In the absence of electricity, the villagers couldn't afford to light lamps, so as soon as darkness fell, the small village grew quiet. Only the faint creaking sound from Jin Feng's house broke the silence.
Tang Dongdong, under the dim glow of a tung oil lamp, was fully absorbed in spinning thread. On the small bed, Xiao'e slept soundly, her pillow damp with drool, lost in some dream.
"Dongdong, stop spinning and get some rest," Guan Xiaorou said, draping a coat over her shoulders. "You haven't slept well these past few days. You've lost weight."
"How could I lose weight when your family eats three meals a day, all with rice and fine flour?" Tang Dongdong replied. "Sister Xiaorou, you go to bed. I'll just spin a little longer."
"Don't stay up too late," Guan Xiaorou said, wiping Xiao'e's drool before returning to the west room.
"Looks like it's another no-go tonight…" Jin Feng sighed, listening to the creaking sound, feeling utterly helpless.
He and Guan Xiaorou were in the honeymoon phase, their passion burning like dry wood. But with only a main room separating the east and west rooms, and no doors to speak of, even Xiao'e's sleep-talking was audible to Jin Feng. If they wanted any privacy, they had to wait until Tang Dongdong fell asleep. But Tang Dongdong seemed to have endless energy, spinning thread late into the night every night. By the time she finally went to bed, Jin Feng and Guan Xiaorou were already fast asleep.
"Tomorrow, I must build a shed in the yard and move this human lightbulb out there to spin," Jin Feng thought bitterly, drifting into sleep with a deep sense of frustration.
Meanwhile, on the back mountain, Xie Guang and the bald man stumbled out of the woods, guided by the faint moonlight, and quietly slipped into the village. Both carried freshly sharpened machetes, their blades glinting coldly in the moonlight. They were prepared to silence anyone who might get in their way.
"Your village doesn't have dogs, does it?" the bald man whispered.
"Third Boss, don't worry. Our village is so poor, no one can afford to keep dogs," Xie Guang replied.
"Good."
No dogs meant no noise to wake anyone.
"Hey, why is that kid's house still lit?" Xie Guang pointed at the faintly glowing window. "Third Boss, should we make our move?"
"Move what? If the light's on, they're still awake. One shout, and the whole village will hear. We wait," the bald man said, slapping Xie Guang on the back of the head.
"Right, right!" Xie Guang ducked his head and followed the bald man as they crouched in the grass outside the courtyard, biding their time.
Half an hour passed, then an hour, then two. By the time the deepest part of the night arrived, the light in the window was still on.
"Could that kid have fallen asleep without blowing out the lamp?" the bald man muttered, growing impatient. His legs were numb from crouching for so long.
"Probably. That kid's never been good with money. He blew through his father's savings in less than a year," Xie Guang said. "Now that he's made a fortune, he's probably back to his wasteful ways."
"That's my money he's wasting!" the bald man growled, a glint of malice in his eyes. "Let's move."
Xie Guang, equally impatient, quickly stood up. But just as they rose, the door to the main room creaked open.
Startled, Xie Guang and the bald man dropped back into the grass.
In the doorway, Tang Dongdong stretched, her silhouette outlined by the moonlight.
"That kid's wife is quite pretty," the bald man said, swallowing hard.
"That's not his wife. That's Tang Dongdong from Guanjiawan," Xie Guang said. As a seasoned troublemaker, he knew all the pretty girls in the nearby villages and recognized Tang Dongdong instantly.
"Nonsense. If she's not his wife, why is she in his house?"
"Must be his concubine now that he's struck it rich," Xie Guang said. "I heard Tang Dongdong's from a wealthy family in the city. Her family fell on hard times, and she ended up here. Lots of people tried to marry her, but she turned them all down. Who'd have thought this kid would get her?"
"How much would it cost to take a concubine like that?" the bald man muttered, slapping his thigh in frustration, as if Jin Feng had spent his money.
"Don't kill her. I'm taking her back!" the bald man said. For bandits, beautiful women were just another commodity. After they'd had their fun, they could sell them to the black-market brothels in the valleys. A beauty like Tang Dongdong would fetch a good price.
"Third Boss, the kid's wife, Guan Xiaorou, is also very pretty," Xie Guang added quickly. He'd had his eye on Guan Xiaorou for a long time.
"Then we'll take her too."
As they watched Tang Dongdong head to the kitchen, the two men crept into the courtyard, using the shadows of the trees for cover.
Tang Dongdong had just finished drinking water in the kitchen and was about to go to bed when she felt something cold against her neck. Looking down, she saw the sharp edge of a machete.
Instinctively, she opened her mouth to scream, but a hand clamped over it before she could make a sound.
"Don't make a noise, or I'll kill you!"
"Mm-mm!" Tang Dongdong nodded slightly, trembling but forcing herself to stay calm. Having endured the upheaval of her family's downfall, she was stronger than most women.
The bald man pulled out a coil of rope and tied Tang Dongdong to the kitchen doorframe. He then grabbed a piece of Xiao'e's clothing drying in the yard, balled it up, and stuffed it into her mouth.
"Let's go in together," the bald man whispered to Xie Guang. "I'll handle the woman. You take care of the man. Got it?"
"Got it!" Xie Guang tightened his grip on the machete, a cruel glint in his eyes.
He knew he could never return to Xihewan, so becoming a bandit was his only option. But in these hard times, competition among bandits was fierce. Without some kind of proof of his worth, he'd be just another starving thug. The bald man had told him earlier that if he wanted respect, he'd need to bring a head as a token of his loyalty. Jin Feng was that token.
Hearing their plan to kill Jin Feng, Tang Dongdong panicked. As Xie Guang and the bald man approached the main room door, she gritted her teeth and slammed her head against the doorframe.
*Thud! Thud!*
The dull sound echoed eerily in the quiet night.
"You're asking for it!" Xie Guang turned to deal with Tang Dongdong, but the bald man grabbed him.
"Forget her! Deal with the people inside first!" the bald man hissed, shoving Xie Guang into the main room.
He was no stranger to this kind of work and knew that while the sound of Tang Dongdong's head hitting the doorframe wouldn't carry far, if the people inside woke up and raised the alarm, it would be over.
Xie Guang understood and charged into the room with his machete raised. But as soon as he stepped inside, a wooden stool came flying at him!
He had no time to dodge. The stool hit him square in the face.
*Crack!*
The solid wooden stool shattered on impact.
Xie Guang didn't even make a sound as he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Jin Feng stepped out from the shadows behind the door, picking up the machete Xie Guang had dropped.
"Dammit!" the bald man cursed. A seasoned bandit, his first instinct wasn't to fight but to retreat to the kitchen door and press his blade against Tang Dongdong's throat.
"Don't make a sound, or I'll kill her!"