"Oh, so it was actually buried there, and it's such a beautiful silver hairpin. You bastard, you didn't tell me for so long. What did your mother mean by hiding it from me without me knowing anything?"
Upon seeing the silver hairpin wrapped in cloth, Zhang was so angry that she slapped Wang Ergou.
When she heard about it on the mountain last time, she thought the man was talking nonsense. His family was so poor that they couldn't even find a copper coin, so how could they have a silver hairpin? Now that she saw the real thing, she was surprised but also angry.
It's pitiful that she's been married into the Wang family for so long and that old woman has never mentioned her. She's such a heartless person.
Annoyed by the slapping, Wang Ergou stopped the other's hand from continuing to slap him and said irritably, "If my mother had told you back then, would it still be here? I didn't know about this before. If my mother hadn't told me before she died, how would I have known?"
At the time, he thought it was fake and had long forgotten about it. If he hadn't remembered it while on the mountain, he would never have actually come to dig it up.
Seeing that even her husband didn't know, Zhang felt a little better. That old hag not only kept it from her, but also from her son; she was truly ruthless.
Just then, she heard the man say in surprise, "Look who those two are? They look like Jiang Yatou to me."
Zhang looked outside and saw two people, one tall and one short, walking by. Both of their baskets were stuffed full.
Startled, she quickly said, "Who else could it be but Jiang Yatou? The one next to her is Chen Jia's paralyzed son. They actually came down the mountain too. I think they looted a lot of things in the village. Come on, let's go and look for some food or something."
After saying that, he picked up the few shriveled corncobs from the ground and prepared to leave.
Wang Ergou stopped her and said irritably, "With those two brats around, the village would probably have been ransacked long ago. We'd be disappointed if we went now. We might as well follow them and rob some from them. They're just two brats, what are you afraid of?"
The thought of being kicked in the chest that night made him grit his teeth in hatred. That brat was quite strong; she kicked him so hard that his chest still hurts.
Zhang's face lit up with joy, thinking it made sense. She grabbed the corn and pulled Wang Ergou along to follow.
Jiang Yimian and Gou Sheng arrived at the Jiang family home shortly afterward.
Gou Sheng was waiting at the door when Jiang Yimian went straight to the west room, leaped up, grabbed the bundle on the roof beam, and took it down.
She opened the bundle and saw that it was full of her father's and elder brother's clothes. Just as she was about to throw the bundle into the basket, her eyes were drawn to a black object inside.
She took out the object and discovered it was a small dagger about the size of her palm, with a curved bottom; it was quite ordinary and nothing special.
Jiang Yimian hid the dagger in her sleeve, wrapped the bundle up, and threw it into the basket. Just then, she heard a man's voice outside.
She quickly walked outside.
Wang Ergou and his wife blocked the gate of the courtyard, coldly staring at Gousheng inside the house. When she came out, they said irritably, "So it really is you. Quickly hand over what's in your basket. Don't take advantage of the fact that no one is in the village now to steal from everywhere. Be careful or I'll send you to see the authorities."
The couple each held a corncob in their hands, pointing at the two people in the yard, looking rather smug.
Jiang Yimian stepped forward and stood next to Gou Sheng before scoffing and saying, "Don't say there are no officials to manage things now. Even if there were, they would arrest you first. Last time you stole grain from several households, we didn't say anything."
This guy has a history of petty theft, and everyone in the village knows it. The reason we didn't pursue the matter last time was because the amount of grain stolen was small, and also because we were all from the same village and wanted to help each other out.
These two are even worse now, going from stealing to outright robbery.
When the topic of stealing came up, Wang Ergou felt a little guilty. Before he could speak, Zhang Shi, who was standing to the side, shouted, "You shameless hussy, what nonsense are you spouting? What did my husband steal? Don't try to frame me with your empty words. We saw you and this brat stealing from other people's houses. Hand over the stuff now, or we won't be polite."
Gou Sheng was furious when he heard this. He said irritably, "I don't care if you want to steal things, but there are just some seeds in this basket. What are you going to do with them? They won't fill your stomach. Get out of the way, we're going back."
As he spoke, he tried to force his way out of the courtyard.
Wang Ergou and his wife exchanged a glance and then grabbed directly into Gousheng's basket, clearly not believing his explanation about the seeds.
They didn't believe that the two kids had walked for hours down the mountain just to bring back some seeds; they must have hidden the grain well in advance.
Caught off guard, Gou Sheng stumbled as the two men bumped into him while he was protecting his basket.
Wang Ergou had already succeeded and was only happy looking at the cloth bag in his hand. Before he could even open it, a sharp dagger was pressed against his neck.
Terrified, he stammered, raising his hands and pleading, "Jiang, Jiang girl, I, I just want some food, please, please don't do it! I, I'll give it to you, please put the knife away, if you slip, I'll be dead."
Zhang, who was standing to the side, was also startled. She stared at the gleaming dagger and swallowed hard in fear. She quickly let go of the basket that was holding onto Gou Sheng and begged for mercy, "No, don't do it. I, I don't want it anymore. You all go. I, I won't stop you."
Although the two often committed petty theft in the village, they were always bullies who preyed on the weak and feared the strong. They were even more terrified when they saw the dagger, and were so scared that they dared not do anything. They also ignored the fact that the two in front of them were just children.
Seeing this, Gou Sheng was overjoyed. He snatched the seeds from Wang Er Gou's hand and put them back into his basket. Then he glared at the two of them fiercely. "If you knew this would happen, why did you come to steal our things? Humph, now you know you're scared, huh?"
Jiang Yimian saw that Gou Sheng had taken back his things and put away his dagger. Just as she was about to leave, several men walked towards her.
The leader had a full beard and a fierce look on his face. Even though he was dressed in coarse linen clothes, he couldn't hide his menacing aura. He didn't look like a good guy.
The men around him were all emaciated and dressed in rags, but their eyes were filled with ferocity, and each of them held a machete, making them look somewhat frightening.
Jiang Yimian knew something was wrong and was thinking of a way to escape when Wang Ergou ran towards the bearded man, his face full of terror, and said, "These two kids were stealing things in the village, I just came to stop them, you..."
Before he could finish speaking, the bearded man had already raised his wood-chopping knife, which froze Wang Ergou in place. He stared at the knife so close to him, his legs trembling, fearing that he might accidentally stab himself and lose his life.
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