To the east of Dazui Village stood a century-old camphor tree. Some twenty meters away from the tree, isolated from the neighbors, sat a detached courtyard belonging to the maternal second uncle of the three Wang brothers.
The night was as dark as ink, shrouding the secluded rural courtyard. Moonlight filtered through sparse clouds, casting mottled silver light and illuminating every corner of the yard. Morning glories climbed the surrounding fences, blooming silently in the night and exuding a faint aroma. Occasionally, the distant barking of a dog broke the nocturnal silence, only to be swallowed up by the night just as quickly. In one corner of the courtyard, a few chicks slept soundly in their coop, occasionally letting out low, muffled clucks. On a night like this, time seemed to slow down, making everything appear so peaceful and serene.
A pale yellow light pierced the dark from the room on the left side of the courtyard, where the three Wang brothers were gathered around a small table, eating and drinking.
The table was set with a few snacks—braised pork, braised chicken feet, braised dried tofu, boiled peanuts—and several bottles of large green-bottle beer.
The eldest, Wang Jiawen, chugged a large mouthful of beer. "Third Brother, are we leaving tonight?"
The youngest, Wang Jiabin, didn't answer. He tossed a few peanuts into his mouth.
"Bro, we'd better wait," Wang Jiawu, the second brother, was gnawing on a chicken foot. "Who knows why that Qi Tongwei is here? He ate dinner at Old Man Yao's place and didn't even leave—he's staying the night!"
Wang Jiawen took another big swig of beer. "I went over to Tiezhu's place for a bit. Tiezhu said they went to Old Man Yao's to buy matsutake mushrooms. Huo Ge's been to Old Man Yao's place several times before, too."
"Doesn't Tiezhu have a daughter? Huo Ge even dragged Qi Tongwei over to Tiezhu's for tea, wanting to play matchmaker for Qi Tongwei, but Tiezhu wasn't interested."
"Tiezhu said they're just staying one night and leaving tomorrow."
Wang Jiawu said, "Then let's wait until they leave before we go. It'll be safer!"
Wang Jiawen replied, "If we wait until tomorrow, we might run out of time. Our shipment is waiting for us over there. If we don't deliver it and miss the deadline, it'll be our fault!"
Wang Jiawu asked, "What if Qi Tongwei is just the vanguard and a whole army is right behind him? What then?"
Wang Jiawen answered, "How should I know what to do? Third Brother has to make the call!"
Wang Jiawen and Wang Jiawu stopped arguing and looked at Wang Jiabin.
Wang Jiabin tossed a peanut shell onto the floor and looked at Wang Jiawen. "We leave at three in the morning. What about our second uncle?"
"Don't worry," Wang Jiawen smiled smugly. "I put some sleeping pills in the tea for Second Uncle and Second Aunt. Right now, they're sleeping as soundly as logs and won't wake up until dawn."
Wang Jiabin made a decisive call. "Then eat your fill and we head out at three!"
Wang Jiawen and Wang Jiawu exchanged glances. "Alright!"
The three of them ate and drank in silence for a while.
Wang Jiawen downed half a bottle of beer in one breath and sighed, "The old days were better. Nowadays, working odd jobs not only gets you a bellyful of grief and humiliation, but the pay is low too!"
"Exactly," Wang Jiawu chimed in. "Working on a film crew doesn't even pay enough for what we used to spend on hostesses at bars in a single night! But that Liu Yifei is way prettier than those hostesses. What a pity, though!"
"You're just full of trash in your head," Wang Jiawen slammed his beer bottle down hard on the table. "Back in the day, I would've cracked that damn director's skull open in two places!"
Wang Jiawu curled his lip. "Oh, come off it. With your physique, running your mouth is hard enough—let's forget about using your hands!"
"Second Brother, what do you mean by that?"
"I don't mean anything!"
"Spell it out for me!"
"Fine, you want it spelled out? You said we should make a big splash, but look at you—making trouble here, making trouble there. The crew was supposed to wrap up filming in half a month, but because you kept stirring things up, they dragged it out for over a month! Do you have any idea how much crap I've had to take?! Huh?!"
"Are you out of your mind?" Wang Jiawen glanced at Wang Jiabin. "Third Brother, you tell him!"
"Second Brother," Wang Jiabin clapped his hands leisurely, "I'm the one who told Big Brother to do it. Got a problem with that?"
"N-no problem at all!" Of the three, Wang Jiawu looked the sturdiest and most capable of fighting, but he was most afraid of his third brother, Wang Jiabin. When Wang Jiabin got ruthless, he wouldn't hesitate to curse out both him and Wang Jiawen, and he'd resort to lethal violence without blinking!
"I had Big Brother stir up some trouble so we'd have the opportunity to slip down the mountain and handle things. Otherwise, how were we supposed to smuggle the cargo up the mountain bit by bit? Operating under the crew's name means smooth sailing all the way—the police usually don't inspect the crew's vehicles." Wang Jiabin revealed the real reason for causing trouble on the set.
Wang Jiabin immediately gave Wang Jiawu a smack on the head. "And another thing, I never told you to go after Liu Yifei. Why did you cut her safety wire?!"
Wang Jiawu didn't dare fight back. "I just thought she was pretty! I wanted to wait until she fell in the water so I could rescue her and cop a feel. Who knew she'd get swept away like that? That Huo Ge ran like lightning—I bet that kid got to touch her first, dammit!"
"You run so slow, and you still have the nerve to talk? You couldn't even snatch a bite of fresh dog shit!" Wang Jiabin cursed him mercilessly. "I told you to throw away the cut steel cable back then. Why didn't you throw it out?"
"To sell it! The scrap yard buys steel wire ropes, and the crew doesn't care anyway. I hauled a whole pile of steel cables off and sold them for fifty bucks!"
Wang Jiawu said this proudly. The more he talked, the darker Wang Jiabin's face grew.
"You fucking idiot, you're just asking for a beating!" Wang Jiabin slammed a few hard blows onto Wang Jiawu's head. "How much is two broken pieces of steel cable worth? If I tell you to throw them away, you throw them away! Do you know that Huo Ge and Qi Tongwei were already suspicious of us lately and keeping an eye on us in secret?"
"Suspicious, so what? What's the big deal?" Wang Jiawu said dismissively. "It's been so many days and the police haven't come looking for us, which means they don't have any evidence. What is there to be afraid of?!"
Wang Jiabin really didn't want to talk to brainless Wang Jiawu. "I'm not afraid of them, but if it messes with our business, it's a huge headache! You listen to me: from now on, do whatever you're told and don't pull any extra stunts!"
"Got it!"
"Is the livestock ready?"
"All set, tied up behind the back mountain!"
"Better be careful and don't let the horses run off!"
"Relax!"
After Wang Jiabin and Wang Jiawu exchanged a few words, Wang Jiawen chimed in, "Third Brother, if Huo Ge and Qi Tongwei really are gunning for us, should we..."
"No need. Little punks like that—if they don't come looking for trouble, let it go. But if they actually dare mess with us, you and Second Brother can take care of them." Wang Jiabin had no desire to waste time on Huo Ge.
"Hmph," Wang Jiawu patted the short-barreled shotgun he had placed beside him. "If that kid dares show up, I'll blow his head off!"
"Watch it, don't let it go off by accident," Wang Jiawen shifted his body to the side. "Keep your eyes open and stop pulling the trigger over every little thing!"
"Scared of my ass!" Wang Jiawu cast a disdainful glance at Wang Jiawen.
"You fucking—"
Fuming, Wang Jiawen opened his mouth to curse again, but Wang Jiabin cut him off. "Enough, stop bickering. Eat up, get some shut-eye, and let's go. Walking the mountain trails is going to take a long time."
Wang Jiawen glared resentfully at Wang Jiawu, who simply smiled and patted his shotgun.