The Bank Burglary Case (17)

Chapter 17

The location of Yun Song and the others was quite peculiar. It and the surrounding mountains formed the shape of a ladle. The area where the villagers lived was the depression of the ladle, so leaving the residential area in any direction meant walking uphill.

Mei Qiang did not lead the group toward the caves in the south. Instead, he headed in the opposite direction.

His logic was simple. He planned to lead them in circles around the mountain, believing that after two or three hours of trekking, there was no way they wouldn’t be exhausted.

His wife was fuming with anxiety, while the police officer, Yun Song, simply followed. The three of them continued up the mountain.

When other villagers saw them, they noticed the stern expressions and the presence of a police officer. It was obvious something was wrong. Who could resist asking a question or two?

“Second Aunt, where are you all heading in such a rush?”

“Don’t even get me started, I’m furious. He went out to graze the sheep today and ended up losing nine of them. The police officer is helping us look for them.”

“They must still be on the mountain. You’ll definitely find them if you look.”

They encountered several people along the way, and every single one had to ask.

Soon, everyone knew about it. That was how things worked in the village; everything was talked about openly.

News traveled fast in the village. Xiao Mei had just finished her homework and was preparing to go up the mountain to find her mother.

Xiao Mei’s parents had harvested their rice over the past two days. They were waiting for two days of strong sun to dry it before taking it to the market to sell.

Xiao Mei’s school fees had been borrowed. Her parents had spent the last few days calculating how much money they could make from the sale after setting aside their own food rations.

The money certainly wouldn’t be enough, so Ning Xiangxiu had gone into the mountains today to see if she could catch a snake or two to bring back. Xiao Mei’s father, meanwhile, was in the fields looking for Slug Moth Cocoons to see if they could be sold for a bit of cash.

Having finished her homework, Xiao Mei also wanted to find her mother in the mountains.

She had just crossed a field ridge¹ when she heard people talking about the situation.

It was common for sheep to go missing. She originally thought about joining the search; perhaps if she helped find them, Second Grandpa and Second Grandma would give her a little money. However, she didn’t know which direction Second Grandpa had gone.

She walked back and happened to see the sheepfold at Second Grandpa’s house. The remaining sheep were still bleating loudly.

Xiao Mei was a very clever girl. She thought to herself that she could try taking one of the sheep out to help find the others.

She ran to Second Grandpa’s sheepfold.

Her older cousin happened to be returning from the mountain at that moment.

“Xiao Mei, what are you doing there?”

“Cousin, I’m going to help you find the sheep. I’ll use a sheep to find them.”

The cousin found it amusing. A sheep wasn’t a dog, but since Xiao Mei wanted to do it, she let her. She said, “Go ahead then. Just don’t lose the sheep you’re taking with you.”

Which sheep should she choose?

Xiao Mei noticed one sheep inside the pen that seemed particularly anxious, constantly stomping its hooves.

She figured this sheep must have a good friend on the mountain who hadn’t returned, which was why it was so restless.

She quickly led the sheep out. She was actually a bit afraid of losing this one; she wanted to earn some credit, and it would be bad if she made a mistake instead.

Her family was short on money right now and couldn’t afford such a mishap.

So, Xiao Mei grabbed a piece of rope from nearby and looped it around the sheep’s neck.

“Lead me to find the other sheep.”

The large sheep seemed to understand her. It quickly headed toward Wushao Mountain to the south.

Xiao Mei followed immediately. She thought that if she found all the sheep by herself, Second Grandpa’s family would surely be delighted.

Xiao Mei also thought she might run into Yun Song and Second Grandpa on the way. Then they could all use this sheep to find the others together, and Yun Song would definitely think she was very smart.

With that thought, she ran even faster.

Wushao Mountain was covered almost entirely in pine trees. It was the busy farming season, so not many people had come to sweep up pine needles². As soon as she entered the forest, she was stepping on a thick layer of them.

There were fewer crops in this area, so there were fewer people. It felt like entering another world.

“Auntie Yun Song!”

“Second Grandpa!”

“Second Grandma!”

Xiao Mei shouted as she walked, and the sheep in front of her bleated in response.

Strangely, it seemed as though she and the sheep were the only ones on the entire mountain.

“Little Black, did you remember wrong?” Xiao Mei noticed this black sheep had a tuft of black fur on its head, so she gave it a name.

“Could they be on a different mountain? We’ve walked so far and haven’t run into a single person.”

“Baaa!”

“Baaa! Baaa!”

The sheep bleated even louder.

Xiao Mei decided to trust the sheep one more time and continued upward.

The girl and the sheep crossed half the mountain. Along the way, she found many Green-headed mushrooms³. Xiao Mei pulled a stalk of cogon grass⁴ and threaded the mushrooms onto it, hanging them from her body.

If she didn’t find the sheep, it would still be nice to have mushrooms to eat when she got back. Her family was poor now and had to be frugal.

After crossing another mountain, Xiao Mei was out of energy.

She found a patch of clean grass and lay down. The sheep was tired too, so it began grazing on the grass to regain its strength.

Watching the sheep eat, Xiao Mei couldn’t help but say, “I really think you might have remembered wrong. Where did your sheep friends go?”

“Baaa!” The sheep stopped eating and bleated at Xiao Mei.

“Don’t just bleat at me. Think quickly, where are they?”

“Baaa!”

“Baaa! Baaa!”

“Baaa!”

Xiao Mei wondered if she was so exhausted that she was hallucinating the sound of many sheep bleating in her ears.

She scrambled up and listened intently.

“Baaa!”

Beside her, the sheep that had been grazing stopped and began running in one direction.

Xiao Mei forgot her fatigue and ran after it.

She pushed through a large thicket of bamboo and soon saw the sheep ahead.

What a clever group of sheep; they were all hiding inside a cave.

Xiao Mei began to count.

One, two, three…

Wait, Second Grandpa’s family said nine sheep were missing. Why were there only eight here?

Xiao Mei looked around inside the cave and saw a lamb lying down in a spot where rapeseed stalks were piled up.

“Come out, come out!”

Xiao Mei went to shoo the lamb. The lamb stood up and kicked its legs twice, and then Xiao Mei saw red paper fluttering out.

Xiao Mei’s eyes took in the information, but her mind hadn’t yet processed what she was seeing.

What was this red thing?

The number one hundred and the face of a great man⁵ came into view.

Xiao Mei had only lived thirteen years, and in her entire life, she had only encountered a hundred-yuan bill once.

That was when she needed to pay her school tuition.

Her mother had taken her, carrying a torch, to the neighboring Yulan Town to find her aunt and borrow money.

Her aunt had given them two hundred yuan back then. Xiao Mei was a clever child; she still remembered her uncle’s dark expression and her mother’s apologetic smiles.

She also remembered her aunt’s mother-in-law in the courtyard outside, hitting the chickens with a bamboo pole, cursing as she struck: “You barely lay any eggs, yet all you know is how to eat the family’s grain! What kind of wealthy family do you think we are! I’ll beat you to death! I’ll beat you to death!”

Standing behind her mother at the time, she had desperately wanted to say forget it, let’s not go to school, she could still make something of herself without an education.

But her mother seemed unable to see her uncle’s dark face, and she seemed unable to understand the words the mother-in-law was shouting outside, as she continued to offer pleasantries.

In the end, they got the two hundred yuan. Her aunt’s eyes were brimming with tears as she whispered privately that they must pay it back before the New Year.

On the way back, Xiao Mei had only touched the money twice. At the time, she simply felt that the bills gave off a very uncomfortable scent.

But now, scattered on the ground one after another, were nothing but hundred-yuan bills.

Xiao Mei looked at the vast amount of money.

She was stunned.

What should she do? What should she do!

Xiao Mei took a deep breath, then another.

She crouched down and touched the money. Oh, it was real. So much money.

She picked them up one by one. There really was so much money!

One hundred, two hundred, three hundred…

It smelled so good, and it felt so good to the touch…

Translator’s Notes