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For dinner, Wang Zhenhe brought over food from the neighboring house. Given his wife and children’s injuries, he didn’t let them go over to eat. He felt guilty about how the day had turned out.
Wang Qian looked at the plain corn porridge and the bowl of tasteless cabbage without a drop of oil. She had no appetite. Seeing the two small pieces of corn cakes on the bed curtain, she doubted whether it would be enough for her and her mother.
“Mom, I’ll just have some porridge. I’ll take medicine later. I won’t eat anything else. Forcing myself might make me nauseous.”
Zhang Lan, aware of the symptoms the doctor had mentioned, didn’t force her. After finishing her own piece of corn cake, she planned to save it for the children if they got hungry later at night.
However, Wang Qian spoke up, “Mom, don’t save that piece either. It will become too hard when it cools down, and we won’t be able to eat it. It’s better if you eat it all.”
Touching her daughter’s pale face, Zhang Lan felt a bit distressed. “Silly child, what will you do if you get hungry in the middle of the night? There’s nothing else to eat at home.”
“Mom, we brought something for our sister to eat.” As the three children entered the room, each handed over a half piece of cake.
A half piece of cake meant that the older brother and sister had just eaten half of one, leaving the family with a small piece each for every meal. The laborers received larger pieces of cake.
Wang Qian knew that her siblings hadn’t eaten enough. Even though they had just eaten a small piece, it wasn’t guaranteed to satisfy their hunger, let alone a half piece.
Feeling touched and a hint of happiness, she said, “Brother, sister, I’m full. You guys eat. Look, my stomach is already bulging.”
To show that she truly couldn’t eat anymore, she even lifted her little belly for everyone to see. She couldn’t eat not only because of the situation but also because she had received several IV drips, and her body was filled with medication.
Zhang Lan smiled, embracing the children. “Mingcheng, Mingyuan, Xuan’er, your sister really can’t eat anymore. Hurry up and eat; the cakes won’t taste good when they cool down.”
The children, hearing their mother’s words, picked up the remaining cakes and savored them. After the three children finished their halves, Zhang Lan divided the leftover piece among them.
Wang Zhenhe returned after finishing his meal, taking out another half piece from his pocket. “Wife, keep this for you and the children. You’ve all suffered today. I’ll go find neighbors and some elders later to thoroughly divide this home. From now on, we’ll have no relation to them, even in hardship.”
“Dad, remember to write a contract. If Grandma comes over later and causes trouble, even if we’ve separated, our lives won’t be peaceful,” Mingyuan reminded timely.
Wang Zhenhe nodded with a heroic expression and walked out of the house. “Mom, why does Dad look like that?” Mingcheng asked.
Zhang Lan, on the kang, lifted her youngest daughter, tapping her small nose. “You think your dad is invulnerable? Anyway, that woman is still his birth mother. If things could be sorted out clearly, he wouldn’t be in this state.”
Soon, Wang Zhenhe invited the people he needed, and Zhang Lan was called to the neighboring house. The process of splitting the family was difficult, and several elders and neighbors left the Wang family shaking their heads.
As the couple moved their belongings into the house, the children had already fallen asleep. The parents quickly climbed onto the kang to rest, as they had to move again early the next morning.
The next morning, the Wang family’s courtyard became lively. The neighbors had already started eating breakfast next door. However, the people in Zhang Lan’s house had no share of the meal from today onward. Though the children’s stomachs grumbled with hunger, no one uttered a word. They knew that even if they spoke up, Grandma wouldn’t provide them with food, putting their parents in a difficult situation.
It was the first night Wang Qian slept here, and even she found it strange. Normally, she couldn’t sleep in a new place, but last night, she not only fell asleep but also slept soundly. In the morning, she woke up in her father’s arms.
“Sweetheart, it’s time to get up. Today, we’re moving.”
It was the first time Wang Qian had slept in a stranger’s arms, yet she felt no embarrassment. On the contrary, she found it normal, suspecting that in the past, this body had often been cuddled to sleep by her father.
“Dad, where are we moving to?” The three children, already awake, asked in unison.
This home no longer had a place for them, and the children were concerned about where they would sleep tomorrow night.
“Children, I’ve figured it out. Let’s build a temporary shack just outside the courtyard and stay there for now. When we’ve saved enough money, we can build a new house, okay?”
“Dad, anywhere is fine to live, but can we not build a shack outside Grandma’s courtyard? We’re okay with any other place,” Mingcheng grumbled a bit reluctantly.
“Dad, Grandma only gave us this little stuff,” Wang Qian immediately noticed the few belongings on the ground that would sustain them in the future. It was too little; there was hardly anything.
Three sacks of grain, a pot, a few plates and bowls, a couple of pairs of chopsticks, and utensils—there was nothing else.
“Silly child, that’s why Dad plans to live outside the courtyard. Our family doesn’t even have a water bucket; we’ll have to borrow from your grandma in the future.” Even Wang Zhenhe felt somewhat helpless. The essentials for their daily life were lacking; they didn’t even have a pot lid.
“Dad, during the division, did they not allocate any land for our family?” Wang Qian, who had heard her grandmother talk about self-sustaining land frequently in her previous life, asked.
“Little one, you even know about self-sustaining land? In these past few days, the team leader sent someone to measure. If we don’t have land, we won’t have any vegetables to eat. Sweetheart, come here. Let’s get dressed and later, go out to play with your sister. Dad needs to find someone to help build a house for our family.”
Wang Qian intended to say she could do it herself, but Wang Zhenhe skillfully dressed her in a small backpack and cotton pants, buttoning the straps, putting on a little cotton jacket, and then giving her a pat on her small buttocks. “All done, go play with your brother now.”
In the morning, with no breakfast available, Wang Zhenhe had to send the children out first so that he could focus on the construction of the house.
Zhang Lan entered from outside, “Zhenhe, I borrowed some money from Teacher Liu’s family. We can go buy things together once the house is built.”
Wang Qian and Mingyuan, being the youngest, were shooed out by Zhang Lan to play outside, while the two older ones were asked to stay at home to help.
Mingyuan took his sister for a walk around the village, but most people were having breakfast, and there were few children playing outside. Nevertheless, She observed the surroundings briefly.
The village wasn’t large, with about a hundred households, spread on both sides of the main road. To the north were mountainous areas, and to the south was a sandy ridge. Below the ridge flowed a river from west to east, and on the ridge grew some plants she recognized as locust branches, suitable for making frames. Across the river were slopes with orchards containing various fruit trees. Beyond the orchard, she wasn’t sure what lay. Below the orchard, there was a not-too-large reservoir, presumably used for irrigating the fields. On the north side of the sandy ridge, towards the east, was a portion of paddy fields, while towards the west were the self-sustaining plots for each household.
“Brother, how about we go gather some grass? We don’t have any at home, and if Mom wants to cook for lunch, we won’t have anything to burn.”