Gu Nian, after all, was not really a kid, and her guilty conscience made her blush deeply: "I... I was dreaming about eating peaches, and then Hu started crying."
Mrs. Jiang couldn't help but laugh, "It's okay, sweetie, just go back to sleep. Auntie will carry your brother to sleep in the other room." This child is so adorable; she must have been craving food.
After they left, Gu Nian looked enviously at Lin Santu lying inside. Even with such noise, he didn't wake up—he really sleeps soundly.
In the main room, Lin Sanshui opened his drowsy eyes, "What's wrong? Did Little Hu have a nightmare in the middle of the night?"
Mrs. Jiang laughed again, "That girl Gu Nian dreamt she was eating something and mistook your son's arm for a peach to bite!"
Lin Sanshui laughed after hearing this as well, while on the other side, Gu Nian lay on the bed and closed her eyes again.
Perhaps it was because she had turned into a child that she too became childish, with scenes from her dreams unconsciously appearing in her mind.
A night passed just like that, between reality and illusion.
When the rooster crowed the third time, the sky was slightly bright, and Mrs. Jiang woke her up.
"Auntie..." Gu Nian rubbed her eyes. She was used to sleeping in, having never woken up this early before.
Mrs. Jiang glanced at her third son, who was still sleeping inside, and softly said, "Hurry and get up, the road is hard to walk at night, you should set off early."
"Okay." Gu Nian hastily got out of bed.
As she stepped out of the room, Lin Sanshui was eating cornbread with pickled vegetables. By the time Gu Nian finished getting ready, he had already eaten and headed out.
Mrs. Jiang handed her cornbread stuffed with pickled vegetables, and also put two eggs in her pocket, reminding her, "These two eggs are for you to eat when you get hungry during the day."
Taking care of Gu Nian for two days, as she watched her leave, a strange reluctance tugged at her heart.
Gu Nian suddenly hugged Mrs. Jiang, "Auntie, thank you. You are a good person."
Gu Nian found herself becoming more easily moved.
She attributed this to merging with the memories of her original self, who, besides her mother and brother, everyone else in Fenglai wished they were dead.
After all, wasn't her mother already killed by them!
Lin Sanshui borrowed a donkey from someone in the village. They hadn't been gone long when Lin Xiaohu came out barefoot from the room, "Mom, did sister leave?"
"Yes." Mrs. Jiang sighed, walked over, and ruffled Lin Xiaohu's messy hair, saying, "It's still early, go back and sleep a bit more."
Lin Xiaohu was clearly a bit down.
The bumpy road was not easy to walk on. From morning until afternoon, Gu Nian's backside felt almost split in two before they finally reached the outskirts of Fenglai Village.
Lin Sanshui didn't see any joy of returning home on this child's face. Instead, the closer they got, the tighter the little girl's face became.
"Girl, are you feeling unwell again?" Lin Sanshui asked with concern.
"I'm fine." Gu Nian shook her head, suddenly pointing to the road beside them, "Uncle, let's take this road."
"That way leads outside the village." Lin Sanshui looked at the road Gu Nian pointed to, which led toward the hillside ahead.
"My home is there."
"Your home is up the mountain?" Lin Sanshui widened his eyes in surprise.
Gu Nian nodded her little head. "Yes."
Lin Sanshui truly didn't expect Gu Nian's home to be so rundown.
Two thatched houses without even a small courtyard, the thatch was all messed up, pots and pans were thrown outside, and it didn't even look like a home.
Upon seeing this scene, Gu Nian ran into the house.
The scene inside was even more tragic than outside. The three-legged table was completely reduced to firewood, and the only wooden bed had been overturned, leaving everything in disarray, a scene of utter ruin.
"Girl, was your house robbed?" Lin Sanshui frowned, standing at the door, and asked.
Upon entering this place, she fully merged with the original owner's emotions, and the anger in her heart grew even more intense.
Those people were too excessive, they destroyed her home, drowned her mother!
And where was her brother? Why wasn't he here?