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Chapter 414 Saving My Sister

Zhu Yu pretended to hear the door open, forced himself to open his eyes, saw someone coming out of the door, and hurriedly tried to get up, but because he was too weak, he staggered and his vision went black as soon as he moved a little too fast.

Half of her reaction was genuine; after all, she had been hungry for so long, walked quite a distance, and was now under the blazing sun, so she was indeed feeling a bit weak. The other half, of course, was an exaggeration of her slightly weak state.

She swayed as if she was about to fall, and the short old woman stepped forward to support her, taking the opportunity to examine Zhu Yu.

Zhu Yu didn't like the way she looked at him.

There are many kinds of looks when you look at someone: scrutiny, observation, and sizing. Some may be kind, some may be more out of curiosity, and sometimes they may even carry some ill intentions.

But the old woman's gaze towards Zhu Yu seemed to hold neither of those qualities.

Zhu Yu felt as if she wasn't looking at a living, breathing young woman, but rather at whether the chickens displayed in front of a market vendor's stall were plump enough.

She suppressed her discomfort and took the opportunity to quietly observe the old woman's appearance.

The old woman was small in stature, but her body looked quite sturdy. She was very, very old, with a thin layer of white hair on her head, which she had tightly combed into a small bun. Her face, neck, the part of her arm that peeked out from the sleeve of her black robe, and her hands were all covered with layers of wrinkles and spots. Her whole person could no longer be described as beautiful or ugly; she looked like an old tree root that had come to life.

The old woman looked closely at Zhu Yu and felt that although the woman in front of her was covered in dust and dirt, it could not hide her beautiful appearance. Her figure was also very well-proportioned, neither plump nor thin, and her bone structure was just right.

A calculating glint flashed in her eyes. She reached out her withered hands, grabbed Zhu Yu's wrist, and pulled her up from the ground. While doing so, she casually touched the bones of Zhu Yu's wrist with her fingers, trying to figure out her bone structure.

"Look at this poor thing!" The old woman spoke, her tone was kind, but her voice was dry and sharp, making one's skin crawl. "How did such a good girl end up like this?"
Quickly call Granny Shi to let me see...tsk tsk tsk...oh dear! She's clearly suffered a lot along the way!

You just told the doorman that you have an older sister with you? Where are the rest of the family? Could they have gotten separated?

It turns out that this old woman was the legendary Granny Shi from before!

Zhu Yu didn't let her expression reveal any flaws. She had been preparing her emotions for half a day, and now she could be said to be quite well-prepared. When asked by Granny Shi, tears immediately filled her eyes and spilled out from the corners of her eyes: "My sister, my parents, and I used to live peacefully in our hometown. Later, my parents went out to sell grain and never came back."

My sister and I stayed at home, waiting for them to come home, but they never came. In desperation, we went to the government office to report them, but it was no use. After a while, the government told us that our parents had died in an accident and stopped caring about them.

As a result, my uncles, who had already separated from the family, took this opportunity to scheming and seize our family's land and property, not even sparing our house. They even tried to force my sister and me to marry an old widower on the estate. Terrified, we fled overnight and went all the way to Lianxiang City to seek refuge with relatives.

We've endured countless hardships on this journey, finally arriving here only to find that our uncle's family, whom we hadn't contacted for years, had moved away long ago, and we had no idea where they went. We'd long since run out of our meager funds and had nowhere to turn. We had planned to inquire along the way and try to find our uncle's family again, but my sister, unable to withstand the exhaustion of days of travel, hunger, and cold, collapsed and died in the woods.

I was terrified. I didn't know where any houses were nearby. I had stumbled upon this place by sheer luck. I begged the old woman to have mercy and give me some steamed buns and water so I could revive my sister!

"Oh dear... these poor children!" Granny Shi held her hands to her chest, her face full of sorrow. "Heaven is truly blind! How could such beautiful young women suffer so much?"
And those damned uncles and elders from your hometown, when your brothers, sisters-in-law and siblings had trouble, instead of helping your niece or helping to find her, they bullied you like this!

This really infuriated this old woman!

Hu Er, hurry up and go to the back and tell the kitchen to make some steamed buns and flatbreads, and also bring over a pot of cold tea. Tell a few people to come with me and this girl to the woods.

"The first priority is to revive him, no matter what."

Upon hearing this, the gatekeeper immediately responded and ran back to the back kitchen to ask the cook for flatbread and steamed buns.

Granny Shi took Zhu Yu's hand and affectionately gestured for her to come inside and cool off, sit down and rest. Zhu Yu declined, explaining that she was worried about her sister's safety and couldn't rest without feeling at ease.

Yan Daoxin hadn't arrived yet, and she wouldn't dare to enter these two doors alone.

Whether it was because he already had a bad feeling about this place, or because the building was indeed strangely constructed, Zhu Yuguang stood in front of the two black lacquered doors, looking at the doorway that was slightly ajar but completely dark inside, and the hairs on the back of his head stood on end.

No one knows what secrets this small building holds. If they go in and never come back, Zhu Yu has no interest in playing such a big joke on this hard-won new life.

Granny Shi didn't seem to care much about Zhu Yu's refusal. Seeing that she wouldn't go in, she didn't force her. Instead, she held Zhu Yu's hand affectionately and asked her all sorts of questions about her situation.

Zhu Yu wasn't intimidated at all; she had prepared thoroughly beforehand and knew the material by heart.

To make it easier to remember, she simply removed one character from Yan Daoxin's name, turning it into "elder sister" Yan Xin. Naturally, she took her "elder sister's" surname and also borrowed the name of her maternal elder sister, thus adopting the pseudonym Yan Ning.

As for the location of their home and the specific circumstances, a completely new version was pieced together from the accounts of the villagers who were rescued in Xianrenbao.

Zhu Yu spoke with tears streaming down his face, his words filled with genuine emotion. Granny Shi didn't seem to suspect anything. After chatting for a while, four servants came out, carrying dry rations, a large teapot, and several bowls.

"Since Miss Yan Ning is so concerned about her sister, let's hurry up and go see how your sister is doing!" When Granny Shi saw the servants arriving with the things, she patted Zhu Yu's hand and pulled her along, leading the way towards the woods.