Release that Man

Ye Shuang was under no impression that the countryside aunties were weak, but she did not expect them to be so powerful. Things soon became more serious than she anticipated. Because of a commonplace spring onion, one that sold for several cents at the market, the aunty tore into her neighbor’s home without holding back. The event got so big that it involved the village head. She not only peeled off the clothes of the woman of the house, she even smacked the head of the man of the house.

“What should we do next?” When Ye Shuang arrived, the fight was already over. The participants and observers all moved to the village head’s house to settle this, and only the crumbling crime scene was left behind. Su Zheng’s face was flushed. It was unclear whether it was from shock or excitement. When she saw Ye Shuang and Anthony, she burst over. “Brother Shuang, Brother Shuang, what should we do next? This has gotten quite huge, and I believe the aunty will not let this go so easily. Even if there is no second fight this week, there will be plenty of mocking when they cross paths.”

“That is where you are wrong.” Ye Shuang shook her head. “Based on my prediction, this kind of aunty will remember the offense for decades.”

Su Zheng’s eyes were round. “Just for a spring onion?”

Then, she pulled out the trigger of this whole event… the spring onion that was slightly crushed from her grip. Her face was piled up with disbelief. “That’s not necessary, is it?”

“Sometimes, it’s hard for us to gauge other people’s point of view.” Ye Shuang shrugged before quickly adding, “You’d better find a chance to destroy the evidence. If you’re seen, the neighbor will call ally to join the battle—can you imagine the trouble you’ll be in then?”

Having seen the battle with her own eyes, Su Zheng was incredibly worried. She swiftly put the onion back. Then she looked around and patted her chest. “Thankfully, no one saw me.”

Anthony had already scoped out the perimeter. He also tossed several things the size of small beans about, which were used to collect nearby electronic signals. It was to create a temporary server. “What should we do now? Even if there aren’t many people here, and everyone’s focus is pulled to the village head’s home, they will soon discover us three outsiders.”

Ye Shuang thought about it but could not come up with an answer. She was angered. “It is all because your golden hair is too eye-catching. Things would be so much easier otherwise!”

Anthony fought back. “You are not that low profile yourself.”

And then she pulled Su Zheng into the ring. “She is another one… Have you seen a girl so fair and pretty around here?”

Su Zheng blushed. “Eh? Thank, thank you…”

Ye Shuang held her forehead. “This is no time for arguments. How is your server set up going? We’ll talk as we move. We at least need to move away from the center of the road for now.”

What Anthony had dropped was a signal collector and amplifier. To put it simply, it was not that different from a mobile signal tower. It was merely simplified. The purpose was to collect the electronic signal within a certain range, and using the small devices to act as each other’s pit stop, the signals would be amplified through this process and sent to Anthony’s laptop as a clear message. The collection range included all the electronic devices and those that used the internet like the most common mobile phone and PC.

Actually, if there was the support of data line and entry, Anthony could hack into every home’s server and, from there, survey everyone. The regretful thing was that the people in this village did not watch the television that much, or the time they used the television was too uniform. Most of them used the TV after they ended their work, so temporarily, even if he hacked into the server, he would not find anything useful due to the surveillance range and timing. In fact, it was easier to find other signal sources.

Nature Village had no hotels. Ye Shuang experienced the pain of that once again, seeing as it was lunch time, and hunger came easy to her. But this place was somewhere that was difficult to buy a bun. There was only a convenience store selling lighters or soy sauce within a ten miles radius, and the only source of food was biscuits… and that was if she dared show herself.

“So, what do we do now?” Hiding inside a valley outside the village, Ye Shuang rubbed her stomach as she asked Anthony next to her, “Is there anything useful?”

“Things won’t happen so fast.” Anthony was focused on the screen. As he filtered through the information, he answered, “At this time, most of the villagers are working, and other people with free time are going to the village head’s place to witness the fight. In any case, there are not many people who are using the internet at this moment. Even if those people’s partners are hiding here, they won’t be maintaining a constant communication. This time, we have to rely on luck.”

The unlucky Ye Shuang had nothing to say. She knew that many things could not be forced. Other than planning and her ability, they sometimes needed a little patience and luck. But she was in pangs of hunger. If she did not find anything to distract her attention, the clawing feeling from her stomach was going to make her crazy.

“What’s wrong with you, Brother Shuang?” Su Zheng, as a girl, paid more attention than Anthony. Seeing how pale Ye Shuang’s face was, she came over to ask with concern, “Are you not feeling well?”

“It’s fine. I’m just hungry.” Ye Shuang winced.

Su Zheng was shocked and asked with pity, “You’re so hungry that you’re breaking out in cold sweat?”

Ye Shuang rolled her eyes. She did not reply to save energy. Who knew Su Zheng was really a caring person?

After a moment, Su Zheng leaned in closer to whisper, “Actually, I noticed that every house here has an underground cellar. Earlier, I saw that one of cellars was open, and there were potatoes and preserved meat in there. Do you want me to steal some for you?”

Ye Shuang swallowed her saliva and thought about saying yes. Just as she was about to break through the last line of her morality, Anthony said with impatience, “It’s one thing to escape from capture, it’s one thing to steal a spring onion, but it’s another to steal from someone’s cellar. What if you’re captured? Plus, I’m hungry as well, but I don’t think it’s that difficult to suffer a little hunger. Do you really want to risk exposure because you want something to munch on?”

That would be incredibly stupid. If they were exposed, at least be it for something high tech. But to fail because of food? If this incident was shared with other people, Anthony would have a hard time showing his face before his friends.

Ye Shuang teared up. “…Never mind then, I can hold it in.”

If she could not, she would just pull up a weed and chew on it.

“Oh.” Su Zheng sat back defeatedly.

Anthony typed on the keyboard for a while before suddenly raising his head to ask, “Wait, did you mention a cellar earlier?”