This kind of courtyard wall was not any form of masonry structure, but it was made out of stone and mud. A gentleman might stop and not go beyond the wall, but it did nothing to stop a thief(1).
(T/N: It means that someone with manners would know better morals to not trespass, but thieves wouldn’t bother to follow the rules)
But he forgot one thing. At this time, the mud walls were not covered by tiles and it had been raining for the past two days. The autumn rain had then soaked into the walls as there was no other way to stop nature.
Generally, the sun would eventually come out and dry it, returning it to its original state. But that would only happen if it was left untouched.
The thin man didn’t pay attention as he placed his hand on the wall and wanted to flip over it lightly since he knew that it would be doable, but as soon as he tried to, the wall was pulled into his arms. With a ‘plop’, he fell to the ground with a pile of mud and stones.
Zhao Jianshe and others were startled and they whispered, “What the hell are you doing?”
Skinny, “The wall fell.”
Liu Chunhe reminded him, “Keep your voice down,” Fortunately, Lin Lan lived far away from other people’s houses. Otherwise, even if the Third Family themselves were unaware,? any other neighbour would have realised that something was wrong by now.
Skinny got up happily, “You don’t need to climb anymore, just go in.”
The wall wasn’t that high originally, but now that half of it was knocked down, the rest was passable with the lift of a leg.
Skinny danced triumphantly, telling them to hurry.
Zhao Jianshe scolded secretly, “Damn it, I’m muddy all over.”
Shorty reminded them, “What if they wake up?”
Zhao Jianshe scolded, “And you are the only worrywart here. It’s already in the middle of the night, why wouldn’t they be asleep?”
On such a cold, windy and rainy day, the family was probably dead asleep anyways.
Both him and Skinny swaggered in. Although the courtyard walls could be ripped off, the house’s doors weren’t as unstable, so they had to enter through the door.
Fortunately, Liu Chunhe knew that their door was not locked, so there was a latch inside, which could be opened with a thin iron sheet.
When Zhao Jianshe went to fiddle with the door latch, he didn’t know what he bumped into and made a squeak, startling the others. He quickly grabbed the object and disappeared immediately.
The night was long. Han Qingsong was wearing a raincoat that he brought back from the army and a pair of rain boots. The flashlight had no power and could only be inserted in the side pocket of his backpack. Although he couldn’t see the road clearly, he had travelled on this road several times and was very familiar with it as he still insisted on continuing his journey in this weather.
The dirt road was a little muddy, but it didn’t affect his speed.
Han Qingsong walked very fast and he had never wanted to go home so eagerly before.
At that time, when he was in the headquarters to choose a unit to change his career, they gave him a chance to choose a unit without having to come back for a job like others or he could allow the Commune to arrange it. There were three places in total—two of them showing him that he was going to work as Director of Labour Reforming Farms in other countries, but he wouldn’t be able to bring his family. Hence, he chose the position of the Deputy Chief of the Public Security Bureau without hesitation.
He wanted to live with his family.
Thinking of this, there was a sudden heat wave that was surging in his chest. Although the autumn wind and night rain were cool, his heart was hot.