759 Shadow
At night, the entire village was quiet. There were always sounds coming from the houses of families who raised chickens and ducks in the village. The animals were easily scared by the sounds of nature.
However, the animals in Qiao Mei’s house were acting abnormally tonight. All the chickens and ducks kept looking in the direction of the back mountain. At first, they just looked, but later on, all the chickens and ducks started making noise.
Usually, even the sound of thunder would not wake Qiao Mei up. She would not even wake up if she was thrown out of the door. However, she was woken up by the noise made by the chickens and ducks at home tonight.
The cries of her family’s chickens and ducks echoed throughout the entire village. Qiao Mei pushed open the curtains and looked out. She saw a figure walking through the grass at the back of the mountain. This time, she was not mistaken.
It seemed that this was the same person who came to their backyard during the day. Even the location was the same.
Nowadays, there were also many people who took advantage of the fact that no one was at home during the day to steal the chickens and ducks that people left at home. People who did not have the money to buy meat would definitely think about stealing from others. Otherwise, they would not be able to survive.
Qiao Qiang was also woken up by the commotion in the backyard. Qiao Mei whispered towards the window, “Don’t make any noise!”
The backyard instantly fell silent. All the chickens and ducks shut their mouths and obediently returned to their cages.
“Mei Mei, what’s going on in the backyard? Don’t tell me there’s a weasel here to steal chickens. I’ll go out and take a look.” Qiao Qiang put on a shirt and prepared to go out with a flashlight.
It was common for animals from the mountains to come down the mountain to steal food. There were wolves, tigers and even wild boars in the mountains. Some villagers farmed the land on the back mountain and on autumn nights, wild boars would steal sweet potatoes from the ground.
Even five people would not be able to subdue a wild boar. Moreover, wild boar meat was not tasty. Even if they managed to kill one, there would be another wild boar coming to wreak havoc on the land.
Later on, most people chose to raise a dog and tie it up near the back of the mountain. At the slightest movement, the dog would bark loudly and scare the wild boars away. This method was very useful.
“Grandfather, don’t go out so late at night. Why don’t we wait until tomorrow morning to go and count them? What if it’s a wolf? Let’s talk about it tomorrow morning.” Qiao Mei helped Qiao Qiang back into the room to rest. Zhang Wei was still sleeping soundly on the brick bed, snoring loudly.
“Look at Xiao Wei. Kids can sleep so well. He’s not disturbed even though there’s so much noise outside,” Qiao Qiang said with a smile as he pointed at Zhang Wei.
“Xiao Wei goes to school every day and has to take care of his younger siblings. He also has to do all the chores at home. I’m worried that he’ll get too stressed.” Qiao Mei looked at Zhang Wei worriedly.
Zhang Wei was only 12 years old. There were so many things weighing on his young shoulders. If he could not take it one day, the consequences could be dire.
“Don’t worry, Xiao Wei won’t. Go back to sleep quickly.” Qiao Qiang lay back on the brick bed and urged Qiao Mei to leave quickly.
Qiao Mei took the flashlight and returned to her room. No matter how she thought about it, she could not think of anyone in the village whose figure fitted that shadow. She had not made any enemies recently, and her only enemy was Qiao Zhuang’s family. All his sons were either away or injured, yet he still had the time to mess with her?
She decided to wait and see. If something was going to happen, it would happen in due course. There was nothing she could do at the moment.
She did the same things every day, including making breakfast, cleaning up the house, drying the blankets, going to the storeroom to check if there was any food that was going to spoil and feeding the chickens and ducks.
After she finished her work that day, an uninvited guest came to the courtyard. Wang Qin stood at the entrance of Qiao Mei’s courtyard with a basket and did not say a word. Wang Qin had not been seen for so many days and she had lost a lot of weight.
There were bruises around her eyes and also faded marks on her neck. She looked much more haggard. Although her hair was tied up, it was still a mess.
“Are you… here to look for me?” Qiao Mei asked as she walked forward hesitantly.
Wang Qin nodded. She had thought about it for a long time and decided to look for Qiao Mei.
“Come in and talk.” Qiao Mei opened the courtyard door and let Wang Qin in. Qiao Qiang had gone to the village entrance to take a walk and was not at home. Otherwise, he would definitely take a stick and chase Wang Qin out of the house.
“I’m here to tell you that Qiao Gui wants to harm you,” Wang Qin said with her head lowered.
“Why are you so kind as to tell me this? Won’t you be happier if something happens to me? Why are you being so kind as to remind me?” Qiao Mei said mockingly.
