The cave where the Big Gray Wolf Lang’s family hid was two hills away from the original host’s home. Angeline had suffered quite a fright and shed tears all along the way. By the time Ye Tang carried her back to the original host’s home, she had already fallen asleep sprawled on Ye Tang’s back.
Ye Tang moved as lightly as possible. She carried Angeline back to her little room, boiled some hot water, wrung out a warm towel, and wiped the tear-streaked face of the girl.
In the midst of it, Angeline half-woke once from Ye Tang’s movements as she wiped her face. The little girl mumbled ‘Mama’ in a daze and clung tightly to two of Ye Tang’s fingers. Ye Tang patiently sat by the bed, tucked in the quilt for Angeline, waited until she was fully asleep, released her hand, and quietly left the room.
Ye Tang found half a loaf of bread at home, added water, boiled it into a porridge-like mush, and ate it. A person recovering from a hangover could not eat greasy food, and this body lacked the energy to prepare a proper meal anyway.
According to the original host’s memories, this village was called Abe Village. There was no running water here, of course, nor electricity. To get water, one had to fetch it from the well; to cook, one had to burn firewood.
But that did not mean Abe Village was particularly backward. This world resembled nineteenth-century Europe, full of villages like Abe Village everywhere. People were accustomed to such inconveniences in daily life. The wealthy solved the tedium of daily chores with hired help, while the poor toiled from dawn to dusk without respite.
After eating, Ye Tang rested for a bit. She filled the large water jar at home with well water and chopped two small piles of firewood.
The original host had been addicted to alcohol, and her neglect extended far beyond her daughter. Her clothes and skirts were filthy and greasy, and the hems even reeked of sewage. Worse still, the original host had piled up a heap of such dirty skirts. When Ye Tang opened her wardrobe, the stench made her nose wrinkle—there was not a single clean, unworn piece of clothing inside.
Fortunately, the original host’s husband’s clothes were in another wardrobe. After the original host died, she had only taken one of her husband’s most frequently worn jackets to reminisce and sob while hugging it on the sofa. The rest of his clothes hung neatly in the wardrobe, not a speck of dust on them.
With the only half-bar of soap in the house, Ye Tang scrubbed all the original host’s piled-up dirty clothes and skirts clean.
By the time Ye Tang, dressed in the original host’s husband’s pants and shirt, hung the washed clothes and skirts in the yard to dry, the original host’s hands and feet ached so badly they could barely move.
There was still much she wanted and needed to do, but One cannot become fat with just one bite. Ye Tang gave herself a thorough hot bath and then went to bed.
Perhaps because the original host had not closed her eyes on a bed for a whole month, the double bed she shared with her husband was so clean it showed no signs of use. This allowed Ye Tang to sleep soundly.
The next morning, Angeline woke early. The little girl came downstairs sleepily, only to find Ye Tang already busy in the kitchen.
“Mama…?”
“Angeline, good morning.”
Ye Tang turned her head and smiled at the little girl on the stairs. Angeline immediately pattered down the stairs and stuck to Ye Tang’s side like a little tail.
“Mama, is there anything I can help you with?”
As soon as Angeline reached her mama’s side, she caught a faint scent of soap—a smell she had never smelled on her mama before. …Before Papa passed away, Mama always had a pleasant perfume scent. After Papa died, Mama only smelled of wine and some strange sour stink.
The village aunts had laughed at Mama for it. She had thought many times about telling Mama, but feared it would make her angry or sad, so she swallowed the words and never mentioned it.
But today’s Mama was different… Though there was no sweet perfume scent, this faint soap fragrance was so gentle, so gentle it made her nose tingle.
Ye Tang could not hear the little girl’s swirling thoughts. She ruffled Angeline’s bedhead hair and smiled. ‘Go wash your face and brush your teeth first, then come help Mama set the table.’
‘Mm!’
Angeline nodded obediently, but then she fidgeted in front of Ye Tang without going to wash up right away.
‘Mama…’
‘Mm?’
‘You smell really nice today!’
After shyly blurting it out, Angeline scampered off. Ye Tang paused, then smiled again.
She had cleaned up only because of her own germaphobia. She had not expected the little girl to notice the change in her scent so quickly. Children were far more sensitive than adults realized.
Ye Tang and Angeline’s breakfast was clear soup made from dried game and freshly baked bread.
She had gone to bed early the night before and woke before dawn. The original host had not cooked for a month, and the dried game that Village Head Kevin brought, along with other dried meats needing stewing, had been tossed into the cellar.
The wheat flour in the cellar’s sacks had clumped up but had not molded. Ye Tang sifted the flour, melted two lumps of butter into it. Midway through the dough fermenting, she went to slice the dried meat and stew the soup.
By the time the bread was baked, the enticing aroma wafted from inside the house out the window. Not only did Angeline, who had just finished washing up, swallow hard at the sweet scent, but even the young couple next door was roused from sleep by the bread fragrance drilling into their noses.
‘Angeline, once you’ve set the table, wash your hands and eat breakfast. We’ll go to your grandmother’s house later.’
‘Okay, Mama!’
Angeline moved nimbly. As soon as she set the table, Ye Tang lifted the iron pot onto it and ladled two big spoonfuls of soup and meat into Angeline’s plate.
Seeing the plate full of soup and meat, Angeline waved her hands in panic. ‘Mama, I can just dip bread in the meat soup! I don’t need to eat the meat!’
Angeline’s words reminded Ye Tang.
In the past, in this home, the bulk of the meat went to the original host’s husband, Henry. Because Henry was the pillar of the family, the sole source of income. Carpentry work was physically demanding; bread alone could not sustain him.
Children were naturally greedy for meat, and Angeline had once sneaked meat from the pot that her mama cooked. Of course, the original host caught her and scolded her harshly, then lectured that meat was only for those who worked.
Though her words were stern, after that, the original host scrimped for herself and saved the limited meat for her husband and daughter. When Angeline saw her mama only dipping bread in the soup, she felt deeply ashamed and could no longer swallow meat. From then on, she joined her mama in saving all the meat for Papa.
After the original host’s husband died, the family lost its income. Mother and daughter were eating away at their savings, and the meat in the cellar dwindled with every bite.
Moreover, the original host’s mother—Angeline’s grandmother—was still ill. Even the sick grandmother had not yet tasted meat soup. No wonder this overly sensitive little girl could not eat meat with peace of mind.
‘Doesn’t Angeline think doing housework counts as work?’
‘…Mama?’
They said ‘no labor is above or beneath anyone’. Housework was time- and energy-consuming heavy labor. Why was it proper work when done by maids, servants, or hourly workers, but excluded from ‘work’—even ‘labor’—when done by housewives?
Was it because there was no pay?
If it was because there was no pay, wasn’t that the stinginess of those who made others work for free?
She was no such stingy person. She acknowledged the value of housework and would give those who did it the due treatment and reward.
Ye Tang wiped the corner of her mouth with a cloth towel. Looking into Angeline’s blue eyes, inherited from the original host, she said, ‘Housework is also labor—and one of the heavy kinds, oh.’
‘Dad is gone now. From here on, Mama will support the family. That means Mama can’t handle both supporting the family and housework. Of course, the word ‘juggle’ sounds grand and wonderful. But human physical and mental strength have limits. Trying to do several things at once often means doing none of them well.’
‘Mama thinks people should know their limits. If you can’t do something, admit it and find ways to share the load with others.’
‘So, Angeline, can you help Mama? Mama hopes you can move with her to Grandmother’s for a temporary stay. When Mama is out, you can help Grandmother with the housework there.’
Ye Tang reached out and patted Angeline’s little head, speaking gently to the girl stunned like a wooden chicken. ‘Besides, you’re still growing. If you don’t eat meat properly, you won’t grow into a healthy, pretty young lady. Eat up, Angeline. You don’t have to finish the bread or drink all the soup, but prioritize the meat.’
The little girl stared blankly for a good while before nodding with a soft ‘Mm…’
‘Mama… Angeline is happy to help with housework. But Mama… can we not move to Grandmother’s?’
Ye Tang was puzzled by Angeline’s words.
She wanted to send Little Red Riding Hood to her grandmother’s for safety.
The original host’s mother, Eva, was a very stubborn middle-aged woman. She particularly hated Abe Village, so even though the original host had urged her mother to return to the village since getting engaged to her husband Henry, Eva still lived alone in the forest to this day.
Stubborn Eva was impervious to reason. If the excuse of ‘coming to the village to care for Angeline’ worked on her, she would have moved from the forest to her daughter’s home a month ago when the original host’s husband died, to live with her daughter and granddaughter.
At this point, Ye Tang believed trying to persuade Eva would yield the same result—Eva would absolutely not return to the village.
But even without a pack of Big Gray Wolves in the forest plotting to rob lone human homes, Eva living alone there was far from safe. It was not only wild beasts that preyed on isolated humans—mountain bandits, thugs, village ruffians… Every world had its idle good-for-nothings.
In contrast, Ye Tang did not think the village was absolutely safe either.
Consider those news stories about children left behind by parents. Many such children still had both parents, living under the watch of grandparents.
The original host was a widow whose husband had died, powerless in the village. Her family had only a mother living alone in the forest. Angeline, with her golden hair and blue eyes, was undoubtedly an angelic beauty. Leaving her alone in the village long-term was probably more dangerous than sending her off alone with egg cake and wine.
Not to mention the village had Ginny, who bore a grudge against the original host. As the living law of the village, it would be all too easy for Ginny to do something to Angeline.
‘Angeline, are you thinking that living with Grandmother means you can’t play with the village kids?’
Ye Tang asked gently. She needed to understand why Angeline resisted going to her grandmother’s to find a solution.
‘If that’s the case…’
But the little girl burst into laughter right away. ‘No way! The kids in the village are all immature brats! They always smeared mud on the cloak Grandmother gave me! I don’t want to play with them at all!’
‘Then—’
‘I just think Grandmother is still sick, and it would be a bother for her to take care of me. But on the flip side, I can take care of Grandmother too!’
Clenching her little fist, Angeline said full of energy, ‘Mama doesn’t need to worry. I’ll take good care of Grandmother and help her get better soon!’
‘Then Grandmother is in our Angeline’s good hands!’
Ye Tang smiled and hugged Angeline. In her arms, Angeline silently widened her eyes, her sea-blue pupils misting over with a layer of water vapor.
She buried her face in Ye Tang’s chest, took a deep breath of her mama’s soap scent, squeezed her eyes shut hard, and when she opened them again, she wore the smile of a little angel once more.
Ye Tang had no eyes on her stomach, so she could not see the series of expression changes on Angeline’s face. But she knew the little girl certainly had not told the truth. Still, she did not plan to force the issue.
Parents did not need to know everything about their children. Being able to support them when they needed it was enough.
“Come on! Eat up! It won’t taste good once it cools.”
“Mm!”
……
The baked bread had a slightly charred crust on the outside, soft and fluffy inside, with a rich buttery aroma. The meat soup carried the fresh savoriness of game without any of the gamy smell. The broth was thick and flavorful, yet the meat was not tough at all; it had a good chew and released juices when eaten.
Angeline had never eaten such a bountiful and delicious breakfast. She sopped up every last bit of the meat soup in her bowl with bread, and she even felt it was a shame to waste the breadcrumbs that had scattered onto the table.
Ye Tang had been the daughter of a chef when she transmigrated, and afterward, she had founded a multinational company in the food industry. She had developed new freeze-dried foods together with the product development department, so she knew exactly how to restore the flavor of dried meats.
“We’ll bring this soup and meat to Grandmother.”
“Eh?”
Angeline blinked her blue eyes. She had thought her mom would take some of the dried meat from home to give to Mr. Lang’s family.
“What about Mr. Lang and them—”
A handful of rice earns favor, a bushel breeds enmity. Directly giving handouts to others would not end well.
Taking the meat to feed the wolves? Was that meant to fatten them up until their greed knew no bounds and they swallowed her whole?
Ye Tang would not do something so foolish.
She squatted down and patted Angeline’s head. “Good child, what the Lang family needs is not meat. Even if we fed them with meat today, what about tomorrow? The day after? What if our own family runs out of food?”
Angeline seemed to understand. “I get it, Mom! Mr. Lang needs a job!”
“That’s right!”
Ye Tang smiled and took Angeline’s hand, leading her out the door. “My daughter is so smart!”
Angeline, who was rarely praised for her intelligence, immediately flushed red in the face. The color on her cheeks was even brighter than that of her cloak.
The mother and daughter chatted and laughed all the way, while Ginny, leaning against the doorframe, gnawed angrily on her thumbnail.
She had not found the flowers Ye Tang mentioned at her follower’s home, so she sent her followers to inquire about the flowers at other villagers’ homes.
In the end, after going around the entire village several times, not a single person had seen the bouquet Ye Tang described.
One of Ginny’s followers, Korna, reminded her that Ye Tang might have been lying. Only then did Ginny wake up as if from a dream—indeed. Her husband shared her fortunes and misfortunes; why had she believed some mere Mary instead of him?
The bouquet Mary spoke of was nothing more than a lie fabricated by that bitch to get away!
She would never believe Mary again! Never!
……
As soon as Eva opened the door, the wind made her cough a few times.
Ye Tang quickly let Angeline go inside first, then closed the door behind them.
“…What did you say?”
Sitting in her rocking chair and having heard her daughter’s intentions, Eva was thoroughly disappointed in her.
“Mother, just as you heard, I have decided to earn money myself and support the family on my own.”
“Absurd! Utterly absurd! You are a woman who has never worked outside the home—how could you possibly support a family? And with what?”
Eva stood up excitedly as she spoke, only to feel a wave of dizziness that nearly sent her tumbling back into the chair.
“Grandmother!”
Angeline cried out in alarm, and Ye Tang swiftly caught Eva with quick hands.
“You, you…!”
Once Ye Tang had helped her sit back down, Eva’s face paled with anxiety and her cheeks flushed red with anger.
In Abe Village, no one was willing to give work to an inauspicious widow. Nor would anyone allow such a widow into their home to come into contact with their family.
If a widow refused to remarry and insisted on working, there was only one job she could do: prostitute herself.
Eva had also lost her husband young. Like her daughter, she had no son to inherit her husband’s trade, only a beautiful daughter.
That was why she knew better than anyone what kind of place Abe Village was and how the men there eyed widows.
The only way Eva had been luckier than her daughter was that her own husband had died when her daughter was nearly grown. Mary and Henry had been childhood sweethearts, just waiting for Mary to come of age to get engaged.
Now the calamity had passed down to her daughter in turn. Mary would soon crash headlong into humiliation just as she had back then. As Mary’s mother, Eva simply could not bear to see her daughter covered in wounds or utterly broken.
“Mary, I will not allow it—”
“Mother, my mind is made up.”
Ye Tang picked up the blanket that had fallen to the floor, dusted it off, and draped it back over Eva.
Her tone was gentle, her voice soft.
Yet the resolve in each word stood as lofty as a mountain and as firm as bedrock.
“No one can stop me.”
“Not even you.”