Auntie Zhao only hoped for Su Qianli to get better, so she was happy to see the changes in her and had not the slightest suspicion that the person inside had changed.
After staying for a short while, Auntie Zhao went back. Because she had eaten too much, Su Qianli had no choice but to walk laps around the courtyard.
Yesterday, when she was looking for Yuchan, she had searched the house inside and out from top to bottom, and found another 100 yuan.
In the kitchen, there were still about 30 jin of corn flour, 50 jin of sorghum rice, two large bags of sweet potatoes, and a jar of pickled vegetables.
It sounded like they were living a miserable life, but in reality, in Su Qianli's memory, she had never shortchanged herself when it came to food.
After all, having followed Grandpa Su up the mountains to hunt since she was little, she had long since learned a set of skills. Coupled with her innate great strength, she frequently caught pheasants, hares, and the like.
If Grandpa Su hadn't explicitly forbidden her from hunting wild boars, she would have been eager to try her hand at fighting one.
Seriously, the original body was really reckless!
Daring not to dwell on it any longer, Su Qianli instantly pulled her thoughts away from meat.
Perhaps because her body hadn't fully recovered after returning from the hospital, or perhaps because she had stayed up all night searching for things, Su Qianli suddenly felt her head grow a bit heavy. So she stopped pondering, turned around, went back to her room, lay down on the bed, and before long fell into a deep sleep.
The moon hung high in the sky, and the entire village seemed draped in a layer of gauze.
Just as Su Qianli was sleeping soundly, there was a sudden "thud" outside, as if something had dropped into the courtyard!
She was all too familiar with this kind of commotion.
Just a few days ago, she had caught three people coming into the yard to steal nightsoil; she just wondered how many people would come this time.
Anyway, so far there had only been a single sound. Not about to sit and wait for death, Su Qianli lifted the quilt and quietly got up. In one hand she took the self-defense stick her grandfather had made for her before he passed away, and in the other she weighed a small stool, slowly making her way to the inner room's doorway.
She cocked her ear to listen to the movement outside; there was only a muffled set of footsteps slowly approaching, likely another male.
Heh, it seemed that cracking skulls and feeding people nightsoil still hadn't managed to deter the wild fantasies of certain individuals.
Therefore, she, Su Qianli, would just have to act a bit more unhinged; otherwise, it would be endless and simply driving her crazy.
Just at that moment, the footsteps stopped abruptly. The person outside was already leaning against the door of the inner room, and Su Qianli could hear the man's breathing right from inside.
Suddenly, a small knife appeared in the crack of the door. Immediately following that, the knife began to move back and forth, the blade rubbing against the seam of the door and making a faint sound.
With the knife's movements, the wooden bolt on the inside of the door seemed to be guided by an invisible hand, slowly shifting to one side.
Barely two minutes later, the door bolt that had originally jammed the door completely slipped out of its slot.
Outside the door, the dark shadow trembled slightly, unable to suppress the excitement in his heart, and let out a soft breath.
Reaching out, he slowly pushed open the wooden door. Just as his leading foot stepped into the room and his body hadn't yet steadied, a cold hand reached out silently from his left shoulder and gently patted him.
In a split second, he only felt a chill shoot straight from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head, his legs going weak to the point that he almost collapsed to the ground.
Terrified to the extreme, he immediately turned his head, wanting to see clearly who on earth was out here in the pitch-black night scaring people.
All he saw was a row of teeth flashing brightly in the shadows, and right after that, he felt a sharp pain come from his head. Warm liquid slowly trickled down his forehead, and the man collapsed to the ground like a limp noodle.
Su Qianli was startled—she had used too much force!
She hurriedly squatted down to check the other person's breathing. Fortunately, he was still breathing; he wouldn't die anytime soon.
Afterwards, Su Qianli tied this person up tightly with rope, brought out the family's gong, and then dragged the man to the big locust tree at the entrance of the village and hung him up.She had originally planned to strip the man completely, but upon second thought, she realized that going too far might provoke a desperate revenge—such as having her home burned down—which simply wouldn't be worth it.
With everything prepared, Su Qianli picked up the gong and began to strike it: "Clang, clang, clang!"
Before long, kerosene lamps flickered on in many homes across the village, and soon men, women, and children emerged from their doors one after another. Some walked along yawning, while others had their shoes on backward.
Sleepy as they were, they were consumed with curiosity about what could possibly have happened to warrant beating a gong in the middle of the night.
In an era devoid of entertainment, the slightest disturbance could easily blow up into major news.
Such was the power of word-of-mouth in those extraordinary times, bearing a striking resemblance to modern internet public opinion.
The first to arrive was Brigade Leader Su Jianjun, who had a coat draped over his shoulders. The moment he clearly saw the person hanging behind Su Qianli, his eyes instantly hardened.
Without needing to think, he knew Wang Jian could not have been up to any good.The fellow was always petty-thieving and of low character, completely spoiled by his mother, Wang Fengqiu.
When the others arrived and saw the sight, their eyes widened in shock. They couldn't understand why anyone would provoke Su Qianli, only to end up in such a humiliating state.
When Wang Fengqiu had arrived, she had been muttering to herself. Her son, usually the first to rush out for excitement, hadn't responded at all—he hadn't even been snoring. When she checked his room, he was gone.
She hadn't known what he was up to this time, but often by the next day, extra meat and grain would mysteriously appear in the kitchen. She thought it was wonderful, so she hadn't cared.
However, when she saw her son tied up and hanging from a tree, she completely lost her mind. Especially seeing his blood-smeared face, she was scared out of her wits.
Madly sprinting over, Wang Fengqiu hugged Wang Jian and wailed, "My son! What happened to you? Who did this to you? Tell your mother, and I'll tear that person to pieces!"
Between shaking him violently and pinching the area beneath his nose, she finally got a reaction from the unconscious man. He opened his eyes, saw his mother, and instantly broke down in tears, "Ma, it hurts so much!"
"Oh, Ma is here, Ma will get you down right now." Wang Fengqiu tried several times, but she couldn't untie the secure knot, which instantly made her anxious.
With red eyes, she roared, "Whose motherfucking heartless bastard did this?! Let my son down right now, or don't blame me for dragging you to the Public Security Bureau and having you shot!"
Why did she say "you"?
Because without knowing the truth, no one could possibly have imagined that hanging a large, heavy man was the work of a teenage girl.
That's right, Wang Jian was extremely fat—you couldn't find a second one like him within a ten-mile radius, a direct result of Wang Fengqiu's doting.
When Wang Jian was little, he was sickly and often went hungry. After Wang Fengqiu married into Wansheng Village and came into some money, she saved all the best things for Wang Jian. His figure had blown up like a balloon, growing rounder and rounder.
Since Wang Jian also loved to steal in order to satisfy his appetite, climbing trees and scaling walls was second nature to him. Thus, he was a surprisingly agile fat man.
Seeing that Wang Jian had woken up and was physically fine, the Brigade Leader knew there was no major issue, so he shifted his gaze to Su Qianli. After all, this style of handling matters was completely different from the old Li.
Wang Fengqiu also spotted the gong in Su Qianli's hand and realized that her son's misfortune must have something to do with this damn girl.
She immediately started cursing at Su Qianli, "You cheap, motherless wretch! You beat my son into this state—hurry up and let him down! If any harm comes to him, I'll make you pay with your life!"
Su Qianli didn't say a single word. She simply picked up a small wooden stool, and Wang Fengqiu instantly snapped her mouth shut.
Yet she felt utterly aggrieved. How could she possibly endure seeing her son bullied to this extent?
Lifting her gaze and catching sight of a familiar figure, Wang Fengqiu charged straight toward them.