Characters:

Ruan Mingzi: The Female Lead of the story.

Ruan Mingyan: Blood Sister of Mingzi. A mute.

Old Madam Zhao: Granny Zhao The matriach of the Ruan Family.

Madam Mao: A daughter in-law, wife of the 2nd son of Ruan Family.

Ruan Angui: Third son of the matriach. “Ruan Laosan” 3rd Uncle of the Female lead.

Ruan Chengzhang: The eldest male son of the Ruan's 3rd Generation. From the second branch of the 2nd Generation. Cousin of Female lead. Her Eldest Sister named Ruan Yuchun.

Madam Gao: A kind neighbour that is outspoken, helping Mingzi and Mingyan. Her husband Lu Daniu is the village only skilled craftsman. They have a daughter Lu Ruier.

Before dawn had even broken, Ruan Mingzi quietly got up from the earthen kang bed. She moved with great care, afraid of waking Mingyan, who was still sleeping soundly beside her.

The night before, she had rummaged through the low cabinet by the kang for quite a while before finally managing to dig out two barely passable sets of clothes.

They were old garments that had belonged to her so-called father. In her memory, he had worn them for many years. They were patched again and again, washed until the fabric had faded, and in many places the cloth had even worn thin or torn. It was precisely because of their condition that Old Madam Zhao, the kind who scraped clean even the last three inches of the ground, had been willing to leave them behind.

Ruan Mingzi didn’t mind at all.

The clothes had been washed clean. They’d simply gathered some dust over the past half year. She shook them out vigorously, sending a small cloud of dust into the air, then put them on.

After all, they were adult-sized clothes. The sleeves and pant legs hung long and loose. Ruan Mingzi rolled the sleeves and trouser legs up from her wrists and ankles, then tied them neatly with thin cords twisted from vines. Once secured like this, the clothes no longer hindered her movements.

They looked rather shabby, but that didn’t matter. Ruan Mingzi had grown up enduring hardship. Back when she was in the orphanage, she often wore hand-me-downs from older boys and girls, mending and altering them herself. Compared to that, this was nothing.

After tidying herself up, she gently removed the outer clothes Mingyan was wearing as she slept.

Ruan Mingyan was a well-behaved child by nature, was a gentle child. Even in deep sleep she was well-behaved, eyes half-closed as she drowsily stretched out her arms to cooperate with Ruan Mingzhi. She draped the remaining set of old clothes over her sister, then carried the clothes they had taken off out into the yard.

There was no basin at home, so Ruan Mingzi found a thick section of bamboo, split it lengthwise down the middle, and used it as a makeshift tub. It barely held enough water to wash clothes.

After washing, she picked up two long, thick dry branches, crossed them, and tied one end together with vine. She drove them firmly into the mud, then hung the clothes over them to dry.

By the time she finished all this, the sky had only just begun to lighten. From somewhere nearby came the crowing of roosters, one after another. Yuyuan Village seemed to stir awake from its slumber, the first traces of everyday life gradually returning.

Rustling sounds came from the main room. Ruan Mingzi guessed that Mingyan had woken up. She went inside and helped her put on their father’s old clothes.

Ruan Mingyan was only five years old, and after more than half a year of malnourishment, she was even smaller than children her age. To make it easier for her to move around, Ruan Mingzi wrapped the clothes around her several times before tying them securely. In the end, Mingyan looked just like a little roly-poly doll.

“The old clothes are washed and drying,” Ruan Mingzi said gently, stroking Mingyan’s slightly yellowed, soft hair.

“Make do with these for now. In a few days, big sister will buy you new clothes.”

Ruan Mingyan quickly shook her head and flashed her sister a wide, radiant smile. She understood, her little sister was saying it was fine.

She reached out and touched Ruan Mingyan’s cheek. It was thin, with hardly any flesh. She thought to herself that she really had to fatten the child up a bit.

“Come on, let’s go wash our faces. I’ll heat up the chicken soup left over from last night.”

Though she was only five, poor children learned to take responsibility early. Mingyan didn’t need much looking after. She obediently drew water from the well herself and washed her hands and face.

By then, Ruan Mingzi had already reheated the leftover chicken and soup on the stove. She broke two coarse-grain flatbreads that Lü Rui’er had brought the day before and soaked them in the broth. The softened bread absorbed the rich, fragrant chicken soup. One mouthful after another, warmth spread from their stomachs throughout their bodies, bringing with it an intense sense of satisfaction.

The sisters sat on small wooden stumps and finished every last drop of the chicken soup and soaked bread from their bamboo cups.

Still, this wouldn’t do in the long run. There was no salt at home. She’d need to make a trip to the county town to buy some when she had the chance. As Ruan Mingzhi pondered this, Ruan Mingyan had already toddled over on her short legs and cleaned both of their bamboo tubes and chopsticks.

They had to find something to do—some way to earn money.

While thinking this over, Ruan Mingzhi deftly took the dried mountain pheasant tail feathers and tied them together, making a colorful feather shuttlecock for Ruan Mingyan.

She was, after all, a child.  Mingyan immediately fell in love with the multicolored shuttlecock made from pheasant feathers. The only problem was that she was wrapped in so many layers of clothes that her movements weren’t very agile, making her kicks look adorably clumsy.

That didn’t stop her from loving it. She cradled the shuttlecock, smiling so widely her eyes curved into crescents.

Seeing her sister this happy lifted Ruan Mingzi’s spirits as well. She patted Mingyan’s head gently.

“Play by yourself for a while,”

“I’m going to see the village head. There are a few fruits Aunt Gao gave us—I’ve washed them and put them in the bamboo cup on top of the cabinet. If you get hungry while playing, go eat some.”

Ruan Mingyan hugged the colorful shuttlecock and nodded vigorously.

The village head’s home was in the southwest corner of Yuyuan Village, not too far from Ruan Mingzhi’s house. His son and daughter-in-law ran a small shop in the county town and lived a fairly decent life. They had once wanted to bring the old couple to live in town with them, but the village head and his wife were used to life in this remote village. They got along well with their neighbors and declined their son’s suggestion, choosing to stay in Yuyuan Village.

The elderly couple usually grew vegetables, raised chickens, and occasionally helped villagers resolve disputes. Their days were quite comfortable.

When Ruan Mingzi arrived, the wooden gate to their yard was half open. Through the gap, she saw Granny Zhou Dengshi holding a winnowing basket, scattering bean dregs on the ground to feed the chickens.

Ruan Mingzi raised her hand and knocked lightly on the door.

“Who is it?” a voice called from inside.

Ruan Mingzhi answered obediently, “Grandma Deng, it’s Ruan Mingzhi. I’ve come to see Grandpa Village Head about something.”

Footsteps followed. Granny Zhou Dengshi came over with the basket in her arms to open the door. When she saw Ruan Mingzhi, she froze for a moment, looked her up and down, then sighed without saying anything.

Several chickens were roaming freely in the yard. Granny Zhou Dengshi simply dumped the remaining soybean dregs onto the ground, letting the chickens cluck and scramble for them. She wiped her hands on the apron tied at her waist and led Ruan Mingzhi inside.

Village Head Zhou, having heard the commotion, emerged with an outer robe draped over his shoulders. He lifted the door curtain and saw at once that Ruan Mingzi was wearing adult clothes, tied up with vines in several places. Despite their appearance, she looked surprisingly neat and capable—clearly a clever child.

He said nothing unnecessary, only gesturing for her to follow him inside.

As they sat down, Granny Zhou Dengshi grabbed a handful of roasted apricot kernels made from the fruit of their own apricot tree and handed them to Ruan Mingzi.

Ruan Mingzi thanked her, then heard Village Head Zhou sigh deeply.

“I’ve heard about what your grandmother did. It really wasn’t appropriate. I’ll go with you later to have a word with her—how could she let you and your sister, two children, move out to live on your own…”

Ruan Mingzhi knew he had misunderstood.

“Grandpa Village Head, you’ve got it wrong,” she said softly.

“My sister and I are doing quite well on our own. Even though our place is bare and we don’t have anything, it’s much better than staying at the Ruan household, where we were beaten, scolded, and often not given food.”

She lightly planted a seed of resentment against the Ruan family without dwelling on it, as if it were just an offhand remark. Smiling, she explained her real purpose for coming.

“…I came today because of something that happened yesterday. It’s not a big deal—just that Gangzi from Aunt Wang’s family brought some people and knocked down our fence. You know that right now it’s just my sister and me living there, and we rely on that fence for security. But a whole day passed and no one from Gangzi’s family came to help us fix it. Then last night my third uncle came into the yard through the collapsed fence. I thought it was a thief and got quite a fright.”

Village Head Zhou’s family had lived in Yuyuanpo for generations, with roots spreading in every direction. He knew the village’s affairs inside out.

Village Head Zhou nodded.

“Alright. You go back first. I’ll go urge Gangzi’s family later. It’s not the busy farming season—have them fix your fence as a priority.”

With that assurance, Ruan Mingzhi thanked him gratefully and prepared to leave.

Zhou Dengshi grabbed another big handful of fried almond kernels. Seeing that Ruan Mingzhi’s hands were too small to hold much, she simply took out a small cloth pouch she had sewn herself and filled it for her.

Ruan Mingzhi: “…”

So much food she couldn’t possibly finish it all—she’d have to take it home with her.

If you like my translations, please support me on ko-fi!