Into the Mountains

The moment Little Bean Sprout heard they were going to sell her brother, she panicked, forgetting even to chew her jerky.

Her little hand shot out and seized Fang Yuan's arm. She shook her head like a rattle drum and cried out through tears:

"No, no! Brother can't sell himself! If he's sold, we'll never see him again!"

Her anxious little expression amused Fang Yuan.

He deliberately teased her, stroking his chin and pretending to ponder as his gaze slid toward Liu Wanwan beside them.

"Then... sell your sister-in-law?"

"Huh?" Liu Wanwan had been watching the siblings interact, reflecting on how Fang Yuan had become somewhat more open in temperament. Caught off guard at being named, she

did not react for a moment, merely staring at Fang Yuan in astonishment.

If this had been before, the rigid, gloomy Fang Yuan would never have said such a thing.

Little Bean Sprout froze again. She looked at her brother, then at her sister-in-law, her little brows knitting tightly as though she faced an unbearably difficult choice.

She looked at her sister-in-law's gentle face and remembered how she tucked in her blanket at night, how she picked the few precious grains of rice from the thin porridge for her... Once again, she shook her head hard.

Her voice was softer, but just as firm. "Th-then... that won't do either!"

"Pfft—" Fang Yuan finally could not hold back his laughter. He reached out and vigorously ruffled Little Bean Sprout's dry, yellowed hair.

His smile faded as he looked at Little Bean Sprout, then at Liu Wanwan. His tone turned solemn and resolute.

"No one will be sold. We're family, and not one of us can be missing. Brother will find a way to make sure we all have enough to eat, enough to wear, and live well."

His voice was not loud, but it carried a strength that set people's hearts at ease.

Little Bean Sprout raised her little face and looked into her brother's unusually earnest eyes.

Though she could not yet fully understand the weight of his words, she felt that unquestionable resolve.

The fear and unease in her heart finally began to fade. She nodded hard and turned her attention back to the precious piece of jerky in her hand,

taking tiny, cherished bites.

Liu Wanwan stood to one side, looking at Fang Yuan's handsome profile and those eyes that had become especially calm and steadfast. Countless emotions surged within her.

She was astonished by the change in his temperament, but even more moved by his words: not one of us can be missing.

She quietly turned her face away and swiftly wiped the faint moisture gathering at the corner of her eye.

Old Madam Chen led the other women away from the Fang Family's shabby little courtyard. They had barely gone any distance

when the sympathy and helplessness on her face vanished. She curled her lip and lowered her voice to the people beside her.

"Hmph, taking kindness for donkey liver and lungs! Just look at that Madam Fang—she really doesn't know what's good for her!

I kindly pointed her toward a clear road, yet she rejected it in one breath!"

A tall, skinny woman immediately chimed in.

"Exactly! Why doesn't she take a look at the state of her own family? A frail scholar who has even lost his scholarly title—

it's hard to say whether he can survive this winter himself, yet he still insists on not selling anyone? I'd say he's dying for face and living in misery!"

Another short, plump woman joined in.

"Isn't that so? I heard Hou San went to make trouble outside their house yesterday.

He's probably got his eye on that wife too... Tsk, tsk. Without a man in the house who can hold things up, guarding a face like that, something is bound to happen sooner or later!"

As Old Madam Chen listened to everyone's chatter, a calculating gleam flashed through her shrewd eyes.

She had not made this trip simply to deliver news or watch a joke unfold.

Her main purpose was to see for herself just how Fang Yuan was doing.

During their previous encounters, Liu Wanwan had always smeared her face gray and dirty, wearing tattered, oversized clothes,

but as a woman herself, Old Madam Chen's sharp, venomous eyes had long noticed something was amiss.

That figure, the glimpses of delicate skin, especially those eyes—none of it was something an ordinary village girl could possess.

The last time she had gone to Master Chen's house to deliver washed clothes, Young Master Chen, that idle good-for-nothing of the Chen Family, had happened to catch sight of Liu Wanwan's profile as she lowered her head to draw water.

Young Master Chen's eyes had gone straight away, and afterward he had secretly asked her whose daughter she was.

When she told him she was Fang Yuan's wife, the Young Master had left with a face full of regret.

But Old Madam Chen had kept the matter in mind.

Now that Fang Yuan had lost his scholarly title and was half-dead from illness, with the household on the verge of falling apart... if she could act as the go-between now,

and arrange for Liu Wanwan to become Young Master Chen's concubine—even if she were merely a bedmaid—the reward money surely would not be small!

Perhaps she could even beg Master Chen for mercy and have her foolish son's name crossed off the conscription list!

This was a fine deal that killed many birds with one stone!

She just had not expected Fang Yuan to be able to get out of bed, and his complexion did not look nearly as bad as she had imagined.

And that Liu Wanwan was stubborn as a mule, rejecting the suggestion of selling someone in one breath.

"But... it doesn't matter." Old Madam Chen secretly pondered.

"Once their family runs completely out of food in a few days, and Fang Yuan's body collapses again... then she won't have any choice but to agree! When I have the chance, I should also send word to Chen Manor, so the Young Master knows about such a lovely creature. He needs to keep her on his mind..."

Having made up her mind, she put on her usual warm, sociable expression and said to the other two women:

"Let's go, let's go. Every family has its own hardships; we can't manage so much. Ah, these times..."

The women muttered among themselves as their figures gradually disappeared around the bend in the village lane.

Fang Yuan drank half a bowl of warm water and felt the heat brought by the rabbit meat course through his body. Even the soreness from swinging the axe yesterday had eased by more than half.

He stood up, checked the axe tucked behind his waist once more, and tightly wound up the several lengths of hemp rope.

"I'm heading into the mountains," he said to Liu Wanwan, who was clearing away the bowls and chopsticks.

Liu Wanwan paused and looked up, worry immediately appearing on her face.

"Husband, your injuries haven't fully healed yet... How about I go to Master Chen's house today and ask about washing work instead?

It's cold, but if we grit our teeth and endure it, a few of us women can at least earn half a sack of coarse grain in a month..."

The more she spoke, the quieter her voice became. She knew that work was grueling, that the icy water bit to the bone, but with the food stores at home dwindling so quickly,

she truly could not sit still. She always wanted to do something for this family.

Fang Yuan stopped what he was doing and turned to look at her.

The gray grime deliberately smeared over Liu Wanwan's face had rubbed off somewhat from working, revealing a patch of delicate skin beneath. The worry and urgency in her eyes were plain to see.

He shook his head, his tone brooking no argument. "I said you don't need to go. That isn't work for a human being. Do you still want your hands?"

He walked before her and softened his voice somewhat. "Stay home properly, take care of Little Bean Sprout, and watch the house. Leave the food to me."

His gaze was calm and steady, carrying a force that made people want to believe him without realizing it.

Liu Wanwan looked at him, then at Little Bean Sprout in the inner room, carefully licking meat crumbs from her fingers.

In the end, she swallowed the words of persuasion and gently nodded. "Then... then you must be careful. Don't go too deep into the mountains."

"Mm, I know."

Fang Yuan answered, said no more, pushed open the courtyard gate, and strode into the piercing morning air.

His goal this time was clear.

His strength had improved somewhat. Perhaps he could try looking for prey larger and meatier than wild rabbits,

such as roe deer, or, if luck favored him, a lone mountain goat.

Of course, the premise was still that he could not meet them head-on. Traps and ambushes were his main methods.

The rice jar at home was nearly empty. Little Bean Sprout needed nourishment, and martial training was an even greater drain on him.

All of this meant he could not afford the slightest slackness.

Food—he had to find a way to get it.