Chapter 78: The Ants of the Whole Village
Sunset at dusk, the sky was red.
Jiang Mianmian sat on the straw mat beside the stove, playing with a small Ant in her hand.
She was no longer afraid of the small Ant. As she grew older, her courage had grown too.
The little Ant was in her palm; she clenched her fist, opened it, clenched it, and opened it again. The little Ant would even strike various poses to amuse her. Sometimes it would put its hands on its hips, other times it would hook its legs; every time she opened her palm, the little Ant would switch to a different movement.
Jiang Mianmian was amused and giggled. There was no help for it; in a world with no children’s toys, one had to develop their own to play with. Otherwise, truly, infancy would be far too long.
Jiang Mianmian officially named the little black Ant Ant. She hadn’t dared to give it a name before, because she always felt that if she named it, she would have to be responsible for it. If it died and she replaced it with another Ant, it wouldn’t be the same one. If she didn’t name it, it seemed like she could just swap them, like keeping fish—when one group died, she could just replace them with another, exactly the same.
After playing with Ant for a while, she crawled over to play with the big white horse.
The white horse loved to nudge its head close to Mianmian, and Jiang Mianmian would use her little paws to play at braiding its hair. Little girls all liked playing with things like this, similar to Barbie dolls.
Jiang Mianmian braided the mane on the horse’s head into strands, sometimes even tying them into tight knots. Without Barbie dolls, she had to make do with the white horse’s head.
Everyone else in the house was busy packing things up. Occasionally, they would spare a glance at Mianmian. Seeing her sitting there, round and plump, messing with the head of that fine horse, they couldn’t help but smile.
Even though the whole family was preparing to flee for their lives, they were touched in the softest part of their hearts by the infant, who was earnestly braiding the white horse’s mane under the sunset.
Jiang Changtian was cooking for everyone. He stoked the fire, added water, chopped vegetables, and stirred the pot with a long ladle. From the outside, one could only see his back. Even though it is said that a gentleman should stay away from the kitchen, he was actually quite good at cooking. He used to be someone who never lifted a finger to do chores. He couldn’t distinguish one type of meat from another. Now, he knew which grasses were edible, which were not, and which could be eaten in small amounts if one were starving.
Such a life was truly bitter, really bitter. He was unwilling to accept it. Why should he live like this? Even Jie Xi could castrate himself to seek a future. In these chaotic times, if one didn’t struggle and fight, one would only die a cowardly death. He was filled with anger and frustration.
He knew he wasn’t acting normally right now because he had seen Old Madam Jiang today. Old Madam Jiang had said, “Why don’t you just die? You deserve to die. You are a scourge yourself, and your children are also scourges.”
She looked so kind-hearted, gentle, dignified, beautiful, and noble. Yet the words she spoke were sharper than any blade.
He held a knife, slicing the dried meat thin, slice by slice, as if performing a slow execution. Then he pushed the meat into the pot, watching the slices tumble in the boiling water. The boiling water splashed, scalding his wrist, but he felt nothing.
Qin Luoxia and Jiang Feng put all the family’s valuables underground. This was a pit she had dug earlier, and as she kept digging, it had grown larger. It was an excellent place to hide things. A lot of dried meat was already hidden underneath.
When Jiang Feng came in, he was startled. He took a deep look at Mother, who was arranging the items. With so much game meat, how much prey had Mother hunted? He had originally been full of confidence in his swordsmanship, but now he felt a tiny bit insecure.
Jiang Yu knew about the place; the family’s food storage couldn’t escape her nose. She had also hidden a lot of dried mushrooms, dried fruit, and dried mice that she had scavenged in this cellar~~
“The bandits shouldn’t be able to find this place, right? If the bandits take away the food I’ve hidden, I will really fight them to the death,” Jiang Yu said, looking at these treasures with reluctance.
The family didn’t have many valuable things; one trip was enough to pack everything. The main thing was to bring food for the road, things Mianmian could eat, and to layer on as much clothing as possible. The most valuable thing was that horse; they could take it with them. The horse was very clever and could run faster than a person in the mountains. At a critical moment, it could even carry their daughter and run.
After packing up, Jiang Changtian had also finished cooking. Tonight was another hearty meal, because only after eating their fill could they run away.
Jiang Changtian cooked the meal but didn’t eat much himself. He held Mianmian in his arms and fed his daughter first. Jiang Mianmian opened her mouth, and Father gave her a spoonful of soft rice mixed with soup and minced meat. She ate it up with a smacking sound, and when she opened her mouth again, Father’s next spoonful was already at her lips. The two of them worked very well together.
While eating, Jiang Mianmian suddenly noticed Father’s hand was scalded. Without thinking, she spat a mouthful of saliva onto her own hand. Jiang Changtian thought his daughter was choking and immediately stopped feeding her. But to his surprise, his daughter raised her little hand, wet with saliva, and gently smeared it onto his burn.
“Father, Father, blow, blow, no pain, pain.” Jiang Mianmian earnestly helped blow on it. In reality, she secretly applied a little bit of spiritual spring water.
He hadn’t felt the pain when he was first scalded, but now, with his daughter earnestly blowing on it, he really felt the pain. He realized that the scalded area was quite large. His skin was also relatively fair, especially on the underside of his wrist.
Qin Luoxia stood up nervously. Jiang Mianmian was then transferred to Sister’s arms. Mother took Father to rinse it with water. Elder Brother drew the water.
It was winter, so the water was very cold. Once rinsed, the stinging pain was gone, but the entire wrist was red. It was a bit cold.
“Why are you so careless? Next time, I’ll do it.” Qin Luoxia shed tears of distress. Her husband was such a good man; she couldn’t bear for him to suffer the slightest harm. “Does it still hurt?”
Jiang Changtian nodded: “It hurts.” Because when one has someone who cares, one is qualified to cry out in pain, qualified to shed tears. His eyes were slightly red as he looked at his wife.
Qin Luoxia also imitated her daughter’s manner, carefully blowing on it. “It’s okay, it’s okay. After rinsing with cold water, it won’t hurt anymore. Next time, I’ll do the cooking.”
Jiang Changtian smiled, his face streaked with tears: “No, Sister Xia, in the future, we will live in a big house, with servants in crowds, and cooks to prepare meals. You won’t have to do it, really.”
Qin Luoxia was amused by her husband’s words. A big house, crowds of servants—she didn’t even dare to imagine such things. She felt that as long as they could be safe and sound, that was enough. As long as the children could be well-fed and warmly clothed, that was good.
They still had to hide from the bandits tonight. Every family was packing up.
The matchmaker Sixth Auntie had two sons and two daughters. Both daughters had married into other villages; in reality, she had sold them for a good price and received a high dowry. Calling it a dowry was just a polite way of saying it was money from selling her children. Why would a normal family pay so much money? Those willing to pay more always had some issues, and anyone who cherished their own daughter wouldn’t marry her off to them.
Her eldest son had already moved out to live on his own, and Sixth Auntie despised him for being useless. Her youngest son was idle and spent money lavishly, which Sixth Auntie was very fond of. Sixth Auntie’s old man was also idle, lazy, and gluttonous; Father and son were very much alike.
Watching others packing their things, the old man asked, “Do we need to pack?”
Sixth Auntie said, “I’ll go ask Master Liu. That Jiang the Second is very crafty; it might be him stirring up trouble.”
The whole village was busy cooking, and there was even an air of celebration, like the New Year. Because they were preparing to flee, everyone was worried about not having food, so they simply ate as much of their stored grain as they could tonight. Even if they died, they could die with a full stomach. They wouldn’t become starving ghosts.
Sixth Auntie dragged her lame leg to Master Liu’s house. Master Liu’s house remained unmoved. She felt much more at ease.
Master Liu saw the matchmaker come to ask if they should hide. He laughed. He sat in his carved armchair, shaking the pipe in his hand.
“A bunch of lowly people, believing every rumor they hear. The bandits from Jishan County are heading to the Prefecture City; why would they come to our place? Hiding things, running away. What do they have worth stealing? There isn’t even a bowl of fine grain in their homes.”
In this village, Master Liu knew very well what everyone had. Whoever borrowed things from him was recorded in his ledger. It was only that Jiang the Second’s family who had a good horse, a good daughter, and some treasures given by that young master from the capital. For the past six months, Jiang the Second’s family hadn’t borrowed anything from them, which was infuriating.
Sixth Auntie felt relieved to hear Master Liu say this and took the opportunity to flatter him: “This is all Jiang the Second’s nonsense. I think he just doesn’t want his Sister Yu to come here and enjoy a good life with you.”
The Old Madam Liu beside him was plump and looked very amiable. She laughed and said, “The little girl has a stubborn temper, but after she enters the door, a few beatings will make her obedient. As for that horse, send it over for my son to ride; my son is just in need of a good horse.”
Although they had been wary of Jiang the Second at the beginning, after so many years, they had never seen the Jiang Family make a move. That Jiang the Second was just a plucked chicken that anyone could eat.
Master Liu did not allow anyone in the village to live better than him. Those who were unfilial and disobedient were lowly people. Reading books, wielding swords, riding horses—they should be slaves and servants for their whole lives, sons born as slaves, daughters born as servants, for generations to come.
Master Liu shook his crossed legs and nodded in agreement. He had been entrenched in the village for many years; to speak boastfully, he even knew how many Ants were in the village. These people were all lowly, and they couldn’t escape his grasp.
That night, Jiang Mianmian’s family really set off toward the mountains. Jiang Mianmian was strapped to Mother, Elder Brother was pulling his younger sister, Father was leading the horse, and behind them followed a long, long, long, long line of Ants…
It seemed as if all the Ants in the entire village had started moving. Master Liu saw a group of Ants busy crawling out from under the eaves. He looked up, puzzled, at the dark sky: Is the weather about to change?
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