"Big sister, will it really just be us from now on?" Erni was actually somewhat perplexed. After enduring in silence for so many years, suddenly being free felt surreal to her.
"Truly." Yang Ruxin nodded, "From now on, our family of six will live together, and big sister will work hard to earn lots and lots of money..."
"How much is a lot of money?" Sanni excitedly rolled over and lay on top of Yang Ruxin, her eyes sparkling in the night.
"It means..." Yang Ruxin thought for a moment, "It means buying whatever we want. One day we’ll enclose a large piece of land in the village, then build a magnificent courtyard. Each of you can have your own embroidery building, and I’ll even find maids for you... Xiaofeng can go to school, and then take the imperial examination in Beijing; who knows, he might even come back a Champion..."
Listening to this, Sanni couldn’t help but giggle, "I don’t want a maid. Having someone following me around for every meal and when I need to relieve myself, how uncomfortable would that be?"
"I don’t want one either," Erni laughed along, "I can do work myself, why waste the silver?"
Yang Ruxin smiled, "Then do as you please." But then she suddenly sat up.
Erni and Sanni were startled and quickly sat up as well.
"What’s wrong, big sister?" Erni’s voice was filled with urgency.
"I’ve never really asked for your opinion. Do you guys blame me? Just abruptly splitting the family like this..." Yang Ruxin suddenly wondered if she had been too rash, acting solely on her own ideas. Although she had mentioned it to everyone before, but now... After all, a family is extremely important to people, and she was essentially leaving her own family behind, "Even to the point of falling out with the old house... Will you think I’m too..."
"No." Sanni was the first to shake her head, "I’ve wanted to leave that house for a long time, but I didn’t dare to mention splitting up. I could have been beaten to death for that, and I never thought we could actually do it... I’m not afraid of hardship, big sister. I’m happy now, and I would be even happier if mom could come back to life..."
"We won’t be beaten anymore, so I’m also happy. From now on, we can raise our own chickens and pigs without letting them take everything," Erni nodded, "The people in that house treated us worse than strangers; we’re better off without them..."
"That’s good to hear." Yang Ruxin let out a sigh of relief and lay back down.
"Big sister, I really admire you now." Sanni suddenly giggled, "You have no idea how anxious I’ve been these past few days, always worried that you would suddenly change your mind..."
"Don’t worry, your big sister will only become tougher and tougher," Yang Ruxin also laughed, "Heihei. And you guys need to learn to be tough too. We’ll only be safe from others’ bullying if we are all strong. Don’t you think?"
"Don’t worry, I will become stronger very soon. When big sister is not around, I’ll protect our family," Sanni said with certainty.
"So will I," Erni nodded as well.
"Alright, it’s late. Let’s go to sleep. I need to go up the mountain to look for herbs tomorrow..." Yang Ruxin was content, her siblings hadn’t become disheartened by the hardships, nor did they complain. They still lived with hearts full of gratitude.
Sanni’s eyes suddenly lit up, "Then I’ll go with you tomorrow..."
"No need," Yang Ruxin shook her head, "You and Erni stay at home and watch over the little ones. I reckon the folks from the old house won’t let us go so easily. If someone comes looking for trouble, I’ll feel relieved knowing you’re here..."