Chapter Five: Two Illiterate Children

After watching her leave, Yunshuang finally turned around, crouched down, and looked at Gou Dan, who stood there with a face full of regret, clearly aware of his mistake. She spoke softly, "Do you know you were wrong?"

Gou Dan was a sharp child. Though his anger still lingered, he understood that his words had just now brought their mother a great deal of trouble. He turned his head aside, his voice muffled. "I know."

"What was wrong about it?"

He fell silent again.

Yunshuang couldn't help but smile in exasperation. She wondered who he had inherited this taciturn nature from. Keeping her face stern on purpose, she said, "Gou Dan, listen to me. No matter what happens, as long as you don’t have the ability to protect yourself, you cannot go around confronting others like this. It will only bring harm to you and those around you, understand?"

The thin little boy’s body suddenly began to tremble, his expression growing more twisted. Suddenly, he turned around, eyes red, and shouted, "But it’s clearly their fault! All the children in the village say in secret that you’re going to marry that fool, and that Er Ya and I will have to call that fool ‘father’! I don’t want you to marry that fool, and I don’t want to call him father!"

Yunshuang’s brows knitted together.

No wonder he had suddenly refused to let Er Ya eat the malt candy sent by Aunt Miao. Judging by Gou Dan’s reaction, he must have only recently heard these wicked rumors, which meant they had only started spreading lately. She didn’t know whether the other children had overheard such things by chance, or if Aunt Miao had deliberately let the rumors loose to pressure her.

Suppressing the chill in her eyes, she said, enunciating each word, "They are at fault for saying such things, but that doesn’t mean you can ignore your own safety. Even if they are wrong, your first priority should be to protect yourself."

"But how can we just let them talk about you like that!"

"Gou Dan, have you ever heard the saying, ‘A gentleman’s revenge is never too late, even after ten years’?"

Gou Dan froze, his face blank, and shook his head.

Of course, these two children could hardly keep themselves fed, let alone have the chance for proper schooling.

Patiently, Yunshuang explained, "It means that when you encounter bad things, you can remember them for now. When you have the ability, you can seek justice then. That’s what a clever person would do. Besides… who says that revenge must always be a head-on confrontation, shouting at the top of your lungs?"

A look of confusion and curiosity dawned on Gou Dan’s face, as if a new world had opened before him. "There are… other ways?"

"Of course," Yunshuang said with a smile. "I’ll teach you and Er Ya about these things in time. And another thing—Huang Sanlang from Aunt Miao’s family is ill in the head, but it’s not his fault, and he’s never bullied you or Er Ya. So why do you keep calling him a fool?"

Gou Dan opened his mouth, realizing his mistake, but still stubbornly muttered, "But everyone else calls him that…"

Yunshuang’s face grew stern. "If others bullied Er Ya, would you join in and bully her too?"

Half-asleep nearby, Er Ya, who had been nodding off against Yunshuang’s shoulder, was suddenly jolted awake by this, her small fists rubbing her eyes as she looked around warily. "Who’s bullying Er Ya? Who?"

Gou Dan immediately responded with great indignation, "Of course not! I… I would never bully Er Ya, and I’d never let anyone else bully her either!"

Amused, Yunshuang reached out and pulled the little sleepyhead into her arms, whispering, "No one is bullying Er Ya. I was just giving your brother an example."

She turned back to Gou Dan, softening her voice. "So, just because others do something, doesn’t mean we can do it too. We should not neglect to do a good deed because it seems small, nor commit a bad deed because it seems trivial. When deciding whether to do something, we should look at whether the thing itself is good."

Gou Dan was clearly convinced, though as he listened, a look of confusion appeared on his face. "What… what is this ‘not neglect’ you speak of? Is ‘Not Neglect’ another child you know?"

"Ah!" Er Ya immediately sat bolt upright, her face tense as if suspecting her mother of having someone new outside. "Mother, is this Not Neglect very good? Will you like Not Neglect more than us in the future?"

Yunshuang was speechless.

Having two illiterate children—she finally understood what that felt like.

"‘Not Neglect’ isn’t a person, it’s… never mind, I’ll teach you both about these things in the future." Yunshuang stood up, helpless.

But the two children, now stubborn, wouldn’t let her rest, chasing after her and asking who Not Neglect was, until that very night, Yunshuang actually dreamed of a polite child introducing himself as Not Neglect.

Thus, the next morning, Yunshuang woke with a start.

She had also woken from hunger.

The entire previous day, she’d only had a bowl of fish soup, a small piece of taro, and, under Er Ya’s stern insistence not to waste food, she’d painfully eaten the bowl of mushroom soup and the charred black fish that Er Ya and Gou Dan had saved for her.

With so little food, it was no wonder she was starving.

Looking at the beautiful rays of sunlight streaming through the window, Yunshuang sighed quietly. The morning was lovely, but when she thought of their ten copper coins and the bare, empty house, her mood darkened.

She needed to find a way to earn money as soon as possible.

While worrying over this, she rolled over, only to meet a pair of pure black, sparkling eyes staring at her.

Startled, she remembered that the three of them had slept together the night before. There was only one bed in the house; they had no choice but to share. Gou Dan, who’d slept on the inside, was still sound asleep, exhausted, while the little girl beside her had awakened at some point. Yunshuang smiled, "Er Ya, why aren’t you sleeping a little longer?"

The little girl shook her head, leaned into Yunshuang’s ear, and whispered as if sharing a secret, "Er Ya couldn’t sleep. I was thinking about something."

Yunshuang couldn’t help but laugh. "What was Er Ya thinking about?"

This child, so well shielded by Gou Dan, was far more innocent than her brother.

"Yesterday, the village chief’s wife was wrong. You’re much prettier than Sister Pei’er!" Er Ya whispered.

Yunshuang raised her brows in surprise; she hadn’t expected the girl to be lying awake thinking about such things.

Still in a small voice, Er Ya continued, "I heard the other aunties say that Sister Pei’er is the prettiest girl in the village, and one day she’ll marry someone really, really powerful. Mother, will that powerful person be the father of Sister Pei’er’s children?"

"I wish I had a powerful father, so no one could bully me, or brother, or you. Mother, why don’t we have a father?"

Er Ya had asked this before, but every time she did, their mother had grown sad, so she’d stopped asking. But now, her mother seemed different; maybe it was all right to ask again?

Seeing those pure, hopeful eyes gazing at her, Yunshuang was momentarily lost for words.

How could she know who their father was? In the original owner’s memories, all she recalled of that man was a hand that took away her jade pendant.

Thinking of this made Yunshuang annoyed. If only they still had that jade pendant, they wouldn’t be left with just ten copper coins to their name! That man was nothing but trouble!

Yet the little girl in front of her was still waiting for an answer, and even the ears of the boy sleeping not far away had pricked up, listening intently.

Yunshuang looked heavenward, exasperated, and said, "Your father probably got lost and hasn’t found his way home yet."

She had no desire to be connected to that man, nor did she even know if he had conspired with that lowlife to harm the original owner. But such sordid matters between adults were not for the children to know.

Let them keep a relatively pleasant image of their so-called father, for now.

Finishing her words, and pretending not to notice the gleam in the little girl’s eyes as she prepared to ask more, Yunshuang sat up, saying, "Let’s all get up. Today, we need to work hard and find more food. You two need to help out, all right?"

The three of them washed and prepared to head out, but before they could leave, a commotion suddenly broke out outside—

"They’re catching deserters! The soldiers from the garrison are here to catch deserters!"