Chapter 98: First Signs

That night, Wen Mubai made his way along a country path in the dark, moonlight stretching his shadow long behind him.

At his back, Hu Qixin and Sun Wenming walked side by side, following him as hushed whispers drifted between them from time to time.

“Brother Bai, Old Hei said there’s a big haul coming in tonight. Do you know what it is?” Hu Qixin asked curiously.

Ever since he had begun doing this sort of work with Brother Bai, the little nest egg he had tucked away had grown by visible leaps and bounds.

He had not told a soul, not even his own mother.

This was profiteering; Brother Bai trusted them enough to bring them along so they could earn money, and of course he had to live up to that trust.

His mother loved him, yes, but she also loved his older brothers and her grandchildren.

Wen Mubai tilted his face slightly. “Meat.”

The weather was turning warmer day by day, and raw meat was not easy to transport. They might as well take advantage of the season, slaughter everything at once, and make a good profit.

The moment Sun Wenming heard it was meat, his mouth began to water. “Really?”

But almost at once he worried about something else and muttered, “I just wonder if we can get any.”

Hu Qixin was worried too.

“If we can’t snatch it, then run faster and get there earlier. There’s always a chance,” Wen Mubai said.

Even in this line of work, there were cliques and divides. For small-time operators like them, scraping together a bit of pocket money, nobody would share the profitable goods with them.

But Wen Mubai was different.

The three of them ran on through the moonlit night.

When they arrived, it was a deserted alley, broken walls and ruins everywhere, damp with moss and decay. Under the night sky, it looked even more sinister.

But only those who stepped inside knew what wonders lay hidden there.

Wen Mubai and the other two walked straight to a ruined doorway, exchanged the secret password, and pushed the door open as though stepping into another world.

Inside, the place was alive with noise and thronged shoulder to shoulder, like a market in full swing.

Hu Qixin and Sun Wenming joined in without hesitation, but Wen Mubai did not go inside. Instead, he turned to a concealed side door and slipped through it.

“You’re here?” a voice suddenly came from the darkness, mysterious and unreadable.

Wen Mubai did not indulge him. He switched on his flashlight at once. “Cut the act.”

In the beam of light, a hulking figure came into view: bald, bearded, with a black vest that could not conceal the ropy muscle beneath.

“Doggie, where’s what I came for?” Wen Mubai said, sitting down opposite him without the slightest politeness.

The bald brute, nicknamed Second Dog, was long used to his manner. He hooked one leg over the other, lounging all slack and insolent. “Second Dog, beg me.”

Wen Mubai narrowed his lovely eyes. “Are you looking to die?”

The bald man was not at all afraid. “You?” He cast a disdainful glance at Wen Mubai’s slight frame. “We still don’t know which one of us is going to die.”

Wen Mubai held his gaze for a long moment, then suddenly smiled, a smile so pleasing it almost lit up the room. “Doggie, what do you think would happen if Flower Cat found out someone peed himself the first time he ever saw a corpse? I wonder how hard he’d laugh.”

The bald brute shot to his feet like a cat with its tail stepped on. “You little wolf cub, you wouldn’t dare!”

“Why don’t you guess whether I would?” Wen Mubai still wore that smile.

They stared each other down for a while. In the end, the bald brute was the one to back down. “Fine, fine. You little bastard, you’re just as nasty as ever.”

“There.” He pointed to a box in the corner and signaled for Wen Mubai to take it and get lost.

Wen Mubai opened the box at an unhurried pace. A whole chest of glittering brilliance caught his eye, and he closed it again in satisfaction. “Keep it here for now. My goods.”

The bald brute snorted through his nose and dragged a backpack basket out from behind him, kicking it toward him. “Here!”

Wen Mubai slung the goods onto his back and strolled out through the side door. After waiting a little while, he was joined by Hu Qixin and Sun Wenming.

“Brother, look what I got!” Sun Wenming lifted the lid of his basket a little, revealing the vivid red pork inside, still streaked with blood.

Hu Qixin had not managed to grab any, but that did not stop him from being happy for his good brother. “Not bad, you kid. You were fast.”

Wen Mubai also said, “Looks like you’re making a killing tonight.”

The three of them laughed and chatted as they left the alley, each heading off in a different direction.

Wen Mubai sold the goods in his basket with practiced ease, then returned to that ruined alley and went in through the side door again.

The bald brute was still sitting there. When he saw Wen Mubai return, a smug expression spread over his face. “Hand it over.”

Ignoring his petty triumph, Wen Mubai took out a wad of small bills and handed them over, then kicked at the basket and said flatly, “Half a side of pork ribs, ten pounds of white flour, two pounds of sugar, and a length of bright cloth.”

“Why don’t you just go rob a store?” the bald brute snapped.

“If you don’t give it to me, I’ll rob one,” Wen Mubai said without a trace of panic. He wiped the sweat from his brow at an unhurried pace. “Hurry up. Time waits for no one.”

The bald brute nearly choked with rage. That little bastard.

But he could only grit his teeth and prepare the items according to Wen Mubai’s demands.

Once everything was ready, Wen Mubai did not linger for a moment longer. He turned and prepared to leave immediately.

The bald brute called after him, “Where’s the stuff?”

Wen Mubai did not even look back. “Find it yourself.”

As he spoke, he took a jade-green bracelet from the box, then grabbed a piece of excellent silk cloth and wrapped it up, tucking it against his chest. “Don’t touch my things. If you so much as lay a finger on them, I’ll tell everyone about you pissing your pants.”

“Like I care!”

And so Tang Banxia received a small surprise from Wen Mubai.

On her wrist of pale snow-white skin sat a jade bracelet of exquisite translucence. She turned it over and over in her hands, feeling that she could never look enough at it. “Where did this come from?”

Wen Mubai did not even blink. “An old lady brought it to me to trade for grain. I thought you’d like it, so I swapped with her.”

At that, Tang Banxia understood.

She figured it must have come from some fallen old wealthy family. Poor souls.

But the moment she saw the jade bracelet on her wrist, all such feelings vanished.

Muah.

“Xiao Bai, you’re the best. I like you the most, the most, the most.”

Wen Mubai expressed his satisfaction. He had three “mosts.”

After admiring it to her heart’s content, Tang Banxia took the bracelet off and put it away carefully. “Rest for a bit. I’ll make you something to eat. What do you want?”

Wen Mubai answered without hesitation, “Tomato dumpling soup.”

“Done.”

After finishing a steaming bowl of dumpling soup made with all her affection, Wen Mubai lay down and was asleep in no time at all. Tang Banxia thoughtfully drew the reed curtain closed for him, then took the herbs with her into the main room.

For the next several days, he did not go out at midnight again.

He lived the ordinary life of an educated youth sent down to the countryside, even if he still went to work only every other day. But by then, the villagers had already become fairly resigned to it.

It could not be helped. Who told him he had the confidence to marry such a wonderful wife as Tang the educated youth?

Not only was she beautiful and from a good family, she was capable in her own right, and most importantly, she was willing to support him.

They could envy her, resent her, even hate her, but there was nothing they could do. All they could do was blame heaven for not giving them such a fine face.

At the same time, the brothers Mo Shengning and Mo Shengsu had also completely blended into village life.

Every day they ran with the village children, climbing trees to catch birds, going down to the river to catch fish, and up into the mountains to catch snakes, coming home coated head to toe in mud.

Their faces had darkened by two shades, but their bodies were stronger and their spirits livelier.

“Auntie, Auntie, look what I caught,” Mo Shengsu shouted as he swung a snake as thick as a thumb through the doorway, showing it off to Tang Banxia.

Tang Banxia leaned over to take a look. “A rat snake. It’s not venomous. Do you want snake soup, or should I roast it?”

Without changing expression, she took the snake from him and turned to ask her little nephew.

The little nephew was a bit stunned. This was not at all what he had imagined. Why wasn’t his aunt frightened?

“Auntie, aren’t you scared?”

Just then Mo Shengning came back from outside and slapped his younger brother on the back of the head. “Idiot. Auntie’s a doctor. Why would she be afraid of a snake?”

“Oh, right.”

Only then did Mo Shengsu realize it, and though a little disappointed, he soon grew happy again.

His aunt really was different from everyone else. His aunt was the best.

Seeing that the child was only grinning foolishly, Tang Banxia made the decision for him. “Braised snake pieces.”

Then, with a calm and gentle face, she moved with one clean stroke, and the snake’s head fell to the ground.

She made a little flourish with the knife, cut once along the body, and with ten nimble fingers a complete snake skin was peeled away in one elegant motion. “Aning, take it over there and put it in the bamboo tray to dry.”

Mo Shengning, seeing this version of his aunt, inexplicably felt a prickling sensation along his back.

“Aning?”

Mo Shengning stepped forward in silence, took the snake skin from her, and laid it out to dry on the tray.