Chapter 3: The New Courtyard Was Very Remote

The new courtyard was quite secluded, located at the eastern edge of the village. Looking eastward, one could see Xiao Qing Mountain in the distance.

Fortunately, the courtyard walls were tall enough, and the clan uncles and elder brothers helped to build sturdy barred gates.

After a whole day of commotion, the four siblings finally settled down.

Standing inside the courtyard, the four of them stared at each other wide-eyed, exchanging glances as if they were dreaming.

Today, Big Brother’s resolve was unwavering; he was even willing to risk death to make clear his determination to take his younger siblings away from the Song family. This made Song Jinxiu look at him with newfound respect.

“Big Brother, are you alright?” Song Jinxiu asked with concern.

Song Chunsheng shook his head.

Now that they had truly left that household, Song Chunsheng felt a surge of excitement. Yet, at the same time, a faint sense of fear lingered deep in his heart.

He knew all too well the true nature of the Song family. When Grandfather Lizheng threatened to disown him completely, it was merely to intimidate him.

Because his eldest cousin was studying in the county seat, he understood how seriously the old master valued the family’s reputation. There was no way the family would allow a disloyal descendant who severed ties to exist among them.

The reason they were able to successfully break away from the Song family today was partly because he and his sister looked truly pitiful, and Grandfather Lizheng genuinely felt pity for them.

Another reason was that the eldest cousin and Grandfather Lizheng’s grandson were both studying in the county seat, and the eldest cousin always overshadowed his grandson.

He had often seen Grandfather deliberately showing off the eldest cousin in front of Grandfather Lizheng, and later admitting at home that it was meant to provoke Grandfather Lizheng.

He thought, if even he could see through Grandfather’s little schemes, how could Grandfather Lizheng not understand?

So, if he could win Grandfather  Lizheng’s favor, Grandfather Lizheng would surely be more than willing to help.

That was why, when he saw Grandfather Lizheng leading people over, he didn’t hesitate to seek Grandfather Lizheng’s help at all costs. In this Song family village, the only person who could stand up for the siblings was Grandfather Lizheng.

It must be understood that Grandfather Lizheng was the son of the clan leader, so his words carried the same weight as the clan leader’s.

If Grandfather Lizheng had not stood up for them then, leaving that household would have been nearly impossible.

Moreover, with today’s uproar, he had bet everything on this one chance. If he failed and Grandfather Lizheng left, what awaited them would be a bottomless abyss…

“We must remember Grandfather Lizheng’s kindness. No matter what, he helped us.”

Song Chunsheng looked at his younger brothers and sisters.

“Wuya, Qiusheng, we might have to endure hard times ahead. Would you blame Big Brother for bringing you out?”

“Wherever Big Brother and Sister go, I’ll follow. I’m not afraid of hardship. We couldn’t even get enough to eat in that house, so I’m not afraid of going hungry.”

Wuya was nine years old and understood that Big Brother was looking out for her.

Song Qiusheng still clung tightly to Sister’s hem.

Since Mother left, this child had been especially insecure. He either clung to Big Brother’s sleeve or gripped Sister’s skirt.

He still didn’t say a word, only staring up at Big Brother with wide eyes.

Song Qiusheng nodded. He loosened his grip on Sister’s hem and came forward to hold Big Brother’s fingers.

Song Jinxiu gently ruffled his hair.

This child used to speak before. Although his speech wasn’t very clear, he was still a normal kid.

Since Mother left, he had become silent like a closed gourd—no matter who asked, he wouldn’t say a word, nor would he smile. He just stared blankly at you. The Song family said he was dull and slow-witted.

In truth, the child was probably just frightened.

There was no bed in the house, but luckily it was spring now and not very cold. The siblings gathered dry straw and made a bedding on the floor.

“Big Brother, how do we cook dinner?”

They had eaten lunch at Grandfater Lizheng’s house. Now, there was coarse grain at home, but no pot. How were they going to make dinner?

Song Chunsheng took out a handful of roasted beans. “These were given by Clan Elder’s Fifth Madam. Eat some beans first to fill your stomach; we’ll figure out the rest tomorrow.”

He was utterly exhausted—his body and mind had been tense all day. Now that he finally relaxed, the pain in his injured leg worsened sharply, and he suddenly couldn’t move his foot.

As he spoke, he handed out the beans to his younger brothers and sisters, then reached back into his pocket and pulled out a few more to give to Song Jinxiu.

“Sanya, why are you calling me ‘Big Brother’ all of a sudden? Are you trying to sound like city folks?” His sister had called him ‘Big Brother’ all day today, which felt quite novel to him.

Song Jinxiu paused, recalling how in her previous life she was used to addressing senior disciples as ‘Shixiong.’ She smiled softly.

“I heard others call you that. If you don’t like it, I’ll go back to calling you ‘Ge’.”

Song Chunsheng smiled and said, “Call me whatever you like. It doesn’t matter. Now we finally have a home of our own. Go wash the blood off your face quickly, but be careful of the fresh scars. Ah! I wonder if they’ll leave marks.”

Today, he and his sister had purposely left the bloodstains on their faces unwashed, hoping to play up their misfortune in front of the clan elders. By gaining their sympathy, things would go more smoothly.

Sure enough, the clan had been very kind to them—giving them a courtyard and some rations.

Wash their faces? What was there to wash with in this courtyard?

There wasn’t even drinking water. What could they possibly use to wash their faces?

This courtyard had been vacant for too long; anything usable had long since been taken.

Song Jinxiu searched around and found only a broken clay jar and a gourd ladle with a chipped mouth.

Whether they washed their faces or not didn’t matter. What mattered now was figuring out how to boil water. After eating the roasted beans, the younger siblings would need something to drink.

“Chunsheng, Chunsheng, open the door!”

At that moment, Tietou’s voice came from the gate.

Song Jinxiu hurried over and opened the barred gate. “Brother Tietou, what are you doing here?”

“My mother asked me to bring you some food.”

Tietou was carrying a water gourd.

He looked around the courtyard, scratched his head, and said, “You really have nothing here at all. This gourd is filled with sorghum porridge. How about each of you takes a sip in turn?”

Song Jinxiu glanced at the gourd ladle in her hand, which had a chipped mouth. “I’ll go wash this ladle and use it as a bowl.”

With that, she started to leave.

“Hey, Sanya, wait!”

Tietou called after her.

“You’ve got blood all over your face—don’t run around like that, it looks scary. I’ll go fetch a bucket of water. We can make do with that for now.”

Without waiting for a reply, Tietou handed the gourd to Song Chunsheng and turned to leave.

“All right, let’s drink the porridge first.”

Song Chunsheng glanced at Xiaodi^[1]Song Qiusheng- the youngest, who was staring at the gourd and swallowing hard, then handed it to him first.

The four siblings didn’t mind at all. Taking turns, one sip after another, they began drinking the porridge.

Song Jinxiu also took a couple of sips.

She had wanted to be picky, but seeing her brothers and sisters looking up at her so expectantly, she gave in.

After all, they had come to this point—what was the use of being fussy now? These few were the original owner’s closest blood relatives, and none of them had any contagious illness. Being particular now would only hurt their feelings.

As dusk approached, Tietou arrived carrying two buckets of water.

“My family’s water jar is full—it should last two or three days. I’ll leave these buckets at your place for now. When our water runs out, I’ll come back to get them.”

“All right, thank you for the trouble,” Song Chunsheng nodded.

“Hah, we’re like family,” Tietou said as he glanced around the courtyard. “I’ll come again tomorrow with a pickaxe and hoe to clear out the weeds in the yard.”

Then he turned to Song Qiusheng. “Little Qiusheng, don’t go peeing in the grass at night. It’s spring—be careful of snakes.”

Tietou’s warning reminded the siblings. After he left, Song Jinxiu and her Big Brother lit a torch and grabbed wooden sticks to beat around the courtyard, trying to scare out any hidden snakes.

Finding none, they continued pounding and tapping inside the house—on the walls, the corners, and the beams. That’s when they actually discovered venomous creatures: scorpions.

“Ah! There are scorpions inside the house!”

Wuya screamed in fright.

The scorpions weren’t large, but there were several of them.

They killed two of the bigger ones, while a few smaller ones slipped into the cracks of the walls.

Song Jinxiu frowned. With scorpions around, they couldn’t sleep near the walls or corners.

“Brother, let’s all sleep in the center of the room. When dawn comes, we can find some quicklime to sprinkle around.”

Song Chunsheng nodded; there was no better option.