Lin Wanqiu had just wrapped the tofu she had saved for Grandpa Liu at the west end into a second layer of lotus leaf when suddenly there was a loud "crash" sound on the courtyard wall, like a pebble hitting a brick. Her hand stopped moving, and her ears immediately perked up—something was wrong with the sound. Even when Zhao Jianjun was loitering around last night, he hadn't made such a deliberate noise; it sounded like he was trying to get her attention.
"Mom, what's wrong?" Shen Nian'an was squatting by the stove, helping to add firewood. His little face was covered in charcoal ash. Hearing the noise, he looked up at his mother, his dark, grape-like eyes full of wariness. Lately, he had seen a lot of unpleasant things with Lin Wanqiu, and the child was more clever than before. When he sensed something was wrong, he would hide behind his mother.
Lin Wanqiu stuffed the tofu into the bamboo basket, covered it tightly with a blue cloth, and then tucked the basket into the innermost pile of firewood in the woodshed, leaving only a corner of the cloth sticking out. "Nian'an, stay in the woodshed for now. Move this basket of sweet potatoes to the inner room. Mother will go out and see who it is." She patted the child's head and took out a piece of fruit candy from her spatial storage and put it in his hand. "If you hear any noise outside, don't come out. Mother will be back soon."
Shen Nian'an clutched the candy, nodded emphatically, and, carrying a sweet potato basket that was half his height, tiptoed into the inner room. Lin Wanqiu watched his small figure disappear behind the door before picking up the iron spatula from the stove—this thing was heavy enough to be used as a weapon if needed—and then tiptoed towards the courtyard gate.
Just as she reached the door, she heard Zhao Jianjun's nonchalant voice from outside: "Lin Wanqiu, stop hiding, I know you're in there! Hurry up and bring out the tofu you made, or I'll smash the door down!"
Lin Wanqiu sneered inwardly. This Zhao Jianjun was really pushing his luck. He couldn't catch anyone last night, but today he's openly coming to their door to rob them. She deliberately slowed her pace and called out through the door, "Comrade Zhao, what do you mean by that? My family is just an ordinary farming household, where would we get tofu? Have you come to the wrong place?"
"Wrong place?" Zhao Jianjun scoffed, reaching out to pat the door. "I saw you carrying a bamboo basket out last night, wrapped up tightly inside. What else could it be but tofu? Don't play dumb with me. Take it out right now, or I'll have my dad report your 'speculation' to the commune. You and your little brat will be in big trouble!"
These words struck a nerve with Lin Wanqiu, but she didn't panic—Zhao Jianjun was just relying on his father being the brigade secretary to try and intimidate people with the commune's name, but he had no evidence. If things really escalated to the commune level, she could simply deny everything to the death. However, now wasn't the time to confront him directly. Nian'an was still inside, and it wouldn't be good if Zhao Jianjun really broke down the door and hurt the child.
Lin Wanqiu deliberately sighed, her voice tinged with grievance: "Comrade Zhao, you've really wronged me. I went out last night to deliver some sweet potatoes to Grandma Li. She's old and has trouble walking. If you don't believe me, I can take you to Grandma Li's house to ask. If there really is tofu, you can do whatever you want with it."
Zhao Jianjun, standing outside the door, paused, probably not expecting Lin Wanqiu to agree so readily. His follower leaned over and whispered, "Brother Jianjun, don't believe her. Maybe she's just trying to stall for time and hide the tofu."
"I know." Zhao Jianjun snorted and patted the door again. "Don't try that on me! Open the door now, I'm going in to search. If I find it, great; if not, I'll go ask Grandma Li!"
Lin Wanqiu thought to herself, she couldn't let him in. The tofu in the woodshed hadn't been moved yet; if he found it, she'd have no way to explain herself. Her eyes darted around, and she had an idea. She deliberately raised her voice: "Comrade Zhao, it's not that I don't want to open the door, it's just that my son Nian'an was crying from fright, and I'm trying to soothe him. If you really want to search, why don't you wait a bit, and I'll open the door after I've put the child to sleep? Besides, it's not good for your reputation if word gets out that you, a grown man, barging into a widow's house, don't you think?"
These words struck a nerve with Zhao Jianjun—although he was domineering, he still wanted to maintain a good reputation in the village, especially in front of Lin Wanqiu, and always tried to appear as a "gentleman." He hesitated for a moment, then said to his follower, "Alright, I'll wait for her for a while and see what tricks she can pull."
Hearing this, Lin Wanqiu knew Zhao Jianjun had taken the bait. She quickly ran to the woodshed, pulled out the bamboo basket hidden in the firewood pile, took out a piece of coarse cloth from her spatial storage, wrapped the basket even more tightly, then carried it on her back and tightened it with her belt. Next, she threw a few pieces of sweet potato and corn from the stove onto the ground, deliberately making it look messy, as if it had just been rummaged through.
After doing all this, she went into the inner room and patted Shen Nian'an's head: "Nian'an, Mommy needs to go out and talk to Uncle Zhao for a few minutes. Be a good girl and stay in the room, and don't make a sound, okay?"
Shen Nian'an clutched her clothes and whispered, "Mother, I'm afraid he'll bully you."
"Don't worry, Mother has a way." Lin Wanqiu smiled, took out a small whistle from her spatial storage, and put it in his hand. "If you hear Mother blowing this whistle, you must run to Aunt Wang's house immediately and ask her to call the militia, understand?"
Shen Nian'an nodded and gripped the whistle tightly in his hand.
Lin Wanqiu took a deep breath, walked to the courtyard gate, and slowly opened it. Outside, Zhao Jianjun was leaning against the wall smoking, with two henchmen standing beside him, their eyes darting furtively into the courtyard.
"Comrade Zhao, look, this is all the conditions in my house, where would I find room to hide tofu?" Lin Wanqiu deliberately stepped aside, letting them see the mess in the yard. "If you don't believe me, come in and search. But let me make this clear first, if you don't find anything, you have to apologize to me and promise not to bother my house again."
Zhao Jianjun threw his cigarette butt on the ground, stomped it out, and walked into the courtyard with his two henchmen. He first glanced at the kitchen and saw that the stove was empty except for a few sweet potatoes scattered on the ground. Then he walked to the woodshed, pushed open the door, and saw that there was only a pile of firewood inside, not even a bamboo basket in sight.
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