Lin Ya turned to refuse, but upon seeing her slightly disappointed expression, he handed over the hatchet he was holding. “Put this in the wood shed.”
“Okay!” Ren Lin carefully took the hatchet and flashed a shy smile.
After allowing Ren Zhao to enjoy some candied hawthorn, Lin Ya went to the kitchen and placed the fish in a basin of water, planning to deal with the roe deer and wild rabbit later. He tidied up a bit, changed into a decent long robe, and took out some fine cloth, wine, and snacks that he had bought yesterday from the box.
Upon exiting, he saw that the two siblings had already cleaned their faces and hands. Lin Ya closed the gate to the courtyard and set off for the town.
Ren Jing’s in-laws lived in a regular courtyard on the outskirts of the town. They were doing reasonably well, despite the fact there weren’t many students for the town’s only teacher during the weekdays.
The household consisted of four people. Besides Ren Jing’s late eldest daughter, who had married him, there was a pair of twins—a dragon and phoenix pair. The twins were only 16 years old and had not yet gotten engaged.
Ren Jing’s wife’s family surname was Xu. Her father, Xu Yan, was gentle by nature but fairly strict with his students. Her mother, Zhang Shi, was soft-spoken and came from a prominent family. The eldest daughter was named Xu Li, while the elder twin brother was named Xu Jin and the sister Xu Yue.
Since Ren Jing had injured his hand, he had not visited the Xu family.
Fortunately, Lin Ya remembered the way and walked alongside the two children until they reached the town. After about half an hour, passing through several bustling streets, they finally stopped in front of a courtyard and gently tapped on the brass lock on the door.
“Who’s there? Come in.” Opening the door was Zhang Shi, Ren Jing’s mother-in-law.
She wore a simple, plain-colored garment, her hair was neat and shiny, held in place with a silver hairpin. Although her face looked somewhat aged, she exuded a certain gentle femininity.
“Grandmother!” “Grandmother!”
Lin Ya distinctly noticed a fleeting change in Zhang Shi’s expression when she opened the door and saw him, but upon looking down at the two children, her gaze softened significantly.
“Zhao’er, Lin’er, come in quickly.” She pulled the two in with one hand and sighed, nodding to Lin Ya.
“You should come in too.”
“Mother, these past few years… I am sorry for what we’ve put you through.” Lin Ya placed the items into the main room, slightly bracing himself as he mentally organized his words and sincerely apologized.
“There’s no need for all this pretentious talk. If you’ve come to borrow money today, then you might as well give up on that thought.”
Being mindful of the siblings nearby, Zhang Shi halted her speech, took them to the inner room, and fetched some snacks for them to eat, instructing them to stay inside before returning to the main room to continue speaking with Lin Ya.
Looking at her son-in-law, who had tidied himself up like before, a fleeting look of confusion crossed her eyes. She thought of her late daughter and the two emaciated children inside, regretting she hadn’t brought them home sooner.
“Since you’ve brought Zhao’er and Lin’er today, why not let them stay? It’s quite timely; even if you hadn’t brought them today, we would have gone to pick them up tomorrow.” She steeled her heart and spoke in a tone that was eerily calm, a stark contrast to the warmth with which they once treated him as their own son.
After Ren Jing’s incident, the entire family was sorrowful and angry, and seeing him self-destruct with a drastic change in temperament, drinking and gambling away his days, they had ultimately given up on him.
In Ren Jing’s memories, he had hardly seen Zhang Shi display such immense disappointment in him.
Lin Ya understood that in this small place, whatever one did in the morning would be known by the afternoon. Therefore, it was certainly rumored that the original owner had sold his daughter, which led Zhang Shi to act this way.
He finally understood what it felt like to be forced to bear the blame and criticism for others. Nevertheless, he could only endure and began to explain.
Zhang Shi’s expression shifted from calm to astonishment.
“What are you here for?!” An angry voice shouted from outside, and two figures hurried in. It turned out to be Xu Yue, who had seen Lin Ya bringing the children and, to prevent him from making a scene, did not show herself but had sneaked out of the backyard to call her father back from school.
Lin Ya sighed inwardly, watching the fine drops of sweat on Xu’s father’s forehead. Once he calmed down, Lin Ya began to explain again.
“Are you… are you telling the truth?!” Xu’s father looked at him in shock, inspecting him from head to toe, and realizing he was indeed different from the dispirited rogue he had seen before, he hesitantly invited him to sit down.
“…Regarding Lin’er, I was indeed mistaken before, and I’m prepared to face any punishment you deem fit. However, that day, in my dreams, I saw Li’er, and it was she who woke me up.”
“Li’er…” Recalling their late daughter, the elderly couple exchanged a glance, their eyes momentarily reddening.
The young girl who had brought tea also abruptly found her own eyes misting with tears.
“Actually, Li’er also informed me of something extremely important… At first, I thought it was just a dream, but various signs suggest it’s not nonsense.”
Lin Ya had thought carefully; if they were to escape together afterward, certain things couldn’t be concealed for long, so it was best to prepare early. Thus, he had decided to reveal the disaster in this manner.
“A drought?” Xu’s father pondered, his brows furrowing gradually.
“Since last year, indeed, there has been less rain; but to say it’s a drought is an exaggeration; how can we truly take such suspicion seriously?”
“However, if it is indeed true…” Zhang Shi often took her daughter to the riverside to wash clothes. Recently, the river water had receded significantly, leading her to believe it a little more.
The ancients believed firmly in omens and premonitions, finding inexplicable faith in such things.
“If it is true…” Xu’s father mulled for a moment before suddenly sighing, “In these chaotic times, where can we escape to?”
The borders during the Xia Dynasty were frequently invaded by foreign countries, with wars among several nations as commonplace as eating and drinking. Due to military disasters, the imperial taxation became heavier year after year, forcing many to become bandits unable to pay their dues.
If they fled from the famine, they would certainly have to head south. However, apart from the question of whether there would be enough food for their journey, these weak, elderly women and children would be easy prey for bandits if they encountered them—merely sheep waiting to be slaughtered.