The Daily Life of Farming and Raising Children in Ancient Mountain Residences

Chapter 123: Liar

Shen An and Shen Ning were supposed to take a short nap to have the energy to carry their belongings over the mountain. However, they were too excited to sleep, tossing and turning in bed until they heard a knock on the door again. Instantly alert, they sat up.

Sang Luo, realizing they couldn’t sleep either, went out with Shen Lie to greet Shopkeeper Xu and Dong Ge’er, quietly bringing the Xu family inside.

Shen An and Shen Ning, already in their cotton-padded jackets, came face-to-face with the Xu siblings, who were carrying bundles on their backs and holding packages.

The siblings suddenly realized they would have three new companions.

Both sides briefly introduced themselves, and the children started to get to know each other. Shopkeeper Xu then asked in detail about where to deliver the grain and how to handle the handover.

With the draft imminent, Shen Lie and his group couldn’t delay their journey for the Xu family. They had to leave tonight. It wasn’t feasible to have anyone help the Xu family transport grain right now. Instead, they arranged a meeting point and time for Shopkeeper Xu to bring the grain, stay there, and wait for Shen Lie and his group to pick it up and transport it.

Before the grain arrives, the Xu family only has a few bundles of dried food like jerky and preserved fruits, so they would need to borrow some grain from the Shen family in the meantime.

Shen Lie and Sang Luo had no objections. Although their household didn’t have the most grain among the five families, they had the fewest people, making them relatively well-off in terms of grain per person.

If they rationed the same way, Shen Lie and Sang Luo, with their two young ones, could stretch their grain supply nearly a year longer than the other families.

The so-called meeting point couldn’t be described in words alone, so Shopkeeper Xu and a few others needed to accompany them once. Dong Ge’er ran down the mountain to send the coachman back to the county.

People started arriving at the small courtyard intermittently. The families were scattered, arriving in groups, carrying things or bundles on their backs. They were so cautious that they even breathed lightly, making no noise from the village to Shen’s small courtyard.

The Xu family watched as the other families arrived one by one, feeling more at ease seeing their companions. Sang Luo had already neatly packed the quilts and bedding.

Mrs. Chen took out a bag of medicinal powder and distributed it to everyone to rub into the cloth strips they used as leg bindings. The Xu family, although wearing simple clothes, didn’t have these bindings.

Sang Luo dug into her bundles and found a large roll of cloth strips, which she handed to the Xu family, showing them how to wrap their legs.

This was to prevent snake bites and protect their legs.

The Xu family wasn’t familiar with this, but the other families were helpful, assisting each other in no time.

They were ready to set off before the fourth watch.

At this point, the Xu family noticed that although Shen Lie’s group didn’t have many young and strong members, everyone was armed.

Various tools and weapons were hidden in their baskets or carried in hand. Wei Qinghe recognized that Shen Lie and the Lu brothers carried military knives and bows, while the women and children each had at least a bow or slingshot.

The three Xu children were stunned. Even the usually silent Wang Yunzheng noticed the younger kids all had bows and quivers filled with stones. The older boys, around his age, carried bamboo bows and arrows.

Wei Qinghe, still confused, was asked by Shen Lie, “Can you use a bow?”

Seeing him shake his head, Shen Lie handed him an axe and placed it in his large basket, saying, “Use this for self-defense.”

Besides carrying his own bundle, Wei Qinghe was also helping the Shen family with a large basket on one side and a bamboo chicken coop containing three chickens and three ducks on the other.

The chickens and ducks, though nervous, made occasional noises. Since the Shen family lived in a secluded area, it didn’t matter; no one would hear or care.

Among the five families, only the Shen family attempted to bring live chickens and ducks. The others had already slaughtered theirs during the New Year and made them into jerky.

When everyone was ready, Shen Lie lit two torches from a pile he had prepared, extinguished the oil lamp, wrapped it, and put it into his basket. He then said quietly, “Let’s go.”

The torches were held by Mrs. Chen and Mrs. Lu, the two elderly ladies who didn’t need to carry baskets, to light the way.

Shen Lie and Sang Luo, with Shen An and Shen Ning, closed the courtyard gate behind them. Sang Luo touched the wooden gate, sighed, and asked Shen Lie to take the outer lock.

The four joined the group, with Shen Lie and Lu Erlang leading and guarding the rear.

As they crossed the ridge, they all stopped to look back at Shili Village.

Most of them were born and raised here, and now they had to leave. They didn’t know if they would ever return, or if the village would still be the same when they did.

Their eyes filled with tears.

Village head Zhou wiped his eyes and smiled, “Let’s go. We’re heading towards life.”

…

The mountain path was uneven, and the night was dark. However, the five families, young and old, had been training for the past two months. The children, who used to carry stones in their baskets at dawn, didn’t find it as tiring now.

Even though it was midnight, the torches made it brighter than their early morning training, not affecting them much.

The Xu family struggled the most, not used to such hardship. But with everyone’s help, they managed to keep up.

The torchlight wound through the mountains, gradually disappearing, leaving the dark night and the sound of insects behind, just like every night before.

…

Shen Jin, like every night, woke up near the fifth in the morning.

Over the past two months, he had gotten used to waking up at this time.

The Shen family didn’t have anything to tell the time, and in this remote village, there were no night watchmen either. Shen Jin didn’t know the time, so he closed his eyes and listened for the few sounds of bird calls.

He waited for a long time but didn’t hear them, waiting so long that he began to wonder if he had woken up too early and got the time wrong.

But as he thought about it, he noticed a faint light coming through the window, although it was still dark. Maybe it was just an illusion?

Then Shen Jin heard the village rooster crowing.

The rooster couldn’t have woken up early too, could it?

He waited, muttering to himself, glancing toward the window from time to time. After a while, he realized that the sky was indeed getting lighter. By this time of day, everyone would usually be gathering.

Shen Jin thought that maybe Shen An had forgotten about him.

He quietly got up, put on his cotton-padded jacket, and tiptoed to the door. He opened it very slowly and silently, just enough to slip through, and then closed it just as carefully.

He repeated this process with the main hall door and the courtyard gate to avoid making any noise that might wake his parents. By the time he sneaked out of the courtyard, the cold morning had made him break a slight sweat.

Once out of the yard, Shen Jin ran excitedly, heading straight for the small hill where his older brother often took them.

But when he reached the foot of the hill, he didn’t hear any noise. Looking up at the hillside in the dim morning light, he didn’t see anyone.

He stood there in a daze, looking up at the sky. It should have been light enough by now.

Shen Jin ran up to the hillside, circled around, and then ran to the top. No one was there…

He sat for a while on the stone where they usually rested, still waiting for someone, but no one came. Finally, he couldn’t bear it any longer and ran back down, skillfully winding his way to his older brother’s house.

Looking up from the foot of the hill, the small courtyard was silent. He ran up and was about to knock when he found that the wooden door moved with his touch.

The door wasn’t locked?

Shen Jin pushed the door open a bit and peeked in. “Xiao An, An Ning? Are you up yet?”

There was no response from the courtyard, which puzzled Shen Jin. He pushed the courtyard door open and went inside.

For some reason, the silence of the courtyard made Shen Jin feel uneasy. He didn’t understand why, but his steps slowed down. “Xiao An? An Ning, are you home?”

“Big brother.”

“Sister-in-law?”

No one answered.

The only sound in the small courtyard was his own voice.

By now, Shen Jin had reached the main house door, which was ajar and not latched from the inside. Normally, Shen Jin wouldn’t have dared to push the door open, as no one usually entered his sister-in-law’s room.

But today, an inexplicable sense of panic made Shen Jin raise his hand and gently push the door open.

The morning light, which had been barely enough to see, now kindly brightened a bit, just enough for Shen Jin to see the entire room at a glance.

This was the second time Shen Jin had entered this room, the first being when he helped carry grain for his sister-in-law.

But the room was too empty. The beds were stripped of their mats, quilts, and pillows, leaving only the thick straw on the bed boards.

Shen Jin stood there, rubbing his eyes, but the scene remained the same.

He turned and ran to the kitchen, which was also empty, except for a few items they couldn’t take with them. He rushed out of the courtyard and found the chicken coop, duck pen, and goose pen all empty too.

How could this be?

Recently, his brother had been teaching him how to deal with refugees, explaining what would happen if they entered the village. Shen Jin’s first thought was that refugees had robbed his brother’s house.

But no, everything was too clean, and his brother’s family was missing.

Shen Jin remembered something and ran down the hill toward the village. To avoid being seen by his parents, he took a long detour, checking the Zhou, Shi, Lu, and finally the Chen families. Each courtyard appeared locked but could be pushed open. Without exception, they were all empty.

They were all gone…

He was stunned, not knowing how he got back to the small courtyard on the hill, staring at the empty yard in a daze. The longer he stood there, the more the daze turned to a sense of grievance.

Everyone had left, leaving only him behind.

His nose and eyes stung, and tears welled up in his eyes. In the dim light of dawn, Shen Jin’s tears glistened. As the tears grew too heavy to stay on his eyelashes, they fell.

The falling tear seemed like a signal, triggering an avalanche of emotion. The boy stood in the courtyard, crying helplessly, his face scrunched into the ugliest expression, snot and tears streaming down.

He cried for a long time, finally making a sound.

Liars, they had promised to practice slingshots together.

No matter how he wiped his tears, they wouldn’t stop.

The scene from yesterday, when his brother and Xiao An had called him out, replayed in his mind. Every word that had seemed ordinary then now had a different meaning.

Digging holes, escaping, hunting, recognizing edible wild vegetables, poisonous plants, what to watch out for in the forest, what to do if encountering refugees, digging multiple holes, hiding food and water, including the words “Don’t blame your big brother…”

Even everything his brother had been doing since returning could be pieced together. With conscription and taxes, his parents had argued, then sighed, talking about it all night. Shen Jin had been particularly attentive, listening closely because he had heard a lot about refugees from his brother. During dinner, he had heard his mother hesitantly ask his father if they should flee, given the chaos and conscription.

His father had scolded her, “Are you crazy? Do you think it’s easy to be a refugee?”

So, his brother and his family had actually fled and become refugees.

Shen Jin became increasingly sad and aggrieved, crying uncontrollably. Eventually, he squatted down, trying not to make too much noise, his small body shaking with sobs.

It wasn’t until dawn that he remembered something. He stopped crying, wiped his tear-streaked face, got up, and carefully closed the doors of his brother and sister-in-law’s house and kitchen. After closing the courtyard gate, he headed towards the village.

He quietly checked the Zhou, Shi, Lu, and Chen families, making sure their courtyard gates were properly shut. If they weren’t, he helped close them. Only then did he quickly run back to his own home, bolt the courtyard and main hall doors, and slip back into his room.

Shen Yin had just woken up and, seeing Shen Jin return, was puzzled. In a low voice, he asked, “Third Brother, why are you back so early?”

Shen Jin kept his head down, not daring to let Shen Yin see his face. Without a word, he lifted the quilt, crawled into bed, and curled up.

Shen Yin, puzzled, asked, “Third Brother, what are you doing? Aren’t we going to practice with the slingshot today?”

Shen Jin’s muffled voice came from under the covers, “Not today. Big Brother and the others went to the county. I’m going back to sleep.”