Xiao Feng, who was helping with the evening arrangements, suddenly shivered and looked around uneasily.
His movement caught Tao Lengshuang's attention. "Xiao Feng, what's wrong?"
Xiao Feng shook his head, indicating he was fine, and chatted with Tao Lengshuang with a smile, soon forgetting the strange feeling.
Many hands make light work.
With the combined efforts of the three families, the evening arrangements were quickly made, and numerous traps were set.
"Let's all be vigilant tonight," Tao Lengshuang said with a frown. "Tomorrow, Uncle Wang San and Uncle Shen Er, please set up traps outside."
"We can't truly feel at ease until things improve."
Aunt Shen Er and others understood this perfectly. They were already short on food, and the days ahead would be even more difficult.
The harder the times, the more likely refugees would appear, and refugees would loot everywhere.
"Mo family, you and Xiao Feng rest tonight. We'll keep watch," Aunt Shen Er patted her chest and assured them. "With your medicinal powder and so many of us, nothing will happen."
Tao Lengshuang had no intention of sleeping. She sighed with a worried expression. Just thinking about the increasingly difficult days ahead and the greater dangers that would arise made her uneasy.
After discussing who would guard the first and second halves of the night, the group sat together, chatting by the fire to stay awake.
Later, Tao Lengshuang and her son, Aunt Wang San's family, and Zhuzi went to rest, leaving Aunt Shen Er and Liu Shi to guard the main hall.
Aunt Shen Er and Liu Shi couldn't light a fire, so they sat on the heated brick bed, covered by blankets, chatting or playfully pinching each other to stay awake.
The mother and daughter-in-law's hearts were in their throats, their nerves taut as they stared at the door of the main hall, their ears straining to hear any sounds from outside.
By the time it was time to change shifts, no one had come.
Aunt Wang San and her daughter-in-law, Li Shi, were the ones changing shifts. As soon as they entered, they heard the faint sound of footsteps on the snow and immediately exchanged glances with Aunt Shen Er and her daughter-in-law.
Aunt Wang San and Aunt Shen Er nervously called their husbands, gripping their clubs and holding their medicine packets.
Liu Shi and Li Shi tightly gripped their clubs, creeping forward, their palms slick with cold sweat.
In the moonlight, they vaguely saw several people climbing the wall, and they seemed to hear some sounds.
Without daring to speak, the two exchanged glances and did not rush forward rashly.
Instead, they waited until Aunt Wang San and the others came out before charging forward together.
Just then, the people climbing the wall jumped down.
"Beat these thieves to death, you dogs! How dare you come to steal!"
"Beat them to death, they deserve it. Everyone's struggling, and you come to steal food for survival."
Aunt Wang San and the others truly went all out. With their surprise attack, they sent those people scrambling for cover, and also caused the villagers outside to run away as quickly as possible.
The villagers who were beaten ran away at lightning speed, but Aunt Wang San and the others managed to catch two of them.
Aunt Wang San and Aunt Shen Er recognized these two as people whose families were already struggling.
Seeing Tao Lengshuang come out, Aunt Wang San asked the two men to go inside to watch the children, to prevent any mishaps.
"Mo family, how do you want to deal with these people? They're detestable, coming to steal our grain."
Tao Lengshuang glanced at the two crouching on the ground and said coldly, "Take them around the village tomorrow."
"Tell those in the village who want to steal grain that next time their hands and feet will be broken, or they'll be beaten to death."
Aunt Wang San and the others thought this was a good idea. Parading these two through the village should deter some of the villagers.
Aunt Shen Er found ropes, tied up the two villagers, gagged them, and then threw them into the kitchen.
Afterward, Aunt Wang San and Li Shi continued their watch, while the others returned to their rooms to rest.
They waited for dawn.
Aunt Wang San, Uncle Wang San, and Aunt Shen Er, along with the two villagers, walked slowly and steadily through the village, shouting.
"Anyone who dares to steal will have their legs broken or be beaten to death. Let's see who dares to steal."
Before long, a large crowd of curious villagers gathered, pointing and whispering.
"I heard that many people went to the Mo family to steal again. Everyone else ran away, only these two were caught."
"I heard the Mo family has meat to eat, and endless grain. Is that true?"
"If it weren't true, why would the Shen and Wang families follow the Mo family so eagerly? Mo Lingxi is known for his hunting. Which winter did he not bring back any game?"
The onlookers were envious and jealous. More people were getting ideas, but they were afraid of being beaten to death.
Aunt Shen Er loudly declared, "You've all seen the Mo family's medicinal powder."
"If you have the guts, come and steal at night. Let's see if you can walk out alive."
Aunt Wang San chimed in, smiling without warmth, "It's good that they die. They won't have to starve or freeze, and they won't have to worry about where their next meal comes from."
The villagers hunched their necks, stomped their feet, and their desires grew stronger.
When Aunt Wang San and the other two handed the two villagers over to the village chief and prepared to return to the Mo family, they saw a large group of villagers approaching.
Village Chief Luo saw the crowd and knew these villagers had ill intentions. "It's the middle of winter, why aren't you staying home? What are you doing here at my place?"
Many villagers glanced at Aunt Shen Er and the other two, swallowing hard.
"Village Chief, you must be our advocate."
"No one in the village is living well. Why does the Mo family help the Wang and Shen families but not the village?"
"If the Mo family could spare even a little, everyone in the village could get through this winter."
"Bah! You shameless people!" Aunt Shen Er put her hands on her hips and glared at the villagers. "Who the Mo family chooses to help is her business. Who says she has to help the villagers?"
Some villagers shouted, "Her family is living so well. We're all in the same village, why shouldn't she help the villagers?"
"Exactly. Besides, those people have done so much stealing and petty theft in the village. Now it's time for her to repay."
"If she refuses to repay, then she should get out of our village. Our village doesn't welcome people like her."
Upon hearing this, Aunt Shen Er and Aunt Wang San immediately started arguing with the villagers.
No matter how capable they were, they couldn't out-argue so many villagers.
"Enough!"
Village Chief Luo's face darkened, and he looked at the villagers as if they were fools. "Are you serious?"
The villagers insisted they were serious. They were barely surviving and didn't care if they were in the same village; they just wanted to live.
Village Chief Luo refused to help the villagers. "I'll say this now: whoever dares to cause trouble for the Mo family will be kicked out of this village."
"You want to die, but I haven't lived enough!"
If they truly angered the Mo family's spouse, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Seeing this, the villagers clamored for the village chief to agree.
Many women wailed that they couldn't live anymore and were starving to death, implying that the village chief should help them get grain from Tao Lengshuang.