Song Jiyun pushed a pair of pearl earrings into Zhao Qi’s Wife’s hand.
Yuan Yunzhong did not wear jewelry; she was going to the Kiln Factory dressed simply and neatly.
The earrings were essentially the only item of value they had on them.
Since they were staying over, they couldn’t just eat and drink for free.
Zhao Qi’s Wife was reluctant to accept them.
Song Jiyun exchanged pleasantries with her for a while before she finally accepted them.
Her treatment of them clearly became warmer as she said, "I’ll get you some new bedding. It’s what I’ve been saving for when I get a daughter-in-law."
Song Jiyun couldn’t stop her and had to let her go.
But when she turned around, Yuan Yunzhong was already standing under the eaves, turning her head to look at her.
Song Jiyun was just about to ask what was wrong when Yuan Yunzhong turned her head back toward the courtyard.
In the courtyard, Zhao Qi was dragging a large tree suitable for a beam towards the east wing room.
He was not very tall, but he was strongly built.
Especially his shoulders and arms, which bulged with muscles and showed great strength as he pulled the tree.
Song Jiyun was somewhat surprised.
Zhao Qi’s Wife came out of her room with bedding and unlocked the door to the east wing room, saying "Miss Li, you will sleep in this north-facing room tonight, and your brother in the south-facing room. Our place is simple, I hope you don’t mind."
Song Jiyun smiled, exchanged a few polite remarks, and helped her bring in the bedding.
But she hadn’t expected the room to be this bare—a stark room with a wooden plank bed against the wall, one leg of which was broken and propped up with a brick.
The room Yuan Yunzhong slept in was slightly better, besides the wooden plank bed, whose four corners were intact, there was an additional stool at the head of the bed.
Song Jiyun asked Zhao Qi’s Wife as she made up the bed: "Do you have any children? Why aren’t they home?"
She mumbled, "They’ve all gone out to work, you don’t need to worry about them, they’ll be back tomorrow morning."
Song Jiyun asked curiously, "Are there jobs nearby?"
Zhao Qi’s Wife did not answer but smiled and tugged at the neatly made bedsheet, "It’s getting late, you should all rest! You have a long journey tomorrow!"
Song Jiyun smiled in agreement and she and Yuan Yunzhong returned to their rooms.
But as soon as she entered her room, she immediately bolted the door, lifted the oil lamp, and began to feel the walls and inspect the ceiling with her hands.
After a long moment, her expression turned serious as she sat on the edge of the bed. She blew out the lamp, listened as Zhao Qi and his wife returned to their room, and waited a good while before quietly sliding open the bolt and tiptoeing out.
Tonight, the moonlight was dim.
Eaves, rooftops, and courtyards merged into masses of dark shadows, twistedly casting their images on the ground.
The entire village was silent, without a single light, occasionally disrupted by a few dog barks, breaking the quiet and causing a chill in one’s heart.
Song Jiyun stared at the east wing room where Zhao Qi and his wife were resting and tapped lightly on Yuan Yunzhong’s window lattice.
There was no response.
Song Jiyun wondered whether she should wait and knock again.
The door silently opened halfway.
Yuan Yunzhong stood there, tall and slender. His face shadowed and indistinct, his dark eyes glistened and were remarkably deep.
Song Jiyun was slightly taken aback.
Yuan Yunzhong chuckled softly, "Miss Song, there’s a door. Why do you need to go through the window?"
Song Jiyun, at a loss for words, replied, "I need to talk to you about something. Should we talk in your room, or in mine?"
Yuan Yunzhong pondered, "Wouldn’t that be inappropriate? Even though we are siblings, we are past the age of sharing the same mat."
Song Jiyun laughed out of irritation and pushed the other half of the door open, saying, "What do you think I’m here for?"
The door made no noise in Yuan Yunzhong’s hands, but in hers, it creaked loudly and carried far through the darkness.
With a pause, Yuan Yunzhong stepped aside.
She stepped over the threshold and brought her hands behind her to close the door.
The room grew darker.
"Yuan Yunzhong," Song Jiyun whispered, "I suspect we just walked into the lion’s den, right into the hideout of those who are chasing us."
The air in the room thickened.
"What did you discover?" Yuan Yunzhong asked, his voice unusually solemn.
Song Jiyun frowned and said, "You haven’t stayed in the Kiln Factory, so there are some things you might not know.
"The kilns in the Kiln Factory are all built with bricks. But once a kiln is opened, these bricks can no longer be used. I don’t know about others, but the Song Family’s Kiln Factory sells those discarded bricks at a low price to the poor who want to build houses but can’t afford new bricks.
"These bricks, having been subjected to high temperatures, are particularly prone to breaking, cracking, and deforming.
"Look at the walls of the Zhao family’s east wing room.
"I took a careful look just now, and they are all made of those bricks."
Yuan Yunzhong pushed open the window on the east side.
Moonlight poured in, casting its glow on Yuan Yunzhong’s shoulders.
Song Jiyun paced back and forth, "And those firewoods, all pine branches.
"Which ordinary household needs to use pine branches for fire?
"Only in a Kiln Factory, where the resin in pine branches can bring the temperature up to the required level."
As she spoke, details that had merely flickered through her mind earlier started stringing together like pearls.
"Do you remember when we said we wanted to stay overnight in the village, Zhao Qi didn’t even think before rejecting us?
"They clearly didn’t want us entering the village.
"What kind of village doesn’t want outsiders coming in?
"And about hosting us for a meal. Wheat buns. People here don’t eat these buns unless they are Kiln Workers from the north."
Yet Yuan Yunzhong’s voice remained calm, "Even so, this could only indicate the presence of a wild kiln, not necessarily that these are the people pursuing us."
Song Jiyun stopped in the middle of the room and said, "Only those wild kiln Kiln Workers, who have nothing but their strength, would take such risks and dare to do anything! On the other hand, the idle gang relying on the affluent families wouldn’t have such audacity."
Regardless, these were still all conjectures.
"Do you want to leave the village?" Yuan Yunzhong pondered, "Even if we sneak out quietly, we can’t make it back to the city before dawn. It might be better to rest here for the night and leave at dawn."
Song Jiyun knew this was the best approach.
They would have to traverse mountains and were bound to get lost.
Yet she still felt uneasy, walking over to the window sill, "Even if that group were to follow us here, they couldn’t possibly find us right away, could they?"
"That’s not necessarily true." Yuan Yunzhong sounded a bit offhand, "If there really is a wild kiln here, the entire village would likely be involved. They must be very cautious. No one is a fool! If we can detect something odd about others, perhaps they can detect something odd about us too."
Just as he finished speaking, a fierce barking suddenly came from outside.
Song Jiyun was startled, her voice tense, "Could it be someone entering the village?"
She leaned closer to listen and inadvertently gripped the window sill tightly.
In the moonlight, her pale fingertips faintly turned blue.
Following a man’s shouting, the barking ceased.
It was just someone passing through late at night.
Song Jiyun breathed a sigh of relief, sweat lining her temples.
Yuan Yunzhong was slightly astonished.
He had never realized as clearly as he did at this moment that Song Jiyun was scared.
He couldn’t help observing Song Jiyun.
Her posture remained straight, her demeanor still composed, even her eyes were as bright and spirited as always.
Yuan Yunzhong felt a moment of tenderness, and on a whim, half in jest, he patted the bed board, "If you are scared they will find us, maybe you shouldn’t go back at all!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
