Sleepless Rainy Night (Part 2)

The footsteps stopped at the gate of their courtyard, indicating that they were two adult men.

Soon, Xiang Kun confirmed from the smell that the two men were Liu Zhengyi and Liu Gaoshang, the two brothers who had tried to scam Liu Caifu when they came to Chongyun Village to look for him before the New Year.

The two brothers initially tried to curry favor with Liu Feibao by "faking an accident" against Xiang Kun and his group, but their attempt backfired. Instead, they were caught and taught a lesson by Liu Feibao, and then sheepishly apologized to Xiang Kun.

Because Liu Caifu vouched for them, Xiang Kun didn't make things difficult for them.

During my recent trip back to Tongshi Town, Liu Caifu that the two brothers had been staying in Chongyun Village, working for two different farms. Apparently, they were quite well-behaved and hardworking, and hadn't caused any trouble.

A knock sounded on the door, not loud. Xiang Kun could sense that Liu Zhengyi was knocking, seemed somewhat cautious, even uneasy.

Xiang Kun walked over, opened the courtyard gate, looked at the Liu brothers standing outside, and asked, "What's the matter?"

Perhaps because Xiang Kun hadn't made any obvious footsteps when he opened the door, the sudden opening startled Liu Zhengyi, who instinctively took two steps back. Upon seeing it was Xiang Kun, he quickly said, "Brother Xiang... uh... Mr. Xiang Uncle Liu that you've been staying in the village lately, so... so we wanted to come over... um... say hello..."

Hearing his older brother's hesitant speech, Liu Gaoshang, the younger brother standing behind him, couldn't help but whisper a reminder: "Brother, things..."

Liu Zhengyi then realized what was happening, handed over the two bags he was carrying, placed them by the door, and said, "Mr. Xiang, these are some free-range eggs from our village, and two guinea fowl. My brother and I have already slaughtered them and made sure they're all plucked clean. Also, this is some plum wine that's quite famous in our village, brewed by my relatives. It tastes very good..."

Xiang Kun interrupted him before he could finish, saying, "Take it back. You can't accept something for nothing."

"No, no, it's not about the road. Didn't I accidentally offend Mr. Xiang and Mr. Xiang friends before? It's just... it's just... a little apology, a little token of my apology," Liu Zhengyi quickly said.

Seeing that Xiang Kun's expression remained unchanged, Liu Zhengyi hesitated for a moment before saying, "I heard from Uncle Liu that Mr. Xiang is going to set up a large breeding base in the village... My brother and I have been working at the village's breeding farm lately, so... well... Uncle Liu mentioned last time that if you need manpower when you set up your breeding base, just let us know, and we'll provide room and board..."

Xiang Kun knew that the "Sixth Uncle" he was referring to was Liu Caifu. Although Liu Caifu was not very old, he was of a very high seniority in Chongyun Village.

Previously, because of this "extortion" incident, Liu Feibao asked Chu Xiuwen and Liu Caifu to make connections and invite Xiang Kun dinner to apologize. At that time, Liu Caifu's suggestion was to have the two Liu brothers go back to work for a year at the breeding farm that Xiang Kun planned to set up in the village.

At that time, there was no sign of either a breeding farm or Research Base. Liu Caifu's words were actually just to help them get away with it, since they hadn't really done anything really bad and were from the same village.

However, Xiang Kun had heard from Liu Caifu that the two brothers had come to him after that day, saying they wanted to keep their promise and had even moved back to the village. So he introduced them to work at two different farms. Unexpectedly, they actually stayed and worked there for almost a month now without any problems.

Liu Caifu also said that the two brothers would often bring him gifts, chat with him for a few minutes, and occasionally mention Xiang Kun, showing great curiosity about his identity and a sense of awe in their words.

Although they didn't have much contact, Xiang Kun was able to roughly deduce the two brothers' psychology based on his observations during their few meetings and some information he learned from Liu Caifu.

They simply had a mindset of worshipping and following the strong. In their minds, Liu Feibao was the "supreme" of Tongshi Town, so they wanted to curry favor with Liu Feibao, which led them to take it upon themselves to "bump into" Xiang Kun and his group.

Now, their flattery and rapprochement with Xiang Kun stem from their belief that Xiang Kun is of a higher status and stronger than Liu Feibao, and that following him would lead to a brighter future.

From the moment the door opened, Xiang Kun had already gathered a lot of sensory information. Although the Liu brothers, Liu Zhengyi and Liu Gaoshang, had obviously taken a shower and changed their clothes before coming over, he could still smell a trace of chicken and duck droppings and feed on them. At the same time, judging from Liu Zhengyi's physical state when he spoke, although he was very nervous, he was not hostile to him.

After listening to what he had to say, Xiang Kun directly addressed the gifts they had brought, saying, "Thank you for the gifts. I'll let you know if I need anything else."

He did not explain to the Liu brothers that the area under construction was no longer the breeding base that Liu Caifu had previously mentioned, but Research Base under the guise of breeding research.

Anyway, some necessary staff will be needed at that time. Based on his cognitive model of the Liu brothers, there won't be too many variables beyond his control. Some tasks can be done by them.

Moreover, since they are both locals from Chongyun Village, it will be easier for them to handle many things in the future. After all, Liu Caifu can't be involved in everything. He and Lao Xia also have other things to do and can't afford to be distracted by too many trivial matters.

Seeing Xiang Kun return to the courtyard with his things and the gate close again, Liu Zhengyi paused for a moment, then breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.

After walking back with his brother for a while, Liu Gaoshang couldn't help but ask, "Brother, Mr. Xiang said he'd let us know later. Does that mean... he agreed?"

"Nonsense, of course we agreed!" Liu Zhengyi, who had been so nervous in front of Xiang Kun, said confidently to his younger brother, "If they're willing to accept our things, then this matter is settled."

Before they went to see Xiang Kun, they had visited Liu Caifu. Their original plan was to scrape together some money, or even borrow some, to make the gifts they brought more presentable, at least some good cigarettes and alcohol. However, Liu Caifu harshly criticized this idea, telling them that even going empty-handed was better than bringing those gifts. So, on Liu Caifu's advice, they brought some free-range eggs and guinea fowl as gifts when they met Xiang Kun.

Judging from the current results, it is clear that the advice given by their "sixth great-uncle" was very useful.

Mr. Xiang certainly didn't care for those local specialties, but his willingness to accept them showed his acceptance of the two brothers.

However, upon hearing his brother's words, the younger brother Liu Gaoshang, didn't look happy at all; his face was somewhat bitter. "Are we really going to work as laborers at Mr. Xiang's farm?"

For the past two weeks, he had been working at the farm in the village that Liu Caifu had introduced him to, and he had really had enough. If it weren't for his brother's instructions and his harsh words, he probably would have run away on his very first day at the farm.

"Don't worry, the farm run by Mr. Xiang and 'Brother Fu' is definitely not like that shabby farm of Old Black Pig. The environment is much better," Liu Zhengyi comforted him. In private conversations, the two brothers still habitually Liu Caifu "Brother Fu".

Liu Gaoshang's expression grew even more bitter. "No matter how good the environment is, isn't it still raising pigs, chickens, ducks, and geese? Isn't it still feeding them and cleaning up their manure? What's the difference? Brother, are we really going to work for Mr. Xiang. Xiang and his family for free for a year, like 'Brother Fu' said before? Brother, shouldn't we... go to town and find some work? Even just delivering food or packages on an electric scooter would be better! Staying cooped up in the village all day, even sows look pretty good now..."

Liu Zhengyi slapped his younger brother on the head in annoyance and scolded, "Didn't I explain to you why 'Brother Fu' said that back then? With Liu Feibao's character, we've caused him such a big problem. Even if Mr. Xiang, he'll definitely make us pay later. 'Brother Fu' was protecting us! Even if the two of us work non-stop for 365 days a year, how much money would we get? Just like those local specialties we gave him, do you really think Mr. Xiang would care?"

Liu Gaoshang scratched his head and sighed, "Brother, do we really think we can get ahead like this? Mr. Xiang and his people run a farm, not a big hotel or a big company..."

"I misjudged 'Pighead Bao' last time, but I won't be wrong this time!" Liu Zhengyi said confidently. "Last time, I could tell that Liu Feibao, President Chu, and Brother Fu were all very polite and respectful to Mr. Xiang, so he must be someone important. During this time, I know that Brother Fu has been personally overseeing Mr. Xiang's construction site, and President Chu also frequently comes to the village to see Brother Fu. The road that our village is currently building was spearheaded by the Haoguo Group from the provincial capital, with investment from Pighead Bao, President Chu, Brother Fu, as well as the village and town. So all the problems that were previously unsolvable have been resolved, and construction started quickly. In such a short time, one lane has already been completed. What do you think this means?"

Liu Gaoshang was stunned. "Wh... what?"

"Do you remember why Pighead Bao wanted to check Mr. Xiang and his friend's car back then?"

"It seems like... a rear-end collision on the road, and there was some friction?" Liu Gaoshang said after thinking for a moment.

"At the time, a big boss from the provincial capital was in Pighead Bao's car. Pighead Bao wanted to do big business with him, so he was very anxious. That big boss, it's said, was severely beaten by Mr. Xiang. Xiang after the rear-end collision and slunk back to the provincial capital. I confirmed a few days ago that the big boss from the provincial capital was Qi Haoguo, the boss of Haoguo Group. Think about Pighead Bao's attitude afterwards, and think about why Boss Qi, who was severely beaten by Mr. Xiang and lost face, came to repair the road when Mr. Xiang was planning to set up a breeding base in Chongyun Village?"

Seeing his younger brother looking puzzled, as if he understood a little but still had more questions, Liu Zhengyi thought for a moment and said, "Since I've taken the day off, let's go to town for a nice meal tonight and I'll explain everything to you clearly so you won't make a mistake later."

The Liu brothers then went home, rode their motorcycle to Tongshi Town, and ate their meal from 5 p. m. until almost 9 p. m., thanks to Liu Zhengyi's incessant chatter.

Because it was raining quite heavily and the two of them didn't have raincoats, they simply played arcade games at the arcade next to the restaurant until the rain subsided a bit in the early morning before riding their motorcycle back to the village.

The Liu brothers' house in the village hadn't been renovated; it was just a one-story bungalow that looked rather dilapidated. It lacked appliances, not even a television or refrigerator. Since the two brothers used to live in town, and only returned to the village before the Lunar New Year, they only came back at night to sleep, often sleeping at the livestock farm. So, they didn't care that the house was in such a state.

However, when the two brothers returned home today, they were shocked to discover that their house had been burgled!

Looking at the mess the bedroom had been ransacked, Liu Zhengyi turned to his stunned younger brother and asked, "Didn't you lock the door when you left?"

Liu Gaoshang looked completely bewildered. "We've never locked the door to this dilapidated house... Who the hell would come here? Besides, our lock seems to be broken to begin with, it wouldn't lock us up anyway!"

Indeed, they didn't have any money or anything of value in their house. Who would want to steal anything? You don't even need to come inside; just looking at the exterior of their house, you should know there's nothing to steal!

"Damn it! I think I'm missing some clothes, my favorite pair of pants, and holy crap, my jacket is gone too!" Since he already had a few things missing, Liu Zhengyi opened the cabinet and quickly discovered what was missing.

Not only did he lose his clothes and pants, but his younger brother Liu Gaoshang also lost two items, both of which were jackets. The dried meat distributed by the farm and some snacks were also gone, and the only umbrella in the house was also missing.

Liu Zhengyi was furious. The good mood he had been in because of Xiang Kun's "promise" was completely gone. He suspected that someone in the village was deliberately messing with them because they didn't like him. He took his phone and started checking around the house.

Although it had rained heavily before, he still saw some traces in the mud outside the house, clearly two people's shoe prints, and judging from the size, they were both men's.

"Brother, are those your clothes?" Liu Gaoshang's voice came from afar.

Liu Zhengyi walked over with his phone and stood side by side with his younger brother on the muddy roadside overgrown with weeds. Looking down the slope beside them, they could vaguely see a few pieces of clothing in the light of the phone. These clothes hadn't been there when they came back to get their motorcycle to go to town before.

"No, I don't have clothes that color." Liu Zhengyi shook his head, but just as he was about to walk away, he remembered something, walked back, shone his phone's flashlight on the clothes for a while, and said to his younger brother, "Go pick it up and take a look."

"Since it's neither yours nor mine, what's the point of picking it up? It just rained, the ground is slippery, I'll get covered in mud, I'm not going..."

"Damn! They weren't there when we left this afternoon, but they are now, which proves they were probably thrown by the thief who stole our clothes! Come on, let's be fair, rock-paper-scissors, whoever loses gets to take them, don't say I'm bullying you as your older brother!"

A few minutes later, Liu Gaoshang, covered in mud, dragged back several wet clothes and threw them in front of his brother, saying irritably, "What the hell is the use of picking these up? Do you think we can find someone with these clothes?"

Liu Zhengyi squatted down, carefully examining the clothes with his phone. He even used the nearby puddle to wash the mud off a pair of pants so he could confirm the color.

"No way... Brother, you're not thinking of washing these clothes and wearing them, are you? Brother... We haven't gotten to that point yet..." Seeing Liu Zhengyi's behavior, Liu Gaoshang didn't care about being covered in mud and reached out to help his brother up.

Liu Zhengyi slapped Liu Gaoshang's hand away, his expression a mixture of seriousness and excitement. "You idiot, use your brain! These clothes were taken from the clothes stolen from us! Think about it, when we were eating in town, what was reported on the city news on TV..."

"What... content?" Liu Gaoshang looked completely bewildered.

Liu Zhengyi sighed and said, "Fugitives! Fugitives from Wushu Mountain Prison! Those two fugitives stole clothes that were drying in the sun from nearby villagers after their escape! The police have a report that the pants they stole were blue cloth pants, uniforms from a factory next door! Take another look at these pants, aren't they blue cloth pants? Don't they look like factory pants?"

"Holy... damn it... how did these two fugitives end up here?" Liu Gaoshang squatted down, examining the clothes as he asked in bewilderment, "How come they weren't caught along the way?"

Liu Zhengyi glanced back at the distant mountains and the pitch-black night sky, devoid of moon and stars, as if another heavy rain was brewing. He murmured, "They probably didn't come from the main road; they took a detour, coming through the mountains. Look at these pants, they're all ripped. No wonder they came to our village for clothes and food. Now... they've probably gone back into the mountains."

Liu Gaoshang paused for a moment, then suddenly remembered something. He took out his phone, checked the information, and exclaimed excitedly, "Brother! These two fugitives are worth a lot of money! 100,000! A 100,000 reward! That's awesome! Brother, they must have entered the mountains from the drainage ditch. Shall we grab some weapons, go into the mountains, and catch them? 100,000!"

"Catch you, my foot!" Liu Zhengyi glared at him and cursed, "Those are two escaped convicts, real desperate criminals. Two against two, who knows who will kill whom! Besides, the mountains are so big, who knows where they are now? How are the two of us supposed to find them? Search online, the reward the police mentioned is probably for providing clues and helping to catch them. As long as we provide clues and directly assist the police in catching them, there will be a reward."

After thinking for a moment and organizing his thoughts, Liu Zhengyi dialed the police and told them what he and his brother had seen when they got home, the clothes they had found, and their speculations.

After reporting the incident to the police and providing the clues, Liu Zhengyi said to his younger brother, "Let's go to Brother Fu's house and inform him."

"Why?" Liu Gaoshang was taken aback, and subconsciously said, "The police haven't come to confirm our information yet. If too many people know about this and everyone calls the police, won't we lose our reward money?"

"We suspect the two fugitives went into the mountains, but what if they didn't? What if they're still in the village? Brother Fu is the deputy village head, so it's only right that we look for him. Later... we can also go see Mr. Xiang; their yard is quite remote, so we need to be on guard."

"Oh..." Liu Gaoshang understood what his brother meant.

When the two brothers arrived at Liu Caifu's house on their motorcycle, they found that Chu Xiuwen, the Deputy Director Liu's house, and that the two were still drinking and chatting so late at night.

At this moment, the two men, dressed in the clothes of the brothers Liu Zhengyi and Liu Gaoshang, were making their way through the mountains with difficulty.

The weather was bad, there was no moonlight, and the two dared not use flashlights in the mountains, making it extremely difficult to move forward. The ground was slippery after the rain, and they almost fell and tumbled down the mountain several times.

With a deafening roar, a bolt of lightning tore through the sky, followed by a thunderous boom that echoed through the mountains.

It looks like another downpour is on the way.

"Damn it! This shitty weather!" The man in front cursed as he nearly slipped and fell again.

The other man behind him spoke in a much calmer voice, "Lao Ding, you have to thank the weather. If it weren't for this thunderstorm and torrential rain, which affected the police drones, we might not have made it this far."

"This is really... too difficult. With all that rain before... those people chasing us should have stopped by now, right?" The man called "Lao Ding" stopped to catch his breath.

The voice behind sneered, "Do you think heavy rain can stop the people chasing us?"

Lao Ding naturally knew the answer. He shook his head helplessly and continued his arduous journey, "Old Tofu, do you think... we can get away with this?"

The man called "Old Tofu" replied coldly, "It was only a one-in-a-thousand chance anyway, just taking a gamble. Wait... there seems to be someone ahead."

Lao Ding had obviously noticed the situation as well. Less than ten meters away from them, a figure in a raincoat was standing next to a tripod, looking back at them.

Clearly, the other side had already discovered them.

Lao Ding then chuckled and said, "Brother, we came into the mountains with some friends, but we got caught in a downpour and got separated while seeking shelter. Brother, do you have a cell phone signal? Can we borrow yours to make a call?" As he spoke, he slowly closed the distance between them and reached his right hand into his pocket.

"Old Tofu" followed closely behind, secretly pulling out a short knife and slinging it behind his back.

For these two desperate criminals, regardless of whether the people they encountered recognized them or guessed their identities, they would never let each other go.

As they closed the distance, using the dim light emitted from the various electronic devices and screens around her, which were also covered by tarpaulins, the two were surprised to discover that the tall figure in the raincoat was actually a rather beautiful young woman!

Moreover, the woman seemed remarkably calm, merely observing them indifferently, showing neither fear nor surprise, nor doubt, as if their presence was perfectly natural.

The moment "Old Tofu" drew the dagger from behind his back, a thought suddenly popped into his head: In the middle of the night, in this terrible weather, appearing in these deep mountains with so much equipment, she couldn't be alone, could she?

Just then, his companion in front cried out in surprise, stumbled, and almost fell.

"Something! Something suddenly appeared in front of me! A huge lump!" In his panic, Lao Ding didn't care about anything else. He took out his flashlight, turned it on, and shone it in front of him.

"Old Tofu" noticed that when Lao Ding was startled by something, the beautiful woman in the raincoat quickly raised her right hand and leaned forward, seemingly preparing to pounce on him.

But for some reason, she changed her mind and stayed where she was.

Soon, under the beam of Lao Ding's flashlight, "Old Tofu" realized why she had to stop—several Coin were floating in the air in front of her.

What's going on?

Noticing this, "Old Tofu" stopped in his tracks, but gripped the knife in his hand even tighter.

The scene before me was truly bizarre.

Even more bizarrely, using the flashlight's beam, Lao Ding bent down and picked up the thing that had just startled him from the ground—it was... a pig's trotter?

But they both knew very well that the pig's trotter wasn't thrown by the woman in the raincoat; it was something "they" had created!

The Coin, suspended in mid-air, were distributed around the woman in the raincoat, resembling a group of "bodyguards."

After glancing up at the night sky, the woman in the raincoat suddenly did something even stranger.

She quickly took the camera from the tripod, which was pointing into the distance, and stuffed it into her bosom, then...

He crouched down, covering his head?!

While the two were stunned, they suddenly seemed to sense something and subconsciously looked up at the sky.

In the pitch-black sky, several bolts of lightning surged, accompanied by the faint rumble of thunder. Then all the lightning disappeared, and the surroundings seemed to fall into silence. But in the next instant, a crack-like bolt of lightning spread rapidly from afar, tearing the sky apart.

Then the two of them suddenly had a strange feeling that the lightning bolt connected directly to the ground?

It was as if the earth and sky were connected as one by this lightning.