The three siblings rode their horses leisurely down the main road, eventually reaching the mountain pass.
"Shall we turn back?" Fu Xinci asked her two younger brothers for their opinions.
Yu'er was indifferent. "I'll do whatever sister says."
"Ning'er will listen to sister too, but Ning'er really wants to see what's outside the pass."
Ning'er genuinely wished to see beyond the mountain pass; he had no memories of the outside world.
Hearing her brothers' words, she smiled. "Then let's take a stroll outside."
"Oh, we're going out for a stroll!" Ning'er puffed out his chest, like a proud little rooster sitting in front of his sister.
Fu Xinci greeted the soldiers guarding the pass before urging her horse forward, still ambling along the mountain path.
"Wow." Ning'er was delighted. Even though what he saw was still mountains, much like those in Qingxi Town, he found looking at the cliffs up close made his eyes insufficient.
Yu'er also became interested. Although he was nine years old, he rarely had the opportunity to go beyond the mountain pass.
It used to be better when this was still Mengjia Village; he could still pester his grandfather to take him to Xianshui Town occasionally.
But now, he could only explore Qingxi Town. (筷書閣)
Fu Xinci watched her two brothers eagerly gaze at the mountain scenery outside, her heart feeling heavy.
"When we have the chance, sister will take you to see farther places."
"Really?" Not only was Ning'er excited to the point of jumping up and down, but Yu'er's heart was also pounding like his younger brother's.
The siblings chatted happily as they slowly reached the side of the official road.
Autumn was already past its halfway point. The vast wilderness was covered in a crisscross of yellow and green weeds, stretching as far as the eye could see.
A winding road was like a sharp blade, cleaving through the entanglement of deadwood and weeds, striving to reach unknown territories.
Ning'er saw his sister stop and craned his little neck, looking left and right.
"Sister, sister, I want to get off the horse."
"Mhm."
Fu Xinci did not restrict her brother's wishes. She responded and dismounted first, then reached out her hand, tightened Ning'er's small cloak, and helped him down.
Seeing his sister and brother dismount, Yu'er also got off.
However, he did not want his range of activity to be confined to this small T-junction.
"Sister, I want to go look over there." Yu'er pointed to a patch of tall mugwort.
Fu Xinci disagreed, even though she knew there was no danger there.
"We can just look from the roadside. Let's not go into the grass, or you'll get your clothes dirty, and Mother will be unhappy."
"Mhm, see how obedient I am to sister." Ning'er was not idle either. His eyes were fixed on a grass leaf by the roadside, where a stunned mole cricket lay.
He was pondering how to catch it.
Fu Xinci tidied her large red cloak, let the two horses graze in the nearby wilderness, and stood by the roadside, leisurely watching her two brothers.
"Sister, sister, look, I caught a big mole cricket!" Ning'er finally got his wish, holding up the mole cricket with his chubby hands, waiting for his sister's praise.
"Mhm, our Ning'er is so good."
"Sister is also very good." After speaking, Ning'er placed the mole cricket in his sister's hand to hold for him. He wanted to catch two more to give to Jin Zhong and Zheng Nan.
Yu'er looked at his sister with a hint of grievance, as if to say: You let Ning'er catch mole crickets, why can't I go look for wild eggs?
"Alright. But we've agreed beforehand, no getting your clothes dirty. And, the wild eggs are not in that patch of burdock."
"Then where are they?" Hearing his sister's reminder, the youth's handsome brows curved into crescent moons.
"Over there." Fu Xinci pointed to a patch of slightly shorter bushes.
"Okay." Yu'er took off his cloak, threw it to his sister, and turned to pounce towards the low bushes.
"Sister, I want to go too." Ning'er looked at his brother's retreating figure, as if he had discovered something more fun, and wanted to follow.
Fu Xinci wasn't afraid of discouraging her younger brother. She made a gesture comparing their heights.
Ning'er instantly understood; his sister was commenting on his short stature.
He felt a surge of indignation and wanted to pout and cry to show his sister. But then he remembered that only his sister would take him out to play, and no one else at home would, so he immediately adopted a fawning demeanor, wanting to cling to his sister's leg and act spoiled.
Fu Xinci immediately stopped him. "What have your hands touched just now? Don't you dare touch my clothes."
"I caught grasshoppers and mole crickets." Ning'er was an honest child and confessed all his recent good deeds.
Fu Xinci, with a hint of disgust, took out her handkerchief, resigned to wiping Ning'er's hands.
From afar, she heard Yu'er's surprised voice. "Sister, this nest has twelve wild eggs."
Before his sister could speak, Ning'er opened his small arms and ran towards his brother. "I want wild eggs too."
However, after only a few steps, he was caught by his sister. "The grass there is too deep, Ning'er can't go."
"Then why can brother go?"
"Because Yu'er is tall."
Ning'er felt dejected. Why did his sister always bring up his height?
Yet, he was indeed the shortest one in the family.
Alas, Ning'er had to find a way.
Fu Xinci, however, thought differently. As long as her two brothers were within her sight and not causing too much trouble, she wouldn't restrain them too much.
Just then, in the distance, she thought she heard the sound of cowbells.
Fu Xinci looked in that direction with surprise. If she wasn't mistaken, it was two ox carts and a donkey cart.
There also seemed to be a woman complaining incessantly. "I told you not to come to this cursed place. It's getting more desolate the further we go. We've been walking for two days and haven't seen a single soul. Hmph, what a shabby place, more desolate than your mountain villages."
"Who told you to come along? Our family is coming to Liaodong to join my elder sister's family. My in-laws specifically said that our family was coming to Liaodong and never intended to bring you along. You stirred up your younger brother, insisting that father and mother also come, and then you and father and mother convinced your elder brother and sister-in-law."
The woman, enraged, spoke with ragged breaths. "You insisted on following. You changed your mind halfway through. You dislike this, you dislike that. My in-laws ignored you out of respect for my parents, but you still haven't had enough."
"You!"
"Did I say something wrong?"
"Oh, I can't live anymore! You He family are bullying me! My sister-in-law, who is married off, is constantly bad-mouthing me, your brother's wife!"
"I'm bad-mouthing you?" The woman was about to say more when she heard an old woman's voice.
"That's enough, Chunxiu. Say a few less words. Look, you're frightening the children."
The old woman's voice made Fu Xinci feel as if she had heard it somewhere before.