The next morning, Xi Qingyue woke Xi Weilan up early.
“Sister, what’s wrong?” Xi Weilan rubbed her eyes drowsily, clearly still half asleep.
Xi Qingyue patted her head and said, “Hurry up and wash up. I’ll give you something delicious later, but if you’re too late, there won’t be any left.”
As expected, the mention of food jolted Xi Weilan fully awake and energized.
“But Sister, we don’t have any water,” Xi Weilan scratched her head.
Xi Qingyue handed her a cup filled with water and a small child’s toothbrush, then led her outside the room.
She explained in detail how to brush teeth, and they squatted together outside, brushing in sync.
The sight of a half-grown girl and a tiny kid squatting side by side, brushing their teeth in unison, looked peaceful and warm.
One good thing about Xi Weilan was that she did as she was told without asking too many questions, and she kept things to herself. Raising a child like this didn’t seem as difficult as Xi Qingyue had imagined.
After brushing their teeth, Xi Qingyue took her back inside, where a basin of clean water was set out. Once they finished washing, she put everything away into her storage space.
She brought out a small table and set breakfast on it: two bowls of lean meat porridge, fried dough sticks, steamed buns, and two cartons of milk.
Seeing the hearty breakfast, Xi Weilan’s little face lit up with joy.
After eating and drinking their fill, Xi Qingyue took Xi Weilan’s hand and strolled toward Xi Erniu’s place.
They hadn’t gathered their clothes yesterday, so they were going back today to collect what was left.
As they reached the door of the Xi family home, they heard Xi Erniu cursing, “Damn it, that wretched girl Da Ya! She offended Squire Wang, and now we’re all suffering for it.”
Hearing this, Xi Qingyue kicked the door open and said in feigned surprise, “Oh dear, this door seems broken—it fell down with just one push?”
Xi Erniu was furious at the sight of her. Cheng Dingxiang also seethed with anger as she looked at the toppled door. Both of them were bruised and limping all over their bodies and faces—all because of Xi Qingyue.
Seeing their bruised and swollen eyes, Xi Weilan was puzzled. “Sister, did Second Uncle and Second Aunt not sleep well last night? Why are their eyes all puffy?”
Hearing this, Xi Qingyue nodded in agreement and even used it as a lesson for the child. “Lan’er, you need to be obedient and go to bed early, or else you’ll end up as ugly as them.”
“Don’t worry, Sister, I’m very obedient.”
The sisters chatted as if no one else was around. Xi Erniu roared angrily, “Xi Da Ya, what exactly did you do at Squire Wang’s place? He sent men last night to catch you, and they almost took your cousin.”
“Oh, nothing much. I just put a dagger to his neck. It’s not worth praising, but if you’d like, I can give a demonstration.”
She said this casually and then, in high spirits, took Xi Weilan into the room they had lived in before.
But Xi Erniu felt a chill run down his spine, muttering to himself, “It’s over. Now we’ve offended Squire Wang completely.”
“What’s there to fear? It’s her fault. What does it have to do with us? Last night, Squire Wang’s men didn’t know you had moved. Next time, they won’t make that mistake.”
Hearing this, a malicious glint flashed in Xi Erniu’s eyes. He needed to visit Squire Wang’s place to make sure his men didn’t come to the wrong house again tonight. “That’s right. It’s her fault. I’ll tell Squire Wang she’s moved so no one gets the wrong place tonight.”
By the time Xi Qingyue and Xi Weilan had packed a few small bundles, Xi Erniu was already gone from home.
Cheng Dingxiang pointed at the pitiful pile of things on the ground. “Take them. Don’t say we treated you poorly.”
Xi Qingyue scoffed. “As if you’ve ever been good to us. This house was built by my father, and my mother had a hand in everything here. Do you feel no guilt living in it?”
“Hmph, regret all you want now. Xi Da Ya, don’t forget—we signed a contract. The house is ours. Remember that. And from now on, we’re no longer family. Don’t come running to us if something happens.”
“Don’t worry, we’ve signed and sealed the severance agreement. We have no ties anymore.”
Xi Qingyue shot back and walked out of the yard.
Standing at the gate, she looked back at the house for a long while before turning and leaving.
As they passed by Aunt Wang’s house, Aunt Wang was waiting there with a bucket and other items.
Seeing the sisters approach, Aunt Wang smiled and handed them two coarse flour pancakes. “Here, you haven’t had breakfast yet, right? Eat something first. Your aunt here can come with you afterward to tidy up the house. If there’s any leak, we’ll find someone to fix it.”
Xi Qingyue took the pancakes with a smile. “Thank you, Aunt.”
She wasn’t hungry, but she didn’t want to refuse the kindness. She gave one pancake to Xi Weilan and ate the other herself.
She had to be glad that both of them had good appetites and could eat a lot; otherwise, they’d have been too full.
What surprised Xi Qingyue was that when they returned, someone was already waiting at the door of the thatched cottage.
The village head had sent his wife, Li Wanqiu, to bring them some rice and flour. It wasn’t much, but it would last a few days to keep them from going hungry.
Not only that, but Li Wanqiu had also brought a few people to help tidy up the outside of the thatched cottage.
“Your grandpa went to the county office early this morning. He said that even though this place is temporary, we still need to fix it up a bit—especially the doors and windows. They’ll be able to hold off a thief in case of trouble. If anything happens, just shout loudly, and we’ll get there in time.”
“Thank you, Grandma. Thank you, Grandpa. Please ask Grandpa how much it costs to buy this place. Once I’ve earned some silver, I’ll buy it.”
Li Wanqiu was quite surprised. “Yue’er, you want to buy this place? You can just live here temporarily for free. Once you’ve saved some silver, there are other spots in the village to build a house. There’s no need to buy this one.”
Xi Qingyue had grown more and more fond of the village head and his wife. They had helped her get rid of Xi Erniu’s family and sorted out the household registration issues. They’d even thought so carefully about housing—their character and kindness were truly admirable.
Li Wanqiu, a kind-faced woman around fifty years old, studied Xi Qingyue and felt that the child seemed to have grown up a lot overnight. Her gaze was full of sympathy.
“Yue’er, this place is too close to the mountain. If wolves or wild boars come down from the mountain, this thatched cottage won’t protect you. Thankfully, they haven’t come down in the last two years. It’s fine for a short-term stay, but in the long run, it’s not safe at all.”
Li Wanqiu still didn’t approve of her buying this place for long-term residence. Letting them stay here was a last resort—it was the only house that was vacant and wouldn’t provoke complaints from the villagers. Every other empty house had an owner and required payment.
Xi Qingyue seemed to understand her concern and gave her a reassuring smile. “Grandma, don’t worry. I’m strong and not afraid of wolves. I actually like this place quite a bit. It’s small, but it’s enough for my sister and me.”
Li Wanqiu finally relented. Seeing Xi Qingyue's unwavering determination, she agreed. "Fine, I'll ask around for you when we get back. I doubt it'll be much—the villagers around here don't think much of this plot, and it's too small, so at most a few silver taels."
Then, Aunt Wang and Li Wanqiu helped her clean the dust from the room, while the other men worked on the outside of the house, reinforcing the thatch cottage as a whole.
An hour later, Li Wanqiu left with the others, reminding her before she went to call on them if she needed anything.
Watching their departing figures, Xi Qingyue silently committed their names to memory, planning to return the favor when the time was right.
