It was past nine o'clock at night in Wanglou Village, and darkness enveloped the entire village.
Rural life has always been simple and regular. When there is nothing to do at night, people will turn off the lights early and go to bed to drift off to sleep.
However, in this pitch blackness, one faint light stood out—it was the light emanating from Widow Liu's house.
The dim light from the electric bulb cast a faint glow, making the room appear shadowy.
Widow Liu and her two sons were sitting around a dilapidated wooden table, talking quietly in hushed tones.
"Mom, are you sure you locked the gate properly? We absolutely can't let anyone know I'm back!"
The speaker was Liu's second son, Wang Jun. He looked very nervous, and fine beads of sweat even appeared on his forehead.
Just minutes earlier, he had sneaked over the courtyard wall under the cover of darkness, waking his mother, Widow Liu, and his brother, Wang Qiang, from their sleep.
While rubbing her cheek, which was swollen from being beaten during the day, Widow Liu reached out with her other hand and gently patted her son's arm, saying with a hint of annoyance.
"You brat, at a time like this, why didn't you just run far away? You dare to come back? You're really courting death!"
Touching the wound caused an instant wave of pain, and she couldn't help but frown, hissing and gasping for breath from time to time.
Upon seeing this, Wang Jun frowned deeply, his face full of displeasure, and he questioned in a harsh tone.
"Got beaten up again?"
Widow Liu waved her hand dismissively and replied casually.
"Those two arrogant little sluts are nothing to worry about!"
A brief, dull silence ensued. After a long while, Wang Jun kept his head down, not even daring to look his mother in the eye, and only mumbled in a low voice.
"Mom... please don't do this again. My brother and I are grown up now, we really can't bear to lose face like this!"
Widow Liu naturally understood the deeper meaning behind her son's words.
Although she was usually unrestrained and carefree, and even in front of outsiders she always seemed indifferent, she still felt her face burning slightly and lost face when her own son exposed her true feelings to her face.
However, this awkward feeling only lasted for a moment before she quickly adjusted her state and regained her shrewish and domineering personality.
He glared angrily at Wang Jun and whispered a rebuke.
"You heartless little bastard! Who am I doing this for? Open your dog eyes and see clearly! With my body, I can neither work in the fields nor go out to earn money. If I hadn't risked my reputation, would you two brothers be where you are today? Would you have grown up safely?"
As she spoke, Widow Liu's eyes gradually reddened, and tears streamed down her cheeks like a burst dam.
"Your deadbeat father! What a terrible thing! You were barely a month old when he left, leaving us, a widow and her child, to fend for ourselves! At that time, your brother had only just learned to walk."
I'm just a woman, powerless and helpless, yet I had to raise two hungry babies like you. Do you know what kind of life that was like?
I know it perfectly well! Those stinky men were staring at me like hungry wolves; they didn't have a single bit of sincerity in them.
They're just after my decent looks.
But what can I do? I have nothing but this pitiful appearance!
If I didn't rely on this appearance to make a living, you two siblings would probably have starved to death on the streets long ago!
At this point, Widow Liu's already sorrowful face instantly contorted, as if she had suffered the greatest injustice in the world.
You know, she was beaten so badly during the day, her body covered in bruises, yet she gritted her teeth and didn't utter a single groan.
But at this moment, all the pain, fear and helplessness rushed into my heart all at once.
Unable to contain her overwhelming emotions any longer, she suddenly threw herself onto the table, clutching the corner tightly with both hands, her body trembling uncontrollably. Then, she let out a heart-wrenching sob: "Waaah..."
Her sudden outburst of tears left her two sons, who were present, somewhat at a loss.
The two brothers looked at each other, at a loss for what to do.
A moment later, Wang Qiang, the eldest brother, was the first to react. He slowly stood up, picked up a cup, carefully poured a cup of water for his mother, and then poured a cup for himself and his younger brother.
After doing all that, he took a deep breath and tried to make his voice sound calm.
"Mother, please don't cry. Since Xiaojun risked so much to climb over the wall in the middle of the night to come back, he must have something important to say. Let's listen to what he has to say."
Hearing her eldest son's words, Widow Liu suddenly realized the situation she was in.
Yes, the youngest son is in danger right now, yet he still dared to risk returning home; something extremely important must have happened.
Thinking of this, she hurriedly wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes with her sleeve, took the water glass that Wang Qiang handed her, and took two small sips, trying to calm herself down.
As the cool sensation in her throat gradually suppressed her sobs, she finally stopped crying, slowly raised her head, and turned her gaze to her youngest son beside her.
However, when she saw Wang Jun's slightly haggard face, her heart clenched again, and she couldn't help but scold him, "Damn it! You've done such a big thing, why don't you get as far away as possible? Why are you running home? Don't you want to die?"
Wang Jun didn't speak, but silently reached into his pocket and pulled out a thick paper package.
He placed the paper package on the table and slowly pushed it towards Widow Liu.
"Mom, here's 20,000 yuan. It's the money they gave me for the work I did last time. Keep it. Spend it slowly from now on, and don't go out and do that kind of thing again."
Widow Liu opened her mouth wide and quickly opened the paper package. Sure enough, inside were two brand-new stacks of hundred-yuan bills. A total of twenty thousand yuan.
"You, didn't you say you were just going to run errands and deliver messages? How come you're getting so much money?"
Wang Jun did not answer the series of questions, but instead said calmly.
"Mom, don't ask so many questions. Anyway, I earned all this money. Spend it slowly. Our eldest brother said that he'll pull off another big heist tomorrow and then fly away. I'm afraid I won't be able to come back after that."
"What? You want to do something even bigger? Wasn't what happened last night big enough? Are you trying to cause a major upheaval?"
Widow Liu panicked upon hearing this. Being a woman, she had no idea what kind of trouble her son was going to cause, and she jumped up in fright.
Just then, there was a knock on the door; someone was calling from outside.
"Is Widow Liu home? I need to talk to you about something. Open the door."
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