Chapter 54: Chapter 54: Desolation
Cheng Zongyang asked in a low, pained voice:
"Were you scared?"
The little girl nodded, then shook her head. Her muffled voice choked with sobs as she asked:
"Brother, what happened to Father? Mother is crying, too. I called for him, but he didn’t answer , and now Mother isn’t answering
either..." Her voice dissolved into sobs.
Hearing the little girl’s muffled cries grow louder against his chest, Cheng Zongyang stroked her head, picked her up, and comforted her.
"Yun’Er, Father is just hurt and sleeping. He’s okay. He can hold you when he wakes up. Mother is just worried about him; she would never ignore you."
He walked into the main hall, where a room full of people sat in heavy silence.
Clearly, the day’s events had been too great a shock for them. It was a small rcy that the children weren’t scared senseless.
Cheng Zongyang then looked at his two aunts and said with a smile:
"First Aunt, Second Aunt, I’ll have to trouble you both with dinner tonight. Everyone is hungry, so please make a little extra. Don’t worry about rice or flour; there’s plenty in the storeroom."
"Of course, leave it to us," the first aunt agreed, hearing her nephew’s request.
Without a mber of the host family speaking up, they naturally couldn’t take matters into their own hands.
Now, that was no longer an issue.
Cheng Zongyang then looked at his two uncles, who were also sitting in silence, before his gaze swept over the nine cousins in the hall.
’There are so many children,’ he thought. ’Aside from the two from my own family, all these kids are incredibly thin.’
His first uncle had five children, the eldest seventeen and the youngest five.
His second uncle had four, the eldest sixteen and the youngest six.
As for his own family and his second paternal uncle’s family, there were just the six of them, paternal cousins.
After comforting his little sister, Cheng Zongyang said:
"It’s okay. Big Brother is here. Go play with your older sisters and brothers."
"Mm..." Having cald down, Cheng Zongyun nodded obediently, her voice still a little muffled.
Just then, his first uncle’s five-year-old daughter, Zhou Xiaoxiao, ca over, took Cheng Zongyun’s little hand, and led her toward the group of children.
Seeing this, Cheng Zongyang went back into the inner room and took out a bag of malt candy. He turned to his second uncle’s daughter, his cousin Zhou Xiaoi, who barely reached his shoulder, and said:
"Xiaoi, share this bag of malt candy with everyone. I have things to do with our uncles and older cousins, so please keep an eye on the little ones."
"I will, Cousin," the gentle and quiet Zhou Xiaoi replied in a low voice.
Zhou Xiaoi was only ten, and though she was quiet and demure, she was very skilled at her chores and at taking care of her younger brother.
Cheng Zongyang imdiately looked toward his two uncles and said:
"First Uncle, Second Uncle, while it’s not completely dark yet, let’s lend a hand and clear out the storeroom so there’s a place to sleep tonight."
At this, Zhou Hansong said with so hesitation:
"Yang’Er, we want to go back and check on things. With our whole family..."
Hearing this, Cheng Zongyang understood his uncle’s aning.
He thought for a mont, then said, "We still don’t know what the situation is like outside. If you go back and run into more refugees, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to save you even if I wanted to."
"How about this: I’ll go check on things tonight, and you stay here and keep watch. If everything is fine, it won’t be too late to go back in a couple of days. For now, just stay here. How are Grandfather and Grandmother?"
"Alright, that’s no problem. Your grandfather and grandmother are in the inner room talking with your little sister. They’re both okay."
As Zhou Hansong spoke, he imdiately called over the four oldest boys: Zhou Zhenyuan, Zhou Zhenli, Zhou Zhendong, and Zhou Zhennan.
And so, the group of seven quickly got to work, clearing things out of the storeroom.
His family’s house wasn’t large, with only three rooms.
His parents and little sister had one, he and his brother had another, and the last one was used as a storeroom.
The house was definitely not big enough. Most people would have to sleep on the floor and make do for a couple of days.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK... Suddenly, a series of urgent knocks ca from the door. The people inside were like birds startled by the twang of a bow, and everyone except Cheng Zongyang jumped in fright.
Cheng Zongyang and the others walked out quickly. Before they could speak, an anxious voice called from outside:
"Brother Cheng, it’s—it’s , Zhaodi!"
Hearing the familiar voice, Cheng Zongyang paused for a mont before quickly heading out. "It’s alright," he said over his shoulder. "It’s just a neighbor."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief at his words.
Opening the door, he saw Chen Zhaodi, filthy from head to toe. Her eyes were red, and her gaunt face was streaked with tears. She had clearly been crying.
"What’s wrong?" Cheng Zongyang asked.
"My—my mother fainted... Brother Cheng, can you—can you please co take a look...!" Chen Zhaodi said, frantic and on the verge of tears.
"Okay, I’ll co have a look. Try not to panic."
Cheng Zongyang quickly told his first uncle he was leaving and walked out the door.
Zhou Zhennan imdiately ca over and shut the door.
Chen Zhaodi quickly ran back ho. As Cheng Zongyang followed, he glanced around outside.
In the deepening twilight, he could still see people carrying away the last of the bodies.
There were no more corpses in the imdiate vicinity, but he could faintly hear the sounds of weeping from elsewhere in the village.
Cheng Zongyang shook his head slightly and continued to walk quickly toward Aunt Chunhua’s house.
’How had this widow and her daughters managed to survive the refugee attack?’ he wondered.
When he arrived at their ho, the first thing he saw was a scene of utter chaos, as if robbers had ransacked the place.
Everything was toppled over and in disarray!
Even the coffin in the main hall had been knocked to the floor, and Chen Jiang’s body was lying sprawled on the ground.
Seeing this, Cheng Zongyang was filled with rage. ’Do these people have any humanity at all?!’
’Killing them wasn’t wrong!’
But beside Chen Jiang’s corpse, Li Chunhua lay collapsed on the floor, while Chen Laidi cried out, calling "Mother" over and over.
Cheng Zongyang knelt beside Aunt Chunhua and checked on her. He found that her breathing was extrely faint, but she still had a sliver of blurry consciousness.
The sight made Cheng Zongyang’s heart sink.
She was on the verge of death.
Cheng Zongyang knew it was the result of one psychological blow after another, compounded by the weakness from starvation.
It was a miracle that Li Chunhua was still alive at all.
As if sensing his presence, Li Chunhua slowly and weakly opened her eyes halfway. Her cloudy gaze couldn’t focus, and her right hand waved back and forth, as if trying to grab onto sothing.
Cheng Zongyang quickly grasped Aunt Chunhua’s skeletal hand. It was ice-cold to the touch, a chill that seeped straight into his bones...
Li Chunhua struggled to grip Cheng Zongyang’s hand. Her mouth opened, and she mumbled in a voice that was almost too faint to hear.
Cheng Zongyang had to lean down close to hear her.
"Yang... Yang... Auntie... can’t... make it. Th-the heavens... don’t... don’t look kindly... on... my family... I beg you... please, give... give my girls a bowl... a bowl of grain... They’ll work... as your ox, as your horse... whatever you ask... I’m... I’m sorr..."
Before she could finish, Cheng Zongyang felt the hand grasping his lose its strength. It slid away, falling to the cold floor—though not as cold as Li Chunhua’s already frozen heart.
Cheng Zongyang looked at Aunt Chunhua’s gaunt face, her cheekbones sharply defined. He saw that her eyes had closed, and the last two bitter, murky tears of her life slid from the corners of her eyes, disappearing into her ssy, graying hair...
Even in death, her only thoughts were for her children.
A wave of sorrow washed over Cheng Zongyang.
’A rope always snaps at its thinnest point, and misfortune always finds the afflicted.’
’The poor already struggle with all their might just to live. Why must they be plagued by misfortune as well?!’
"I hope your next life is not so bitter..." Cheng Zongyang rose, took a few steps back, and knelt, kowtowing three tis to Li Chunhua.
Seeing this, the two sisters at his side froze, stunned.
"B-Brother Cheng... my... my mother, she..." Chen Zhaodi asked, her voice trembling.
Cheng Zongyang didn’t speak. He only nodded.
Chen Zhaodi’s eyes filled with horror and disbelief.
’In just a few short days, Father died, and now Mother is dead...’
"MOTHER!!!"
The two sisters erupted in heart-wrenching wails, collapsing onto their mother’s body and sobbing uncontrollably.
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