Xu Xiuxiu cursed under her breath, feeling uneasy as she watched the small metal slip deftly moving the door latch back and forth. She held her breath, fearful that even her breathing could give her away.
Click! The latch was successfully disengaged, and the wooden door slowly pushed open from the outside.
Bang—
As the intruder's head just entered the room, Xu XiuXiu swung a baseball bat at his forehead. He fell to the ground without making a sound.
Clutching the baseball bat, Xu Xiuxiu stared at the person lying on the ground, her heart drumming with fear before she regained her composure and rushed to the bed. She swiftly picked up little Chen Guang who was asleep and ran to knock on the neighboring Song Family's door.
This was the first time Xu Xiuxiu was so thankful that Song Yuanhuan had found her such a conveniently located house.
Xu Xiuxiu knocked on the door so fiercely that it didn't take long to rouse a number of people. The first one to come out and open the door was Song Yuantao, the eldest son of the Song Family and Song Yuanhuan's older brother. He usually worked at a brick kiln in the county and was home only because he had a rare day off.
"Little sister-in-law, what's going on? Why are you here so late at night? Did something happen?" Song Yuantao asked in surprise.
"Big uncle, a thief entered my house, and I just knocked him unconscious with a stick at the door," Xu Xiuxiu said anxiously, holding onto little Chen Guang a bit tighter.
"What? Which scoundrel dares to do such a despicable thing?" Song Yuantao's face darkened. He stepped aside to let Xu Xiuxiu enter and quickly grabbed a wooden stick from the yard to head towards Xu Xiuxiu's house.
Mr. Song was getting on in years and usually slept soundly, but hearing the knocking, he got up clothed in his robe. Seeing his startled daughter-in-law, he nodded and without a word, also took a stick and followed his son to lend a hand.
"Xiuxiu, are you alright?" Song's Mother Liu Shuxiang also got up and saw Xu Xiuxiu sitting in the living room holding Song Chen Guang. Her heart trembled.
"Mom, I'm fine," Xu Xiuxiu said, her face pale as she shook her head.
To tell the truth, she was purely forcing herself to stay composed. The fear that surged up was too overwhelming; she was somewhat on the verge of collapsing.
"That damned scoundrel!" Song's Mother Liu Shuxiang gave Xu Xiuxiu a look and then anxiously glanced towards the courtyard gate.
Theft was not uncommon in the village, but there had never been an incident where someone dared to break in while people were asleep in their house. Clearly, this person must have been familiar with Xu Xiuxiu's home situation, knowing only a woman and a child were inside, which is why he dared to enter. Thankfully, her daughter-in-law was vigilant – otherwise, who knows how things might have ended!
Thinking of this, Song's Mother Liu Shuxiang also felt a wave of fear and clasped her hands in prayer, murmuring, "May the Bodhisattva protect us."
Song Yuantao, who had gone to Xu Xiuxiu's house with a wooden stick in a menacing manner, and Mr. Song had also returned by now. Both their faces looked quite grim, "Let that kid escape." By the time the two arrived, the intruder had already woken up and run away. If it weren't for Mr. Song turning on the light and noticing some bloodstains at the entrance of the house, they might have thought Xu Xiuxiu was just scaring herself.
"Escaped?" Xu Xiuxiu clutched little Chen Guang, her face turning a shade paler.
She must not have hit with enough force and only knocked the intruder unconscious for a moment. Had she known, she would have struck him with a few more blows when he fell to the ground.
"Hmm!" Song Yuantao nodded helplessly, unable to disagree.
"How did you let someone escape?" Song's Mother Liu Shuxiang wanted to inquire about the details.
"Enough, nothing was taken, and no one was harmed. Let it be; he's escaped," Mr. Song furrowed his brows and, after a moment of silence in front of the living room, spoke, "It's getting late. Wife, take the eldest's room and tidy up Yuanhuan's room so that Xiuxiu can sleep there for tonight." Mr. Song looked at his wife and Wang Qinghua, who had just approached the living room, and gave the order.
"Alright, I'll go now." Song's Mother Liu Shuxiang immediately nodded in agreement and then proceeded with Wang Qinghua to prepare a room for Xu Xiuxiu.
After a long night of turmoil, when Xu Xiuxiu finally lay down with the still sleeping Song Chengguang on Song Yuan Yao's wooden bed, it was almost two in the morning. However, she didn't feel the slightest bit tired. The shock of the night made her truly feel for the first time the sense of powerlessness of living in the eighties.
She knew that the status of women in this era was generally low, as if marrying and bearing children were their destiny. Take tonight's incident for example—if it hadn't been handled properly, she wouldn't have benefited from it at all. If the intruder had been a ruffian who, after being caught, turned around and accused her, tarnishing her reputation, her being alone at home meant she couldn't clear her name no matter what, making it very hard to defend herself.
This, she discerned from the serious expression on Mr. Song's face earlier. Xiuxiu was both relieved that the intruder had escaped and angry that he had gotten away so easily.
Somehow enduring until dawn, the sleepless Xu Xiuxiu finally succumbed to drowsiness and closed her eyes. But little Chen Guang, who had slept through the night undisturbed, began to wake up. The little guy opened his eyes, and upon realizing he was in a different place, he became slightly excited and pouted before starting to wail, "Mommy..." Little Chen Guang had been used to the original host's abuse, used to being alone, but lately he had grown temperamental due to Xu Xiuxiu's spoiling. If he was away from Xu Xiuxiu, he became quite difficult to deal with.
"What's wrong? Don't cry, Chen Guang!" Xu Xiuxiu immediately opened her feigned sleeping eyes and embraced the little one to console him.
"Mommy!" Seeing Xu Xiuxiu, Chen Guang immediately stopped his wailing. His bright eyes squeezed out a small tear, looking pitiful and adorable, immediately melting Xu Xiuxiu's heart. Her worries from the whole night dissipated with the little one's dependency.
At the Song Family's breakfast table the next morning.
Xu Xiuxiu held little Chen Guang and sat quietly eating her porridge when Song's Mother Liu Shuxiang, who brought out a dish from the kitchen, began to speak slowly, "Xiuxiu, how about I tidy up the old west room, and you move in with Chen Guang?" The incident from last night had scared her quite a bit, and she didn't want to see it happen again. Besides, she was not at ease with Xu Xiuxiu living on her own with a child.
Upon hearing this, Xu Xiuxiu paused for a moment, continuing to feed little Chen Guang without showing any reaction. Her gaze subtly glanced at Wang Qinghua, whose face had darkened and seemed hesitant to speak, appearing rather unwilling to have Xu Xiuxiu move back in.
"It's not necessary, Mom. I'm used to living there," Xu Xiuxiu declined gently.
Even though she had been scared enough last night, she had since regained her composure. It was kind of Song's Mother Liu Shuxiang to invite her to move back in, but considering she would have to live with so many people every day, potentially causing friction, that was a minor issue. The key thing was that she would no longer be able to make special meals for Song Chen Guang. Thinking about how she had just begun to fatten him up with some extra care, Xu Xiuxiu declined.