At Uncle Qi's house, the middle-aged woman's expression remained unchanged upon hearing my words; she showed no fear whatsoever, revealing an expression quite incongruous with her status as a peasant woman: "Young man, you must understand, this is Ping'an Village! Do you know what Ping'an Village was called before? It was called Bandit City! Back then, the biggest bandits in Sichuan were entrenched here. After the liberation of the whole country, the then-village chief, in order to achieve unification, led his troops to join the People's Liberation Army. After driving away the reactionaries, he retreated back to the mountains and renamed it Ping'an Village!"

In our village, everyone has the blood of bandits flowing in their veins. If you kill people here, the entire Ping'an Village will fight you to the death. So don't even think about using force to intimidate anyone here, even though I'm just a rural housewife!

Seeing that the woman could still maintain such composure, I thought to myself that Ping'an Village was indeed no ordinary place. However, my expression remained unchanged, and I smiled at the woman: "Seventh Aunt, I know that Ping'an Village has many rules, and I know that it is definitely more than what we see. But I came here not to be an enemy of Ping'an Village. However, there is something I don't understand. If I tell the clan chief about Seventh Uncle raising money, what do you think will happen?"

Upon hearing my words, the woman's previously calm expression instantly changed.

Seeing the woman's expression, the monkey smiled slightly and said, "Yes, what would happen if we told the clan chief about Uncle Qi's secret hunting and selling of wild animals for profit? Aunt Qi, could you tell us about it?"

How did you find out about our family affairs?

The woman looked at me with an incredulous expression: "Who are you people, and what is your purpose in coming to Ping'an Village?"

"As I said, we don't want to be enemies with Ping'an Village, and of course, we're not here for you."

I could tell the woman was panicking, so I relaxed and lit a cigarette: "I can keep your and Uncle Qi's secret. Of course, as the price for keeping your secret, I also need you to answer a few of my questions. I think that's fair, isn't it?"

Seeing my calm and collected demeanor, the woman hesitated for a few seconds before asking, "What do you want to know from me?"

I gathered my thoughts and asked, "Let's talk about Ping'an Village first. What kind of place is it?"

The woman calmly replied, "As I said, this is just an ordinary village. In earlier years, it wasn't isolated from the outside world. But since liberation, all the villagers have lived here and no longer communicate with the outside world."

I also felt that the question was too general, so I asked more specifically, "Let's change the subject! What exactly is that village in the willow grove?"

“I don’t know. Only the clan chief and elders can go to that village. My husband went there once with the clan chief, but when he came back, I asked him what was in the woods there, but he didn’t tell me a word.”

The woman shook her head and said, "You've seen it yourself. Ping'an Village is a completely closed area. Here, the clan chief is like heaven, and his words are divine pronouncements. If we offend the clan chief, we won't even have the ability to survive!"

The monkey pressed on, "That doesn't make sense. If you really can't leave Ping'an Village, then why do you need to make money?"

“Ping’an Village is not inaccessible, or rather, the Ping’an Village you see is not a village at all.”

Before I could ask any questions, the woman took the initiative to explain: "Ping'an Village is much larger than you can imagine. Otherwise, with only the population of this village, it would be impossible for us to have multiplied for so many years."

I tried to understand: "You mean, the village we're in now is like a village group, right?"

"That's roughly the idea. Ping'an Village is divided into many small villages, and there are strict requirements for intermarriage. The purpose is to avoid marriage between close relatives, so it is common to intermarry with other villages. As for where these villages are, I don't know. I only know that our village is one of them."

The woman nodded: "Moreover, not all of us here are required to stay here. According to the regulations, each household must keep the first two children in Ping'an Village. From the third child onwards, they can leave Ping'an Village and live in the outside world!"

According to the rules of Ping'an Village, children who leave this village will never see their parents again! Our third and fourth children are those children who left Ping'an Village! We need money so that our children can have a better life outside!

I asked the woman, somewhat puzzled, "You just said that the children who leave here will never see their parents again, and Ping'an Village doesn't allow villagers to make money. How did you manage to contact the children?"

“As I said, Ping’an Village is actually divided into many village groups, and the children who leave the mountains live under the supervision of these village groups. It’s said to be a village that lives in the city. I don’t know if you understand what I’m saying!”

I nodded: "So, in addition to the villages in the mountains, Ping'an Village also has organizations in the city similar to labor unions or hometown associations to protect you openly and provide you with supplies, right?"

“I don’t know much about the outside world, but your guess is probably right. My two sons were taken away when they were eight years old, and more than ten years have passed.”

The woman paused for a moment: "Last year, my fourth son somehow managed to escape the control of the higher-ups and return to Ping'an Village. He secretly went to the place where my husband farmed and met with him! Although this violated the rules of Ping'an Village, how could I, as a mother, not miss my son? Since then, whenever my fourth son has the chance, he will secretly run back to see us!"

After leaving Ping'an Village, Lao Si's life outside was very hard. After running away from the factory that was arranged for him, he couldn't find a job because he didn't have any skills. His father and I couldn't bear to see him suffer outside, so we secretly hunted and caught some wild animals for him to sell to make a living!

I knew very well that according to the rules of Ping'an Village, if my fourth son were caught, his life would be in danger. The people of Ping'an Village would never tolerate such a thing, setting a precedent for villagers fleeing! My seventh son and I weren't afraid to die, but we had to live, because if anything happened to us, my fourth son wouldn't fare well either!

The more I listened, the more confused I became: "Ping'an Village has existed for so many years, yet the people above have maintained tight control over the villagers at the bottom, preventing you from contacting the outside world. What is the point of doing this?"

"As outsiders, you have only briefly experienced the oppressive atmosphere of Ping'an Village, while we will be trapped here for the rest of our lives."

The woman shook her head: "As far back as I can remember, Ping'an Village has always operated in this way, so I really can't answer your question. I only know that in Ping'an Village, you must absolutely obey the clan chief's orders."

I knew the woman was definitely hiding something from me, but if she wouldn't say anything under these circumstances, it would be very difficult to dig it out. So I changed the subject and asked, "You just said that Seventh Uncle knows about the situation in the willow grove. How long will it take for him to come back?"

The woman hesitated for a moment: "It should be soon. He went out to make a deal with people. Those people have the same goal as you: to buy the news of the willow grove."