Chapter 16 The Alliance of Kept Men

On their way back, two young men came running toward them.

“Where’s that brat? I’ll teach him a lesson!” shouted Sun Wenming, brandishing his arms with a fierce look on his face. He was the younger brother of Sister Sun.

“That’s right, Brother Bai, that kid needs a good beating. How dare he bully our Brother Bai? We’ll beat him so hard he’ll soil himself,” echoed Hu Qixin.

The two were Wen Mubai’s close friends, both aspiring to become handsome young men like him, planning to make a living with their looks in the future.

“You’re too late,” Wen Mubai said, feigning nonchalance, “my sister-in-law has already taken care of it for me.”

Hu Qixin and Sun Wenming exchanged a glance, then looked at Tang Banxia in unison and called out, “Sister-in-law.”

Tang Banxia smiled kindly, “Hello, you two.”

“Well, Brother Bai, you and Sister-in-law carry on. We’ll be off now,” Sun Wenming offered tactfully.

After saying their goodbyes, Wen Mubai and Tang Banxia returned home.

No sooner had they entered than Tang Banxia stripped Wen Mubai down to his skin, thoroughly inspecting him inside and out before finally allowing him to put his clothes back on.

Naturally, such close contact was inevitable.

By the end of the examination, Wen Mubai’s cheeks were flushed red, but Tang Banxia, in a rare act of mercy, let him off.

At least he knew to defend her outside—her efforts weren’t in vain.

“You’ve had a rough day. For lunch, we’ll have meat, to make it up to you,” Tang Banxia declared with great gusto.

At the mention of meat, all Wen Mubai’s shyness vanished. He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek: “Sister.”

“Now you’re talking.”

With the leftover meat from yesterday, Tang Banxia planned to make it into preserved jar meat so it would keep longer and could be taken out to eat whenever they wanted.

She cut the marinated meat into large chunks, arranged them neatly in the pot, covered them with oil until submerged, then brought it to a boil over high heat and fried them until golden red.

After cooling, the meat would be stored in a clean jar—ready to be fished out whenever they had a craving.

“Sister, can we eat now?” Wen Mubai was practically drooling with anticipation.

“Just a moment.”

With the leftover oil from frying the meat, she made fish-fragrant eggplant.

Long eggplants were cut into round slices, dipped in a batter of flour and beaten egg, mixed until smooth, then fried until both sides were golden.

She then made a flavorful sauce and poured it into the pan, reducing it over high heat before serving.

“Time to eat.”

“Coming!” Wen Mubai cheered, hurrying to help.

Mealtime was his favorite time of day.

The house they rented was at the edge of the village, with only a few scattered households nearby. It was just about lunchtime, and the aroma of food drifted from every home.

Those living closest to Tang Banxia’s house had it the hardest.

From the nearest house, the sound of a child being scolded and beaten could even be heard.

Wen Mubai, upon hearing it, quickly shut the door and explained to Tang Banxia, “It’s too noisy.”

“You’re right,” she agreed.

Food was scarce for every household these days. If anyone in the village cooked meat, the neighbors would inevitably grumble—an unspoken tradition.

After the meal,

“Banxia, I’m heading out for a bit.”

“All right, go ahead.”

With a gentle smile, Wen Mubai stepped out the gate—but the moment he was outside, the smile vanished from his face.

He headed toward Widow Hu’s house, and on the way, he ran into Hu Qixin and Sun Wenming, who were waiting at the intersection.

The two immediately approached him. “Brother Bai, we knew you wouldn’t let this go so easily.”

“Where’s Hu Shenggen?” Wen Mubai asked without pretense.

“That bastard went to Ma Wu’s place,” Hu Qixin replied.

As soon as he reached Wen Mubai’s side, Sun Wenming sniffed around him. “Brother Bai, did you eat meat?”

“Mm, Banxia said I worked hard, so she made me some stewed meat to replenish my strength,” Wen Mubai said offhandedly.

“Lucky you,” the two exclaimed enviously.

“Brother Bai, does your sister-in-law have any sisters?” Sun Wenming grinned ingratiatingly.

Wen Mubai glanced at his squinting smile and rejected him outright: “Even if she did, she wouldn’t like you.”

“Brother Bai…” Sun Wenming clutched his chest in mock pain.

Hu Qixin interjected, “If you ask me, instead of eyeing Sister-in-law’s family, you should hang around the Educated Youth camp more often.”

Both Wen Mubai and Sun Wenming turned to look at him.

Hu Qixin looked smug. “I happen to know, Wang Siyun, the educated youth, is no less well-off than Sister-in-law.”

Heh, he’d once seen Wang Siyun sneaking off to the commune to pick up a large package. If he hadn’t been sharp-eyed, she would have slipped past him unnoticed.

“Really? Brother Bai, did you know?”

Wen Mubai nodded. He was aware of this Wang Siyun. On the surface, she seemed utterly ordinary, just another girl from a common family. But Wen Mubai had caught her secretly treating herself to good food several times.

Still, out of loyalty, he gave them a word of warning: “Wang Siyun is not someone you can set your sights on.”

Just her discretion alone showed she was smart—she knew not to draw attention, unlike Tang Banxia.

Wen Mubai thought to himself that he still preferred someone like Tang Banxia.

Sun Wenming was unconvinced. “What’s wrong with me? I’m not bad looking. Why wouldn’t Wang Siyun like me?”

Wen Mubai scrutinized him for a moment, then turned away. “And why should she?”

“Hey!” Sun Wenming rolled up his sleeves. “Look at these muscles, this physique, this face—wouldn’t it be perfectly normal for her to like me?”

Even Hu Qixin couldn’t bear to lie for his sake. “Don’t embarrass yourself, man. Women like our sister-in-law are hard to come by.”

Wen Mubai glanced over, “What’s wrong with Banxia?”

Hu Qixin just chuckled and didn’t answer. In his heart, he thought, What else? She’s gullible, generous, easy to fool, pretty, innocent, and has a solid family background. Thinking of this, he looked at Wen Mubai with a hint of envy. “Brother Bai, you’re really lucky.”

Wen Mubai neither agreed nor disagreed. “All right, we’re here. Time to get down to business.”

“So, Brother Bai, what’s the plan?” Sun Wenming cracked his knuckles, eager for action.

Wen Mubai shot him a look. “Wait.”

Hu Qixin smacked him on the back of the head. “Are you out of your mind? This is Ma Wu’s turf. You want to charge in there and get beaten up?”

“What’s there to be afraid of?” Sun Wenming stiffened his neck. “With Brother Bai here, Ma Wu’s nothing.”

“Brother Bai can fight, sure, but for the likes of Hu Shenggen, it’s not worth offending Ma Wu,” Hu Qixin said earnestly.

Ma Wu was the local gang leader, with a group of underlings at his beck and call—a notorious figure even in the commune.

“Brother Bai, we’ll go with your plan. What do we do?” Sun Wenming looked to Wen Mubai.

Wen Mubai didn’t answer, just stared intently at the brick house in the distance, brow furrowed in thought. “Just listen to him.”

If Ma Wu could openly gather people in his house for gambling and get away with it, there had to be someone backing him.

Wen Mubai couldn’t afford to be reckless anymore—he wasn’t alone now.

Seeing Sun Wenming’s indignant expression, he added quietly, “We’ll have our chance in the future.”

Sun Wenming immediately perked up. “We’ll do as you say, Brother Bai.”

The three of them waited until dusk before finally seeing Hu Shenggen stumble out, swearing under his breath. As he walked away, he spat behind him, “A bunch of bastards. Daring to win my money—just you wait, I’ll report you all one day.”

Catching Wen Mubai’s signal, the trio quietly followed.

Oblivious, Hu Shenggen continued cursing and kicking as he went, completely unaware of the people tailing him—until a filthy burlap sack suddenly descended over his head.

“Where’d you get this sack? It reeks!” someone complained.

“What does it matter? Does a little rat like him deserve a good sack?”

“Pulled it from beside the latrine. We need to return it when we’re done.”

“Hurry up and beat him. Then we can go home for dinner.”

Before Hu Shenggen could react, a barrage of punches rained down on him, making him howl in pain.

“Who dares ambush me? If you have guts, fight me fair and square!” he wailed.

His answer was another flurry of fists, even fiercer.

“Time to split!”

“Idiot!”

“Don’t forget the sack!”

Their voices faded into the distance, leaving only a battered and bruised Hu Shenggen lying there…