Chen Ermao pointed towards the courtyard. "This is Chen Xiaobei's home. Chen Xiaobei is on duty by the big locust tree. Only Cui Hongyu and Chen Qiao'er are home."
The other two nodded. "Go in and see if they're still there."
This.
Chen Ermao and Xiao Lan were a little surprised.
"Waizui ge, Sanshui ge this..."
Waizui patted Chen Ermao on the shoulder. "Don't worry, you go in first. We'll follow."
Entering this courtyard, Chen Ermao was a little apprehensive.
He had almost been scared to death by Chen Xiaobei last time.
But then he thought, Chen Xiaobei wasn't home today. He gritted his teeth and went for it.
He climbed over the courtyard wall and crept to the door. Chen Ermao hesitated for a moment. He tentatively pushed!
Huh, why was the door bolted from the outside?
This was a bit strange.
Could it be that Chen Xiaobei had casually closed the door from the outside when he left?
After a slight hesitation, Chen Ermao gently opened the bolt and slowly pushed the door open.
Outside the courtyard, Waizui and Sanshui, seeing him open the door, leisurely climbed over the courtyard wall.
Entering the house, it was pitch black. Chen Ermao didn't dare to light a torch, so he just stood there to adjust his eyes. Su Dan Novel Network.
But soon, he felt something was wrong. The house was too quiet.
It was frighteningly quiet, not a single sound.
At this moment, Waizui and Sanshui arrived at the door. They didn't care about anything else and quickly struck a torch.
In the dim light, Chen Ermao saw that no one was on the bed.
Waizui held up the torch and came forward to inspect carefully.
Finally, he was a little dejected. "Damn it, did the news leak?"
Chen Ermao thought for a moment. "Chen Daqiang, that scoundrel, dared to sell us out."
He turned to leave. "I'm going to settle with him."
But Sanshui pulled him back. "Alright, don't wander around the village anymore. Let's discuss what to do next."
Before he finished speaking, Waizui pulled them outside. "Let's go, if Chen Daqiang sold us out, who knows what kind of trap Chen Xiaobei might have set for us?"
Chen Ermao and Sanshui suddenly realized. The three of them hurried out, not even bothering to close the door.
They climbed over the courtyard wall and almost ran out of the village. Hiding in the dark, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.
After waiting for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, everything was calm. Sanshui looked confused. "There's no trap here, Waizui ge!"
Waizui was also bewildered, scratching the back of his head.
"If that's the case, perhaps Chen Daqiang didn't sell us out."
"But, but then why aren't Cui Hongyu and Chen Qiao'er home either?" Chen Ermao retorted.
"Hey, what's so strange about that?" Sanshui tried to rationalize. "Chen Xiaobei isn't home. Cui Hongyu is a weak woman with a little girl. She might have gone to her parents' home for a night."
The explanation was indeed plausible. Chen Ermao couldn't refute it and changed the subject. "Brothers, why don't we find a place to rest and come back tomorrow night?"
Waizui waved his hand. "Why look for another place? Chen Xiaobei's house is right here! We'll wait in his house. When he comes back tomorrow morning, I'll kill him and collect the reward from the great village chief."
Chen Ermao's heart skipped a beat. These two were truly bold.
But then he remembered Cui Hongyu's dowry and couldn't help but feel tempted.
If he could just take a little of it, it would sell for a good price in the county town. Then Waizui and Sanshui could go to their cousin Old Black for the reward.
He might as well take some of Cui Hongyu's dowry to sell, so as not to have made this trip in vain.
With their own thoughts, the three returned to Chen Xiaobei's home. Waizui and Sanshui leaned on the bed and started to doze off.
Chen Ermao couldn't sit still. He held up the torch and looked around.
Soon, his gaze fell on a large ceramic缸 in the corner of the room.
Ordinary villagers used such jars to store grain, but clearly, Chen Xiaobei's family had no surplus grain.
However, the area around the jar was very clean. There was also a wooden lid on top. The lid was much larger than a millstone and had clearly been scrubbed clean, if not spotless, then at least very clean.
Chen Ermao stepped forward and lifted the lid. Sure enough, there were several bundles and two wooden boxes. The wooden boxes were Cui Hongyu's jewelry boxes. Since there was no place to hide them at home, they were all stuffed into this jar.
Opening the jewelry box, he saw several gold bracelets and silver pendants. Seeing these, Chen Ermao's eyes lit up. He was rich now.
Just as he was about to act, Waizui's voice came from the side, "Alright, quiet down. Don't disturb my sweet dreams."
Chen Ermao suppressed his excitement. "Understood, brother. You sleep."
He carefully tucked the few pieces of jewelry into his怀, then casually picked up two bundles.
After thinking for a moment, Chen Ermao simply threw the wooden lid aside. He sat on it, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed.
He secretly planned that after killing Chen Xiaobei tomorrow, he would take everything from the jar.
Meanwhile, Chen Xiaobei had already gotten up and was preparing to lead the patrol.
His partner was a young man named Xiaowen.
Chen Xiaowen was a year younger than him. His family had no means of livelihood, so he had joined the village guard to gain experience, hoping to get some bonus at the end of the year.
Chen Xiaowen followed closely behind Chen Xiaobei, saying as they walked, "Brother Xiaobei, let's just patrol a bit and then head back."
Chen Xiaobei stopped and looked back at him. "Did you guys patrol like this at night before?"
Chen Xiaowen hesitated, then nodded. "Yes, when I followed Brother Chen Ping, we just went to the uphill part ahead and then turned back."
They were walking west along the village road. The further they went, the closer they got to Qingniu Mountain, and the terrain naturally rose. But at the uphill section, there were at least ten or twenty households ahead.
Chen Xiaobei shook his head. "Xiaowen, since we're in the village guard, let's do our job properly. At the very least, we should patrol to the village entrance. Otherwise, how can we live up to the trust of the villagers?"
Chen Xiaowen looked at him in surprise. "Brother, what does trust mean?"
Chen Xiaobei was silent for a moment. Yes, what did trust mean? There probably wasn't such a word in those days.
"Oh, it means that the villagers believe we can protect the village well."
Chen Xiaowen nodded thoughtfully. "Brother Xiaobei, where did you hear these words?"
This question was difficult for Chen Xiaobei to answer.
He changed the subject. "I heard the wealthy families in the county talk like this. By the way, I'll take you to the county town someday. The county town is beautiful."
Chen Xiaowen's eyes immediately filled with longing. "I've only been to the county town once, and it was snowing. I didn't see anything."