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The two siblings spent a considerable amount of time sorting through the items in the Porcelain Jar. After having Shumai for breakfast, neither of them felt hungry. Li Yishu returned to her room to continue studying, while Li Zhoule picked up her needle and thread to start embroidering. The fabric and thread in her hands were perhaps the most valuable possessions in their home. Li Zhoule was skilled at embroidery; before she fell ill, she had relied on selling her embroidered handkerchiefs to support herself and her brother. Unfortunately, in this world, human labor was undervalued, and the handkerchiefs she painstakingly embroidered could fetch at most a few Wen Qian.
Today was a rare good day; the sun peeked out, bringing a touch of warmth to the frigid winter. Li Zhoule opened the window, allowing sunlight to flood into the stuffy room, instantly refreshing the air. Looking out, she saw villagers emerging from their homes, young and old alike, heading out in groups to search for food. Just a few steps away, a young boy suddenly collapsed on the ground.
"Wen Zixia has fainted! Wen Zixia has fainted!" Another boy beside him gasped in shock and screamed.
The villagers hurried over to check on Wen Zixia. Man Cang Uncle, experienced in such matters, sighed after examining him and said, "This child fainted from hunger."
A heavy silence fell over the villagers; everyone knew that if they could just give Wen Zixia something to eat, he would wake up. But in this dire situation, who had extra food to spare?
"Brother—" Two children rushed towards the crowd, calling out for their beloved Wen Zixia. These two were his younger brothers; one was about the same age as Li Yishu, while the other was only five or six years old.
Among all the families in the village suffering like the Li family, none were worse off than the Wen family. Once prosperous, the Wen family had lost half their land after both parents passed away. They still managed to get by until Wen Fu invested money to send Wen Zixia to study under Li Father. Wen Zixia was gifted; by ten years old, he had already passed the preliminary examinations. However, he did not take the next round of exams due to his mother's death during childbirth; out of filial piety, he chose to mourn for her instead. Three years later, when he could have resumed taking the imperial examinations, war broke out and they were canceled. The government conscripted soldiers, and Wen Fu was taken away by the army to keep Wen Zixia safe. With that burden on his shoulders, Wen Zixia became responsible for caring for his two younger brothers. A year later, news of Wen Fu's death reached their village, plunging the Wen family into despair. Although they owned a few acres of land, Wen Zixia had no farming skills and rented it out to others for a modest income. If conditions were favorable, this income could sustain three children for a year. However, with droughts and floods plaguing them over the past two years, no farmer had enough food—especially not the Wens. Before winter arrived, Wen Zixia had gathered wild vegetables with his brothers but it was still insufficient; now he hadn't eaten for three days.
Li Zhoule couldn't afford to feel shy anymore; she dashed out of her house because Wen Zixia was her fiancé. They had grown up together and shared a deep bond; how could she let him starve?
"Man Cang Uncle, please help carry Wen Zixia to my house. I still have some food," Li Zhoule pleaded with the villagers.
Upon hearing this, no one objected—so long as it didn't require them to part with their own food—several middle-aged men along with Man Cang Uncle lifted Wen Zixia and brought him into Xia Family's home, placing him gently in Elder Brother Li's bedroom. Wen Ziyu followed closely behind with Wen Zixue's hand in his own. Li Yishu emerged from her room and called for them to help her start a fire in the kitchen while she divided a fist-sized steamed bun into halves for both brothers so they could fill their stomachs first. Wen Zixia had saved all his rations for them; however little wild vegetables they had meant each meal was scanty for them all. Now even Wen Ziyu followed suit like his elder brother and hadn’t eaten for two meals.
"Buns!" The brothers' eyes lit up as saliva pooled in their mouths, but they hesitated to take Li Yishu's offering. Even little five-year-old Wen Zixue understood how precious food was; if they ate someone else's rations, that person would go hungry.
"Go ahead and eat! I have more food at home," Li Yishu insisted as she pressed the buns into their hands before squatting down to tend to the fire. "I'll make you something even better soon."
Wen Zixue listened and stopped hesitating; he stuffed a piece of bun into his mouth eagerly. But Wen Ziyu didn’t eat; instead he turned towards the kitchen door when Li Yishu called out: "Ziyu! Where are you going?"
"I... I'm going to give my bun to big brother," Wen Ziyu said worriedly about his elder brother.
"Brother Wen, you can't eat the steamed bun, so you should have it," Li Yishu said. "There's still some porridge at home. I'll heat it up and give it to Brother Wen, and he will feel better."
"Porridge?" Wen Ziyu was skeptical. Li Yishu's family was just as poor as his own; how could they possibly have food to make porridge?
Li Yishu stood up. "If you don't believe me, see for yourself."
He lifted the wooden lid off the earthenware pot, and Wen Ziyu leaned in to take a look. Sure enough, there was half a pot of thin porridge inside, with a bit of oil floating on top and white grains stirring below.
"Rice Porridge?" Wen Ziyu exclaimed in surprise. "How could you cook Rice Porridge so lavishly? Where did you get the rice?"
"I went to town a couple of days ago and met a kind person who gave me a bag of leftover food. It had White Rice, some vegetables, and a piece of fatty meat wrapped inside. Although it was just that small piece, my sister made it into porridge, adding Grease to it. It's really delicious. Once it's heated up, you all can have a bowl," Li Yishu explained, sharing the reason he concocted with Li Zhoule.
"You’re really lucky!" Like Aunt Manchong, Wen Ziyu envied Li Yishu but declined his offer for porridge.
Li Yishu frowned. "Do you not consider me a friend?"
"Of course not," Wen Ziyu replied. "Zi Jue and I already ate your steamed buns; how can we still drink your porridge? That’s your and Sister Zhou Le's rations."
Li Yishu insisted, "My sister and I have other food."
"Then save it for Big Brother," Wen Ziyu said. "He hasn't eaten for three days because of me and Zi Jue."
Li Yishu countered, "There’s food set aside for Brother Wen. If you want to eat, then eat! If you all don’t eat and faint like Brother Wen, wouldn’t that just worry him even more?"
Wen Ziyu remained silent.
Li Yishu continued, "Don't worry, we have enough food at home. A couple of days ago, when my sister was going through our mother's dowry, she found something valuable. If we sell it, we can get a lot of grain, enough to get us through this winter."
However, as the porridge was ready, Wen Ziyu obediently took the bowl of porridge that Li Yishu handed over and lowered his head to take a sip. It was delicious; this was the best porridge he had ever tasted since he was born.
"You all take your time drinking. I'll bring this bowl of porridge to Brother Wen," Li Yishu said as she carried a bowl of porridge out of the kitchen.
"We'll go with you," Wen Ziyu and Wen Zixue said, very worried about Wen Zixia, and followed Li Yishu out of the kitchen. However, the porridge in their bowls was too delicious to put down, so they carried their bowls with them.
The villagers had already left; they needed to take advantage of the early light to search for food further away or head to the county town to find work and earn some rations. Li Zhoule was gently feeding Wen Zixia water. Wen Zixia had already regained consciousness but was very weak due to hunger.
Li Yishu brought the porridge over. Li Zhoule took the bowl and scooped up some porridge, feeding it to Wen Zixia bite by bite.
Wen Zixia felt something was off after the first bite and weakly asked in surprise, "Is this Rice Porridge?"
Li Zhoule nodded.
Wen Zixia exclaimed in astonishment, "Where did you get white rice to make porridge?"
Li Zhoule repeated the story about how they had tricked Aunt Manchong and the two Wen brothers.
Wen Zixia closed his mouth and refused to let the spoon enter. Tilting his head slightly, he said, "Such a good thing should be left for Li Yishu. I'll just have Wild Vegetable Porridge."
Li Zhoule frowned and said sternly, "We don't have wild vegetables at home; we only have this. You have to eat it whether you want to or not."
Wen Zixia: "……"
The gentle fiancée could be quite intimidating when she was stubborn, at least he dared not provoke her.
Li Yishu and Wen Ziyu had laughed enough in secret before speaking up, “Brother Wen, just listen to my sister and finish your porridge quickly. We still have food at home, and you need to take care of your health. After all, Ziyu and Zi Jue will rely on you, and my sister will depend on you too! If you starve yourself into trouble, are you going to make my sister a widow?”
Two fists came down hard on Li Yishu's head.
Wen Ziyu exclaimed, “Don’t curse my brother and sister-in-law!”
Li Zhoule retorted, “You brat, what nonsense!”
Wen Zixue held his bowl and walked to the bedside, looking up at Wen Zixia. “Big Brother, the porridge is really good. You should eat it. If there’s not enough, I can give you what’s in my bowl.”
Wen Zixia looked at his younger brother with both worry and reluctance in his eyes, feeling warm inside. He smiled and said, “No need for that. You eat yours. This bowl of porridge is enough for me.”
He slightly opened his mouth as Li Zhoule fed him a spoonful of the steaming porridge.
It was truly delicious! The incredible flavor burst in his mouth, filling him with unparalleled happiness and joy from his mouth to his heart. It had been many years since he had tasted something this good.
The others in the room understood Wen Zixia's feelings; they too were captivated by the wonderful taste. Although it was just a bowl of plain porridge, it was something they hadn’t had in a long time.
Li Yishu pulled Wen Ziyu and Wen Zixue out of the room to leave space for his older sister and Brother Wen; they hadn’t had a chance to talk for quite some time. The two brothers from the Wen family sipped their porridge eagerly; although they were reluctant to finish it, there was only this one bowl. Before long, they had finished every last drop. Wen Ziyu fetched water from the well and washed the bowl clean before following Li Yishu into his room.
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