The dog next door barked all night.
Mao Laoyao was too stingy, wrapping up every leftover scrap so tightly that not even half a broken bone was left exposed.
A pack of stray dogs, their eyes red with hunger, howled and yelped until the middle of the night.
Though the neighbors said nothing aloud, they cursed endlessly in their hearts, damning Mao Laoyao for his lack of virtue and for keeping everyone awake.
At long last, by the middle of the night, the barking gradually weakened.
Zhou You let out a breath and drifted into a hazy sleep.
He was still pondering how strange the woman taken in by the family next door was. Trouble might well be brewing.
For the next few days, he would stay home and observe her. If things still seemed wrong, he would have to make his parents move and rent another place.
His father now counted as middle-income, so they could move to a better district in the city.
"Handsome husband."
A woman's soft voice, tender enough to seep into his bones, quietly sounded beside Zhou You's ear.
Soft and silky, like foxtail grass brushing against him, it brought an itchy, numbing sensation.
A rich fragrance washed over him, making Zhou You feel as though he were soaking in a tub of hot water, his limbs too languid to summon the slightest strength.
"Where am I?"
Zhou You struggled desperately to open his eyes, but his eyelids seemed to have lead weights hanging from them. No matter how many times he tried, he could not open them.
Suddenly, a soft, slick little hand touched his back, like a slippery snake winding around his body.
Zhou You turned to look. It was the woman he had seen during the day.
At this moment, she should