrowed her brow. No wonder he’d stopped Erya from eating the candy Sister Miao gave them. Judging by his reaction, he must’ve just recently heard those nasty rumors—meaning they only started spreading recently. She wasn’t sure if the kids overheard something by accident, or if Sister Miao had intentionally started the gossip to pressure her.

Suppressing the chill in her eyes, Yun Shuang spoke slowly and deliberately: “They’re in the wrong, yes. But that doesn’t change the fact that you can’t yet defend yourself. Even if they’re wrong, your priority should still be self-protection.”

“But… are we just supposed to let them say those things about you?”

“Goudan, have you ever heard the saying, ‘A gentleman’s revenge may wait ten years’?”

Goudan froze, his face blank with confusion, and shook his head.

Well, it made sense—these two children struggled even to get enough food, let alone receive any form of education or enlightenment.

Yun Shuang patiently said, “This saying means that when you encounter bad things, you can remember them first and wait until you’re strong enough to get revenge. That’s the smart way to go about it. Besides, who says revenge only means charging straight out and yelling at someone face-to-face?”

Goudan’s expression turned stunned, as if a whole new world had opened to him. “You mean… there are other ways?”

“Of course.”

Yun Shuang smiled. “I’ll teach you and Erya slowly in the future. Oh, and another thing—Sister Miao’s son Huang Sanlang has a mental illness. It’s not his fault, and he’s never bullied you or Erya. How could you just keep calling him a fool?”

Goudan opened his mouth, realizing he might be in the wrong, but stubbornly replied, “But everyone else calls him that…”

Yun Shuang’s face turned serious. “So if someone bullies Erya, would you follow along and bully her too?”

Sleepy Erya, who’d been nodding off against Yun Shuang’s shoulder, suddenly snapped awake. Her little fist rubbed her eyes, and she looked around warily. “Who bullied Erya? Who!”

Goudan immediately reacted, shouting, “Of course not! I… I would never bully Erya, and I won’t let anyone else bully her either!”

Yun Shuang chuckled and reached out, pulling the groggy little girl into her arms. She whispered, “No one bullied Erya. I was just giving your brother an example.”

Then she turned to the boy across from her and softened her voice. “So, just because others do something doesn’t mean we should too. ‘Never think (Wuyi) a kindness is too small to do, and never think a misdeed too small to avoid.’ When we judge whether something is right to do, we should look at the deed itself.”

Goudan, clearly persuaded, still looked confused as he listened. “What… what does ‘Never think (Wuyi)’ mean? Is that someone you know, Mother?”

“Ah!”

Erya immediately stood upright, alarmed like her mom had someone on the side. “Mother, is ‘Never think (Wuyi)’ really well-behaved? Are you going to like that kid and not us anymore?”

Yun Shuang: “…” She finally understood what it felt like to raise two completely illiterate children.

“‘Never think (Wuyi)’ isn’t a person—it’s… oh, never mind. I’ll explain these things to you two slowly over time.”

Yun Shuang stood up, visibly exasperated. To her dismay, the kids got even more stubborn and wouldn’t let the matter drop. They kept chasing after her, asking who this ‘Never think (Wuyi)’ person was. That night, Yun Shuang actually dreamed of a polite child introducing himself as ‘Never Think (Wuyi).’

The next morning, Yun Shuang woke up abruptly and was starving. The whole previous day, she’d only had a bowl of fish soup, half a taro, and—under Erya’s guilt-inducing gaze about wasting food—she painfully finished the mushroom soup and charred fish Goudan and Erya had saved for her. No wonder she felt hungry after all that.

Yun Shuang gazed at the gentle morning light streaming through the window and sighed softly. The light was beautiful, yes—but when she thought about their mere ten copper coins and their bare, empty home, all the warmth of morning vanished from her heart. She still had to find a way to earn money quickly.

While brooding over that thought, Yun Shuang turned over—only to come face-to-face with a pair of shiny black eyes staring straight at her. She blinked in surprise, then recalled: last night, the three of them had slept together. There was only one bed in the house. Sleeping separately was out of the question. Tucked furthest inside, Goudan was still sound asleep from exhaustion. Yun Shuang glanced down at the little girl beside her, who had woken up sometime during the night.

Smiling, she asked, “Erya, why don’t you sleep a little longer?”

The little girl shook her head, leaned close to Yun Shuang’s ear, and whispered like she was sharing a secret, “Erya can’t sleep. I’m thinking about things.”

Yun Shuang couldn’t help but chuckle. “What are you thinking about?”

Compared to Goudan, this child had clearly been shielded well—her thoughts were simpler.

Erya whispered, “I think the village chief’s wife was wrong yesterday. Mother is definitely prettier than Sister Pei!”

Yun Shuang raised her brows slightly, surprised that this was what the child had been mulling over.

Erya added in her tiny voice, “I heard other aunties say Sister Pei is the most beautiful girl in the village. Someday she’ll marry someone really, really impressive. Mother, will that impressive person be the father of Sister Pei’s children in the future? I want a very impressive father, too. That way, no one can bully me, or big brother, or you. Mother, why don’t we have a father?”

It wasn’t the first time she’d asked this question. Every time before, Mother would get very sad, so Erya had stopped asking. But she seemed different now. Maybe asking just once would be okay?

Staring into those wide, innocent eyes brimming with hope, Yun Shuang was briefly speechless. How would she know who their father was?

All that was left of the original memory of that man was the moment his hand snatched away her jade pendant.

Tch. That thought irritated Yun Shuang. If they still had the pendant, they wouldn’t be left with just ten copper coins to their name. That man had done nothing but cause trouble. And yet the little girl still waited for her answer, her eyes blinking expectantly. Even the boy facing away from them seemed to twitch—his ear tilting as if to listen in.

Yun Shuang looked up toward the sky, exasperated. “Your father probably got lost and still hasn’t found his way home.”

She had no desire to be entangled with that man—and wasn’t even sure whether he’d joined forces with that scoundrel to torment the original Yun Shuang. But all that adult mess wasn’t something two kids needed to know. Let them hold on to a slightly idealized version of their so-called father for now.

Then, pretending not to notice Erya’s bright-eyed eagerness to keep asking questions, she sat up and said, “Time to get up! Today we’re going to work hard to gather ingredients for a few days. You both have to help!”

After washing up, the trio was about to head out when a loud commotion suddenly erupted outside—”Deserter alert! Deserter alert! The military officers from the garrison are here to arrest a deserter!”