Chapter 6: Poverty Weakens Ambition, and a Thin Horse Grows a Long Coat

At this moment, Yun Du couldn't care less about Aunt Dong and Yongjin Dong slinking out of the Du family in embarrassment. She felt as if she were on the verge of breaking down from crying. Though she desperately wanted to stop her tears and quell her sobs, she simply couldn't; the tears kept streaming down uncontrollably.

"Alright, that's enough crying. No one is forcing you to marry, are they?" Grandmother Du looked at Yun Du's tear-streaked, pitiful face and felt a pang of heartache, but her pride wouldn't allow her to coax her gently. She could only harden her expression and speak in a gruff tone.

"Mother..." Yun Du's mother was so anxious she paced about like an ant on a hot pan, wanting at once to comfort Yun Du and stop her tears, and to soothe Grandmother Du and prevent her from getting angry. But she was clumsy with words; she opened her mouth several times and only managed to call "Mother," unable to say anything else, her face flushed with anxiety.

"I understand, that's enough!" Grandmother Du was pained for her granddaughter, too. Watching the stubborn girl sobbing before her, she wasn't truly angry, even though Yun Du had chased away the matchmakers so rudely.

"Go back and rest. We'll talk about the marriage proposal another day." Grandmother Du waved her hand, letting Yun Du and her mother leave. Watching Yun Du's slender, trembling figure as she left, Grandmother Du found herself more and more satisfied. Her granddaughter had always been pretty, but her old gentle nature, just like her mother's, was too meek. Now, seeing her show a bit of backbone, she thought perhaps the girl had inherited some of her own spirit.

Yun Du cried herself into exhaustion and, upon returning to her room, soon fell into a heavy sleep that lasted until the next morning. When she woke, it was time to eat again. After all the crying and sleeping, she felt weak all over. Her mother pulled her to the kitchen for breakfast, but she couldn't muster any energy.

Breakfast was, as usual, cornmeal porridge. The usual steamed egg custard had become a boiled, shelled egg in Yun Du's porridge bowl, its golden yolk thinly covered by the watery porridge so that it was barely noticeable.

Though the egg was good and her stomach was empty, Yun Du's heart was weighed down, and she had no appetite. While the others weren't looking, she slipped half the egg into Du Yin's bowl and the other half into her mother's. Then, holding her own bowl, she ate the porridge in small, slow sips, finding it rather difficult.

Her mother stared dazedly at the half-egg in her bowl, not knowing what to do. Being cared for by her own daughter sent a warm current through her heart, making her hands tremble slightly with emotion.

She wanted to return the egg to Yun Du, but with so many people at the table, she was afraid that if she wasn't careful, someone would notice. If the half-egg was exposed, it wouldn't matter for now, but later, the second and third branches of the family would surely make a scene. After all, she had begged this egg from her mother-in-law in secret, just to help Yun Du recover.

She was terribly conflicted over this half-egg, not knowing that all the women and children in the family already knew about it. Yun Du always shared her egg custard with the children, who naturally knew that their grandmother was giving eggs to their older sister. But since they got a bite too, they didn't mind.

The second and third aunts turned a blind eye as well. This way, at least their children got a taste. If they made a fuss, even that would be gone. The old lady was simply too stingy; if Yun Du hadn't hurt her head, no one could wring an egg out of her.

Noticing her mother's struggle, Yun Du, eyes still puffy from crying, leaned closer to block the others' view and whispered, "Hurry and eat."

Her mother's eyes filled with tears as she brought the bowl to her lips. Her voice, too, was changed by the turmoil in her heart.

Seeing her mother eat, Yun Du managed a small smile. Her face was still swollen from crying the day before, making her expression awkward, but her heart was content.

Because she ate so slowly, Yun Du was the last to finish. The others didn't wait for her. When she finally looked up, intending to take some pickled vegetables, she found the dish already empty.

How poor they were—there wasn't even enough pickled vegetables to go around. With her heart troubled, Yun Du finished her porridge in a few quick gulps. Seeing her second aunt scraping the bottom of her bowl with her fingers and her third aunt still licking her lips and scanning for food, Yun Du sighed inwardly. This family was truly destitute.

She collected her own bowl and Du Yin's, placing them in the washbasin to clean later. She had barely turned away when a shrill cry came from the east room, "Mother, Mother... I'm hungry, I want more, I want more!"

Yun Du couldn't quite tell who was crying, but when she craned her neck to look, a boy of about ten burst from the room, tears still streaking his face. He wailed at his mother, "Mother, I'm still hungry, I want more food..."

One look at the boy's features, so much like her third uncle's, and Yun Du knew this was Du Tong, her third uncle's son. By age, he should be just over ten, but he looked so thin and small that he could have been much younger.

The third aunt grabbed Du Tong, just as Grandmother Du's voice rang out from the east room, "Eat, eat, eat—what eating! How much food do we have for this whole family? The grown men can't get enough, and you, a half-grown boy who doesn't do any work, want to eat more? For what!"

Du Tong, not only still hungry but also scolded, broke down in louder sobs, clinging to his mother in heart-wrenching cries that made Yun Du's head ache.

"What are you crying for? Useless thing! If you have the ability, go earn money! Earn enough and I'll buy you meat. If you can't, you have no right to cry, you useless boy!" The third aunt wasn't the quiet type. Humiliated by her mother-in-law's scolding, she smacked Du Tong several times on the backside and, half-hard, half-soft, scolded the whole family.

So many men in this household—not one of them sick or bedridden—yet none could earn enough to keep the women and children from hunger and cold. Weren't they all a disgrace?

Listening to the grandmother's curses inside, Du Tong's wailing outside, the third aunt's sharp barbs, and the voices of other family members trying to comfort, Yun Du felt her head begin to throb. She simply pulled the frightened Du Yin out of the house.

Her heart was in turmoil, pulled in every direction by countless thoughts. After a while, her mind cleared: money—money was the only way to solve their predicament. Whether it was her own marriage or the family's lack of food and clothing, with money, all problems could be resolved.

But she was unfamiliar with these times, inexperienced, and penniless. Looking around helplessly, she wondered—how could she possibly make money?