Sofia noticed that her neighborhood had suddenly become lively. There was the sound of voices and the thud of things being moved. Unfortunately, she couldn't see a thing. Though she was dying to go over and look, she felt too shy, so she suppressed her curiosity and kept her hands busy twisting straw rope.

  Wasn't the house next door empty? Why the sudden commotion?

  The noise didn't stop. Was someone moving in? Her big brother hadn't mentioned a word about it.

  Sienna looked over the two small cabins. There were literally only two: one for living and one for cooking. A shack outside served as the toilet. Built by a landlord for his mountain guards, the place was sturdy, but it was terrifyingly primitive. It couldn't even compare to the barracks.

  Looking at the thatch growing on the roof tiles—some of it taller than a person—Sienna felt exceptionally cheerful.

  She’d thought she’d need to scheme to kick Elena out of the barracks, but she hadn't expected Elena to be so mind-numbingly stupid as to volunteer for this. It saved Sienna a lot of trouble.

  If one could play the "good person," who would want to spend their time being a manipulative snake? No matter how pretty the words, "needles hidden in silk" always left a bad taste in people's mouths. She had to live in this camp, after all, and maintaining a good image was key.

  So, to keep up appearances, Sienna had come along to "help" Elena and Lucy clean their new place.

  Initially, Sienna’s plan was to squeeze Elena into a poor farmer's house. But this result was better than she ever imagined. No matter how poor a farm family was, at least they had a living environment. Elena’s shack, on the other hand, had absolutely nothing.

  Well, it had some junk—leftovers from the lonely old man who had died there.

  Sienna glanced at the bed covered in old rags and dirt. Thinking about an old man who could barely move once sleeping there made her skin crawl. Even if the bed was replaced, she’d still feel disgusted.

  Elena, however, was perfectly satisfied. A detached house meant that once they built a fence, it would just be her and Lucy. They could cook their own private meals without having to hide from anyone. It was perfect.

  As for the fact that someone had died there, Elena wasn't superstitious at all. Setting aside the fact that she had died once herself, death was an inevitable part of life. Which house hadn't seen a death?

  The barracks was a century-old compound; generations of wealthy families had lived and died there. There were probably more ghosts there than in this tiny shack. If she started worrying about that, she’d never find a place to sleep.

  Elena dragged everything out of the house into the yard, struck a match, and burned the old junk to ashes.

  "Those bed slats could probably still be used if you washed and dried them. Burning them like this seems like such a waste," Sienna remarked from the side, her tone dripping with ironic amusement.

  Elena thought the girl was delusional. Sienna got shut down every single time they talked; did she never learn?

  "The fire hasn't fully caught yet. How about I pull them out for you to take back and sleep on, Sienna? That way, they won't go to waste," Elena said, making a move to reach into the flames.

  Sienna’s face turned the color of a brick, looking like she was suffering from severe constipation. She quickly grabbed Elena’s arm. "It's too dangerous! They’ve been sitting for a year; they must be damp anyway. It's fine to burn them... totally fine..."

  Sienna was genuinely terrified that Elena would actually do it. For some reason, she felt Elena was exactly the kind of person who would.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Most of the weeds in the yard were cleared, and the rooms were scrubbed. It was hot out, so the house wasn't damp. Tomorrow, Major Barda would send people to fix the roof tiles so they wouldn't leak.

  Elena wasn't going to play "generous benefactor" now—the camp was supposed to provide help with the move, and she wasn't going to turn it down. However, she could at least cook a pot of mung bean soup and prepare some herbal tea to treat the comrades who came to help.

  She could trade with Granny Agnes for the mung beans. Besides vegetables, the old lady planted beans along the edges of her fields every year. Beans were a staple; they could be boiled, fried, or made into all sorts of snacks.

  Since the house wasn't fully repaired yet, they couldn't move in immediately. They stayed in the air-raid shelter for two more days, which also allowed them to keep an eye on the grain to prevent theft.

  "Are you two really going to live here?" Anita actually wanted to live with them. Both Elena and Lucy were easy to get along with, and more importantly, Elena’s cooking was divine and her habits were clean.

  The barracks didn't offer private rooms. If you were lucky like Sienna and Camila, you got a double. If not, you were like the men—eight people to a large room. There were no singles.

  The thought of having to adjust to new roommates annoyed Anita, but the idea of living here was even worse. The conditions were too primitive, and more importantly, she was terrified of ghosts. The mere thought of a spirit would keep her awake for weeks.

  Luis, feeling a sense of responsibility as a fellow recruit, thought the men should look after the women. "You guys don't even have bed slats. How about Tomas and I share a bed for a while so we can bring a set over to you?"

  "Thanks, Brother Luis, but that shouldn't be necessary. The army will provide the basics," Elena replied. She was bursting with joy inside, but she kept a straight face, even furrowing her brow slightly when she looked at the dilapidated parts of the house.

  Anyway, she had secured the practical benefits. If looking miserable made others happy, it was a small price to pay.

  Sienna was indeed happy—so happy she wanted to burst into song. But that joy vanished the moment she sat down to eat at the farmhouse.

  "Sienna, when do you plan on paying for your board?" The old woman in charge of the household looked at her, her eyes devoid of any grandmotherly warmth. Her pupils were sharp with calculation. "You provided the rice and oil, but the vegetables, the salt, the firewood... my family had to front the cost for all of that."

  Sienna was stunned. "Wasn't it agreed that if I brought my own rations, I could join your meals? No one said anything about money!"

  The old woman shot Sienna a look that said, "How can you be so lacking in manners?" "Sienna, we're being kind, but you can't take our kindness for granted. Aren't you supposed to be an educated city girl?"

  In the yard, the old woman’s daughter-in-law and grandson watched Sienna with a hint of contempt.

  The mockery snapped Sienna back to reality. Her immediate reaction was fury. Eating here was convenient, but it certainly wasn't pleasant.

  The food tasted terrible, and the family’s hygiene was nonexistent. If Sienna hadn't been too lazy to cook for herself, she never would have put up with it. She’d endured it until it became a habit, and now they were sticking their hands out for money?

  If she’d known there was a fee, she never would have joined them. She got no breakfast, the food quality was garbage, she frequently bit into pebbles in her rice, and she had missed out on several of Elena’s fish and egg feasts.

  She had lost big time!