Qin Sang held up the oil lamp as Tian Dazhuang took the stick from his younger brother's hand and walked toward the corner. By the time the lamp illuminated the area, the corner was already empty.
"Big Brother, there's no one here."
Da Zhuang scratched his head. "Maybe I saw it wrong. Mother, I'm sorry."
Qin Sang approached with the oil lamp and shone it on the ground, spotting messy footprints at the corner.
"Look, Da Zhuang wasn't mistaken. Someone was trying to climb the wall here."
Seeing the messy footprints at the corner, Da Zhuang quickly noticed they led toward the back mountain. He was about to give chase when Qin Sang called him back.
"Don't chase them. It's pitch black; you might get ambushed."
Qin Sang didn't want Tian Dazhuang to take any risks.
Eldest Brothers Wife was very worried.
"I'm afraid that since our family has been trading for grain, we've been targeted by thieves."
Tian Sangui was somewhat indignant.
"Our house is at the end of the village, so it's definitely not refugees. I reckon it's someone from the village. Today, those two brothers of Tian Yuanshan kept staring at our house; they clearly didn't have good intentions."
Once inside, Qin Sang said:
"Everyone stay alert tonight. Now that the villagers know we have grain from selling mosquito coils, it's hard to say someone won't get jealous. Tomorrow, when I go to town to deliver the mosquito coils, I'll see if there are any guard dogs for sale."
The small amount of grain in the house was nothing to Qin Sang, but in the eyes of other villagers, it was likely seen as immense wealth.
Da Zhuang reminded her:
"Mother, should we tell the village chief? The village has a Patrol Team now."
Qin Sang nodded.
"That works. Tell the village chief that you saw a thief entering the village and that everyone should be careful."
"Take the oil lamp and a wood-cutting knife with you. Come back as soon as you're done talking."
If they only mentioned their own house being scouted, the villagers might not care. But if a thief had entered the village, who didn't have a few chickens or ducks? And the vegetables in the gardens were also food.
With every household harvesting grain, many tools and supplies were piled in the courtyards; losing even one thing would be a major loss.
After giving instructions, Qin Sang told Eldest Brothers Wife to wait in the main room for her husband to return before going to sleep.
The two of them were sleeping in a shack, which was never as safe as an adobe house.
She asked Eldest Brothers Wife about her visit to her natal home and didn't know what to say when she saw the return gifts from the Qin family in the basket.
An old hen and twenty eggs—this was a heavy gift. Although the things she had brought weren't bad, the situations of the two families were different. Giving this much meant they were emptying their savings.
Cursing the Original Body again for being subhuman, Qin Sang made a mental note to find a way to compensate them tomorrow if the Zhou Family brought the herbs.
Once Da Zhuang returned and the door was bolted, everyone went to their rooms to sleep.
Eldest Girl and Si Jin had been woken up from their sleep and were now too scared to fall back asleep. The two little girls, afraid of disturbing Qin Sang, didn't even dare to breathe loudly and huddled motionless on the bed.
Qin Sang knew they hadn't dealt with thieves before and would be somewhat frightened, so she spoke up:
"Since you can't sleep, do you want to hear a story?"
The two girls had never heard anyone tell stories. The most they had heard was about a Hunter from the neighboring village who went into the mountains and was eaten by a tiger. Hearing Qin Sang offer to tell a story, they were curious yet a bit afraid.
"Grandma, is the story scary?"
Qin Sang stroked the little girl's back. The five-year-old had soft skin; the only problem was that she was too thin.
"It's not scary. It's a story about a monkey."
"Legend has it that long ago, when Nüwa mended the heavens, a spiritual stone fell down. It absorbed the essence of heaven and earth until one day, a bolt of lightning struck, and a Stone Monkey leaped out from within the stone..."
The night passed without incident. Early the next morning, Qin Sang was woken by the commotion in the house. She couldn't help it; the two girls had gotten more energized the more they listened to the story last night, and she had to keep going until the Great Sage Equal to Heaven was pinned under the Five Finger Mountain by Buddha Rulai.
Tian Sangui was organizing the baskets, and Third Brothers Wife had changed into new clothes, her face full of joy.
Qin Sang pulled out a small cloth bag containing a hundred copper coins.
"If your father agrees, these hundred coins are the deposit. I'll pay the balance once he finishes and delivers them. Keep it safe."
Third Brothers Wife had never held so many copper coins before. She took the bag with both hands and carefully tucked it into her clothes.
"Don't worry, Mother."
Qin Sang filled the bamboo tubes with water and handed over the pancakes and eggs that Eldest Brothers Wife had made early that morning, telling them to stay safe on the road.
Qin Sang and Tian Dazhuang were also about to leave for town to deliver the mosquito coils when Tian Wenmo walked up to her with dark circles under his eyes.
"Mother, can you buy some brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones?"
Qin Sang looked at him, and Wen Mo quickly explained:
"I think Eldest Girl and Si Jin are quite talented. I can teach them to read."
He didn't believe his fourth sister and niece were truly gifted, able to memorize books after reading them a few times. He refused to believe they could be better than him at reading and writing.
Qin Sang thought this was a good sign and agreed immediately.
"Alright. If you can teach Si Jin and Eldest Girl to be as good as you, I'll send you back to school."
Hearing this condition, Wen Mo's mouth hung open for a long time.
Only if he taught Si Jin and Eldest Girl could he go back to school? Would he ever see the day he returned to the Private School?
...
By the time Tian Sangui helped his wife reach the neighboring village, it was already broad daylight. They ran into villagers carrying water. Seeing the two of them, someone stopped and smiled.
"Oh, isn't this Huan'er? Your husband doesn't seem to care about you at all, letting you travel so far back to your natal home while pregnant."
Zhao Huan leaned on Tian Sangui and smiled proudly.
"You're right. Your husband cares for you so much; he's so worried your back will ache from sleeping too long that he makes you queue for water early in the morning."
"Your husband also cares about you wearing nice things and being targeted, which is why he lets you wear clothes covered in patch upon patch."
"My San Gui really doesn't know how to care for people. He's always complaining that I don't do things well enough, so he does all the field work himself."
"He even complains that I'm too thin and don't look good, so every time we eat, he forces me to eat my fill."
"Thinking about it, I really don't have as good a life as you, with a husband who cares so much."
Tian Sangui heard this and burst out laughing.
Hearing Zhao Huan's sarcastic mockery, the woman's face turned very sour.
"Stop pretending! Who doesn't know your mother-in-law is famous for being mean in Tianjia Village?"
"We've seen your eldest sister-in-law washing clothes by the river in the dead of winter with hands covered in chilblains."
"Huan'er, you'd better be careful not to follow in your sister-in-law's footsteps, or you'll have nowhere to cry later."
Zhao Huan laughed.
"Yes, my mother-in-law is so mean. She insisted I make several sets of clothes for the baby, saying she won't let her Golden Grandson freeze to death."
"And another thing, my mother-in-law thinks Millet flour is too rough on the throat, so she insists on cooking dry rice for every meal. Just vegetables won't do; there must be meat and eggs every time."
"We said eating chaff and wild herbs was fine, but my mother-in-law pointed at my nose and scolded me, asking if the house was short on food or clothes."
"She said she couldn't afford to lose face like that and forced us to eat with her. Sigh, I've gained two rounds of weight lately and I'm not as pretty as before. Don't you think my mother-in-law is hard to please?"