The road through this remote wilderness was far from easy to walk. Aunt Ren had also taken a dip in a fish pond, leaving her soaked from head to toe, while mosquitoes buzzed all around. After barely seven or eight minutes, the humid, stifling environment already had her suffering in silence.
Little Xi, who was carrying a bamboo basket ahead of her, walked with light, nimble steps. She looked nothing like a city woman such as Aunt Ren.
"By the way, Little Xi, why are you wandering around out here alone so late at night...? Aren't you scared?"
"Looking for food." Without turning her head, Little Xi said, "I wanted to catch some eels, but I didn't find any."
As she spoke, Little Xi suddenly stopped, jumped down into the field, and reached into the soil, digging for something.
Before long, Little Xi skillfully pulled two medium-sized sweet potatoes from the ground and tossed them straight into her bamboo basket. Only then did she smile and say, "All right, let's keep going!"
Aunt Ren hesitated, wanting to say something... but in the end, she said nothing. She merely nodded lightly and continued onward with Little Xi.
After another five minutes or so, a mud-brick house appeared before Aunt Ren. The courtyard wall was also piled from mud, and a wooden door hung crookedly, half-shut.
"Little Xi... you live here?" Ren Ziling asked hesitantly.
"Yes." Little Xi turned around and nodded. "Wait here for a bit. I'll make something to eat first... I cooked some porridge before I left. It's almost ready."
She watched the little girl with the twin braids hurry into the muddy courtyard.
A stove had been piled from stones in one corner of the yard. A blackened iron pot sat over it, and the smell of firewood