Elias sat on a dirt slope, hugging his rifle and sulking.

  He had helped Sienna shovel cow dung for three days and hadn't received a single penny. If Sienna would just stop fluttering around in front of him, he might feel a bit better.

  To make matters worse, Sienna was in the same squad as him.

  Even worse than that, Sienna’s boyfriend, Matthew, was also in their squad.

  Watching the two of them acting all lovey-dovey all day, completely ignoring their sentry duties, made Elias roll his eyes. The other thirty-some people in the squad were rolling their eyes right along with him.

  Sienna was using Matthew as a shield on purpose. Barda had been away on business for so many days without returning that no one actually cared whether her cow dung got shoveled or not.

  Without the leader around, why were you still shoveling dung, Elias?

  If you love shoveling it, that’s your business—I’m certainly not paying!

  Matthew’s family already knew his uncle had been taken away. The position of Battalion Commander was definitely gone. Now, his mother actually supported him dating Sienna.

  She was the only daughter of a high-ranking official.

  As long as Sienna married Matthew, when she eventually moved back to the big city, wouldn't Matthew get to go with her and enjoy a comfortable life?

  After Sienna’s parents passed away, wouldn't that big city apartment belong to Matthew? Word was that apartment was 140 square meters, located right in a high-ranking officials' compound.

  Tsk tsk!

  "Sienna, I made you some egg noodles. Come have some lunch." It wasn't even noon yet, but Juana arrived at the hillock at the edge of the village carrying a pot of noodles. On the surface, she was bringing food for her son, but she had made a portion for Sienna too.

  The way she spoke to Sienna now was sweeter than singing.

  Sienna played dumb, picking up the only egg. "Auntie, is this egg really for me? Then I'm eating it, okay?"

  "..." The egg was supposed to be for Matthew, and there were already egg scraps in the noodles, yet this vixen was still greedy enough to take the whole egg.

  But with dozens of people watching, Juana didn't dare curse her out. She could only force a smile.

  "Eat up, eat up."

  In her mind, she added: The more you eat, the faster you'll die!

  But she could only mumble that to herself.

  Sienna took a bite of the egg, then walked over to the sulking Elias and asked, "Want half?"

  "I'm not that low!"

  Elias rolled his eyes and cursed before stomping away.

  This spineless weakling actually knows how to curse?

  Sienna didn't hold back.

  "Boo hoo... why are you calling me pathetic? How did I offend you? If you like me, just say so. You know I have a boyfriend; isn't it only right that I reject you?"

  "You!" Elias was so angry he couldn't get a word out.

  Matthew had disliked Elias for a long time. He lunged forward, tackled Elias to the ground, and started swinging his fists at Elias's face.

  "Hey! Hey! Don't fight! Stop it!"

  Juana was pretending to break it up, but she didn't actually reach out to pull her son away. With the military chaos going on, this was the perfect time to teach the bookworm who tried to steal her son’s girl a lesson.

  She usually saw Elias wearing glasses to read newspapers and letters, and she always imagined he was some brilliant scholar.

  She had been worried for two days about what to do if Elias tried to steal the girlfriend. Now, perfect—military unrest. You mess with my son? You deserve to be beaten to death.

  Seeing Juana just standing there shouting without helping, the others finally rushed over and pulled Matthew off of Elias.

  When Elias sat up, his face was swollen like he’d been stung by hornets.

  Rumble... rumble...

  A tractor was approaching.

  "It's Elena! Elena and Roan are back!"

  Someone shouted.

  "What happened?" Elena stopped the tractor at the bottom of the slope and asked Elias, whose eyes were filled with tears.

  "..."

  Elias was too ashamed to speak and turned away.

  Luis, however, gave Elena a full rundown of the details.

  So that’s how it is?

  Elena thought Elias and Sienna couldn't afford to have a falling out, or they’d never end up together. So she shouted at the top of her lungs:

  "I have news! The rebels in the county town have been captured by the Central Army. Battalion Commander Barda was likely involved in the rebellion and has been detained. No need to guard the village anymore. Everyone, go home!"

  Sienna was hiding behind the crowd, not wanting to show her face while Elena was acting all big and powerful with her tractor.

  Hearing Elena's shout, a piece of egg yolk got stuck in her throat.

  She already looked down on Roan's family for being poor. Now Battalion Commander Barda was a rebel? What kind of life would they have? Forget going back to the city with her; Matthew wouldn't even be able to get a job at a state-owned enterprise.

  Then what do I want Matthew for?

  No wonder! Juana usually targeted me, yet today she brought me food?

  A furious Sienna stuffed the half-eaten egg into Matthew’s hand.

  "Hmph, I'm not eating."

  "What’s wrong? Hey! Sienna!" Matthew pretended not to know what was going on, wanting an explanation.

  Instead, Sienna sat down next to Elias and used her handkerchief to wipe the blood from his face.

  "I’m so sorry. That must have hurt."

  Elias felt incredibly wronged. He hadn't dared to fight back, but Sienna’s comfort made him feel a bit better. He wanted to see Elena but was also afraid to; what woman would ever fall for a man who gets beaten but doesn't dare to strike back?

  Elias even looked down on himself.

  He should have at least punched Matthew once. At the time, he was afraid that Matthew’s uncle, the Battalion Commander, wouldn't allow him to return to the city.

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  But now...

  Elias suddenly erupted with massive courage. He picked up his rifle, pressed it against Matthew’s chest, and roared:

  "I’ll kill you, you animal!"

  Matthew was already regretting his actions after the beating.

  Was his uncle really part of the rebellion? Who would protect him now? Would he be implicated? His mother and grandmother were here; what if someone sought revenge?

  Matthew’s head was buzzing, his thoughts messier than the grass on the ground.

  Seeing Elias’s swollen face looking as fierce as a wild beast, his bloodshot eyes full of killing intent, Matthew was truly terrified.

  During a military uprising, if someone died, they might die for nothing.

  Besides, Elias was from the city. He might even falsely accuse Matthew’s family of being part of the uncle’s rebellion.

  It was Elias's turn to pounce on Matthew like a beast, swinging his fists at Matthew’s face. This time, it was Matthew who didn't dare fight back.

  Juana panicked and tried to rush over to save her son.

  But Sienna blocked her path. After being targeted and called a vixen all this time, Sienna had had enough.

  "Why are you blocking me?"

  "Your son beat someone else; isn't he allowed to get beaten back?"

  The thirty-some people nearby had watched Matthew beat Elias so badly earlier. Now, they didn't want to get involved anymore. They collected all the rifles to keep things from getting out of hand, and just stood around to watch the whole scene of Matthew getting beaten without having any intention of helping.

  As for Elena and Roan, they had already driven the tractor away.

  In Roan's words: Dog eat dog. Nothing to see. Getting to the mountain to find siblings is what matters.

  In the cave, Sofia was learning numbers from Lucy. Although she was blind, she had learned how to add and subtract simple numbers.

  Hearing footsteps on the mountain path, Sofia stood up instantly. "Big brother! Sister Elena!"

  "Whoa!" Lucy quickly put her hand over Sofia's head, afraid she’d crack it against the cave ceiling.

  Fortunately, Sofia wasn't tall enough yet.

  Ten more centimeters and she would have hit it.

  "Roan, you..." Lucy and Marco both wanted to ask why Roan was injured, but Roan signaled them not to ask.

  "Shh!"

  "Big brother, you're back. You didn't run into danger, did you? Sister Lucy said there was a mutiny. I was so worried."

  "I'm perfectly fine. See? I'm right here, climbed the mountain to find you myself, didn't I?" Roan said, hopping onto a rock.

  Lucy had a big pot of porridge cooking. While the five of them ate together, Sofia was overjoyed to hear they could go back down the mountain once they were full.

  "She really misses the chicks at home, cheeping at her feet every day. And she misses her handiwork. She hasn't done it for days and hasn't earned a penny toward her surgery fund."

  Roan thought for a moment and decided to tell his sister the good news.

  "Sofia, I've already gotten my ID card. Look, in a few days, I can take you and Marco to the county town to get yours too."

  "Really?" Sofia took the ID and felt it. It was a hard card about half the size of her palm. "Big brother, once I have my ID, will the surgery cost be cut in half?"

  "Of course!" Elena chimed in.

  Marco was different from Sofia; he could actually see the ID, even if he didn't recognize a single word on it.

  But if his brother and Sister Elena said so, then it was true.

  "Big brother, does that mean I can go to school now? I can go to a real school?"

  "Uh..." Roan hesitated. If Marco went to school, who would look after Sofia? He couldn't handle everything alone; he often had to go up the mountain for berries and to the county town to sell jam.

  Thinking of this, he remembered he needed to mention the jam to Elena.

  Mateo had ordered 50 jars, and they had to be delivered within the next two days.

  Marco guessed his brother’s thoughts. "Big brother, I was just talking. Actually, I don't like studying. I'm slow; I don't know any words."

  "You... you can go to school. I'll take care of Sofia," Lucy said firmly.

  Caring for Sofia over the past two days had made her grow fond of the girl. This poor child didn't even know how to comb her hair; her two brothers didn't know how to teach her "girl things."

  Lucy felt it was her responsibility to teach Sofia how to be a girl.

  "And me too!" Elena added her support. Since Lucy offered to help, Elena certainly wouldn't just stand by.

  The three siblings fell into silence. They were deeply grateful, but right now, they couldn't find the words.

  Was it because they were too close now? Roan didn't know why.

  "Elena," Roan decided to bring up the jam. "Mateo ordered 50 jars of jam from me. They must be delivered within the next two days."

  "That's great news!" Elena swallowed some porridge and slapped her leg excitedly. She didn't want the siblings to feel awkward about accepting help for nothing. "Listen, once we’re full, we’ll go pick berries. Sofia can watch the baskets. Let's aim to sell for another year and earn Sofia’s surgery money."

  Sofia was thrilled and started singing a nursery rhyme Lucy had taught her.

  The five of them picked several baskets of berries, moved their things down the mountain, and returned to Roan's courtyard—only to find six military officers, aged between thirty and forty, standing there.

  Roan turned deathly pale. It was too late to run with his siblings now.

  As he hesitated, the oldest officer, a man in his late forties, walked over with a smile. "Isn't this Roan? He looks almost exactly like his father."

  Roan clenched his fists, ready to fight the man.

  Instead, the officer continued smiling. "Roan, congratulations! Let's shake hands and celebrate!"

  Elena, Lucy, and Roan were all completely stunned.

  Celebrate what?