Jin Shanyao gave the two little tots an awkward smile. "How about we eat the duck eggs raw? I've seen snakes eat them that way. It won't kill us."
Meng Anci's little body shuddered. How scary! His aunt was comparing them to snakes.
Meng Anzhi thoughtfully took the fire starter. "Auntie, sit over there and wait. I'll boil the duck eggs for you."
She skillfully lit the fire, then gathered up the wood and stuffed it into the stove's firebox.
Watching her own kind burn in the raging fire, Jin Shanyao's features twisted together. How tragic... After death, they didn't even have an intact corpse. Fortunately, she had cultivated into a god, or she too would have been destined to become firewood.
For a moment, she understood what her benefactor had said: a farmer's son was born a farmer, and an emperor's son was born a prince. That was fate.
There was just one thing she still couldn't understand: her benefactor could clearly have reincarnated as a princess, so why had she given that up and instead handed the fortuitous opportunity to the two little cubs?
With her wooden head, Jin Shanyao couldn't make sense of how humans thought, so she simply watched Meng Anzhi cook in silence.
First, Meng Anzhi washed the duck eggs clean. Then she stood on a stool to add water to the pot, carefully placed the eggs inside, and put on the lid. She gave Jin Shanyao a sweet smile.
"Auntie, they'll be ready to eat once the water boils."
Meng Anci copied his sister's tone as he comforted her. "Auntie, if you're hungry, have some water first. Whenever I'm hungry, I drink water, and then I'm not hungry anymore."
The two little tots comforted her with utmost seriousness, as if she were the child.
Steam gradually rose around the edge of the pot, dampening them with its warmth. Meng Anzhi wanted to open the pot and take out the duck eggs, but Jin Shanyao lifted her down from the stool.
"I'll do it." She had been scalded by hot water the day before yesterday and knew how much it hurt. The little cub was so small, with such tender skin. What if she got scalded?
Meng Anzhi stood obediently to one side, her eyes full of gratification. Auntie had finally grown up.
Jin Shanyao ran the duck eggs under cold water and peeled one, revealing the white egg white. After handing it to Meng Anzhi, she peeled another for Meng Anci.
The two little tots held their duck eggs without taking a bite for a long while. "Why aren't you eating?"
Meng Anci looked up. "Auntie, will Mama be hungry underground?"
Jin Shanyao's wooden head spun at full speed. If she answered this deadly question badly, there would be a bout of wailing. She faced their two burning gazes.
After thinking for a long time, she said, "Dead people don't get hungry."
"Waaah..."
Well... She'd said the wrong thing again.
Little River Village lay at the foot of White Head Mountain. The White Head Mountain range stretched across the entire Sheng Dynasty, and White Head Mountain was its highest peak. Its vegetation was rich and lush, and its wild animals were too numerous to count.
Even so, the villagers only dared wander around its outskirts. They rarely ventured deep into the mountains, for fear of being buried in a tiger's maw.
On this day, villagers were digging for wild greens at the foot of the mountain in groups of twos and threes.
"I heard that after Madam Meng died, her younger sister seized her house and property. She didn't even hand the children over to the Meng family."
"You don't need to hear it from someone else. I saw it with my own eyes yesterday. The eldest branch of the Meng family went to clear out the house, and that... what was her name again?"
"Jin Shanyao."
"Right... Jin Shanyao kicked them right out... Hey... How come I remember Madam Meng's surname being Wen?"
"You must be remembering wrong. Her younger sister's surname is Jin, so how could hers be Wen?"
Everyone chimed in at once, and no one noticed Diao Siniang by the roadside.
Diao Siniang hurried home with a dirt basket on her arm. As soon as she entered the courtyard, she tossed it aside.
Meng Hongde had had two ribs broken by a kick. The pain kept him from getting out of bed, so he lay on the kang recovering from his injuries.
Seeing her rush in like a whirlwind, he was about to ask what was happening when she said, "Do you remember Third Brother's wife's surname?"
Meng Hongde was taken aback. He'd always called her Third Brother's wife, and for a moment he really couldn't remember her surname.
After pondering suspiciously for a while, he said, "Third Brother's wife... was it Jin?"
"What Jin...? I just heard the villagers say it was Wen..." Diao Siniang plopped down on the kang and said excitedly, "Wen... her surname was Wen."
Meng Hongde said displeasedly, "She's dead. Why do you care what her surname was?"
Diao Siniang was so angry that she slapped his arm, making him grimace in pain. "You damned woman, what did you hit me for?"
Diao Siniang glared at him. "You blockhead! Third Brother's wife's surname was Wen, but her sister's is Jin. Think about it-are they from the same family? Besides, I vaguely remember that Third Brother's wife came here fleeing famine, and her whole family had died."
Hearing this, Meng Hongde abruptly sat up. The sudden movement pulled at his chest, making cold sweat pour down his face from the pain. "Damn it, so she's an impostor! I was wondering why the two sisters' temperaments were so different.
"Good, good, good... Just you wait, Jin Shanyao! There was a road to heaven, but you refused to take it; there was no gate to hell, yet you barged right in. I can't deal with you, but someone else can. Didn't you refuse to leave? Then don't leave."
He looked at Diao Siniang. "Go get Second Brother."
Diao Siniang sprang to her feet. "You lie down. I'll go get him right away." She was nearly beside herself with excitement. An impostor, and she dared slap me! I'll see if I can't get you killed.
Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci got up early, ready to go out with little dirt baskets on their arms and little shovels in their hands.
"Anci, Mama's gone, and Auntie doesn't know how to do anything. From now on, it's up to the two of us to keep this household going."
Meng Anci nodded firmly. "Sis, don't worry. I'll definitely dig up more wild greens today."
The two little tots encouraged each other and headed out.
When Meng Anzhi saw Dahuang and the mountain cat follow them out, she pretended to be angry. "Go back. You're not allowed to follow us."
The villagers had been so desperately hungry that many households had slaughtered their cats and dogs for meat. They absolutely couldn't let anyone kill Auntie's cat and dog.
Seeing that Dahuang and Xiaoli wouldn't obey, Meng Anzhi huffed and marched up to Dahuang. She stamped her foot and scolded him in her childish voice, "Go back! Be careful, or you'll turn into dog meat."
She planted her hands on her hips, her eyes wide and round. After a long standoff, neither the cat nor the dog backed down, and she turned to her younger brother in defeat.
"Sis, let's dig for wild greens first, so Auntie won't be hungry when she wakes up."
Meng Anzhi glanced at the sky and had no choice but to compromise. To keep the villagers from setting their sights on the cat and dog, she didn't dare go far and only searched near home.
After half a quarter of an hour, they had dug up only four or five wild greens.
Who would that be enough to feed? Just as the two of them were at their wits' end, Jin Shanyao came out. She waved to the little cubs not far away. "Come here..."
At her call, the siblings pattered back and held up their little dirt basket for Jin Shanyao to see. "Auntie, we dug up some wild greens. You can have them all."
Jin Shanyao smiled and rubbed her head. "Come on, Auntie will take you up the mountain to find something to eat."
At the mention of going up the mountain, Meng Anzhi's little face turned deathly pale with fright. "Auntie, we can't go up the mountain, we can't! There are tigers, black bears, wild wolves..."
She lowered her head and counted them off on her fingers, naming every ferocious beast she had heard of. When she looked up again, her aunt was nowhere in front of her.
Meng Anzhi hurried to look for her, only to see Meng Anci pulling desperately on the hem of Jin Shanyao's clothes.
His two short little legs dragged a long mark across the ground.
Meng Anzhi rushed over to help. "Auntie, you can't go up the mountain. You'll die if you do!"
Jin Shanyao said, "Oh, then wait for me at home. I'll go by myself."
"No, you can't! You can't!" Another round of shrill protests followed.
The noise gave Jin Shanyao a headache. She bent down, grabbed the little cubs by their waistbands, and carried them in her hands as she walked up the mountain.
The ground swayed back and forth before their eyes. Unable to raise their heads, Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci grew dizzy as their little heads dangled.
"Auntie, carry us."
Jin Shanyao heard them and thought it over. Then she lifted them into her arms and bounced them a little.
She pursed her lips... They were too light, not even as heavy as wild boar piglets.