That night, Lin Xiaoyu woke up thirsty enough that her tongue felt stuck to the roof of her mouth.
Her brother was snoring in the next room, and the rest of the house was quiet. Lin Xiaoyu sat up slowly and pressed one hand against her stomach.
The empty feeling was back.
It had started a few weeks ago. At first, she thought she was hungry, but eating didn't make it go away for long. Some nights, she finished every bite on her plate and still went to bed feeling like she had skipped dinner.
Her cup was empty.
Lin Xiaoyu sighed, pulled on her boots, and went outside.
The spring was only a few minutes away. Barrels sat around it for people to fill during the day, but Lin Xiaoyu liked drinking straight from the metal pipe sticking out of the hill.
She crouched beside the pipe and filled her cup. The water was always cold and clear, and people had started saying the spring was the reason Qingxi Village had survived when so many other places had fallen apart.
