After becoming a widow, I became the apple of a rough man's eye.

The rain was still falling, and the air in the main room was so damp and cold that it felt like it was going to suck all the heat out of your bones.

"Where do you stay?" Mu Wenbin stood in the center of the room, his gaze sweeping over the several closed doors, finally settling on a crippled octagonal table leaning against the wall.

Qin Lie got up and went to the corner to get a bedding roll.

The quilt cover was made of bright red peony flowers, washed until it was almost white, and had two patches.

He casually tossed the long bench used for eating in the main room, his movements rather unpolite, even kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Here," Qin Lie pointed to the two benches pushed together, "There are three rooms in the house. The second son has a broken leg and takes up one room, the third and fifth sons squeeze into another, and Qingqing lives in the east room. If you don't mind, you can make do with us in the main room."

Mu Wenbin looked at the two long benches, and his brow twitched.

"Is this all?" Mu Wenbin asked.

Li Dongye suddenly remembered something and looked at Mu Wenbin: "Your um..."

Mu Wenbin turned and glanced at Li Dongye.

"Um..." Li Dongye pointed at his shoulder, "Or you could stop pretending here and go ask the village chief if there's any room left?"

Mu Wenbin didn't say anything. He took off his trench coat, hung it on the back of the chair, and then rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, revealing his muscular forearms.

He walked to the basin, washed his hands meticulously, took out a clean white handkerchief from his pocket to dry them, and then went over to touch the quilt.

Lin Qingqing was just bringing out the last dish.

It's called a dish, but it's really just a pot of pickled vegetables and tofu stew with only a few specks of oil, and next to it is a large pot of sweet potato porridge with lots of sweet potatoes and few grains of rice, all watery and not very oily.

They had only been back for two days and hadn't had time to buy meat and vegetables yet. They had planned to go today, but the rain delayed them.

The table wasn't big, and with six people sitting around it, it felt extremely crowded. Mu Wenbin was squeezed between Qin Lie and the wall, unable to even stretch his legs out. He looked at the chipped rough porcelain bowl in front of him and the plate of dark, mushy pickled vegetables.

He didn't touch his chopsticks.

"What, aren't you hungry?" Li Dongye picked up the bowl and slurped down a large mouthful, making a very loud noise.

He deliberately stirred the pickled vegetables in the bowl with his chopsticks, picked up the largest piece of pickled vegetables, and instead of putting it in his own mouth, he put it across half the table into Qin Lie's bowl.

"Brother, try this. Qingqing pickled it; it tastes just right." Li Dongye grinned. "You must be exhausted from repairing the roof, right?"

Qin Lie glanced at the pickled vegetables in his bowl, then at Li Dongye's smug expression, and without interrupting, picked them up and ate them.

"Mm," Qin Lie replied.

Li Dongye got even more excited and put another piece of tofu on Lin Qingqing's plate. "Qingqing, eat some too. Look how thin you are. Your waist isn't even as thick as my thigh."

Lin Qingqing lowered her head, her face almost buried in the bowl.

The space under the table was cramped, and Li Dongye's legs were restless, his knees intentionally or unintentionally rubbing against her calves.

She tried to retreat, but Qin Lie's hard thighs were right there, leaving her with nowhere to go but to eat her rice while her body stiffened.

Looking at this table full of "brotherly affection" and "respect," Mu Wenbin felt it was all absurd.

He picked up his chopsticks, took a piece of sweet potato, and put it in his mouth.

It's sweet and cloying, rough, and even a bit harsh on the throat when you swallow it.

He put down his chopsticks, his appetite completely gone.

"Are you full already?" Gu Qiangying slowly sipped her porridge, her eyes behind her glasses sweeping over the almost untouched bowl in front of Mu Wenbin. "Mr. Mu, you must be used to fine food and can't stomach this coarse grain, right? Well, it's true, we're in a poor, remote place, and it's really unfair to someone as important as you."

"I'm not a picky eater." Mu Wenbin picked up a handkerchief and wiped his mouth. "I'm just not used to listening to opera while I'm eating."

Li Dongye slammed the bowl down on the table. "Then why don't you hurry back to your home?"

"Fourth brother." Qin Lie tapped the edge of the table, his voice not loud, but Li Dongye immediately shut his mouth, though his eyes were filled with resentment.

Qin Lie looked at Mu Wenbin, "Since you're not eating, then go wash the dishes. I've said before, this place doesn't tolerate idlers."

The table fell silent.

Even Jiang He, who had been engrossed in eating, looked up, a grain of rice still clinging to his lips, and stared wide-eyed at Qin Lie.

Mu Wenbin looked at Qin Lie, and Qin Lie looked at him as well.

Their eyes met in mid-air.

A few seconds later, Mu Wenbin stood up, rolled up his sleeves, picked up the bowl, and walked towards the kitchen.

Li Dongye watched Mu Wenbin's retreating figure, opened his mouth, and finally only managed to utter, "Damn, he actually washed it?"

Qin Lie, however, was not surprised.

He and Mu Wenbin had known each other for at least ten years. Although they didn't get along, their bond forged on the battlefield was genuine.

He didn't know what Li Dongye had gone through in J City, but judging from Mu Wenbin's attitude, he was obviously on Li Dongye's side. After all, they were brothers with blood ties, and he couldn't be a troublemaker. If the two brothers really had a misunderstanding, someone had to take the first step.

The rain was still falling, and it was completely dark.

The night in the mountains is pure black; there are no streetlights, only the dim yellow light bulb in the house swaying in the wind.

When Mu Wenbin came out after washing the dishes, the aloofness he once exuded had dissipated considerably, replaced by a more down-to-earth demeanor.

"I want to take a shower." Mu Wenbin stood at the door of the main room, looking at the rain outside.

"In the courtyard," Qin Lie pointed outside.

Following Qin Lie's finger, there was a hand pump well in the corner of the yard, surrounded by a tattered straw curtain. When the wind blew, the curtain flew wildly and could not cover anything at all.

"There?" Mu Wenbin's brows furrowed deeply this time.

"What else? Should I build you a bathhouse?" Li Dongye propped his feet up on the bench and swung them back and forth. "Well water is cooler."

Mu Wenbin took a deep breath and turned to rummage through his luggage.

He took out a clean change of clothes, a towel, soap, and a bottle of shampoo.

These items, placed on the table, seemed out of place with the rest of the room.

He opened the black umbrella and stepped into the rain.

The sound of rushing water came from behind the straw curtain.

Mu Wenbin returned wrapped in a trench coat, his hair still wet, and he smelled of a pleasant mint scent—the smell of shampoo, completely different from the cheap soap that was commonly used in the house.

He ignored the scrutinizing gazes of the people in the room, walked straight to the two long benches, spread his coat on them, and lay down.

The legs are too long, and the feet dangle outside.

He closed his eyes, clasped his hands on his abdomen, and slept in a posture as proper as if he were in a coffin.

The lights in the room went out.

The sound of rain outside the window, Xiao Yong's suppressed cries of pain from the west room next door, and Qin Lie's steady breathing beside me.

Mu Wenbin couldn't sleep at all.

He rolled over, and the bench creaked loudly.

"If you can't sleep, get out." Qin Lie's cold voice rang out in the darkness.

"It's raining outside, that's enough, I'm not in the mood to argue with you." Mu Wenbin lay back down.

Just then, a piercing roar suddenly came from the direction of the village entrance.

The sound of the motorcycle engine was particularly jarring in the quiet rainy night, like a sharp knife slicing through the darkness.

"Buzz—Buzz—"

The sound grew closer, accompanied by splashing mud and water, and finally stopped abruptly at the Qin family's gate.

This was followed by a series of urgent horn blasts.

"Beep—beep—!!"

The men in the room sat up almost simultaneously.

Qin Lie rolled out of bed, and Li Dongye jumped up and rushed to the window to look outside.

Two powerful beams of light shone directly into the courtyard, illuminating even the cracks in the door of the main room.

"Who is it? Looking for trouble in the middle of the night?" Jiang He rubbed his eyes, his face full of morning grumpiness.

Immediately afterwards, a woman's voice pierced through the rain, carrying a hint of arrogance and anger, and boomed over the Qin family compound.

"Mu Wenbin! You bastard! You dare hide from me! Get out here!"

That shout, full of energy, even startled the dog at Wang Dazui's house next door, making it bark.

Qin Lie turned to look at Mu Wenbin, who was sitting on the bench. He couldn't see Mu Wenbin's expression in the darkness, but he could feel the "headache" spreading through him.

"Your debt?" Qin Lie asked.

Mu Wenbin pressed his temples, and a crack finally appeared on his usually stern face.

"It's not a debt." Mu Wenbin stood up, grabbed the black umbrella, "It's a robbery."