Qin Xiangyang took his medicine and seemed to get a little better, but he still couldn’t stop shivering with cold. Despite this, Qin Guohua dragged him into the fields, insisting that he must work. When Qin Xiangyang’s feet touched the ground, his body shook, and he couldn’t stand upright.
Qin Xiangnuan hurriedly ran over and embraced her brother, using her own frail body as a pillar to prevent him from falling.
"Don’t worry, brother is fine," Qin Xiangyang comforted Qin Xiangnuan, whose eyes were red like a rabbit’s. He then combed her hair into two small braids, thinking if he were to die, the only person who would cry for him in this world would be his little sister, who was still so young. How could she survive without him? Therefore, he must be fine; he must not die.
Qin Xiangnuan shook her head with the little braids, somewhat uncomfortable. Her brother had always been the one to braid her hair; his skill in braiding had developed from these experiences. Over the years, being both a father and a mother to her, despite being young himself, he had to take care of his even younger sister.
"Brother, let’s not go. We won’t go," Qin Xiangnuan clung to her brother’s sleeve.
Qin Xiangyang gently rubbed his sister’s head.
"It’s okay. Brother is fine. Once we finish the work in the fields, brother will come back."
Finally, Qin Xiangnuan let go of Qin Xiangyang’s clothes, but she was very afraid and worried inside. She bit her small lips so hard that it hurt. She must find a way to leave the Qin Family with her brother soon so that they could survive.
Outside, Hu Li was scolding someone again, "Is this a pig? Eating so much fine flour at home, do you not know how expensive it is? Always eating and never working, you worthless dog..." The words she spat out were harsh and unbearable to hear.
Such things as worthless dog, always eating and never working, an offspring who costs the parents a fortune.
Qin Xiangnuan knew Hu Li was scolding them, the siblings. Ever since she became their stepmother, scolding them had become Hu Li’s greatest pastime of the day.
Outside, Qin Xiangmei was playing with a branch on the ground. The children at this time had no special toys, no swings, no slides, no rocking horses, no ocean balls, or merry-go-rounds. Country kids’ play involved only sandbags they made themselves, jumping elastics or ropes, and playing with mud.
The loud voices of the older children outside continued to carry over.
"Malan blooms at second address, twenty-six, two hundred fifty-six, two hundred eighty-two, two hundred ninety-one, done.
Learn from Li Xiangyang, never surrender. If the enemy comes to catch me, quickly jump over the wall. If the wall is no use, quickly hide in the tunnels. If the tunnels have bombs, bomb the little Japanese!"
Hu Li went into the house and handed over Qin Xiangmei to Qin Xiangnuan, whose role now also included being Qin Xiangmei’s nanny.
Qin Xiangmei tossed the branch around, picking it back up, then threw it too far and didn’t feel like fetching it herself.
"Hey... dead girl, pick up my branch."
Qin Xiangmei, with her little hands on her hips, called her a ’dead girl,’ clearly mimicking Hu Li. Like mother, like daughter. Right now, Qin Xiangmei looked a lot like Hu Li, but as she grew up, she wouldn’t. She would be beautiful, like a city girl, but strangely, she somehow didn’t look like her younger self anymore.
Qin Xiangnuan opened her eyes; warm light seeped into her pupils, yet suddenly, a chill emerged. She bent down, picked up the branch from the ground, and handed it back to Qin Xiangmei.