Chapter 3

People say an elder in the family is a treasure. Though Grandma could not read a single character, she was our anchor. Of the four adults, she alone regained her composure quickly.

Silence followed my story. At last Grandma asked, “Nian Nian, why did that woman hate our whole family so much?”

Hugging my knees, I remembered all that bloodshed. I closed my eyes and answered in a shaking voice, “When the bandits attacked, Bai Yuanqing and I hid behind a boulder. As they drew near, she tried to shove me out so she could survive. I caught her and fought back. She was taken instead, and she hated me—and all of us—for it.”

I had never believed I was wrong. She truly had meant for me to die. My only mistake was clinging to the hope that He Peizhi was still a good brother.

The four adults went ashen. Painful though it was, I described every vile thing He Peizhi had done. They had to know what kind of man he was.

After Bai Yuanqing disappeared, he had sunk into despair for a time, but soon recovered. He acted so normally that it seemed she had never existed.

His talent was impressive enough that no one thought ill of him.

Looking back, he had resented us while still needing our support. That was why, after his success, he sent perfunctory letters and discouraged us from seeking him in the capital.

Now I had laid everything bare. If they still placed their hopes in him, this family held no place for me.

Under their dark stares, I said ruthlessly, “When Bai Yuanqing was taken, He Peizhi ignored everyone’s safety and insisted on searching for her. Because of his stupidity, we were separated from the other villagers. The journey became desperately dangerous, and Grandma was beaten to death by starving refugees.”

Grandpa’s expression changed. He and Grandma had married young and walked through decades together. Important as He Peizhi was, he could never outweigh her in Grandpa’s heart.

Seeing Grandma’s face harden, I pressed on. “Grandma, those two women and He Peizhi cannot stay. Because of them, our family was torn apart, while he seemed to care about nothing but glaring at us with resentment.”

Bai Yuanqing was He Peizhi’s doom, and together they were the doom of the He family.

Who, without living through it, could imagine that He Peizhi would lose all sense of right and wrong for such a woman?

From beginning to end, the only person he pitied was Bai Yuanqing, forever weeping like pear blossoms in the rain. He took his family’s wholehearted sacrifices as his natural due.

Ignoring the shock in their eyes, I went to Grandma, wrapped my arms around her legs, and choked out, “After the bandits stole everything, Xiaochun secretly sold herself into servitude for a measure of grain. Our two-year-old brother starved because he could no longer eat. Second Aunt died of grief soon afterward.”

That was why I dared not tell Second Uncle and Second Aunt. Had we not spent all these years supporting He Peizhi, my youngest brother would not have been born as frail as a kitten.

If Second Aunt learned what a heartless beast He Peizhi was, she would resent not only my parents but perhaps even my grandparents. Before we survived the famine, the He family would already have destroyed itself.

Once I saw that Grandma believed me, I turned to my parents. “Father, Mother, give up on He Peizhi. If you insist on supporting him, then free Second Uncle’s family. Stop sacrificing them for his sake. I will take my younger siblings and form a separate household. Even if we cannot survive and must sell ourselves to a wealthy family, we will never again starve ourselves to feed that ingrate.”

Mother was the hardest to persuade. In her eyes, He Peizhi brought her more honor than any of her other children. He was her pride.

In this rigidly stratified age, the poor could scarcely afford an education. He Peizhi was the He family’s only hope of rising in the world, and that was why they could not let him go.