As the third day of starving dawned on her, she felt like her mind was filled with hallucinations, as she lay there with sweat glistening all over her body.
She began to pick herself up from the floor, tightening the cotton rags she wore around her body. Her cotton clothes were not buttoned up at all, the entire piece of cotton clothing looked like it could cover her entirely, and it seemed as though she had gotten thinner. She used to be as thin as a rake before, but now she could pass off as a ghost.
After opening the door, a bitingly cold wind blew across her skin. As she touched her face, she noticed that it was devoid of nearly any warmth and it felt like she was touching ice.
Suddenly, her body swayed and she fell to the ground. Yet she proceeded to climb back up onto her feet again as she continued to walk even deeper into the village.
The villagers were not very well acquainted with her, and when she stretched out her hand in an effort to talk to a middle-aged lady, the child that the woman was with began to cry.
“Ghost, it’s a ghost…”
The woman immediately picked up her son as she tried to comfort him, her words thorny and sharp.
“With the way you look, what are you doing outside? Do you want to scare us all? If you have no business here, then don’t show yourself around the village.”
Yan Huan’s lips were pursed together in pain, even the corners of her eyes were hurting. She painstakingly swallowed back her tears, then using her own cotton clothes to cover her face as she continued to walk forward. However, whenever someone saw her, they would avoid her, there were even some kids who threw stones at her, claiming that they were attacking a ghost.
As she walked with heavy footsteps, she turned around and began to walk to the mouth of the village. At the moment, no one knew that beneath her lidded eyes, there was a multitude of tears rolling down her cheeks, dominated by profound hurt and pain.
The wind whipped past the corners of her eyes, and the indifference of the people pierced right through her heart.
“Child…” suddenly a voice warmed her ears.
She stopped walking and turned over her shoulder, catching sight of Changsheng’s mother right behind her, the expression on her face was one of uncertainty.
“Is that really you?” Changsheng’s mother walked over to her and grabbed ahold of Yan Huan’s hands. As she did so, she noticed that what she was holding did not seem like hands, but more like stones.
Why were they so cold? When she caught sight of the clothing on Yan Huan’s body, her heart was filled with pity and pain, for who on this earth did not have parents, and who did not have their own children?
A child that no one cared about was indeed a pitiful one.
“Come on, follow me home,” Changsheng’s mother uttered as she began to drag Yan Huan along.
“Aunty Changsheng, why are you bringing her home for? Look at the way she is now, aren’t you in the least bit afraid?” Someone behind them was trying to advise Changsheng’s mother against this course of action, their intent behind this statement was apparent.
“So what if I want to bring her back now?” Changsheng’s mother halted her steps, one of her hands still holding Yan Huan’s. “This child was saved by my Changsheng. Back then, all of you disliked the fact that she was an outsider and she had her own enemies, thus would be a burden to the village. All of you drove her to live in that place. Now that the weather has gotten so cold, anyone would easily freeze to death. Since my Changsheng was the one to pull her out of the water, we can’t allow her to die just like this.”
“Come, child, follow aunt home.”
Changsheng’s mother disregarded all the looks and opposition that came her way, her actions very much signifying how much she wanted to bring Yan Huan back with her.
She opened the door, the interior was extremely clean, the floor was fully furnished with bricks and stone, burnished to a smooth and shiny surface. Even though it was pretty old, it was clear that it had been carefully taken care of. There was also a really big heatable earthen bed, on top of it was a bedsheet, although it was not a new one, after taking a closer look at it, one could see that it was clean.
“My Changsheng mentioned this before,” Changsheng’s mother pulled Yan Huan to a seat as she continued saying, “he said that it wasn’t proper for you to continue staying there, so he made use of this empty room in our house. Actually, when you arrived, I did want you to stay with us, but at the time, the village people weren’t aware of your identity and they were also scared. Furthermore, our house didn’t have much space previously. Now that Changsheng has tidied up this empty room and placed a heatable earthen bed, and I have already warmed it up for you so you can move in with us today.”
“Thank you, aunty,” Yan Huan could say no more, all she could do was cry uncontrollably as beads of tears spilled down her face, revealing the very image of a pitiful person. Especially when coupled with her frail, stick-thin ghostly physique, one could not be sure of the hardships that she had endured.
Changsheng’s mother was a parent herself, if her own son was in the same situation as her, she would definitely be extremely heartbroken about it.
“Alas, it’s all right, it’s all right,” Changsheng’s mother patted Yan Huan’s shoulder lightly, not in the least bit put off by her dirty state.
“Oh right, there’s still some food left in the pot, let aunty get you a bowl. Even though our family doesn’t really have much money, we will definitely not let you starve.”
Yan Huan nodded her head, but she still could not find her words due to her weeping.
After a short while, Changsheng’s mother brought over a bowl of noodles with some leafy greens and a poached egg in it. Yan Huan took the bowl from her and began to wolf it all down.
“Don’t rush, eat slowly, there’s still more in the pot.”
Changsheng’s mother was astonished, witnessing the way Yan Huan was eating.
Yan Huan continuously stuffed the food into her mouth, she was certainly too hungry. She was ravenous, starved to the point that she had even contemplated eating her own flesh. She was utterly and absolutely in hunger, more so than she had ever been in her life.
As she was eating, her tears continuously pitter-pattered down into the bowl, the sight tugged at the heartstrings of Changsheng’s mother.
“I’m sorry, aunty.” Yan Huan used her own sleeve to wipe away her tears as she smiled and said, “It’s just that I haven’t eaten in so long, I am really very hungry.”
“Oh, I see…” Changsheng’s mother thought for a moment and continued, “I recall asking Changsheng to send you some rice though. That amount should be enough for you to sustain for a long time.” She really could not understand how Yan Huan, an extremely thin and small woman, could finish a large amount of rice in such a short time. That portion of rice was enough to feed Changsheng for at least one or two months. How could this young lady’s appetite be bigger than my Changsheng?
Yan Huan cradled the bowl in her arms, she did not know what to say, her nose twitched in slight distress as she felt disturbed by the truth she had to bear.
“Aunt, all that rice-” she sniffled once more, “-all that rice was stolen away.”
“All of it was stolen?” Changsheng’s mother was shocked by this statement. Who on earth would have stolen the rice? Such action is similar to taking away someone’s life. That portion of rice was supposedly used to save one’s life. Who could be so immoral to have wrongfully taken someone else’s rice? Without the rice, she could not feed herself, not to say survive in such cold weather.
“Child.” Changsheng’s mother was filled with heartache as she laid her eyes on Yan Huan who was in such a miserable state, “Tell aunt, how long have you not eaten?”
Yan Huan lifted her eyes, the flesh on her face had sunken in, her image was one of sickly complexion and frail thinness as if she had not eaten for a very long time.
Once again, Yan Huan lowered her head as she lifted up the bowl to her mouth and swallowed down a few mouthfuls of soup.
