Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Road Ahead

After drinking a bowl of steaming hot medicine, the old woman finally opened her eyes slowly. Her cloudy gaze, unfocused, lingered on the ceiling above for quite some time before settling on the face of the girl beside her, filled with tender affection and pity.

“Grandmother, you frightened me so much,” the girl cried, throwing herself into the old woman’s arms, weeping softly against her chest.

The old woman lifted her trembling hand, gently stroking the girl's head. “Good child, don’t be afraid. I won’t leave. I still want to watch you and Feng grow up. I promised your parents, and I must keep my word.”

Changxing found a sheltered spot near the medicine shed and helped the now-awake grandmother to sit comfortably. Except for Changsheng, who took the little boy to queue for porridge, everyone crowded around the old woman. The girl thanked Changxing again and again, making him quite embarrassed; he just scratched his head and laughed foolishly.

Now, everyone finally saw the girl’s face clearly. Though her clothes were ragged and there were smudges on her cheeks, she was much cleaner than the little boy. Her face was small, half-hidden by a mass of wild, tangled hair, but if one looked closely, her features were delicate—surely, she would grow into a beautiful young woman.

From the girl's words, they learned her surname was Bai and her name, Rong’er. She was eleven years old, and her younger brother was Bai Lingfeng, only seven. Their family hailed from Xing County in Yunzhou. Who could have expected that, while fleeing chaos, their parents would both die, leaving only their aged grandmother and the two children to rely on each other as they fled south with the other disaster victims?

First, they went to Fengcheng. But nearly a hundred thousand people had already flooded into Fengcheng before them, and the city had posted notices, sealing the gates and forbidding anyone from entering or leaving. The refugees, arriving in waves, gathered in fury at the city gates, confronting the soldiers for three days before being forced to move further south.

When they reached Kunzhou, the situation was the same. After a few days, Kunzhou also closed its gates. This time, the people trapped outside could not contain their rage. In a frenzy, they surged against the gates—wave after wave, driven mad by hunger and resentment. Reason was lost. To stop the mob from breaking in, the soldiers atop the gates rained arrows down on the unarmed refugees. Many who had survived the floods perished on the road of escape, cut down mercilessly.

Outside Kunzhou’s gates, rain poured down. The muddy ground was littered with corpses—slain by arrows, trampled to death—so many that it seemed even the heavens were weeping for their unjust fate. Bai Rong’er’s father was among them. Her already-ill mother, upon hearing the news, could not endure any longer and soon followed her husband in death.

The grandmother, with her two young grandchildren, barely had time to wrap the bodies of her son and daughter-in-law, unable even to mark their graves, before fleeing south with the remaining refugees. Along the way, there was nothing to eat; they gnawed on tree roots, chewed leaves, and when hunger became unbearable, even ate dirt. Their clothes and shoes wore out, the relentless rain brought a bone-chilling cold, but they supported each other and, after nearly a month, finally reached Wucheng—where, at last, there was a bowl of thin porridge to be had. Yet just then, the grandmother fell gravely ill, so severe that even Bai Rong’er thought...

At this point, Bai Rong’er’s eyes reddened. All the hardships they had endured, the pain her young heart had borne—though she spoke of it calmly, all who listened were deeply moved.

“Yunzhou? The dike in Yunzhou has broken as well?” Jiang Li suddenly remembered Bai Rong’er had said she was from Xing County, Yunzhou, and his face turned anxious as he asked. Liu Qin, hearing the question, felt her heart leap, pounding so hard she could hardly speak, as if a hand gripped her throat.

“I don’t know.” Bai Rong’er shook her head. “When we escaped, Yunzhou was still safe. My father said Xing County could have held out a few more days, but for some reason, the county office sent men to urge us to flee, saying the floodwaters were coming soon. Later, on the road, we heard people say the soldiers themselves destroyed the dikes in Xing County. I don’t know if it’s true.”

“Diverting the flood?” Liu Qin exclaimed inwardly in shock, but Jiang Li spoke the words aloud. The two exchanged glances, and Jiang Li explained, “I read in a book that a hundred years ago, during a great flood, the authorities destroyed the dikes of two counties to save the people downstream in more than ten counties.”

Human ingenuity is not to be underestimated, even when it means sacrificing a county for the greater good. If it had come to that, Yunzhou must have been in extreme danger. Yet, this also told Liu Qin that, since the floodwaters were diverted, Yunzhou had a good chance of survival.

Her heart eased a little. There was nothing she could do now but wait for news from her second brother. Yet she firmly believed Yunzhou would be safe, and that her brother would return to the family safe and sound.

When Changsheng returned, everyone watched as the old woman and the Bai siblings drank their porridge before taking their leave. As they departed, Liu Qin removed her own shoes and put them on Bai Lingfeng’s feet. Her heart ached—for the Bai siblings, for the other refugees around them—yet she could help none of them. Even if she gave away all the silver she had saved, it would be but a drop in the ocean, hardly enough to change anything.

But in that moment, she understood: even if her personal strength was small, her abilities insignificant, even if she could only help a tiny fraction of those in need, she would do all she could to reach out to the destitute old and the homeless children, to bring them a little warmth with her slender means. Yes, in that moment, she found the path she wished to walk in the future—she would earn money, a great deal of it, not by relying on the Liu family, but through her own efforts, and with that money, she would help those who needed help.

As Liu Qin’s eyes shone with newfound purpose, Jiang Li quietly crouched in front of her and said gently, “Sister, let me carry you.”

Resting on Jiang Li’s back, Liu Qin’s eyes filled once again. She had never been a particularly sentimental person, yet today, for some reason, she felt constantly on the verge of tears. She buried her face in the crook of Jiang Li’s neck; a single tear slipped out, landing on his skin. She did not know that her tear, like a burning ember, seared his young heart.

Sister, don’t cry. Your brother will stay by your side, protect you, guard you all your life. No matter the chaos in the world, no matter who tries, no one will ever hurt you!

In that moment, Jiang Li too found his own future path. Perhaps it was destiny’s subtle guidance that had brought him to her side. From the day she took his hand and called him brother, her mark could never be erased from his life.

The road home from South Street to the Liu residence was not short. It took them nearly half an hour. Along the way, Changxing and the others repeatedly offered to relieve Jiang Li, and Liu Qin felt embarrassed, asking again and again, “Brother A’Li, aren’t you tired?” Jiang Li always replied, “Not tired.” Of course he was tired—he was only ten, after all, and carrying a five-year-old, who was not at all light, such a long way. Liu Qin tried to get down, but for some reason, the usually gentle and non-confrontational Jiang Li was especially stubborn this time, insisting on carrying her and refusing to let anyone else help.

Liu Qin could only sigh inwardly, wiping the sweat from his brow with her sleeve and trying to make herself lighter. They stopped to rest several times along the way, so that a walk that should have taken fifteen minutes lasted half an hour.

When they finally reached the Liu residence, they slipped in through the side door to the Fragrant Ink Courtyard. They had barely caught their breath when the old matriarch intercepted them in the outer room of the main house.