In the dead of night, Captain Gao was sleeping soundly when he was abruptly awakened by a series of urgent knocks on the door.
“What’s happened?”
He quickly put on his clothes and went out.
As soon as he opened the door, he saw Xing Zhaozhao standing outside, alone.
Captain Gao frowned and asked, “It’s the middle of the night, Mingcheng’s wife, what brings you here?”
“Just now, a thief broke into my house. I caught him and brought him to you, Brigade leader,” Xing Zhaozhao said.
Aunt Gao, Captain Gao’s wife, happened to come out wrapping her clothes around her. Startled, she exclaimed, “What? A thief? And they actually went to your place? Where are they? Let me see.”
After saying this, Aunt Gao craned her neck to look outside, but aside from Xing Zhaozhao, she didn’t see anyone else.
“Where’s the thief? Didn’t you say you caught them?” She looked at Xing Zhaozhao, bewildered, and asked.
Xing Zhaozhao gave a sharp tug on the rope in her hand.
With a rustling sound, a string of people appeared one after another before Captain Gao and Aunt Gao.
Captain Gao and Aunt Gao stared wide-eyed, utterly dumbfounded.
“Th-this… how are there so many people?” Aunt Gao pointed a trembling finger at the line of people, so shocked she could barely speak coherently.
What surprised her even more was Xing Zhaozhao—how had she managed to catch so many people and string them together like this…
Aunt Gao looked at Xing Zhaozhao with an expression of disbelief.
When she had seen Xing Zhaozhao severing family ties with the old Gao family, she knew Mingcheng’s wife was formidable—you can’t judge a book by its cover—but she never expected her to be capable to this extent.
It was almost… frightening.
Unconsciously, Aunt Gao’s gaze toward Xing Zhaozhao held a trace of fear and distance.
Xing Zhaozhao noticed it but didn’t pay it much mind.
This was exactly the effect she wanted.
Don’t mess with her, or face the consequences.
Captain Gao’s expression turned rather grim.
He counted them—nine people in total—and spotted three familiar faces among them, two of whom were from their own village. It was clear these people had planned this in advance, specifically targeting the orphaned mother and child. Luckily, Mingcheng’s wife had some strength and wasn’t someone to be trifled with, making them bite off more than they could chew. If it had been anyone else…
Captain Gao didn’t even dare to imagine the consequences.
He looked seriously at Xing Zhaozhao and said, “Mingcheng’s wife, rest assured, I will definitely give you an explanation for this matter.”
Xing Zhaozhao nodded: “Thank you, Brigade leader.”
“However, it’s the middle of the night now, and it’s not convenient to handle this. I’ll lock them up in the brigade office first and deal with them tomorrow when it’s light. What do you think?” Captain Gao asked.
“Since I’ve already handed them over to you, Brigade leader, it’s entirely up to you to decide,” Xing Zhaozhao said.
“However, I need to head into the mountains early tomorrow and probably won’t be able to make it. You can decide how to handle them, but there’s one thing I need to clarify first. I asked them earlier, and they said Liu Gouzi saw me picking wild raspberries in the mountains and suspected I might have ginseng, so they came to my house to steal it. But I really only gathered wild raspberries—I didn’t find any ginseng. I hope no one spreads rumors and causes unnecessary misunderstandings,” Xing Zhaozhao added.
Captain Gao hadn’t known about this matter before. He nodded and said, “Understood. If anyone spreads rumors later, I’ll clarify things with them.”
“Then I’ll head back first. The children are waiting for me at home.” After saying this, Xing Zhaozhao turned to leave.
Captain Gao looked at the string of people lying on the ground, frowned with difficulty, and quickly called out to Xing Zhaozhao: “Wait a moment, Mingcheng’s wife.”
Xing Zhaozhao turned back to look at Captain Gao: “Is there something else, Brigade leader?”
Captain Gao pointed at the people on the ground: “Could you help me drag these people to the brigade headquarters?”
He couldn’t drag them all by himself, and he still wanted to teach them a lesson, not wanting to release them so soon.
Thinking it was something minor, Xing Zhaozhao immediately nodded: “Alright.”
After helping Captain Gao drag that string of people to the brigade headquarters and locking them up, Xing Zhaozhao finally returned home and quickly went to bed, as she needed to wake up early tomorrow.
The next morning, after eating breakfast and packing her things, Xing Zhaozhao prepared to head to the gate. Before leaving, she specifically instructed the two little ones: “If someone comes knocking, say mom isn’t home. Don’t open the door for anyone.”
Hongyu thought for a moment and asked: “Not even if Granny Hao comes?”
Xing Zhaozhao: “…”
“If Granny Hao comes, you can open the door.” Xing Zhaozhao paused, then added, “But keep an eye on the time. When it’s almost noon and mom should be returning soon, go to the cellar to remind me so we don’t get caught.”
“Understood.” Both children nodded in agreement.
Xing Zhaozhao carried a nearly half-person-high basket on her back containing two cloth bags – one filled with chestnuts and the other with hawthorn berries, packed solidly. One arm held a basket carrying wild raspberries, while the other arm carried two heavy cloth bags containing dried mushrooms and dried wild vegetables. A pheasant and two wild rabbits, still alive with their legs tied, were strung together on a rope hung over her shoulder. Every part of her was fully loaded.
When she reappeared on the street where she had previously encountered the old man and witnessed what seemed to be Xiuning’s family commotion, the elderly people playing chess, cards, and exercising on the street all simultaneously turned to look at her with astonished expressions.
They had never seen someone carrying so much.
Xing Zhaozhao quickly scanned her surroundings.
She didn’t see any old woman resembling Xiuning where the previous commotion had occurred.
Well, that kind of excitement couldn’t happen every day.
Still, she felt somewhat disappointed. She had wanted to find Xiuning as soon as possible to ask about her three children.
She immediately spotted the old man she had met before, still in his usual spot, playing cards with several other elderly men.
As if seeing family, Xing Zhaozhao immediately ran over: “Grandpa.”
The old man was startled to see her: “You’re back again? Why did you bring so much stuff this time? You really know how to load up.”
“Well, you said before that wild goods sell well here, so I brought everything I had at home that I could carry.” Xing Zhaozhao began introducing her items one by one, “In my basket, I have freshly picked wild chestnuts and wild hawthorn berries. This basket here has wild raspberries…”
“Wild raspberries at this time of year? Who are you trying to fool?” one old man said disbelievingly.
“Really, I found a hot spring in the mountains, surrounded by all sorts of things. I even gathered a wild beehive. There was too much to bring everything this time,” Xing Zhaozhao said.
“A wild beehive is a great find! Bring it to me next time—I’ll take it,” another elderly man replied.
“Sure thing,” Xing Zhaozhao agreed, then continued introducing her goods. “Also, this bag has dried mushrooms, and this one has dried wild vegetables. Sun-dried at home—they’re delicious. Would you like some?”
“Oh, and there’s more! One wild mountain chicken and two wild rabbits, all alive and extremely fresh. Interested?” Xing Zhaozhao asked enthusiastically, looking at the elderly men.
Suddenly, she noticed that the men, who had been quite interested in her items earlier, were now giving her looks of mixed disbelief and concern.
Xing Zhaozhao was confused. “What’s wrong?”
“You’re really pushing your luck with the law,” one man remarked.
Xing Zhaozhao: “??”
“I… guess I’m doing alright…?” she stammered, looking at the men with bewilderment.
“Do you know that wild mountain chickens are now second-class protected animals in China?” the man asked, pointing at the wild mountain chicken hanging from her shoulder.
Xing Zhaozhao looked completely clueless. “What does that mean?”
“It means hunting them is prohibited. You could go to jail for catching one,” the man explained.
Xing Zhaozhao felt as if struck by lightning. “What?!”