"Yes, according to what your brother-in-law wrote in his letter, and what we asked in the previous town, we're on the right track. It's just that I never expected we wouldn't encounter a proper village after traveling so far. Sigh!"
The old grandfather's voice was filled with confusion and apology. Fu Xin Ci felt a familiar echo in his words, though she couldn't place it.
"Father, what do we do now? Should we keep going?"
"Of course, we have to. We've come this far; we can't give up halfway. But we need to hurry. We must not camp out in the wilderness tonight. Not to mention wild beasts, the children can't endure this cold weather either."
"Yes, dear husband, hurry the ox cart. I refuse to believe we won't reach Ying Zui Ya today," the old woman chimed in.
"..." Fu Xin Ci's senses were sharp. Those people were at least two li away.
She wanted to see them sooner. The sense of familiarity in her heart could be revealed more quickly.
She glanced at Yu'er, who was still searching for wild eggs in the bushes, and called out loudly, "Yu'er, come back quickly! People are coming. They seem to be acquaintances."
When Yu'er heard his sister say people were coming, he didn't even register the latter part of her sentence and ran back. He abandoned the wild eggs he had just found.
Fu Xin Ci, meanwhile, had already nimbly brought two horses forward. She then lifted Ning'er onto a horse and mounted the other herself.
"Sister, wait for me." Yu'er ran so fast his foot almost tripped on a tree root.
"Don't rush." Fu Xin Ci waited for Yu'er to climb onto his horse, then, with one arm around Ning'er, urged her horse forward.
As she spurred her horse up a gentle slope, she saw two ox carts and a donkey cart approaching with over a dozen people.
"Oh, there are people ahead! We've finally seen someone," exclaimed an old woman sitting in the foremost ox cart, pointing at the two horses in the middle of the road ahead.
The young man driving the ox cart, no older than twenty-three, and the old man seated on the cart shafts also saw the two horses in the middle of the road.
The young man had good eyesight. Even from a distance, he clearly saw that the three children were on horseback.
"Father, these three children are dressed so well. They look like young masters and ladies from a wealthy family. We should ask them where Ying Zui Ya is later."
Fu Xin Ci inherited all the memories of the original owner. She had only found their voices familiar earlier.
Now, when she heard the young man mention Ying Zui Ya, the familiarity in her memory became crystal clear.
Even though the three people in front were gaunt, she immediately recognized them.
Her actions were faster than her thoughts. She urged her horse forward and called out loudly, "Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle!"
Fu Xin Ci's action not only startled Yu'er but also left the family in the ox cart bewildered.
It wasn't until Fu Xin Ci rode her horse up to the ox cart that Fang Fu, seeing the maiden jump down from the horse, her young and beautiful face overlapping with the memory of his granddaughter, and then looking at the stunned young man on the horse beside her, and the male child the maiden held, that he seemed to awaken and shouted the names of the three children.
"Ci'er, Yu'er, Ning'er!"
The old man's trembling hand reached out to caress the children's tender faces, but he glanced down at his calloused hands and never raised them again.
Mother Fang, however, didn't hesitate. She climbed down from the ox cart and hugged her grandchildren tightly, tears streaming down her face.
"Sob, Grandma finally sees you. My precious darlings!"
"Grandma," the maiden's clear voice echoed in the old woman's ears. Only then did the old woman believe it was real.
Ning'er was stunned. He didn't know who this old lady was or why she was hugging him and his sister and crying.
But his sister didn't struggle, so he didn't move either, letting the old lady hug them and cry.
Yu'er had some faint memories of his grandparents, and before the flood in Qing Zhou, his family's correspondence with his grandparents had never been severed. So when he heard his sister call out to Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle, although he was momentarily stunned, he quickly reacted.
"Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle."
"Yes."
Fang Fu looked at his eldest grandson, who had grown into a handsome young man, and felt a surge of emotions.
Fang Xiao Tao was a man of action. He reached out and lifted his eldest grandson, just as he had when his nephew was a child.
"Uncle."
"Yes. The last time I held Yu'er, he was this small. After a few years without seeing each other, our Yu'er has grown into a fine young man," Fang Xiao Tao said, his voice filled with emotion.
"Uncle, put me down quickly." Yu'er said, sliding off his uncle's body.
He was an observant child. When his uncle lifted him, he noticed how bony his uncle was.
He quietly observed his grandmother and grandfather. They were as thin as his uncle.
He thought of the Qing Zhou refugees. Although his grandparents looked a little better than them, it still made him sad.
Especially when Yu'er's gaze inadvertently swept across the ox carts and donkey carts behind them, he immediately noticed something different.
He didn't recognize any of those people, but he could tell that they were fatter than his grandparents. Especially the young wife in the red dress, her clothing and appearance were much more radiant than his grandparents'.
Clearly, Fu Xin Ci had also noticed this. Coupled with the conversation she had overheard earlier, Fu Xin Ci first helped her grandmother back into the ox cart and then sent Yu'er back to deliver the message.
Yu'er mounted his horse, and she, still worried, cautioned, "Yu'er, don't rush too much. Your safety is most important."
"Sister, don't worry, I understand." After speaking, Yu'er spurred his horse towards Ying Zui Ya.
Watching Yu'er's retreating figure, Fu Xin Ci first put Ning'er on her horse, then mounted her own. She called out, "Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle, we're going home."
"Yes."
Fang Xiao Tao drove the ox cart to follow, and also turned back to signal his in-laws to follow.
Riding her horse, Fu Xin Ci kept pace with her maternal family's ox cart and slowly began to talk to her grandmother about recent events.
"Grandma, Grandpa, it's been several months. Why haven't you written to us?"
"Alas, Ci'er, you don't know about the flood in Qing Zhou. Our family barely survived."
"Grandma, we know about the flood in Qing Zhou."
"How did you know?" Fang Fu was very curious. Qing Zhou and Liao Dong were so far apart. How did Liao Dong know about the flood in Qing Zhou?
"Grandpa, the refugees from Qing Zhou had reached Ying Zui Ya. When my grandfather went to check on the refugees, Grandpa Song recognized my grandfather first. He cried so terribly."
Fang Fu and Mother Fang exchanged a look, understanding each other's thoughts.