Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Nanny Chen was holding Jin Bao in her arms, standing right beside Pei Wanqing.

Though Jin Bao was young, she could still tell kind words from cruel ones. She knew this bad woman was bullying her mother.

With lightning speed, she snatched the black-flour coarse bun from Madam Chen’s hand and opened her mouth to take a bite.

One moment, Madam Chen had been showing off her food. The next, it had changed hands. Furious, she reached out to grab Jin Bao.

Nanny Chen hurriedly shielded Jin Bao with her own body, holding her tight in her arms. Madam Chen lunged and caught nothing but air.

“You little beggar! Give that bun back right now! You lowborn wretch, you think you’re worthy of eating a coarse bun? You should crawl back to your beggar’s den and fight wild dogs for shit!”

Madam Chen yanked at Nanny Chen, trying to get at Jin Bao and beat her.

Xiao Jinghao seized the chance and rammed his head into Madam Chen’s waist, knocking her to the ground.

“Don’t touch my little sister! I think you’re the one who eats shit. Why else would your mouth stink so bad?”

Provoked by two children in a row, Madam Chen was so angry that she scrambled up from the ground and reached to twist Xiao Jinghao’s ear.

“Enough! Are you done making a scene?”

Old Madam Xiao barked angrily and rose from where she had been sitting, glaring fiercely at Madam Chen.

“You’re the elder here. Jin Bao is just a little girl. So what if she ate one of your coarse buns?”

Madam Chen was no longer afraid of Old Madam Xiao at all. Since she could not deal with the two little brats, she turned her sights directly on Old Madam Xiao instead. This old hag had never missed a chance to nitpick at her in the past. Now that they had fallen on hard times, she was still putting on the airs of the old madam. Who did she think she was showing off for?

“It’s just one coarse bun? Then do you have one? If you do, give it back to me. If you don’t, shut your mouth, you old hag. You still think you’re the old madam of the Marquis’s Mansion? The Marquis’s Mansion is gone. Stop dreaming your grand dreams.”

Old Madam Xiao was clearly badly angered by Madam Chen’s words. What a shrew.

“Isn’t it just a coarse bun? I’ll pay you back. But you have to apologize to my grandmother and Jin Bao.”

Xiao Jingmo had already finished treating Xiao Jingxing’s wound. Now that he was free, he walked between Madam Chen and the old madam, shielding his grandmother behind him.

The fifteen-year-old boy was already showing the tall, handsome bearing he would have as a man. Even dressed in coarse hemp, he could not hide his refined, elegant looks.

Madam Chen gave a contemptuous laugh. “If you can pay me back with one coarse bun, forget apologizing to the two of them. I’d even be willing to kneel.”

Madam Chen knew perfectly well that the Main Branch had no money on them, nor any outside help. Where did he get the confidence to make such a boast?

Xiao Jingmo then looked toward Xiao Yan, his uncle, who was standing off to the side watching the show.

“Second Uncle, aren’t you going to rein in Second Aunt? If Second Aunt ends up kneeling and apologizing in a moment, it will be your dignity that suffers too. Are you really going to indulge Second Aunt as she disrespects my grandmother?”

Xiao Yan turned his head away and did not answer at all. His intention was obvious: he and Madam Chen were on the same side.

The corner of Xiao Jingmo’s mouth lifted. He had already given them a chance. Since they refused to cherish it, then in a moment, he could only reluctantly make them kneel and apologize.

“Second Aunt, you had better keep your word. It would be best if you dared to swear to it.”

Seeing Xiao Jingmo’s confident expression, Madam Chen concluded that he was only putting on an act. This only made her even more certain that they could not possibly produce money to buy food.

“I swear, if you can produce a coarse bun, I’ll kneel and apologize. If I don’t, may the heavens strike me with five bolts of lightning, and may I eat dirt every day from now on.”

Xiao Jingmo nodded, his face full of regret.

“All right, then. Second Aunt, please wait a moment. I’ll go buy some food from the officers. As it happens, our family hasn’t had lunch yet.”

With that, Xiao Jingmo strode toward the bailiffs.

An ominous feeling rose in Madam Chen’s heart. But in case Xiao Jingmo tried something underhanded, she quickly followed him.

“Officer, how much is one coarse bun?”

The bailiff did not even lift his eyelids. Leaning against a tree trunk, he replied, “Coarse buns are fifty wen each. White-flour steamed buns are one hundred wen each. How many do you want?”

Xiao Jingmo took a piece of broken silver from his robes. It looked to be about two taels.

“Please give me one coarse bun and eight white-flour steamed buns.”

The bailiff’s eyes opened at once when he heard such a big order. Seeing that it was Xiao Jingmo, suspicion flashed through his eyes, but it quickly disappeared. He was only responsible for making money. There was no need to dig into where the money had come from; that was none of his business.

“Eight hundred and fifty wen in total.”

“Officer, this is two taels of silver. Could the remainder get me two water skins?”

The bailiff took the silver but gave Xiao Jingmo only one water skin.

“Your money is only enough to buy one water skin. Do you want it or not?”

Xiao Jingmo clenched his fist, but nothing showed on his face. He merely nodded calmly.

“Then one water skin it is.”

After deducting the cost of the buns, there was still more than one tael of silver left, yet it was only enough to buy one water skin. Truly black-hearted.

They had only left the capital half a day ago, and already these men dared to demand such outrageous prices. There were still long months ahead of them, and the farther north they went, the colder it would become. All they had on now were thin summer clothes. Buying padded winter coats would require even more silver.

It seemed that the five hundred taels he had might not even be enough to buy cotton-padded clothing for the whole family when the time came.

Xiao Jingmo accepted the food and water. As he turned around, he happened to catch Madam Chen trying to sneak away.

“Second Aunt, where are you going? Don’t you want your coarse bun?”

Madam Chen trembled. Slowly, she turned back around and forced a smile onto her face, one uglier than if she had been crying.
“Well… your grandmother is right. I am your elder, so consider that cornbread bun a gift from me to the little beggar… to your sister.”

With that, Madam Chen turned to run.

No one knew where it came from, but a pebble suddenly flew through the air and struck Madam Chen squarely in the knee. Madam Chen fell flat on her face in a most spectacular fashion.

“Second Aunt, the gods are watching from three feet above your head. You swore an oath only a moment ago, and now you want to break it? Retribution came rather quickly, didn’t it? Are you planning to eat dirt every day and be struck by five bolts of lightning?”

Madam Chen had gotten a mouthful of mud. She climbed up from the ground with a face full of pain, spat several times, and only then managed to get rid of the dry, earthy taste in her mouth.

Nearby, Jin Bao saw the pebble her eldest brother had just flicked hit the bad woman with perfect accuracy, and she immediately gave Xiao Jingmo a big, bright smile.

“Second Aunt, you should think carefully about whether you want to kneel and apologize on your own, or break your oath.”

Xiao Jingmo tossed the coarse black cornbread bun in his hand straight in front of Madam Chen. The bun rolled several times across the ground, picking up dust, before stopping beside her leg.

“Since Second Aunt likes cornbread buns so much, keep it for yourself. Our family isn’t used to eating that. We like white-flour buns. My sister is the darling of our family, so of course she must be raised with extra care. We have no interest in your cornbread bun.”

Madam Chen was so furious her teeth itched. She had never known Xiao Jingmo had such a sharp tongue.

In the past, whenever she saw Xiao Jingmo, he always looked gentle, refined, and scholarly. She had even thought of introducing her maiden family’s niece to him. Who would have thought it was all an act?

Rumble-

Whether by coincidence or not, the sky that had been bright and sunny moments ago was suddenly covered by dark clouds, and the sound of thunder rolled closer from the distance.

Madam Chen’s face turned white with fright. First she had eaten dirt, and now thunder was coming. Could there really be gods protecting the Main Branch?

Madam Chen hurriedly crawled up from the ground and slowly shuffled over to Old Madam Xiao. Gritting her teeth, she knelt.

“Old Madam, I was foolish. I should not have shown you disrespect. Please forgive your niece-in-law.”

Old Madam Xiao looked coldly at Madam Chen. She knew exactly what sort of person Madam Chen was: easily swayed and always stirring up trouble. The farther one stayed from such a person, the better.

“Just watch your tongue from now on. Our Jin Bao is our precious little girl, the treasure of our hearts. If you dare wag your tongue again, next time it won’t be as simple as kneeling and apologizing.”

Madam Chen resentfully grabbed a handful of grass and clenched it hard in her fist, her face darker than the storm clouds overhead.

After Madam Chen left, Xiao Jingmo handed each member of the family a white-flour steamed bun, replacing the cornbread bun in Jin Bao’s hands.

The steamed buns were quite large. One was about the size of Jin Bao’s little face.

Jin Bao held the big steamed bun with both her small hands and opened her mouth to take a bite.

“Wow, steamed buns are so yummy. Baby gets to eat steamed buns too!”

She had almost forgotten this taste. In her previous life, she had eaten white-flour steamed buns before the apocalypse broke out, but she had been too young then and could barely remember.

“If Sister likes them, we’ll eat white-flour steamed buns at every meal from now on, all right?”

Xiao Jingmo took Jin Bao into his arms and carried her to a shady spot to sit.

Strangely enough, after Madam Chen apologized, the sky immediately turned sunny again. Even the people of the Xiao Family Main Branch felt that Madam Chen’s oath had truly been answered.

“Father, these things cost two taels of silver. The road ahead is still long. I’m afraid we…”

Xiao Jingmo did not finish, but everyone understood. They had no money. They could eat this meal, but there might not be a next one. Spending two taels of silver on one meal was too much. The pouch they had just received contained only a dozen or so taels in broken silver, enough to last two days or so. As for the five-hundred-tael banknote, they could not take it out.

With how greedy these officers were, if they dared bring out five hundred taels, the officers would dare sell them a single steamed bun for the outrageous price of five hundred taels.

Xiao Che’s brows were also tightly furrowed. “We’ll talk when we reach the relay station.”

“Xing’er, Mo’er, Mother can just eat the cornbread bun. You two split this steamed bun.”

Pei Wanqing picked up the cornbread bun Jin Bao had snatched earlier, then broke her own steamed bun in half and handed the pieces to her two sons.

Xiao Jinghao was still young; eating one would at least leave him half full. But the two older boys were eighteen and fifteen, right at the age when they could eat the most. One steamed bun was not even enough to fill the gaps between their teeth.

“Mother, no need. One steamed bun is enough for each of us. Keep that cornbread bun for now. It can be a snack for Jin Bao later.”

Seeing everyone give in to one another, Jin Bao also broke off half of her own steamed bun and gave it to Xiao Che.

“Daddy, Baby isn’t hungry. Daddy eat.”

Xiao Che pinched Jin Bao’s little cheek.

“My daughter really is Father’s little padded jacket. Father hasn’t been walking, so I’m not hungry. You eat it yourself.”

On the Main Branch’s side, they were warm and loving as they offered food to one another. Over by the Second Branch and the other collateral lines, people were coming to blows over a single cornbread bun.

Just then, another group of people appeared on the official road.

Xiao Che and Xiao Jingxing looked up at the same time.

They saw five or six bailiffs escorting three burly men.

Both men’s expressions changed at once.

Their entire clan had fifty or sixty people, yet only four officers were escorting them. These three men, however, needed six bailiffs. That could only mean these three were extremely dangerous and had to be kept far away from.