As Ge Sanlin opened the box, Ge Erlin and Xiao Sunshi were carrying Fatty Zhu onto the kang (a heated brick bed). Xiao Sunshi then tidied up the table. Ge Erlin jumped onto the kang and turned all four of them over, lying with their heads facing the edge of the kang.
Seeing the key suddenly fly towards him, he quickly reached out and caught it in his hand, then glared angrily at Ge Sanlin on the ground.
Ge Erlin picked up the oil lamp from the kang cabinet, and jumped to the ground with the lamp's light. He saw Ge Sanlin squatting in front of the wooden box, trembling like a leaf, and blurted out, "Damn it, you were a soldier for nothing. You stole a little thing, and look how scared you are."
Turning back to the trembling little Sun, he said, "Go outside and keep watch. If anyone comes, knock on the aluminum basin to let them know."
Beside the four men lying there, Sun picked up a large fur coat that belonged to someone, then a dog-skin hat, pushed open the door to the outer room, went into the courtyard where the north wind was howling, and squatted down by the wall.
After chasing away Little Sun, Ge Erlin carried an oil lamp to Ge Sanlin. He saw that Ge Sanlin was trembling and unable to speak, his face pale, deathly pale in the light of the oil lamp.
"Useless thing, with such a small amount of courage, no wonder he was kicked out in less than a year."
Ge Sanlin didn't listen to what Ge Erlin was saying at all; he was too scared to listen.
Ge Erlin kicked Ge Sanlin hard, sending him tumbling, and cursed as he carried the oil lamp: "Coward, get out of the way."
Then, with a swagger, he placed the oil lamp on the adjacent wooden box, bent down, lifted the lid again, reached in, grabbed something, and pulled it up.
Light as a feather, yet Ge Erlin dreamt of getting rich. He held the object up to the light of the oil lamp and his scalp tingled with fear.
Golden clothes, no hair, a face covered in white paper, two streaks of blood-red on the cheeks, and if you get closer, there are no pupils in the eyes, and in the dim light of the oil lamp, the long red tongue sticking out of the mouth is spitting blood.
Ge Erlin threw the paper figure into the box, then clutched his head and yelled, "Aww, aww!" while jumping up and down.
Ge Sanlin was even more frightened by Ge Erlin's shout, and hugged Ge Erge's jumping leg, wanting some comfort.
Unexpectedly, this frightened Ge Erlin, who kicked Ge Sanlin frantically and then ran away as fast as he could.
Ge Sanlin, who had been kicked under the box by Ge Erlin, finally caught his breath after a long while. He reached out and grabbed the edge of the box, then stood up, his voice trembling. "Second...Second Brother, Second Brother, let's...let's...let's go." He paused several times before finishing his sentence.
Ge Erlin placed the oil lamp on top of the red lacquered box. Ge Sanlin looked at the six red lacquered wooden boxes with colorful line drawings on them and felt as if there were six coffins inside in the dark room, all blood red.
Ge Erlin was also holding onto a box, his legs trembling, but he couldn't move his legs, and he felt a chill run down his spine.
Little Sun, who was squatting by the wall, heard the two men shouting inside the room. She pushed open the door and came in. She saw that the two brothers were paralyzed with fear on the ground, taking off their black leather coats. In the shadow of the oil lamp, they looked like giant monsters.
Before Xiao Sun could reach the two of them, they started howling wildly again, hugged each other, and trembled with fear.
Xiao Sun threw her fur coat onto the kang (a heated brick bed) and went to the oil lamp. Only then did Ge Erlin see that it was Xiao Sun who had come into the room. He mustered up his courage, stood up tremblingly, and without saying a word, slapped Xiao Sun across the face and yelled at her forcefully, "Didn't I tell you to wait outside? You scared the hell out of me!"
Little Sun touched her face, made no expression, snatched the key from Ge Erlin's hand, and shoved him against the box. Ge Erlin was so frightened that he was about to collapse. He cried out, "Third brother, save me, save me, I can't get up!"
Ge Sanlin shakily stood up, supporting himself on the box. He then sidled up to Ge Erlin, and the two of them helped each other to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed). They sat down on the edge of the kang and watched as Xiao Sun unlocked the door.
Xiao Sun took the key, no longer caring about life or death. She went back to her parents' home, but they didn't welcome her. When she arrived at the Ge family's house, she wanted to kill Ge Erlin, who was like that.
But there's still Ge Daming. Even if Xiao Sunshi killed Ge Erlin because of Ge Daming, she still wouldn't be able to kill him.
Little Sun shook her head, trying to stop thinking about it. She let out a breath, went straight to the nearest box, sat down on the ground, and took out the key to open it.
"Don't open the box!" Ge Sanlin shouted out boldly.
Madam Sun looked back at Ge Sanlin and said, "What if there's silver in here?"
At this moment, Ge Erlin timidly said, "Then you drive." His voice was so soft that Ge Sanlin next to him couldn't hear it.
Little Sun lifted the lid of the box, picked up the oil lamp, and went closer to look. The box inside was glittering gold. Ge Erlin, at this moment, seemed to find strength from somewhere, and rushed to the box in a few steps.
His eyes gleamed with greed under the oil lamplight as he grabbed a wine jar and smashed it over Xiao Sun's head.
"Second Brother!" By the time Ge Sanlin reacted, Ge Erlin had already smashed the wine jar on Xiao Sunshi's head.
Ignoring Xiao Sun's life or death, Ge Erlin reached into the box and was stunned when he held the rows of gold bricks in his hands. They were all made of gold paper. Ge Erlin was dumbfounded and stood there with his eyes wide open, muttering "Gold, gold" over and over again.
Seeing Ge Erlin's reaction, Ge Sanlin also came over. After all, he had been on the battlefield. He looked at Xiao Sunshi lying on the ground, checked her breathing, and found that she was still breathing. He then said to Ge Erlin, who was standing there dumbfounded, "Second brother, you've gone too far. We're only after money. Please don't cause any deaths."
Ge Erlin seemed to be triggered by Ge Sanlin's shouts, and called out, "Gold, gold!" He then hurriedly took the keys to open the other three boxes.
One box contained paper silver ingots, another box contained paper gold ingots, and the last box contained a pair of paper figures of a boy and a girl.
After opening all the boxes, Ge Erlin sat down on the ground in disappointment. He remembered that the people in the first box had taken out wine. After thinking for a moment, he turned over to look for the first box.
In the dead of winter night, a sudden shout rang out: "You little bastards, what are you doing?"
A sudden, deafening noise startled Little Sun awake. Blood trickling from her head, she stood up, intending to reach for the oil lamp on the box.
Ge Erlin, who was running outside, shoved him, causing the oil lamp to fall to the ground, making the room even darker. They could only see a tall figure standing on the kang (a heated brick bed), which frightened them so much that they wet their pants and stumbled and ran out as fast as they could.
Little Sun fainted on the ground again, and the big man put her into a box.
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