Chapter 3: The Two Young Ladies of the Bing Family, even a handful of coarse rice is a treasure...

Liang Shi didn’t know what to do; she just shook her head weakly, silently praying in her heart that her son could safely get through this ordeal.

The Bing family was so poor that even Bing Silang’s personal hygiene was lacking. Moreover, the Bing family had already exhausted their stored grain these past few days, and the family could only go up the mountain every day to keep hunger at bay. In such hot weather, sweating profusely every day, it’s no wonder they smelled bad.

At night, when they took off their clothes and shoes, the stench of sweat mixed with foot odor nearly knocked Bing Wengu out.

Right then, Bing Wengu was truly grateful to the heavens that his own body hadn't come along, and he was using Bing Dalang's body instead. Otherwise, with his heightened senses as a sentinel, this pungent smell would probably have killed him outright, its power rivaling a stink bomb.

But Bing Wengu couldn’t really complain; the conditions of this era were just like this, and every household was the same.

All Bing Wengu could do was scoot over a bit.

As soon as Bing Wengu moved, Bing Silang got defensive and asked, "What are you doing?"

Bing Wengu replied honestly, "You stink, so I’m keeping my distance."

Bing Silang sniffed himself up and down, and indeed, the smell was quite strong. Even he was nearly overwhelmed by his own stink.

Bing Silang clumsily climbed into bed, still grumbling under his breath, "Well, you never lift a finger, just laze around at home all day, so of course you don't smell."

Bing Dalang had always used studying as an excuse to avoid all farm work and household chores, so it’s no surprise his younger brothers and sisters-in-law were resentful.

"Hey, what’s your problem? Why are you crowding me today? You're about to push me into the wall," Bing Wulang said.

Bing Silang sulked, "Didn't you hear your dear big brother complaining about my smell?"

Bing Wulang muttered, "But I can’t stand it either."

Bing Silang didn’t care and just stuck close to Bing Wulang, leaving a huge gap between himself and Bing Wengu.

Bing Silang had been out all day foraging for wild vegetables, and as soon as he hit the bed, he was out like a light.

In the middle of the night, Liang Shi got up again to boil a steaming bowl of willow bark water and brought it to Bing Wengu.

Liang Shi checked Bing Wengu’s forehead and was relieved he wasn’t running a fever. "Thank goodness, no fever. Dalang, if you feel unwell tonight, call for Silang."

Bing Wengu glanced at Bing Silang, who was dead to the world despite all the commotion, and nodded silently.

Liang Shi gave a few more reminders before heading back to bed.

At sunrise the next day, all the working members of the Bing family headed up the mountain, leaving only the two youngest kids at home.

Bing Wengu knew the Bing family had left, but to recover his energy and health as quickly as possible, he didn’t get up and just rested in bed.

Qian Shi, Bing Sanlang's wife, was pregnant and used the excuse of taking care of Bing Wengu to stay at home, cooking and doing some simple chores.

During this time, Qian Shi also boiled willow bark water for Bing Wengu to drink.

In the evening, when Liang Shi returned from digging wild vegetables, she and Bing's father immediately went to check on Bing Wengu. Seeing that he didn’t have a fever, they both breathed a sigh of relief.

Liang Shi said, "I'll save some wild vegetables for you tonight. You need to eat more now to recover faster."

"Thank you, Mother," Bing Wengu knew the Bing family's situation, but there was no other way. He really needed food to regain his strength. Only when his body recovered could he think of ways to improve the Bing family's financial situation.

Just then, Qian Shi's enthusiastic voice came from outside, "Second Sister is here! You came to visit, but why did you bring something? That's too formal. Give it to me quickly."

Bing Erniang dodged and didn’t hand over what she was carrying. This was something she had brought specifically to nourish Dalang’s body. If she gave it to Qian Shi, it would likely become the family's meal for the night. Normally, this wouldn’t be a big deal, but these were not normal times. Dalang was relying on this food to save his life.

"Is Bing Dalang in the room? I'll go see Bing Dalang." Bing ErNiang was about to step into Bing Wengu's room when Liang Shi had already come out to greet her.

"Mother, how is Bing Dalang?" Bing ErNiang asked immediately upon seeing Liang Shi.

"He's fine," Liang Shi said. "The doctor said if he doesn't run a fever, he'll be alright. He didn't have a fever last night or today, so he should be fine now."

Bing ErNiang finally felt relieved, but she couldn't help but complain, "Something this serious happened to Bing Dalang at home, why didn't you send someone to let me know?"

Liang Shi hadn't forgotten, but she was too embarrassed. Over the years, the two married daughters had been helping the Bing family a lot, which caused complaints from their in-laws.

Liang Shi figured it was best not to bother the two daughters if she could help it. If Bing Dalang had a fever at night, they would still need to ask the two daughters to help raise money. If they asked for food now, they wouldn't be able to ask for money if something really happened.

"Mother, here's some grain I brought from my in-laws. Cook it for Bing Dalang to eat and help him recover," Bing ErNiang said, holding a tattered cloth bag containing a handful of coarse rice.

Even though it was just a small amount of coarse rice, when cooked, it might not even fill up a big eater for one meal. But it was tough for Bing ErNiang to get this from her in-laws, and she probably had to deal with a lot of grief from her mother-in-law.

Liang Shi knew how tough it was for her daughter.

For years, the daughters had been sneaking things from their in-laws to help the family, while the family never sent anything to the daughters' in-laws. The Bing family was just too poor.

Even though Liang Shi felt guilty, she still took the grain from her daughter.

Bing ErNiang said, "Mother, I just went to see Eldest Sister. I wanted to ask her to come back with me to see Bing Dalang. But the moment I brought up Bing Dalang's situation, Eldest Sister's mother-in-law got mad."

It was obvious that Eldest Sister's mother-in-law was scared she'd take stuff back to her family.

Bing ErNiang was furious as she spoke, "I was right there, and that old hag had the nerve to hit Eldest Sister in front of me, threatening to divorce her if she dared to bring anything back. Eldest Sister's husband was home, but he didn't say a word, just stood by and watched her get beaten without even sticking up for her."

Liang Shi, who adored her daughters, couldn't help but cry when she heard this, "These past years, our family's been struggling, and it's made you and Eldest Sister suffer."

Bing ErNiang quickly replied, "Mother, what are you talking about? You and Father raised us, and this is what we should do."

Liang Shi knew her daughters were devoted. If she wanted them to have a good life, she shouldn't ask them to sneak stuff from their in-laws to help the family. But the Bing family was just too poor.

"Mother, I'm telling you this not to point fingers, but to let you know Eldest Sister's struggles. Don't blame her for not coming back to see Bing Dalang."

"How could I blame her?" Liang Shi said. "You two are good kids. Our family's poor, and you've had it rough over the years. At least you've got your husband to look out for you. But Eldest Sister, she's really got no one to lean on. Even her husband stopped protecting her after she gave birth to two daughters."

The mother and daughter talked for a while longer, and then Bing ErNiang went into the room to see Bing Dalang before hurriedly leaving. Although it wasn't the busy farming season, there was still a lot of work waiting for her at home.

Although Liang Shi and her daughter had their conversation outside and deliberately lowered their voices, Bing Wengu still heard everything clearly.

Even though his senses were damaged, they were still much sharper than an ordinary person's.

His head hurt from the explosion, and Bing Wengu fell into a daze and slept.

When he woke up in the evening, he drank a porridge made of wild vegetables and coarse rice. Without a doubt, the coarse rice must have been brought by Bing ErNiang.

Even though it was just a handful of coarse rice, mixed with wild vegetables and cooked into a thin porridge, it was enough for Bing Wengu to eat for five days.