Yu Xiaolian and Madam Sun were busy until the afternoon, and Yu Xiaolian’s stomach was growling with hunger before Madam Sun finally put down her work to go to the kitchen to cook.
Yu Xiaolian squeezed the last bit of toothpaste into the white porcelain jar and used a small spatula for night cream to smooth the paste. After putting on the lid, she fiercely shook her sore hand.
While Madam Sun cooked, Yu Xiaolian hurried over to help with the firewood.
As Madam Sun was busy, she muttered, "The weather is getting colder these days. I need to hurry and make the cotton clothes. After we eat, we need to tear up some old cloth strips and make some paste to seal the window cracks."
Yu Xiaolian nodded. Although she didn’t feel cold, it was indeed late autumn, and it was time to prepare things like cotton clothes.
Today, for simplicity, Madam Sun cooked frozen dumplings from the supermarket and mixed spicy beef tendon with cucumbers, considering it a simple meal.
Yu Changhe was in the backyard clanging around making a wooden door when he suddenly felt like someone was knocking on the small gate of the backyard. Yu Changhe stopped, listening carefully, and sure enough, someone was knocking.
Just as Yu Changhe was about to go see who it was, Yu Xiaolian came to call him to come inside for dinner, so Yu Changhe asked Yu Xiaolian to go see who had arrived.
Yu Xiaolian went to the back door and looked through the crack, seeing Da An and Xiao An standing outside.
Yu Xiaolian opened the door, "Why are you here?"
After opening the door, Yu Xiaolian realized that behind Da An and Xiao An there was also a middle-aged woman. The woman’s face was pale, her cheekbones protruding, her body unusually thin, like a frail willow in the wind.
How could someone be so thin, already unrecognizable?
The frail woman was carrying a large bundle on her back, and looking at Da An and Xiao An, each of them was also carrying a small bundle.
Could it be that they were going far away?
"Sister, we’re here to repay you!" Da An said, handing Yu Xiaolian a string of copper coins.
Yu Xiaolian didn’t take it and pushed the copper coins back, "I said there’s no need to repay. Are you going far away?"
Da An looked back at his mother, seemingly asking silently.
Only then did An Zai’s mother step forward and say to Yu Xiaolian, "Child, the remedy you gave last time saved my life. We have no other skills and cannot repay you in any other way; we must repay this debt, whatever it takes."
After An Zai’s mother finished speaking, she took the money from Da An’s hand and stuffed it into Yu Xiaolian’s arms.
"The old Scholar who went to Linzhou for the imperial exam from our village came back, saying he saw An Ning and An Le’s dad in Linzhou, saying he became the City Defense General there and... has started a new family," An Zai’s mother said, voice trembling.
She continued, "I don’t believe it. I have to take the children to Linzhou to find him. I won’t believe it unless I ask him in person."
For so many years, she had toiled to raise two sons, unwilling to spend on food or clothing, and would often weep for her husband presumed dead in battle.
She thought her life was already tragic enough, never expecting it could get worse.
When she heard that An Zai’s father was not only alive but had started a new family, she felt as if struck by lightning, her mind blank, unable to distinguish reality from dreams.
When she came back to her senses, her grief and anger were so overwhelming that she decided to take her two children to Linzhou to find their father.
A tiger, no matter how cruel, does not eat its cubs. She couldn’t believe he would abandon his biological sons.
They are the roots of the An Family. If he dared to forsake them, she would crash her head into something right there, haunting him and that woman for a lifetime.
"Linzhou is a long way from Yangcheng, and certainly, you’ll need travel money if you’re going there. Keep this money for emergencies on the road!"
Yu Xiaolian stuffed the copper coins into Da An’s arms again and asked, "How do you plan to get to Linzhou? Surely you’re not going on foot?"
An Zai’s mother, tearful, nodded, "What other way is there? Don’t worry, I have travel expenses. I sold the house and land, and after repaying you, we’ll be on our way."
Yu Xiaolian sighed, seeing that An Zai’s mother was determined to go to Linzhou.
In truth, she had worked hard to raise her two sons and could easily pretend the heartless man was dead.
But she couldn’t swallow this bitterness and was willing to sell her house and land to confront that scoundrel in Linzhou.
Though it was a foolish move, Yu Xiaolian couldn’t stop them even if she wanted to.
She thought about how they might not even get past the threshold of that house in Linzhou, and once the home in Taohua Village was gone, this woman already so frail from malnutrition might not survive.
Linzhou is a thousand miles from Li Yang City. Traveling by carriage would still take over thirty days, and on foot, they might take nearly two months with breaks.
This is if they don’t take unnecessary detours. If they lost their way, the journey would last even longer.
Now the sun was high, and the autumn wind brought a hint of chill. In the early mornings and evenings, the chill would be even more pronounced.
The three of them likely wouldn’t spare the money to stay at inns, and Yu Xiaolian’s accursed sympathy surged again.
Persuading them not to go to Linzhou was impossible, but giving them the carriage, Yu Xiaolian couldn’t bear that.
"Wait a moment," Yu Xiaolian said as she ran into the yard, calling back, "Don’t leave, wait for me a bit."
Yu Xiaolian hurried back inside, found a piece of sackcloth, and grabbed some bread and biscuits from the supermarket, quickly cutting off the packaging with scissors, and wrapped a large bundle of food.
She hefted the bundle and started out the door, then thought for a moment and tucked in a ten-tael silver ingot.
Ten taels of silver meant nothing to her, but in a critical moment, it might save the lives of An Zai’s family of three.
The carriage was far too expensive to give away, but she could afford to part with some food.
When Yu Xiaolian brought the large bundle of food to the door, the shadows of An Zai’s family were already gone, leaving the copper coins lying on the ground.
Yu Xiaolian shouted urgently, "An Ning, An Le..."
The alleyway had long been without their silhouettes. Yu Xiaolian, carrying the bundle, sprinted towards the alley’s entrance.
At the corner, Yu Xiaolian saw the shadows of An Zai’s family and shouted loudly, "Wait for me!"
An Ning turned back, seeing Yu Xiaolian chasing them with the large bundle, wanted to stop, but his mother pulled him away faster.
"I prepared some food for you..."
No matter how Yu Xiaolian called out, the three of them didn’t stop and soon disappeared around the street corner.
Da An and Xiao An, one held in each hand by their mother, were pulled away out of Yangcheng.
"Mom, why didn’t we take the things Yu Xiaolian Sister gave?"
With teary eyes, An Zai’s mother wiped away tears with her sleeve. "I knew she would want to give us something, so I pulled you away. We came to repay money, not to take things."
Da An and Xiao An, half understanding, nodded. No matter what their mother said or did, it was always right.