Fengyuan Village, where the eastern end abuts against the foot of the mountain, was entirely inhabited by the Lin clan. In one of the adobe houses, the male head of the household was drinking alcohol in silence, while the female head was mending clothes.
"The head of the household," Chen Hong started after a while, "I heard Aunt and Second Uncle went to Yuanjiazhuang."
Lin Xiaokang paused, spilling some of the wine from his bowl. He murmured a vague acknowledgment, his expression growing ever more somber.
"Don't give me that half-dead look," Chen Hong said somewhat angrily. "It's been so long, didn't you agree to it at the time? Do you think I wanted to marry off my little sister like that? If the house isn't repaired soon and we don't start buying things we need, how will Chaochao ever be able to get married?"
As she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes. These days had simply been unbearable; even in her dreams, she felt a pain in her heart.
