CHAPTER 223: SPECIAL EXTRA OLD MRS. CHEN’S STORY ADDITIONAL EPISODE 5

My name is Yue Yaya; this name was given to me by my mother.

When my mother gave birth to me, she heard the midwife shout: "A baby girl," and then lay exhausted on the ground, her eyes catching sight of the small crescent moon at the horizon, and I have been called this ever since.

In my family, there were three older brothers and two sisters. My sisters got married at thirteen, one exchanged for a stone of rice and the other for two bags of beans; in my father’s words, in times like these, there is chaos everywhere, keeping a girl serves no purpose, selling her can still earn some rations.

When I was nine, a drought struck my hometown, and people were starving everywhere. My parents took us to flee famine, but there was truly nothing to eat on the road. I fainted from hunger by the roadside, and in a daze, I heard my father say, "Give us the five cakes in your hand, and this girl will be yours."

"Five cakes won’t do, four cakes then... four isn’t possible... three... three is the lowest I can go."

I felt someone lift my tangled hair and then stuffed a hard ration into my mouth. I carefully softened the ration under my tongue and swallowed it, and I survived.

When I opened my eyes again, I was in Chen Family Village.

Before me stood a woman, taller than most, her voice was deep when she spoke, and she said to me, "Your father and mother sold you to our family as a child bride. Do you know what that means?"

I nodded.

The woman said, "You were unclear when you arrived; now that you know, you can stay if willing, or go chase after your parents if not!"

"Willing," I replied without hesitation.

My parents exchanged their daughter for three cakes; now they have cakes but no daughter, while I have no parents, and this woman saved me, so I stayed in Chen Family Village.

"Have you thought it through?" the woman asked me again.

I nodded, "As long as you don’t abandon me."

The woman agreed, "What’s your name?"

"Yue Yaya," I said.

The woman said, "From now on, your name is Chen Yueya. You call me mother, call my son Brother Li."

I nodded and called out, "Mother."

The days in Chen Family Village were much better than fleeing famine; mother and Chen Youli were born with more strength than ordinary people, they farmed and hunted, the food wasn’t great, but rarely did we go hungry.

By the time I was fourteen, I got my first period, and that same year, I married Chen Youli, who was three years older than me. Whether married or not seemed to make little difference to me, as this had already become my home.

Brother Li wasn’t one to speak much daily, and after marriage, nothing seemed to change; life continued day by day. I worked, served mother and Brother Li, went out to gather wild vegetables, busy as ever.

If life continued like this, I would consider it acceptable, but alas, the warfare started again, and all the men in the village hid away for fear of being captured into military service.

Brother Li was no exception, pushed into the mountains by mother.

With Brother Li gone, there were fewer hands to work in the household, leaving me and mother struggling to hold on. The heavy burden eventually crushed my shoulders, and after getting caught in a rainstorm, I fell ill in bed.

In a daze, I felt mother feeding me.

The village had just been forcibly taxed; those people plundered the village’s grain and left in great numbers; from beginning to end, the villagers never knew whose troops they belonged to.

I kept my mouth shut and refused to eat.

Mother, however, whispered in my ear, "Only us two are left in the household; if you perish, I cannot survive either. Brother Li said when he left that we must all stay alive, or else what is the point of him hiding in the mountains?"

Half of the remaining rations in the house went into my stomach, and I survived again, though my body remained weak.

Winter was particularly harsh, cold wind seeped into the house, freezing me into sleeplessness. Many villagers lived on clay, consuming too much would cause them to bloat and die.

I secretly hid some clay at my waist, thinking if someday it became too unbearable, I could eat the clay; a full stomach is better than starving on the road.

During the coldest days, I would remain awake, fearing I might freeze to death on a winter night.

One day during the twelfth lunar month, in a daze, I felt warmth, as if charcoal brazier was kindled in the house, warmth enveloping me.

When I awakened, I found someone beside me; it was Brother Li, who had been away a long time. Our reunion was silent; neither of us spoke. Brother Li raised his hand and stuffed a piece of cured meat into my mouth.

I ate the dried meat while Brother Li embraced me tightly, turning the winter chill warm.

Brother Li returned quietly and left quietly. After he departed, I discovered the clay at my waist was gone and replaced with a string of Copper Coin.

I shed silent tears.

From then on, Brother Li would return occasionally, bringing food and Silver Coin, neither mother nor I questioned how Brother Li acquired these things.

I did not ask what Brother Li was doing outside because that was not important.

As long as he did not abandon me, I had nothing to ponder; all I remembered was him silently stuffing cured meat into my mouth and removing the clay tied at my waist.

The most important thing hidden at my waist was no longer clay, but that string of Copper Coin, also the concern he left me.

Another year passed, and the county magistrate got word that the village men were hiding in the surrounding mountains, proceeding to capture people everywhere. Out of fear, I dared not close my eyes for days until finding out that Brother Li was not among the captured, and from the mouths of government officials, learned that some had killed an official, fleeing with several villagers.

I hoped it was Brother Li.

The captured villagers joined the army and never returned; as long as Brother Li stayed alive, it did not matter if we could never meet again.

Another year passed, Brother Li still hadn’t returned, but a "refugee" passed by my home, leaving behind two strings of Silver Coin and a few verbal messages.

After Brother Li killed the government officials, he, along with those who fled, became mountain bandits; they did not rob the poor, constantly dealing with the rich and the government office; his life was precarious, unwilling to drag us down, promising if he ever saw daylight again, he would return for us.

Another year passed, mother fell gravely ill, and before passing, she tightly held my hand.

I knew mother was worried about Brother Li.

"I’ll go find him," I said, "Once you’re gone, I’ll go; I’m not afraid; I’ve said as long as you don’t abandon me."

Mother nodded and closed her eyes.

I tore a piece of cloth from mother’s dress and tucked it into my waist, shaping the husk at home into cakes held against my chest, and thus began my journey.

No matter how Brother Li turns out in the future, I will be with him.

As long as he does not abandon me, I will not abandon him either.

That year, I found Brother Li and joined him as a mountain bandit until General Yang and his son took these few states from the former dynasty people.

Little General Yang released us, letting us return home to farm and become peasants again.

Later, Little General Yang became Prince Guangyang, and Brother Li and I also bore a son named Brother Jing.

As if henceforth everything would be peaceful and smooth.

Until one day, remnants of the former dynasty attacked the territory once again.

Brother Li looked at me, "Do you remember those years in the mountains? Do you regret it?"

I shook my head.

Brother Li said, "I now need to do something potentially more dangerous than before, willing to join me?"

I agreed, "Willing."

The next day, Brother Li brought back a fourteen-year-old girl.

Brother Li said, "Henceforth, she is our daughter."

"Alright," I agreed without further questions, "As long as none of you regret it, then always."

The girl knelt on the ground and kowtowed to me, calling out, "Mother."

Following that call, the whole Chen Family Village embarked on the path of fleeing famine, and I gained someone I wouldn’t abandon.

The days on earth may be fewer and fewer, yet we possess more and more, those things weigh heavily within the heart, at the waist, grasping me firmly; this was truly palpable stability.