Jiang Wanting planned to find a handy tool to smash the lock open. She was starving to death and needed food to survive.  

As she glanced around in the dim light, she heard voices coming from the east room. Tiptoeing closer, she listened.  

“No matter what, we can’t let that damn girl stay here. Eldest, you go to Niu Zi’s place again tomorrow and hurry him up to take that dead girl back. And make sure he hands over another hundred yuan—get it in writing. Once she’s in his house, if she runs away, it’s none of our business.” It was Old Lady Jiang’s voice. Clearly, she hadn’t given up.  

“Alright, I’ll go push him again tomorrow. Don’t know what’s wrong with Niu Zi today—how could he let Tingting run back?” The eldest, Jiang Daliang, mumbled drowsily. He and his son slept on one side of the kang (heated brick bed), while Old Lady Jiang slept on the other, with enough space in between for several more people.  

“Don’t forget to squeeze another hundred out of Niu Zi for Daya. She’s studying in Beijing—expenses are high. We can’t let people look down on her. That bastard Jiang Wanting, I don’t know what’s gotten into her today. She hit me so hard my head still hurts… Aiyo… Eldest, you must make sure Daya doesn’t turn out so unfilial.”  

“Daya will definitely bring honor to our family. In a couple of months, Second Brother will be back, and he might bring a few hundred yuan in wages. We’ll send some more to Daya then and save some for Zhuzi too. He’ll need a wife in another ten years or so.” Even half-asleep, Jiang Daliang didn’t forget to secure benefits for his son, Zhuzi.  

“Ugh… Go to sleep already. Tomorrow, make sure Meiling does all the work in the fields. That’ll teach her to disobey.” Just as the old woman finished speaking, she sensed something amiss. “Eldest, do you hear something outside?” She sat up. “Sounds like something’s being smashed?”  

Jiang Daliang perked up, straining his ears. “Sounds like someone’s breaking into the cabinet!”  

“The cabinet?” Old Lady Jiang slapped her thigh in panic and scrambled off the kang. “Oh no! My eggs—did Meiling steal them?”  

She rushed to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge. “Why won’t it open? Eldest, come look!”  

Jiang Daliang also got up to push, but the door remained firmly shut.  

Old Lady Jiang banged on the door and shouted, “Meiling! Meiling! Open the door for your mother!”  

Jiang Daliang lay back down on the kang. “Forget it, it’s just a few eggs. She and her daughter didn’t eat a bite today. If you starve them to death, who’s going to take care of you later?”  

But the old woman kept pounding. Unbeknownst to her, two shovels were wedged tightly against the door from the outside. Meanwhile, Jiang Wanting took an axe and hacked open the cabinet in a few strikes. Inside were two or three dozen eggs, some white steamed buns, and sweet potatoes.  

Jiang Wanting didn’t hold back. She lit a fire, boiled water, and dumped all the eggs into the pot. While they cooked, she stuffed the five white buns and sweet potatoes into a sack and hauled them to the small, dilapidated room where she and Chen Meiling slept.  

When she returned, the eggs were done. She packed them up and carried them back to the room as well. Before leaving the kitchen, she glared at the stove, then viciously stuffed more firewood and a few lumps of coal into it. She also jammed one end of a broom into the flames. Then, quietly, she removed the shovels blocking the door.  

Old Lady Jiang didn’t come out.  

After returning, Jiang Wanting hoisted the sack onto her back and crouched low, inching along the wall toward the courtyard gate. As she passed the kitchen, she saw the flames burning even brighter.  

Finally outside, she carefully closed the wooden gate, making sure the door rings didn’t clang.  

Just as she turned to leave, someone tapped her shoulder.  

Jiang Wanting nearly jumped out of her skin.  

“What are you doing out so late?” Chen Meiling whispered behind her.  

Jiang Wanting exhaled in relief and turned around. “Do you have a hiding spot? Somewhere only you know about?”  

Chen Meiling glanced around, confirming no one was nearby, then quickly pulled Jiang Wanting into a corner outside the courtyard wall. They stared at each other’s sacks, momentarily stunned.  

Jiang Wanting opened hers first. “I boiled all the eggs and took them. There are also five buns and some sweet potatoes. I couldn’t find any meat or other food.”  

“You… stole them?”  

“Yeah, so we need to hide them fast!”  

Chen Meiling looked at Jiang Wanting in disbelief. Ever since she’d fallen into the water, she seemed… different. “I know a place. Follow me!”  

Nights in the countryside were either bright with moonlight or pitch-black. Tonight was the latter—so dark you couldn’t see your own hand. Clutching Chen Meiling’s sleeve, Jiang Wanting stumbled after her, stepping blindly until they finally stopped.  

“There’s a small hole here,” Chen Meiling pointed. Jiang Wanting squinted but saw nothing. “We’ll stash the stuff inside and cover it with weeds. No one will find it. Look, I got some food too.”  

She opened her own sack. Though Jiang Wanting still couldn’t see, Chen Meiling explained, “I snuck into someone else’s field and took some sweet potatoes and corn. I also borrowed one yuan. I was just worrying about how to cook them for you, but now it’s fine. Eat some eggs first. Tomorrow, carry the food and take this money to the town or the city. I still have things to handle here, so I can’t go with you. Stay hidden by this hole tonight—don’t make a sound. Leave at dawn.”  

After giving her instructions, Chen Meiling prepared to go back. She couldn’t stay away too long. If Old Lady Jiang discovered the stolen food and realized Jiang Wanting was missing, she’d rally the whole village to search. Then there’d be no escape. Chen Meiling had to return in time—if anything happened, she’d take the blame.

Jiang Wanting grabbed Chen Meiling’s arm. “Why go back? Do you plan to let them bully you for the rest of your life?”  

Chen Meiling hesitated. “If I don’t go back… where else can I go?”  

“Come with me. Let’s go to the city. Even begging would be better than starving and getting beaten every day here.”  

In the pitch-black night, Chen Meiling saw the determination in Jiang Wanting’s eyes. For some reason, she found it hard to refuse. But… if she left the Jiang family, where would she go? What would she do?  

Jiang Wanting sensed her hesitation. “What’s there to fear? You managed to raise me in this hellhole and survive. Do you really think we can’t make it out there?”  

“I…” Chen Meiling wavered. She was afraid—both of leaving and of returning. But at least going back had predictable consequences: a few extra days of labor, a few extra beatings. Leaving, though? She had no idea how to navigate the outside world. So much had changed in the past nineteen years.  

“If you’re really scared, just stay behind me. You raised me for eighteen years—now it’s my turn to take care of you.” Jiang Wanting couldn’t abandon this woman who had raised the original Jiang Wanting. She reminded her too much of her past self—stuck in one place, too afraid to take that first step.  

Chen Meiling looked at her with tearful pride, stroking her thin face. “My girl’s grown up. You know how to care for your mother now. I always knew you were better than Jiang Daya—it’s just that everyone else is blind.” She sniffled. “But it’s not realistic for me to escape with you. That one yuan isn’t even enough for one person’s fare, let alone two. And without an introduction letter, if your grandmother reports us, we’ll both be dragged back. You go alone. I’ll hold things down here.”  

Jiang Wanting suddenly remembered—this was an era where travel tickets and lodging required official introduction letters. So she couldn’t just leave on a whim.  

She quickly changed her plan. “Then we won’t leave. If you’re not going, neither am I. But we can’t go back to the Jiang house either. Before I left, I set a fire. Who knows how bad it is now? If you go back, I’ll have to follow, and we’ll both end up beaten to death.”  

“You—you set a **fire**?” Chen Meiling stared at her in horror. How could she be so bold?  

“Neither of us can go back. So tell me—do you want to split from the family? Leave that hellhole and live on our own, just the two of us.”  

This time, Chen Meiling didn’t hesitate. She nodded fiercely. “Yes! I can handle the fieldwork alone. You focus on recovering at home. We’ll grow our own food and never go hungry again… But will the Jiang family agree?”  

“If they don’t, they’ll lose their lives.” Jiang Wanting smirked and pointed.  

Chen Meiling turned. In the distance, toward the Jiang house, a faint glow of flames licked at the roof in the dark night.  

….

Old Lady Jiang and Jiang Daliang had already fled outside. The third son’s family, who lived in the adjacent room, had also rushed out. Several people were now running toward the river with buckets, while Old Lady Jiang banged on neighbors’ doors for help. The two children huddled fearfully by the wall.  

Soon, neighbors from both sides came to assist. They used all the water from their own storage jars to douse the flames, but the distance was too great—scoop by scoop, it made little difference. Someone noticed two large water vats outside the Jiang kitchen and lifted the lids—both were full.  

“There’s water here!”  

At the shout, the men abandoned fetching water from their own homes.  

Old Lady Jiang rushed to stop them. “No, no! That’s our drinking water for tomorrow! Don’t waste it—go get water from the river!”  

A neighbor woman scoffed. “We’re helping you, and you’re still picky? You think any of us have energy to spare after a full day’s work? If you don’t want to use your water, then let the fire burn.”  

The men ignored the old woman. Another neighbor frowned. “Aunt Jiang, where’s your second daughter-in-law and her girl? Haven’t seen them this whole time.”  

Old Lady Jiang spat to the side. “Probably lazing around in their room. Too good to help even in an emergency. After all we’ve fed them—ungrateful wolves.”  

The neighbor said nothing but rolled her eyes discreetly. Soon, Jiang Daliang and the third son returned with river water. By then, the fire was mostly out. They dumped four buckets at once, finally extinguishing the last flames.  

Luckily, only the kitchen had burned. The adjacent rooms were mostly unharmed, though everything was filthy with soot.  

The neighbors dispersed, leaving the Jiang family to clean up the mess.  

Old Lady Jiang surveyed the wrecked kitchen and snapped at the third son’s wife, “Go fetch your second sister-in-law. Make her clean this up. How dare she hide during all this? Who does she think she is?”  

The daughter-in-law hurried to the small back room, knocking and calling—but no one answered. When she pushed the door open, the room was empty.  

“Mother! They’re gone!” she shouted, running back. “Second Sister-in-law and Tingting—they’ve disappeared!”