Chapter 34: Did the Madman Speak?!!

Less than an hour later, Zhou Sinian returned. The speed with which he moved made Ming Dai acutely aware of how much she was slowing things down and how useless she was in comparison.

Without having the time to feel sad, Ming Dai followed him down the mountain.

Zhou Sinian walked with a large sack in hand, striding confidently, occasionally waiting for Ming Dai, who was running to catch up.

Ming Dai could only try her best to keep up, her short legs nearly sparking from the effort.

Finally, they reached the foot of the mountain. Ming Dai, panting heavily, leaned on the sack to catch her breath.

In contrast, Zhou Sinian, with only a light sweat on his forehead, hadn’t even removed his red headscarf, which remained perfectly in place.

Impressive!

Considering her own physical condition and the darkening sky, Ming Dai spoke to Zhou Sinian. “Do you remember the captain’s house?”

Zhou Sinian thought for a moment and nodded.

“When you go down, stop by their place. Borrow three sacks and a cart. Tell them you found chestnut shells while gathering firewood and want to borrow them.”

Ming Dai repeated her instructions several times, ensuring he understood, before pulling out six pieces of candy that Fang Rou had given her earlier and offering them to him.

“Be polite. Knock on the door first, explain the situation clearly, and give the candy to their children.”

Zhou Sinian took the candy and placed it into his pocket.

Since it wasn’t from Ming Dai, it wasn’t worthy of being kept in his chest pocket.

Watching him quickly disappear around the bend in the mountain path, Ming Dai collapsed onto the ground.

Tonight, she was going to indulge in an essential oil spa. She was exhausted!

Zhou Sinian, in his usual brisk manner, hurried down the mountain.

The villagers collecting firewood saw him emerge from Wild Boar Ridge and were startled.

As expected, the madman was indeed a madman, daring to go to Wild Boar Ridge!

Before long, he arrived at the village and walked straight to the captain’s house.

At that moment, the captain’s family was sitting by the stove, using its light to eat. Otherwise, they would have had to light the oil lamp later.

While they were dividing the food, they heard the door being knocked with a loud bang.

Aunt Huang frowned. “Who’s that stubborn little brat, knocking so hard? You’re going to break my door at this rate!”

She then sent her youngest son, Liu Laifa, to open the door.

As soon as Liu Laifa reached the yard, the door was pushed open. He had clearly locked it!

Sure enough, the broken door bolt on the ground was the best evidence.

Zhou Sinian swept into the yard like a whirlwind and immediately spotted the cart parked in front of the stable.

Liu Laifa finally recognized the visitor and, trembling, shouted, “Mom… Mom… Mom!!”

Aunt Huang heard his panicked, almost soul-shaking call and frowned. “Calling me like that, what’s wrong with you? I’m still alive, you know!”

She slapped a cornmeal pancake onto the table, stepped out of the house, slipped on her shoes, and started walking outside, grumbling as she went.

“Who shows up at dinner time like this? No manners at all.”

As soon as she stepped outside, she saw Zhou Sinian reversing the cart in front of the stable. Her words died in her throat.

Zhou Sinian parked the cart and, spotting Aunt Huang, remembered that this was the person he had spoken to a while back.

“Three sacks, gathering firewood, using the cart!”

His words were short and clear, perfectly conveying the message. However, the polite manner Ming Dai had asked him to use was completely forgotten.

Aunt Huang stood frozen in place, not moving. Zhou Sinian seemed to have thought of something, looked around briefly, and then directly barged into the house.

The people inside the house had already heard the commotion caused by the madman and were peeking out through the window.

Aunt Huang watched in terror as the madman walked straight toward her, and she collapsed to the ground in fear.

A sense of despair overtook her as she thought about the money and tickets she had sewn into her underwear. She hoped her husband would find them and not let them burn in the fire!

However, Zhou Sinian stepped right over her and looked toward the people huddled on the heated bed.

His sharp gaze frightened the people on the bed, making them curl up in fear, trembling uncontrollably.

Liu Dazhu’s hand, holding a tobacco pipe, trembled, and the ash from the pipe fell onto his cotton jacket, burning several holes. He didn’t even notice.

Zhou Sinian scanned the room and saw the little boy, Tiedan, curled up next to his parents.

He remembered this boy—he had been to their house.

Zhou Sinian pulled out some candy from his pocket, holding it in his palm, and offered it to Tiedan.

To the Liu family, it looked like a fist the size of a sandbag, aimed straight at the Liu family’s eldest grandson, Tiedan.

“Don’t!”

“Hit me instead! Don’t hit my son!”

“Zhou Sinian, I’ll fight you!”

…

Just as everyone was about to jump up in anger, Zhou Sinian opened his hand, and six pieces of Big White Rabbit milk candy appeared.

He ignored the shouting from the others and kept his eyes fixed on Tiedan.

Why wasn’t the boy taking the candy?!

Tiedan shivered under the intense gaze and slowly reached out his trembling hand. At Zhou Sinian’s urging, he took the six pieces of candy one by one.

Once Zhou Sinian confirmed that all the candy had been taken, he withdrew his hand and, facing the wide-mouthed Liu Dazhu, repeated his request once again.

“Three sacks, for gathering firewood, use the cart!”

Liu Dazhu snapped back to his senses, immediately getting out of bed and heading to the storage room to grab the sacks.

His movements were surprisingly quick, far more agile than one would expect for his age.

Once he had the sacks, Zhou Sinian, feeling satisfied, crossed over Aunt Huang’s body again without sparing her a glance. He didn’t even look at Liu Laifa, who was standing in the yard, shivering. He grabbed the cart and marched off.

It wasn’t until Zhou Sinian and the cart were out of sight that the Liu family finally came back to their senses.

Liu Dazhu and Liu Laifa helped the still-dizzy Aunt Huang back onto the bed and checked her over carefully. She was fine, just frightened.

The family sat back down on the heated bed, glancing at each other, still too stunned to react.

Suddenly, Goudan patted his pants.

“Mom, why are my pants wet?”

When Huang Dalian touched her youngest son’s pants, she found them warm and smelling a bit foul.

“You little brat! Did you wet the bed?!”

Goudan was slapped on the bottom and pouted, “I didn’t!”

In the middle of winter, wetting the bed was the most annoying thing, and after checking, Huang Dalian discovered that only the cuffs of his pants were wet. It wasn’t him after all.

Everyone’s gaze then shifted to Tiedan, who was keeping his head lowered, clutching the candy.

“Brother! Did you wet yourself?!”

Goudan’s high-pitched voice rang out, and Tiedan lowered his head even further.

“Smack!”

A sharp slap landed on Goudan’s head. Huang Dalian looked at Tiedan and spoke up. “What do you know? Your brother wasn’t scared—that’s just a normal reaction. The madman stared at him! If anything, you’d be the one to wet the bed!”

Goudan rubbed his head where he had been slapped, holding back tears as he thought for a moment. Indeed, if he had been stared at by the madman, not only would he have wanted to wet the bed, he might have been scared to death.

“Brother, you’re so brave!”

Tiedan regained some of his pride and coldly nodded. He then shared the candy in his hand with his younger brother and two sisters.

That night, the Liu family’s two grandsons ate their dinner on the heated bed, completely naked and wrapped in quilts.

After the meal, the family lay on the bed, the smell of urine lingering in the air.

The eldest grandson’s cotton pants were drying at the head of the bed.

Suddenly, Tiedan blurted out, “The madman spoke.”

Everyone was startled, and they began discussing it—could it be true? The madman had really spoken!

Meanwhile, Zhou Sinian had already reached the foot of the mountain, pulling the cart down.

After placing the cart down, he grabbed the sacks and headed back up the mountain, not saying a word to Ming Dai.

Ming Dai wasn’t upset. She turned the cart around, placed it next to the sacks, and waited for Zhou Sinian to return and load it.

Before long, Zhou Sinian returned, carrying one sack on his shoulder and holding two more in his hands as he came down the mountain.

Ming Dai took a closer look. Could this guy be some sort of human weapon created by the country? Or did he have Saiyan genes? How was he so strong?

Zhou Sinian, focused on loading the cart, didn’t pay attention to her.

By the time Ming Dai realized what was happening, she was already lifted up and placed in the reserved spot on the cart.

The flatbed cart raced through the night, with the wind slapping their faces. Zhou Sinian seemed to have the vision of a beast, able to see through the darkness. He skillfully navigated the mountain path and safely descended.

By the time they reached the village, it was deserted—everyone was home resting.

Zhou Sinian, with his strong counter-surveillance skills, quietly entered the village, making no noise and stealthily slipped into the yard.