It was pitch black.
Every household turned off their lights and went to sleep.
Occasionally, a few barks could be heard.
Outside the Song family's courtyard, people were still strolling around, occasionally whistling into the yard.
He pushed open the courtyard gate and crept around the house halfway, pressing his ear against the window to listen for any sounds inside, before knocking on the window.
There was no response from inside the room.
He went back to the front, took out his own tools, and reached through the crack in the door to try and open the latch inside.
Someone patted him on the shoulder. "Daguang, what are you doing? Zhiyuan told us to just scare her a little so he could have a chance to play the hero and save the damsel in distress. We all agreed to wait for him to arrive before we did anything!"
Xie Daguang ignored his companion and continued to pull the bolt behind the door.
Finally, the bolt was slowly pried open.
Xie Daguang was eager to go in, but his companions stopped him.
"Daguang, what are you trying to do? Zhiyuan has his eye on her, and there are other people in her family."
"What nonsense are you thinking? A jinx, I don't want to be cursed to death."
"So what are you trying to do?"
"Zhiyuan has his eye on the older sister, and I've taken a liking to the younger sister. After tonight, Zhiyuan and I will become brothers-in-law, hahaha..."
He quietly pushed open the door, and a long, snake-like object swung at him.
Before he could react, the long object on his body lit up, accompanied by a crackling sound.
"Firecracker...firecracker..." Xie Daguang was so frightened that he instinctively ran away.
While running, he frantically shook off the crackling firecrackers all over his body.
The sound of firecrackers was particularly jarring in the quiet night, startling the surrounding dogs into barking incessantly.
The windows of nearby villagers' homes gradually lit up.
Han Zhiyuan, who was riding his old-fashioned bicycle to Songzhuang Village, was startled by a sudden barking dog and the sound of firecrackers in the distance.
Throughout the journey, he mentally rehearsed how to play the hero and save the damsel in distress, and how to come up with a plausible explanation to fool Song Yinhua and her mother.
The sudden sound of firecrackers startled him so much that he lost all his plans.
He listened carefully and discovered that the sound of firecrackers was coming from the direction of Song Yinhua's house.
This Xie Daguang, let him scare Song Yinhua, not let him set off firecrackers in the middle of the night to frighten people!
He quickly sped up and rode over.
Xie Daguang was so frightened that he ran around wildly and almost got hit by Han Zhiyuan's bicycle.
"Da Guang, what's going on?"
"Let's hurry up and go somewhere where no one is around," said Wang Erchui, his companion, as they ran.
The firecrackers had just woken up the surrounding villagers, and lights came on in the windows of several houses.
The group stopped when they reached the pond next to the farmland.
The area is surrounded by rice paddies, and there are no houses.
After hearing Wang Erchui's account of what happened, Han Zhiyuan lost his temper with Xie Daguang.
"Da Guang, what's your hurry? Didn't I tell you to wait for me to arrive before we acted? Who the hell told you to make decisions on your own?"
"If you want to marry Song Yinhua's sister, it's not too late for you to propose after I marry Song Yinhua!"
"Her younger sister, Song Caixing, is only sixteen this year. What the hell are you in such a hurry for?"
"If I can't marry Song Yinhua, I'll never forgive you!"
Xie Daguang chuckled twice, "Just a jinx? Is it really that big of a deal? If you like jinxes so much, why didn't you come and tell them sooner? Why wait until your father is sick and your wife runs away before you're all that anxious about marrying her? I think you just want a free maid to clean up your messes..."
Han Zhiyuan punched Xie Daguang in the face.
He had been holding in a lot of anger these past few days with nowhere to vent it, and Xie Daguang just had to be so ungrateful and ruin his plans.
"You dare hit me, you son of a bitch?" Xie Daguang grabbed Han Zhiyuan. "Believe it or not, I'll go find that jinx right now and expose everything about how you tried to hit on her!"
"You dare!" Han Zhiyuan retorted fiercely. "If you dare ruin my plans, I'll expose your affair with Li Er's wife from Stone Village. Li Er is a butcher; let's see if he'll kill you with his butcher knife!"
Xie Daguang got scared and immediately put on a smile, "We're good brothers, your business is my business, we're like brothers."
Han Zhiyuan slapped his hand away. He knew a lot about the dirty things Xie Daguang and his father did behind the scenes.
Of course, he heard all of this from his past life when the Xie family's misdeeds were exposed.
Wang Erchui quickly tried to smooth things over and speak well of both sides, which allowed Han Zhiyuan and Xie Daguang to back down without escalating the conflict.
Because it's bad for everyone if things fall apart.
The group discussed their next steps by the lotus pond, unaware that Song Yinhua, standing behind an old locust tree in the darkness not far away, had overheard their conversation.
A group of villagers gathered in the Song family's courtyard; even the village head came over with flashlights.
The villagers chattered amongst themselves.
"Oh dear, a house can't function without a man!"
"Who can argue with that? A woman sleeping at home with two girls, and some with filthy intentions came to harass her in the middle of the night."
"Gui Lan, did you see who it was?"
"Stop asking, everyone. Look how pale Guilan's lips have turned white with fright."
When Song Yinhua returned, a distracted Song Caixing immediately ran over, "Big sister, did you find the person who broke in?"
"I couldn't find it." Song Yinhua shook her head, deliberately not saying anything.
"Those crackling sounds must be firecrackers, right?" the village chief asked. "Who thought of using firecrackers to scare away the thief?"
"Big sister," Song Caixing said timidly, standing behind Song Yinhua.
Song Yinhua explained, “My dad and Baogen weren’t home. I’d often heard that people’s chickens were stolen. My family also raises a lot of chickens and pigs. I was worried that thieves would target us, so I bought a string of firecrackers while I was at the market. I never thought they would come in handy.”
"Yes, a family can't function without a man."
"Guilan, Erzhuang and Baogen have been gone for several days now, when are they coming back?"
"Where did Erzhuang and Baogen go?"
"Don't you know? Erzhuang and Baogen sent Qiuxue to the provincial capital to study at university."
"Qiuxue is really promising. She is the only college student in our village. Guilan, you have done a good job raising your daughter. You will be blessed when Qiuxue graduates from college."
The villagers asked Qiao Guilan a few more questions before dispersing.
A couple walked out of the yard and began to whisper among themselves.
"I heard that Yinhua is a jinx, that she killed her grandparents at birth and several of her relatives. It seems that the rumors are true! Just now, the sound of firecrackers was so loud that anyone with a heart condition would have had a heart attack. I can't believe she thought of that."
"Say less, don't let anyone hear you and cause trouble."
"Honey, who was it that first said Yinhua was a jinx? She's a real jinx! Her grandparents died as soon as she was born, and her mother miscarried several times before finally getting pregnant again after five years. She really is a jinx, and what they said is absolutely true."
"Mind your own business! I'm warning you, don't go around gossiping about it! Go back to sleep!"
Qiao Guilan brought out the leftover lobsters from lunch, looking guilty and uneasy. "Yinhua, have you had dinner yet? I'll make you some now. Although it's autumn, it's too hot today. I was afraid the vegetables would spoil in the kitchen, so I put them by the window in my room to let the night breeze blow on them. I didn't mean anything by it."
Song Yinhua could tell from her mother's guilty expression that she must have woken up when Xie Erliuzi pried open the door and had been hiding inside in fear.
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