Chapter 24: First Watch

Chapter 24: First Watch

Tap, tap, and another tap.

Shen Moer stared at the window, thinking that if she weren’t so brave, she might have fainted from fright by now. She had no idea who was out there, deliberately trying to scare her in the middle of the night or something.

Whether it was a person or a ghost, she had to find out what was going on; otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to sleep well tonight.

With this thought, Shen Moer gently unlatched the window, intending to open it unexpectedly. However, as soon as the window cracked open slightly, the person outside noticed her. Shen Moer heard a deliberately hushed voice quickly say, "Someone is stealing bricks from your house."

Almost simultaneously, the faint rustle of footsteps gradually faded away.

By the time Shen Moer fully opened the window, all she saw in the night was a skinny figure quickly darting toward the backyard of the brigade headquarters’ building.

Although the person’s voice was very soft, the night was quiet, and Shen Moer naturally heard what he said. She lingered by the window for a moment. The place where their family stored the bricks was on the other side, and she couldn’t see what was happening there from here. But she wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, as she thought she heard some faint noises.

Besides, in the middle of the night, there was no reason for someone to go through all that trouble just to prank her.

Shen Moer gently closed the window and quickly walked to the outer room to wake Shen Shaoyuan. She whispered to him about what had just happened outside. Shen Shaoyuan, still groggy, immediately woke up at the mention of brick theft and got out of bed: "Let’s go check it out."

The two walked to the door. Shen Shaoyuan picked up two sticks from the side, handed one to Shen Moer, and whispered, "If there are only a few, fight. If there are many, run."

Shen Moer: "..."

Truly her father.

Shen Moer used the top of her foot to gently push the door, opening it almost soundlessly. Under the moonlight streaming in, the father and daughter exchanged a glance. Then, taking advantage of the moment when clouds obscured the moon, Shen Moer quietly stepped out with her stick.

Shen Shaoyuan waited for Shen Moer to go out first before following as quietly as possible. His footsteps were heavier, and if he followed too closely, the thieves might hear him.

On the wasteland behind the Shen family’s new house, thousands of bricks were neatly stacked. Shen Moer crouched by the corner of the wall and immediately noticed something was off—the pile of bricks was noticeably shorter than it had been in the evening.

Just as she was about to take a closer look, she heard low voices from the other side: "That’s enough... any more and they’ll notice... let’s go..."

The voice was faint and intermittent, but Shen Moer could roughly guess what they were saying—they had taken enough bricks, and any more would be noticed by her family the next day.

Another voice chimed in: "You’re as timid as a louse. You’ve already taken them, so why worry about being noticed? In fact, it’s better if they notice. Let them know not to be too cocky."

This person was clearly bolder and more reckless, speaking much louder than the previous one. Shen Moer could hear him clearly.

Then, another voice urged: "Hurry up, hurry up. Grab one more basket and let’s go."

While the three were diligently picking up bricks, Shen Moer quietly moved closer and finally saw the three figures on the other side of the brick pile.

The moonlight, silvery and serene, illuminated the quiet land and allowed Shen Moer to clearly see the faces of the three.

"So it’s them."

Shen Shaoyuan, who had quietly approached at some point, murmured almost inaudibly.

The father and daughter, in tacit agreement, remained silent and didn’t rush out to confront the thieves as they had initially planned. Instead, they crouched side by side, watching with interest as the three struggled to load bricks into baskets.

One, two, three, four, five, six—six baskets in total.

Fortunately, they had already filled five baskets earlier, so the last one didn’t take long. Once done, the three hoisted the baskets onto their shoulders and left, each carrying two.

After the three had walked a fair distance with their loads, Shen Shaoyuan couldn’t help but mutter, "They’re as dumb as oxen!"

Although bricks were hard to come by these days, stealing them was truly baffling. Bricks were so heavy—why would anyone go through the trouble of stealing them? It was pure self-inflicted hardship.

Moreover, if you're going to steal bricks, you should at least make some preparations, like figuring out a way to borrow a donkey cart or even a handcart. But these three fools came up with the idea of carrying them in baskets.

No wonder Shen Shaoyuan called them as stupid as pigs.

Even pigs might feel insulted by the comparison.

Also, it's unclear what these three were thinking. Instead of taking the stolen goods out of the village, they headed further into it. Although the village has been peaceful lately, and the militia patrols have become more relaxed, it's still possible that someone might be up at night and catch them. Carrying baskets in the middle of the night is obviously suspicious, right?

Shen Shaoyuan couldn't help but recall a phrase his elder brother often said: "Being foolish isn't the worst, but when foolish people are also bold, that's the real problem."

Indeed, those incompetent officials who exploited the people and embezzled public funds were executed by his elder brother.

However, being a bit foolish isn't all bad; it actually made things easier for them.

The father and daughter quickly followed, and at a certain fork, Shen Moer took a small path.

In the countryside, besides the main village roads, there are paths everywhere, connecting all directions. Shen Moer was quite familiar with the village's layout and soon got ahead of the three men. She then knocked on several doors in quick succession.

She didn't care if anyone inside heard her; after knocking, she dashed back to a previous fork, just in time to see the three men approaching with their loads.

The three were moving at a decent pace, but with such heavy loads, they couldn't go very fast. The shorter one looked around and whispered, "Did you hear something?"

"What could it be? There are no babies around here; everyone's asleep. Even if someone's up, they wouldn't come outside. I checked beforehand," said the tallest one.

"Exactly, Xiao Hui, you're just too timid. Brother Hong is so sharp, he..."

Before he could finish, a sudden gust of wind was heard, followed by a sharp smack on his back. He lost his balance and fell to the ground.

Almost simultaneously, the other two also received the same "treatment," being knocked down inexplicably.

"Ahhh, who's behind us?"

"Damn it, who dares hit me?"

"Shit, let's run!"

Finally, one of them remembered they were stealing and tried to get up and run, only to be hit again. The other two, reminded by him, also tried to run but received the same "treatment."

At that moment, lights came on in nearby houses and even some ahead.

The three, struggling to get up but failing, suddenly heard a cry from behind: "Murder! Robbery! Thieves!"

Almost immediately, the doors of the lit houses opened, and people holding kerosene lamps, brooms, and hoes quickly surrounded them.

"What's going on? Where's the murder?"

"Where, where? Who's robbing? Coming to our Willow Brigade, they must have guts!"

"Goodness, what's in these baskets? Bricks?"

"Why are they carrying so many bricks in the middle of the night?"

"Oh, aren't these the Shen family's Xiao Hong, Li Hui, and Min Bing?"

At first, people were hesitant to approach, thinking that murder and robbery were the acts of vicious criminals, and approaching rashly might get them stabbed.

But soon they noticed something was off. Although there were many scattered baskets on the ground, there were no weapons or bloodstains, unlike a murder scene. When they saw the bricks in the baskets and the three terrified faces looking at them, many dared to step forward.

At the same time, two people hurried over from not far away. The one running in front was panting heavily and shouting, "Quick, catch those three little thieves! They stole bricks! They're ruining me!"

The one running behind had a voice choked with sobs, "They're so bad, these people are so bad! Why did they steal our family's bricks..."

With many people gathered around, quite a few holding kerosene lamps, the village path at that moment could almost be described as bright as day. So everyone quickly saw that the newcomers were Shen Laoqi and his daughter, Shen Moer.

Oh, this is awkward.

At this moment, several quick-thinking people couldn't help but think, what on earth is going on here?!

The three people on the ground—Shen Hong, the eldest son of Shen Jianping, the eldest of the Shen family's first branch; Shen Lihui, the eldest son of Shen Jian'an, the second of the Shen family's first branch; and Shen Minbing, the eldest son of Shen Jianye, the eldest of the Shen family's second branch—these three were all Shen Laoqi's own grandnephews.

The situation was clear. These three were up to no good in the middle of the night, stealing bricks from their uncle's house at the village entrance, and they had been caught and chased here.

Shen Shaoyuan stumbled over and plopped down beside a basket. He carefully picked up a scattered green brick, holding it in one hand and tightly gripping the basket with the other, wailing, "My bricks! I almost lost you forever! If you had been stolen, how could I have lived?!"

The others: "..."

Well, although it's sad that the items were almost stolen, you don't have to cry as if your wife had been stolen, do you?

This really sounds like it could be easily misunderstood!

"Dad, it's okay, it's okay. Luckily, you heard something when you got up in the middle of the night, and we rushed out in a panic. Thankfully, these uncles, aunts, brothers, and sisters were alert and kind enough to help us catch the thieves. Look, there are still good people in our village. The bricks are all here, all here!" Shen Moer supported her father's arm and comforted him.

The trio on the ground immediately raised their heads and shot angry, hateful glances at the people present.

They hadn't just fallen for no reason; they had been beaten down. It seemed that the person who knocked them down was among these people.

Meddling in others' business in the middle of the night is just hateful!

Sneak attacks from behind, so sneaky!

The others present, hearing Shen Moer's words, looked confused. They had indeed come out to catch the bad guys after hearing the commotion outside, but by the time they came out, these three were already lying here. Strictly speaking, they hadn't caught them, right?

Someone muttered, "Actually, what she said isn't wrong. Although these three fell, if we hadn't surrounded them, they probably would have gotten up and run away, right?"

Someone suddenly realized, "That's right! So we really did help."

In these times, acting bravely and helping others are things to be proud of.

They had done a good deed.

Everyone silently puffed out their chests. At the very least, they had rushed out at the first sound of the commotion to help out. Subjectively, they wanted to help; objectively, they had prevented the thieves from escaping. In the end, they had caught the thieves together.

Someone said, "Even though the thieves were pretty dumb, we did indeed contribute."

The trio on the ground: "..."

Being caught was bad enough, but why did they have to insult their intelligence?!

They were outmatched in strength, not stupid, not stupid, ahhh!

Someone else said, "Shen Laoqi, these three are your grandnephews. What are you going to do about this?"

Shen Shaoyuan, holding the green brick, sobbed, "How could this be? How could I have such bad and stupid grandnephews?"

The trio: "..."

They had been ambushed, not stupid, not stupid, ahhh!