Chapter 2

Chapter 2

There was nothing to be satisfied about.

In my dream, she died a miserable death, and so did I.

A shared fate bound us together. I wanted to see what kind of character she truly possessed, and I also wanted to carve out a path of survival for myself.

I took her bundle, led her into the house, and got her settled.

She was both shocked and aggrieved.

“I’m staying here? And sharing a bed with you?”

She sized me up, her gaze unable to hide her disdain. She likely thought I was filthy and felt it beneath her to share a bed with me.

“I’ll sleep in the same room as Grandma. You sleep by yourself.”

Only then did she look satisfied, though her expression turned to one of chagrin as she looked at the crude, simple furniture.

“Do you have any idea how wealthy the pa… ahem… our family is? You could be living a good life, yet you insist on this. Even though I’m not their biological daughter, my parents treat me as their own. Have you ever considered the consequences if I go back and say something?”

I listened with impatience.

It was early winter. I needed to hurry up the mountain to gather wild vegetables and hunt some game.

The round trip took four hours, and the sun set early. I truly had no time to listen to her grumbling.

I interrupted her.

“It seems you aren’t hungry, so we’ll skip breakfast. I’m going out for a while. Grandma’s legs aren’t good, so keep an eye on her. If anything happens, go find Aunt Zhang next door.”

I shouldered my basket, took my bow and arrows, and whispered a single sentence into Grandma’s ear: “Don’t be soft-hearted.”

Grandma squeezed my hand and gave me a private, knowing smile.

She was happy.

Relieved, I stepped out and headed toward the mountain.

I had learned my hunting skills from my father.

He had been a renowned hunter in the area.

While serving in the army, he had injured his leg, leaving him with a limp. Since then, his leg ailments often flared up, and the task of hunting for a living fell to me.

The year he passed away, we sold all the livestock to pay for his treatment.

He had wanted a taste of meat broth. By the time I finally managed to hunt a rabbit and bring it back, he was already gone.

Since then, I had practiced my archery relentlessly so that Grandma and I could finally have a bite of meat during the winter.

I checked several traps I had set on the mountain. Luck wasn’t on my side; no pheasants or rabbits had fallen into them.

I gathered wild vegetables while waiting for my luck to turn.

By the time I descended the mountain and returned home, the sky was pitch black.

Grandma was waiting for me at the door.

Though she tried her best to smile, we had lived together for many years. With just one look, I knew her day at home had not been pleasant.

“Where is she?”

“In the room. You must be exhausted today; hurry and eat something.”

As she served the food, I counted the bowls. A few were missing.

I checked the rice vat; a significant amount of rice was gone.

The vegetable basket was also missing quite a lot.

I remained silent for a moment. Instead of speaking, I ate my meal and helped Grandma sort the gathered wild vegetables into bamboo trays to dry in the sun tomorrow.

Farm folk didn’t have much to eat in the winter; we relied on wild greens and pickled vegetables to survive the long months.

Once we finished, Grandma and I went to bed without sparing Ah Si a single glance.

Grandma was worried, whispering, “She hasn’t eaten all day. She won’t eat the food I made.”

“That’s because she isn’t hungry. Go to sleep! Don’t overthink it.”

Grandma let out a long sigh and tossed and turned all night.

I, however, was exhausted and slept soundly.

In the middle of the night, I was awoken by a shrill scream.

It was Ah Si.

I lit a lamp and went over.

She was a mess of panic, clutching her quilt and still screaming.

“A mouse! A mouse! There’s a mouse!”

Oh.

The mouse had already scurried away, so naturally, there was nothing to see.

She was both angry and anxious, her gaze filled with resentment.

“This is all your fault. You know perfectly well I can’t endure this kind of hardship.”

“If you can’t endure it, it’s only because you aren’t hungry enough.”

That night, I drifted in and out of dreams about my father and mother.

I had actually sensed, albeit vaguely, that I wasn’t their biological child.

One year, there was a famine in our hometown.

The family was so poor that we had nothing left to eat.

Father had dug out a delicate little garment, saying that if things got any worse, he would have no choice but to pawn it.

Mother couldn’t bear it, saying that if it were pawned, there would be no proof left. How would she ever find her way home?

At the time, I didn’t know who the “she” Mother referred to was.

But I asked her whose that little garment was.

She said it was mine.

I didn’t think much of it then, but looking back occasionally, the memory felt strange.

During that year of famine, Mother had sold her own hair to a wealthy lady in the county to be made into a hairpiece. The money she earned bought us rice and grain.

For a long time after that, Mother kept her head wrapped in a kerchief. Even until she died, her hair never grew past her shoulders.

I kept Ah Si here.

I couldn’t say exactly why.

It was just an instinct that I should.

I didn’t want to fight her, nor did I want my parents’ line to end. More than that, I wanted her to understand that if we hadn’t been switched, this life of mine is what she should have been living.

I didn’t begrudge her for enjoying my wealth, and she shouldn’t look down on me for being poor and unrefined.

The next day, I got up to cook.

Ah Si got up as well.

She hadn’t eaten for a day and a night. Likely driven by hunger, she finally asked me coldly what she was supposed to eat.

I pointed to the cupboard. “You broke three bowls yesterday, wasted two bowls of rice, and half a basket of vegetables. Tell me why.”

“The bowls slipped from my hands. The rice was to feed the chickens. Weren’t those vegetables meant for the pigs?” she said arrogantly.

But I knew she was lying.

Grandma must have told her that the rice and vegetables were for people to eat.

She was causing trouble on purpose.

“Are you trying to make trouble so I’ll let you go back?”

She said nothing, but her guilty expression confirmed that was exactly what she was thinking.

I turned away. I didn’t lose my temper as she expected, but instead said calmly, “If you want to eat, fine. Come with me later to cut pig grass.”

“What?” Ah Si’s eyes widened. “Li Yiguang, don’t even think about it! I would never do such a filthy task.”

“Suit yourself!”

Having said that, I got busy.

I controlled the portions perfectly. Grandma and I finished every scrap; there wasn’t a single bowl left over.

Only, while eating, I couldn’t stop my mind from wandering.

My name is Li Yiguang.

Father and Mother didn’t know many characters.

When it came time to name me, they were at a loss.

They didn’t want to give me a name like Flower, Peach, or Willow like the other villagers, but they didn’t know any scholars either.

Once, when my father went to the county seat to sell pelts, he heard a storyteller talk about Xi Shi. Her name was Yiguang, and she was the greatest beauty of ancient times.

He immediately took it to heart and insisted on calling me Yiguang when he returned.

From then on, I had the formal name Li Yiguang.

Later, a scholar came to the village. When he heard my name, he only smiled.

It wasn’t until I learned a few characters that I understood. My father knew Xi Shi was a beauty, but he didn’t know her life was full of hardships.

The scholar was kind and didn’t tell my father the truth.

Until the day he died, my father believed it was a wonderful name that suited me perfectly.

I carried on as usual, completely unaffected by Ah Si.

Ah Si, however, was truly stubborn; she actually managed to go three days without eating.

In the middle of the third night, I was woken up by a muffled sound of sobbing.

I listened quietly.

Grandma whispered, “She’s crying.”

“You misheard. That’s a mouse squeaking.”

From the next room came Ah Si’s indignant voice. “You’re the mouse! Your whole family are mice!”

I couldn’t help but smile.

Grandma laughed too.

I lit a lamp, got up, and sat at the edge of her heated brick bed.

“What are you crying for?”

“Shouldn’t I cry? I haven’t eaten for three days. I’ve never been hungry in my life.”

“Sigh, I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in three days either. On the first day, you said there were mice. On the second day, your stomach was growling so loudly. And today, you’re crying…”

“Are you mocking me? Are you trying to compete with me over who has it worse?”

“Uh, no. You have it worse. No one is more miserable than you. You’re the most pitiable person in this whole family.”

“Li Yiguang!!!”

She was so frustrated that she cried even harder.

I tried my best to stifle a laugh and gave her a gentle hug.

She tried to struggle, but I possessed great strength from my daily chores. I pinned her in my arms until she couldn’t move, gently patting her back until she finally calmed down.

Grandma brought over a bowl of thick flour soup, the simplest and easiest food to prepare.

She looked at Ah Si lovingly and fed her with a small spoon.

Ah Si hesitated, but her body was more honest than her mouth.

As soon as the first sip of soup hit her tongue, she settled down.

She took the bowl and drank quickly with the small spoon, nearly scalding her mouth.

She wept as she drank. “It’s so good!”

Grandma and I both laughed.

The next day, the whole family slept in.

Grandma and I got up to start our usual chores, and to my surprise, Ah Si got up too.

Her face was slightly flushed, but she still tilted her chin up with pride.

“I don’t want to owe you anything. I’ll work with you. Don’t you dare try to starve me again.”

I gave a flat “oh” in response.

Anyone can talk big, but doing the work is another matter entirely.

In winter, we needed to prepare dried grass for the pigs. The Emperor had decreed that every household must raise pigs and chickens, so dried grass was a scarce resource for everyone.

The grass nearby had long since been cut bare, so we had to head further out.

When we finally reached a suitable spot, I handed Ah Si a sickle and had to teach her how to use it.

To be honest, it was more exhausting than doing the work myself.

Ah Si’s face turned red; she didn’t really want to do it.

I felt that she still couldn’t let go of her status, thinking that doing such things was beneath her.

However, in the face of the great task of surviving the winter, pride was a trivial matter.

For the poor, staying alive is the most important thing of all.

I went to chop wood while she slowly cut grass. Eventually, she started to get the hang of it.

But after only half an hour, she let out a sharp cry and cut her hand.

“It hurts so much.”

She looked at me expectantly, seemingly hoping I would say the words “let’s go home.”

How could that be possible?

I had already spotted a blood-stanching herb nearby. I plucked the herb, placed it on a stone, and quickly crushed it into a pulp with my axe. I smeared it on her finger and wrapped it with a piece of gauze.

The bleeding stopped quickly.

“Keep working.”

Ah Si: “…”

We didn’t head home until the sun was high in the sky.

I carried the firewood while she carried the pig grass. She couldn’t carry a large load, so she could only take a small portion back first.

When we returned to fetch the remaining grass, we found it was gone.

Ah Si was so angry she burst into tears.

“Which shameless person stole my things? Can’t they cut it themselves? My hands are ruined, how could they steal from me? Waaaah…”

She cried so sorrowfully.

I was angry too.

I said, “Follow me.”

Every good hunter is an expert at tracking.

I analyzed the marks left nearby and pulled her along in one direction. Sure enough, we saw someone on the road carrying a load of pig grass.

I didn’t recognize the person.

Ah Si grew frantic the moment she saw them.

“That’s the grass I cut! I recognize that flower!”

The two of us blocked the person’s path.

The thief felt guilty but didn’t care much, trying to bully us because we were just two girls.

“A good dog doesn’t block the way. Move, or I’ll beat you.”

Since this person was unreasonable, I didn’t need to be polite either.

I pulled out my slingshot and said coldly, “Put that down, or I’ll use this slingshot to put your eyes out.”

“I dare you to try!”

I had never heard such an absurd request. I immediately fired a stone that hit his knee.

He fell to the ground with a thud, wailing in pain as he rolled around clutching his knee.

Ah Si and I immediately reclaimed the grass.

She hoisted it onto her back and turned to run.

I retreated while keeping the slingshot aimed at the man.

Once we were completely safe, we burst into loud laughter.

But as she laughed, Ah Si began to cry.

“I never thought there would come a day where I’d fight someone over a bundle of grass. If I ever return to the capital and they find out, those girls will laugh me to death.”

She was likely referring to the noble ladies of the capital.

I didn’t know what to say.

Since I wasn’t from that world, I couldn’t truly empathize with her.

However, my father and mother once told me something.

“Doing what you must to survive is nothing to be ashamed of.”

Ah Si stopped crying.

She looked at me without speaking, her eyes as bright as a sky washed clean by rain.

That day, I carried the wood and pulled Ah Si along as we went home together.

Grandma was waiting for us at the door.

Her eyes crinkled until they were nearly invisible, and her face broke into a wide, blooming smile.

It was beautiful!