After finally managing to send Old Madam Yu away, the eldest Yu son and his wife lay in bed that night. Madam Zhao gritted her teeth. “After what happened today, who knows what the villagers will say about us when we go out tomorrow?”
“That boy is an ungrateful wretch. We need to get rid of him as soon as we can.”
“Mm.”
But they still hadn't gotten their hands on the deed to the house, and Eldest Yu was unwilling to let such a lucrative prize slip away.
“That boy is far too shrewd. I'm afraid it won't be easy to get it from him,” Madam Zhao said with a sigh.
Eldest Yu sneered. “He's only a child. You think I can't deal with him? Just wait and see.”
Early the next morning, wherever Madam Zhao went, people pointed and whispered.
“Madam Zhao always acts so virtuous. Who would have thought she doesn't even look after her own flesh and blood behind closed doors?”
“Exactly.”
“That young scholar from the Lu family may be living in their house, but his parents left them all that farmland to support him. And they're still not satisfied.”
“Exactly.”
“You can know a person's face without ever knowing their heart.”
Even the women who normally got along with her refused to speak to her.
When she returned from washing the clothes, her face was dark with displeasure. Yu Hua knew better than anyone how to read the room. She didn't dare approach her mother and hid in her room to play instead.
After that incident, the Yu couple behaved themselves for half a month. They were still miserly in their everyday dealings and secretly ate things they wouldn't share with Yu Mian and Lu Wanzhou, but at least everyone was given the same meals.
One day,
Madam Zhao saw Lu Wanzhou return home and greeted him with a smile. “Wanzhou, your uncle went to fetch firewood. It's getting late, so let's go together and help him get home sooner.”
Lu Wanzhou was a little apprehensive at first, but seeing that Madam Zhao meant to accompany him, he let his guard down. The couple had been fairly well behaved lately. Besides, he was still young; it would be better not to offend them too much. He nodded. “All right. I'll get a carrying basket.”
It was already half-dark. Even with Madam Zhao beside him, Lu Wanzhou felt frightened, and he stayed close on her heels.
Madam Zhao was quiet the whole way. By the time they reached the mountain, darkness had fallen completely.
Half an hour later, Madam Zhao emerged from the mountain alone and hurried back into the house.
“Well? What happened?”
“I pushed him in. He… he was shouting, so I hit him with a stone. It was too dark. I don't know… I don't know if he's dead!”
Hearing this, Eldest Yu actually breathed a sigh of relief. “Wouldn't it be better if he were dead?” he whispered. “Then the Lu family's house would be ours.”
“As long as you keep quiet and I keep quiet, no one will ever know.”
“But I'm scared! I didn't mean to kill him. I only wanted to teach him a lesson. You were the one who said…” Madam Zhao's voice trembled. “You're the one who told me to do it.”
Seeing his wife so terrified, Eldest Yu couldn't help laughing. “What are you afraid of? If he's dead, he's dead.”
Still, seeing how frightened she was, he poured her a cup of water. He had originally intended to scare Lu Wanzhou into handing over the deed to the house.
If an accident really had happened and the boy was dead… so much the better. Then he could keep the deeds to the Lu family's fields with an easy conscience and move into their house without another worry.
Up in the mountain, Lu Wanzhou felt as though his entire body were burning. His head rang incessantly. He struggled to open his eyes, but everything before him was pitch-black. He tried to call for help, yet no sound would come out. The wind whistled in his ears, and the leaves rustled around him. It was terrifying.
His eyelids were so heavy that he could barely lift them. At last, he lost consciousness again. When he next came to, his whole body felt cold, but at least he could open his eyes.
Lu Wanzhou looked around. There was nothing but mud. He had fallen into a deep pit. When he looked up, he could see weeds growing around the rim, but the pit was far too deep. He tried climbing out himself, only to find the walls so slippery that he couldn't get a foothold.
Lu Wanzhou sat down on the ground. He had never imagined the Yu couple could be so utterly deranged that they would try to kill him. He had been far too naïve.
If he got out of this alive, the first thing he had to do was leave the Yu household. After all, he was only a small child. However many plans he had, he would have to stay alive before he could put any of them into practice.
Lu Wanzhou thought of all sorts of ways to escape and tried every one of them, to no avail. All he managed to do was make the mud around him even slicker. The pit was too deep, and he was too small and weak. In the end, he could only sit helplessly on the ground.
“Am I really going to die like this?”
“If I die… will I be able to go home?” Lu Wanzhou sighed and looked up at the gray, murky sky. It looked as though rain was coming.
“Is anyone there?”
“Can somebody please save me?”
“Is anyone there?”
Lu Wanzhou shouted until his throat was hoarse, but there was no sound in the mountain except the wind.
Despair began to creep over him. Rain started to fall, drop by drop—lightly at first, then harder and harder. Lu Wanzhou grew colder and colder. Just when he had all but given up hope, a clear voice reached his ears.
“Brother Wanzhou.”
“L-little… simpleton.” Lu Wanzhou's voice was already hoarse, and every word hurt his throat.
“I'm not a little simpleton.” Yu Mian glared at him, then said quietly, “Brother Wanzhou was naughty. You didn't come home to sleep last night. So you were up here playing in the mountain.”
“No… I fell in by accident. Can you go and find someone to rescue me?”
“You fell in?”
“Mm.” Yu Mian scratched his head and murmured, “Find someone for Brother Wanzhou. Find someone…”
“I'll get Father and Mother to save you, Brother. I'll go…”
“Don't get your parents! Get the village head, or someone else…” It was Yu Mian's parents who had deliberately hurt him. How could they possibly come to his rescue? But before he could finish speaking, Yu Mian had disappeared.
Lu Wanzhou held on to a sliver of hope. Yet he waited until nightfall, and nobody came. At last, even that last shred of hope died. The rain grew heavier, soaking his clothes through. He watched the sky darken until night had completely fallen. He was afraid he would die in that pit after all.
The darkness deepened, and his body grew colder. He had tied a strip of cloth around the wound on his forehead, but now even that was soaked through.
Lu Wanzhou clenched his fists. He could scarcely keep his eyes open. Just before losing consciousness, he seemed to hear someone calling his name, although the voice was indistinct. He wanted to answer, but he couldn't make a sound. Then he fainted outright.
