Chapter 6: Rolled Out of Bed 6

After thinking about it this way, Ye Xuan'er actually walked out under the blazing sun and looked up at the sky.

Her face instantly darkened upon looking; there was clearly only one sun.

It seemed that Hou Yi shooting the suns was truly just a legend, a legend.

She should have believed in science.

"Xuan'er, what are you doing? You'll worry yourself into heatstroke, come back inside quickly." Seeing Ye Xuan'er standing under the scorching sun, her mother couldn't bear it and hurriedly called out from inside the house.

"I know," Ye Xuan'er responded with a smile, then walked quickly toward the dilapidated thatched hut.

Her mother was cooking, and soon, the meal for four people was laid out on a tattered table.

As Ye Xuan'er had expected, the meal was very simple: porridge, a bowl of pickled vegetables, and a bowl of dried radish.

Ye Xuan'er chewed bite by bite, finally experiencing the feeling of "who knows the toil behind every grain on the plate; every single grain is the result of hard work."

This porridge, which was as clear as water, truly made one feel a pang of heartache.

After a few bites, Ye Xuan'er looked at her mother and asked, "Was the rice harvest poor this year?"

Hearing this, her mother was stunned for a moment. Before she could speak, her father sighed and said, "With the weather being this hot, what harvest can there be? The water in the fields has all dried up."

As soon as he finished speaking, her mother immediately took over: "Not just the rice, but the vegetables in the fields too; they've all been scorched yellow and withered. Most of them are inedible."

Ye Xuan'er nodded upon hearing this, eating her meal thoughtfully.

Growing rice requires water; with this drought, there would be no harvest. For a poor family like theirs, they didn't have much land to begin with, and the grain harvested last year would be difficult to last through this year. If things continued like this, it wouldn't be a way to survive.

"Father, Mother, Eldest Sister and Second Sister's families should have surplus grain, right? We're almost unable to open the cooking pot; let's go to Eldest Sister and Second Sister's places to ask for a little." Tian'er, who had been burying her head in her food, suddenly looked up, her bright eyes looking at her parents.

"What nonsense are you talking about!" Ye Rongfa slammed his chopsticks onto the table with a *thud* and looked at Tian'er angrily. "Even if we starve to death, we cannot go to their houses to beg for food."

Tian'er's body trembled in fright. She lowered her head and stopped speaking, tears welling up in her bright eyes.

"Rongfa, really, you've frightened the children." Xia Ruyun tugged at Ye Rongfa, a hint of helplessness flashing in her eyes.

Seeing this, Ye Xuan'er looked at Tian'er, a sharp glint flashing in her eyes.

After lunch, Ye Rongfa and Xia Ruyun took their hoes and went out to work in the fields again.

Ye Xuan'er and Tian'er stayed at home as usual.

As soon as the two had left, Ye Xuan'er pulled the melancholy Tian'er aside and asked, "Little one, why does Father get so angry whenever Eldest Sister and Second Sister are mentioned?"

Hearing this, Tian'er sighed and said resentfully, like a little old person, "It's all because our family is poor. Father and Mother had four of us sisters and worked so hard to raise us.

When Eldest Sister and Second Sister reached marriageable age, Mother asked matchmakers to introduce suitors to them, but many men's families looked down on our family for being poor and didn't want to marry Eldest Sister or Second Sister.

Later, when two families were finally found, their conditions were only slightly better than ours. As a result, after Eldest Sister and Second Sister married into them, those families wouldn't allow them to visit their maiden home. The neighbors all say it's because they're afraid our family will take advantage of them."

Ye Xuan'er nodded upon hearing this. "So, Father and Mother don't go to their houses either?"