Chapter 5 – Good enough
Ms. Zhong received half of the bun as Yan Xiaosi bit into the other half in her hand. She choked as she swallowed it. The roughness almost suffocated her.
In her previous life, even though she had grown up in an orphanage, she had never eaten something this challenging to swallow.
Yan Shuyun, sitting next to her, put down the bun in her hand and patted Xiaosi’s back. “Xiaosi, don’t eat so fast even if you are hungry.”
Yan Xiaosi smiled bitterly.
“Mom, you can have the rest of the bun. I’ll just drink some more vegetable stew.”
She gave the rest of the bun to Ms. Zhong and poured herself a bowl of soup. She quickly drank all of it.
The wild vegetables tasted strong and slightly bitter.
After dinner, Ms. Zhong cleaned the kitchen. The sky had already darkened.
Considering how they didn’t even have money for food, they couldn’t afford candles. After night fell, Ms. Zhong, Yan Shuqin, Yan Shuxue and Yan Shuyun retired to their own room. Yan Xiaosi wasn’t sleepy, but all she could do was lie in her bed and stare up at the straw roof.
Her roof rattled as the night wind blew fiercely.
This dilapidated temple probably won’t last much longer.
With winter coming in a bit more than three months, she must figure out a way to get a new place to live. Otherwise, if the roof caves in under the weight of snow, then the five of them would truly be homeless.
Without knowing, she had already counted herself as a member of the Yan family’s third house.
What else could she do? Since she’s in a new life, then she might as well carry on as Yan Xiaosi.
No matter what, she was the cockroach of the 183rd Brigade. She could survive anywhere.
In the middle of the night, Yan Xiaosi woke up from hunger. She laid on the wooden bed and counted fat sheep for a while before she fainted from hunger.
At dawn, she woke again from starvation. The first thing she thought of was finding food.
If she didn’t find something more edible, she would starve to death in this place.
They still didn’t have much to cook for breakfast. There was only around half a pound of rough flour left in the container. Ms. Zhong had left earlier to dig up some wild vegetables. She cleaned and chopped them and mixed them with corn flour to make buns.
Yan Xiaosi put on her clothes and headed to the kitchen, just as Ms. Zhong started cooking the buns.
Yan Shuqin was kneeling in front of the stove, while Yan Shuyun was setting out bowls and utensils. Yan Shuxue swept the floor. Apparently, she was the only one who woke up late in the family.
Yan Xiaosi felt awkward as she saw the four of them busy with their tasks.
“Xiaosi, now that you’ve woken up, you should wash your face. The buns should be good now. We can start eating.”
Ms. Zhong didn’t even need to turn her head to know from the footsteps that it was Yan Xiaosi.
Yan Shuqin looked up and said softly, “Xiaosi, good morning. Mom made your favorite shepherd’s purse buns.”
After putting down the foodware, Yan Shuyun went to get a basin of water for Yan Xiaosi to wash her face.
Yan Xiaosi felt loved.
Seeing her worn-out mother and sallow sisters, she clenched her fist and decided that she would create wealth in the wild west of the Great Chu Dynasty so that her mom could live out the rest of her life without worry and her sisters would be able to marry their desired men.
Breakfast like this was good enough.
