Aunt Wang lay on the kang, her eyes shining brighter than the oil lamp.
Fubao lay beside Aunt Wang and heard her mumbling, "What’s been going on these days? It’s been almost half a year. Before, someone would bring something every other day, but for the past six months, it’s been so irregular, sometimes they bring things, sometimes they don’t."
Fubao sighed, choosing not to respond.
She felt her mother was too greedy. After all, what they were doing was not honorable. If they didn’t quit soon, they might eventually face a huge disaster.
They were villagers, living right next door to the Liang family, separated only by a wall.
If the Liang family ever found out about this, even the saliva from the villagers could drown them mother and daughter, yet her mother seemed to never consider the future, focusing only on the immediate gains and losses.
As midnight approached, Aunt Wang began to feel the strain and nodded off repeatedly.
She thought to herself that this basket-snatching was a tiring job. Ever since she had tasted the sweetness of her spoils, she had stayed up every night, leaving her spiritless during the day.
She usually stayed awake at night and slept during the day. Her routine was completely reversed. She yawned, then rubbed her eyelids and continued to stay up.
Suddenly, she heard some slight noises outside. Aunt Wang perked up instantly. She quickly got up and tiptoed outside.
By the time Aunt Wang emerged from the house, there was no one outside.
She looked around and then saw, just like many other nights, a small basket placed outside the gate of the Liang’s courtyard, covered with a cloth.
Her heart leapt with joy, and she quickly grabbed it.
Ah, it was quite heavy, definitely weighing around fifteen to twenty pounds?
Aunt Wang’s eyes glittered. She looked around again and, like a thief, carried the basket back to her place.
She rushed into her own courtyard and was just about to close the door when she suddenly got a fright!
The person in front of her was clean and tidy, plump and seemed genuinely naive. But those big eyes, glossy and shining under the moonlight, resembled black gems.
Right now, that person was trembling with anger, snorting heavily from her nose, and she suddenly grabbed hold of Aunt Wang’s arm!
"Oh, so you’ve grown addicted to taking advantage of others? For over a year, the food, silver, cloth, and meat that my mother sent intermittently, you’ve been snatching it all up? Explain yourself! I will not let you off! As for the things you stole before, let me tell you, the way you swallowed it down, you’re going to spit it back out just the same!"
Aunt Wang bristled, "What are you talking about? I don’t understand! Let go of me, did you hear me!?"
Dong Xinyuan snorted coldly.
She only looked naïve and honest on the outside, but she was actually cunning to the bone, only appearing meek like a little sparrow in front of her older sister.
She grabbed the cloth on the basket and yanked it off. Aunt Wang gasped and was immediately stunned.
Where was the money, the meat, the grain, the eggs?
What, what, what, this basket was filled with stones?
And on the stones, there was a small note attached, the handwriting upright and bold, unmistakably Dong Xinyuan’s. Her handwriting, like her physique, was round and plump.
—Thieves are lower than pigs and dogs, beasts!!
Unfortunately, despite Dong Xinyuan’s joyous scolding in the note, Aunt Wang was illiterate, a complete blank slate, which was like winking at a blind man.