Chen Ermao pointed into the courtyard. "This is Chen Xiaobei's house. He's on duty by the big locust tree, and only Cui Hongyu and Chen Qiaoer are here."
The other two nodded. "You go in first and see if they're both here."
Chen Ermao felt a little uneasy.
"Crooked-mouth brother, what about San Shui and the others?"
Crooked-mouth patted Chen Ermao's shoulder. "Don't worry, you go in first, and we'll follow shortly."
As Chen Ermao entered the courtyard, he felt a little apprehensive.
Last time, he had nearly been scared to death by Chen Xiaobei.
But after thinking about it, Chen Xiaobei wasn't home today, so he steeled himself and went for it.
He climbed into the yard, approached the door, and hesitated for a moment. Then, he cautiously pushed!
Hmm, why is the door fastened from the outside?
This seemed a bit odd.
Could it be that Chen Xiaobei had casually closed the door from the outside when he left?
After a brief hesitation, Chen Ermao gently unlocked the door, slowly pushing it open bit by bit.
Outside the courtyard, Crooked-mouth and San Shui saw the door open and calmly climbed over the courtyard wall.
Once inside, the room was pitch black. Chen Ermao didn't dare to light a fire stick and stood there for a while, trying to adjust.
But soon, he felt something was wrong. The room was too quiet.
It was eerily quiet, with not even the slightest sound.
At that moment, Crooked-mouth and San Shui arrived at the door. They didn't care much and immediately lit their fire sticks.
With the faint light, Chen Ermao saw that the bed was empty.
Crooked-mouth, holding the fire stick, stepped forward and carefully checked.
In the end, he seemed a bit discouraged. "Damn, did the news leak?"
Chen Ermao thought for a moment. "Chen Daqiang, that bastard, dares to sell us out."
After speaking, Chen Ermao turned to leave. "I'm going to find him and settle this."
San Shui immediately grabbed him. "Hold on, stop wandering around the village, let's talk about what to do next."
Before he finished speaking, Crooked-mouth started pulling them out. "Hurry, if Chen Daqiang sold us out, who knows what kind of trap Chen Xiaobei has set for us?"
Chen Ermao and San Shui finally understood. The three of them rushed out, not even bothering to close the door behind them.
They climbed over the courtyard wall and almost jogged out of the village, hiding in the dark. Only then did they breathe a sigh of relief.
They waited for nearly the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, and everything was calm. San Shui looked puzzled. "Brother Crooked-mouth, there's no trap here!"
Crooked-mouth scratched his head, also confused. "If that's the case, maybe Chen Daqiang didn't sell us out."
"But... if that's the case, why aren't Cui Hongyu and Chen Qiaoer at home?" Chen Ermao countered.
"Well, what's strange about that?" San Shui speculated, "If Chen Xiaobei isn't home, and Cui Hongyu, being a weak woman, is with a little girl, it's possible they went to her parents' house to stay for the night."
This explanation actually made sense, and Chen Ermao had no argument against it. He changed the topic. "Well, brothers, how about we find a place to rest and come back tomorrow night?"
Crooked-mouth waved his hand. "Why bother looking for a place? Chen Xiaobei's house is right here! Let's wait inside his house. Tomorrow morning when he returns, I'll finish him off with one blow, then go back to the big boss and get our reward."
Chen Ermao felt a twinge of unease. These two were really bold.
But then he thought about the dowry that Cui Hongyu brought with her when she married. Chen Ermao couldn't help but feel excited.
If he could get even a small part of it and sell it in the county, it would fetch a good price. He'd be able to bring it to his cousin, Big Black, and get his reward.
It wouldn't be a waste to come on this trip.
The three of them had their own thoughts, and they returned to Chen Xiaobei's house. Crooked-mouth and San Shui lay down on the bed and dozed off.
Chen Ermao, however, couldn't sit still. He held up a fire stick and started searching around.
Soon, his eyes fell on a large ceramic jar in the corner of the room.
Typically, the villagers use these jars to store grains, but clearly, there was no extra food in Chen Xiaobei's house.
However, the jar was very clean, and it had a wooden lid that was much bigger than a millstone. It was obviously scrubbed clean, if not spotless.
Chen Ermao approached and lifted the lid. Inside, he found several bundles and two wooden boxes. One of the boxes was a jewelry box belonging to Cui Hongyu. There was simply no other place to hide it in the house, so she had stuffed everything into this jar.
Opening the jewelry box, there were several gold bangles and silver pendants. Chen Ermao's eyes lit up when he saw them. This was his chance to make a fortune.
Just as he was about to take action, Crooked-mouth's voice came from the side. "Alright, quiet down, don't disturb my good dream."
Chen Ermao suppressed his excitement. "Got it, brother, you go back to sleep."
He carefully tucked the jewelry into his chest and grabbed two more bundles.
After thinking for a moment, Chen Ermao decided to throw the wooden lid aside. He sat down, leaned against the wall, and closed his eyes to rest.
In his mind, he was planning. Tomorrow, after killing Chen Xiaobei, he would take everything in the jar.
At that moment, Chen Xiaobei had already gotten up and was preparing to go patrol. His companion for the patrol was a young man named Xiao Wen.
Xiao Wen was even younger than Chen Xiaobei by a year. His family didn't have much of a livelihood, so he ended up joining the village's protection team just to earn a little bonus by the end of the year.
Xiao Wen walked closely behind Chen Xiaobei, talking as they went. "Brother Xiaobei, let's just take a casual walk, we've done enough."
Chen Xiaobei stopped and looked back at him. "Did you patrol like this when you were with Chen Ping?"
Xiao Wen hesitated before nodding. "Yeah, when I was with Brother Chen Ping, we just went up the hill in front and then turned back."
They were now walking west along the village road, getting closer to Qingniu Mountain, where the terrain naturally got higher. But even at the start of the hill, there were still at least twenty families ahead.
Chen Xiaobei shook his head. "Xiao Wen, since we're in the protection team, we should do this job well. At least let's get to the village entrance. Otherwise, how can we justify the trust the villagers have in us?"
Xiao Wen looked at him in confusion. "Brother, what does trust mean?"
Chen Xiaobei was silent for a moment. Yes, what did "trust" mean? That word probably wasn't even used in these times.
"Oh, I mean, the villagers believe we can protect the village properly."
Xiao Wen nodded thoughtfully. "Brother Xiaobei, where did you hear that phrase?"
This question was difficult for Chen Xiaobei to answer.
He quickly changed the subject. "I heard it from the big families in the county. By the way, I'll take you to the county town one day. It's really beautiful there."
Xiao Wen's eyes immediately filled with longing. "I've only been to the county once, and it was snowing. I didn't see anything."