Passersby looked in horror at the nine who had been struck by lightning, hastily keeping their distance.
The ancients were superstitious, seeing them struck down, they must have committed misdeeds to be punished by Heaven.
Everyone was apprehensive about such matters and had no interest in gawking.
Moreover, they had come to buy grain, merely surviving the famine was already a challenge, let alone having the heart to watch a spectacle.
Coming and going, all the passersby gave them a wide berth, even fellow villagers acted the same upon seeing them.
Not a single person came forward to help, instead running past them as they approached.
Fearing they too would be punished by Heaven if they got too close.
Old Gu Six drove his mule cart away, only then asking Chang'an, "Daughter, was it you helping your father discipline them?"
"Yes, father, are you afraid?" Chang'an said nervously, fidgeting with her hands, though her expression remained calm.
Old Gu Six shook his head, "Not afraid, my daughter is so formidable, even if I'm gone in the future, no one would dare bully you."
Chang'an let out a sigh of relief, truly, how touching.
"Daughter, when using your spiritual powers, you must be cautious, lest anyone discover you. I fear those ignorant fools might cause a fuss."
"Don't worry father, no one will discover it."
"As long as you're certain."
He didn't ask whether Gu Dagou and the others were dead or alive, better if they were dead.
Oldest Gu and Lady Zhu learned from the villagers that their sons had been struck by lightning ten miles from the county town.
They were still lying on the road, their condition unknown. They borrowed Old Gu Two's ox cart and set off for the county town with their grandchildren.
Old Gu Six and his daughter Chang'an had already returned home and finished their lunch.
During the day, as the villagers passed their doorway on their way to the mountains, Old Gu Six couldn't conveniently work in the blacksmith's shop.
Chang'an arranged for him to sew bedding covers.
She couldn't do it herself, but her father was skilled in all areas. Though not as meticulous as a woman's needlework, at least he could sew in a straight line.
The two bolts of cloth bought that morning were used to make four 1.5 x 2.0 meter bedding covers, with any excess used to make outer shells for down jackets.
The spatial dimension held winter clothes worn by her late grandfather that she couldn't bear to discard.
Her grandfather had been a dashing old man, tall and lean.
Both he and Old Gu Six had a slender build, so the clothes fit him well.
Only the shoe sizes were two sizes too small for Old Gu Six to wear.
Chang'an brought out a 1.5 meter, 15 jin (about 7.5 kg) white cotton batting quilt.
"Father, cut the bedding covers according to the dimensions of this quilt."
The plump, snowy batting looked especially pleasing.
Old Gu Six hefted the cotton quilt, weighing about half again as much as their regular quilts at home.
"Father, sew four bedding covers."
Then she retrieved a men's long down jacket and a mid-length women's down jacket liner from the spatial dimension.
At only eight years old and 1.3 meters tall, Chang'an could wear the mid-length as a long jacket.
"Use any leftover fabric to make outer shells for these two jackets, enclosing them inside."
Old Gu Six felt the jackets, somewhat doubtful, "Daughter, these jackets are so thin and light, are they really warm?"
"They're warm, better than cotton padded jackets. When it gets cold, you'll know the effect once you wear them."
"Alright, I'll take care of it properly. Clothing in this style definitely can't be worn outside, it would cause huge trouble."
"Thank you for your hard work, father."
"Not hard work at all."
Old Gu Six did his needlework in his own room, while Chang'an closed the door to her room and entered the spatial dimension.
First, she checked on the washing machine, which was still usable.
That was a relief, otherwise hand-washing these ancient-style clothes would be truly troublesome.
With no water to drink, who would bother washing clothes?
So she bathed and dried her clothes in the spatial dimension, no one would know she had washed them, right?
Chang'an returned to the kitchen and took mushrooms and pork from the refrigerator, preparing to make a mushroom meat sauce.
Then she retrieved a bag of chilies to make chopped chili sauce.
Father and daughter each busied themselves, making preparations to flee the famine.
At Oldest Gu's house, the nine sons had been brought back, but they had no money to call a doctor.
Finally, Lady Zhu took out the last two taels of silver to summon a doctor for her favorite youngest son and her eldest biological son.
As for the other sons, five weren't hers, so she didn't care about them.
She even had two of her own that she didn't want to bother with.
The doctor came, took their pulses, and examined their bodies.
Stroking his beard, he said, "The flesh was damaged by the lightning strike and may slough off in the future.
Their limbs are weak and unable to perform hard labor, but their lives are not in danger."
Oldest Gu and Lady Zhu both breathed sighs of relief, if it was just flesh falling off to regrow, as long as they were still alive it was fine.
Little did they know their relief was premature, Chang'an's ability was a mutated lightning strike.
Once the flesh fell off, did they think it would regrow? They could only wish for death rather than such a wretched life.
Chang'an herself didn't understand why she had developed such a strange lightning ability.
But she enjoyed using it, as long as it was effective, she didn't care what it was.
Oldest Gu's nine sons were utterly disabled.
From the villagers, Oldest Gu learned the details of what had occurred.
He dared not confront Old Gu Six about this matter.
It was far too uncanny, and he feared losing control of his tongue, only to be struck by lightning himself.
Turns out the Sweeping Broom Star was destined to torment the Eldest Gu family.
Any thoughts of taking advantage vanished.
The sight of those nine stricken sons was too shocking, extinguishing any fanciful notions.
Lady Zhu wept and pounded Oldest Gu with her fists, "It's all your fault for provoking that ill-fated star. We're about to flee the famine, what are we to do now?"
Oldest Gu shoved Lady Zhu away, saying irritably, "Everything's my fault, you didn't object at the time either.
If we're fleeing the famine, then we'll go, what else can we do?"
"You mean just leave, just like that? Who will carry all our belongings?
Those brothers are all reduced to useless cripples."
"Their personal belongings can be carried by their wives and grandchildren.
The unmarried Old Eight, Old Nine, and Old Ten can get San Cao, Si Cao, and Wu Cao to help carry for their older and younger brothers.
We have a cart to load the public belongings, problem solved, right?"
"The belongings are handled, but what about them?"
"Those who can walk will follow, those who can't will be left behind." In any case, he had 18 grandsons, if a few worthless sons were gone, so be it.
He would soon have great-grandsons, who still cared about some useless sons?
Lady Zhu fell silent, the old man intended to abandon those sons.
After a long while, she finally said, "My eldest and youngest must come with us."
"Make your own arrangements."
The conversation between the old couple was overheard by the sons' wives and children.
They too agreed with Oldest Gu's decision, bringing deadweights while fleeing the famine was unwise.
That afternoon, the villagers continued searching the mountains for anything edible.
But the mountains held so little food, everything had been stripped clean that morning.
After sewing one bedding cover, Old Gu Six put away his needlework and went out to cut grass for the mules.
Chang'an made seven bottles of mushroom sauce and five bottles of chopped chili sauce (Lao Gan Ma).
Then she made five more bottles of Lao Gan Ma (brand of chili sauce).
The busy afternoon passed like that, and she cooked dinner in the space and brought it out.
Too many people had been passing by their house these days, so she didn't make any meat dishes.
For dinner, they ate seaweed rice balls and vegetable soup.
Old Gu Six ate these novel foods, his whole being seeming to glow.
His eyes shone like a wolf seeing meat, the look of a true food lover.
He ate ten rice balls the size of his own fist.
With Old Six's appetite, the rice in Chang'an's granaries would last only three years.
Fortunately, there were five or six pounds in the fridge that could be replenished endlessly.
Otherwise, they would have to control Old Six's portions.
