Chapter 51: The Thatched Cottage

When Old Man Gou climbed up from the deep pit, he glanced at Old Man Hua and questioned him, "You didn't dig this deep pit, did you?" After that, he lowered his head and walked away.

With nowhere else to go at the moment, he might as well head to the thatched hut at the eastern end of the desolate village. He still remembered visiting that thatched hut on a snowy night, and having a wonderful tryst with its owner. He only wondered where the owner of the hut had gone by now, and whether he had already left.

The owner of this thatched hut was quite young, decent-looking, and honest to a fault, never engaging in verbal disputes with outsiders. He farmed a few meager plots of land and lived a bitter, frugal life. When others struck him, this man never dared to utter a peep; instead, if someone hit his left cheek, he would offer his right cheek to be struck further. Because of this, his popularity in the desolate village was exceptionally high.

Right then, Old Man Gou approached the thatched hut, momentarily at a loss as to what to do. He thought about not going in; after all, the man was such a law-abiding person, and it wouldn't be right to do anything detrimental to him. Yet, since he had already come all this way, how could he simply let it go and not enter? That made no sense—how could a cooked duck be allowed to fly away?

Standing before the dilapidated door of the thatched hut, Old Man Gou was suddenly overcome with a pang of pity. He felt that no matter what, he shouldn't be standing here, as the howling wind outside kept pouring into the cracks, while the person inside coughed continuously in the draft. However, no coughing was heard from the woman of the hut; only the man kept coughing, suggesting that his health must be quite poor.

Old Man Gou didn't have the heart to go in anymore. When people were already in such a state, why go in? What was the point of entering?

He lingered outside the desolate village, listening to the continuous sound of the woman's snoring from within, which stirred a somewhat sweet sensation in his heart. Standing out there in the cold, Old Man Gou pulled out a cigarette and smoked it by himself. With a puff of smoke, he let out a wistful sigh. It seemed that living in this world was no easy task for anyone, including Old Man Gou himself. He currently had no woman; robust and strong-bodied as he was, still no woman was willing to follow him. As for the exact reason, it remained a mystery to this day.

Old Man Gou stood outside the thatched hut like that, smoking incessantly. Then, hearing the sound of a woman getting out of bed from inside, he figured he shouldn't stay there any longer and hid himself in a patch of nearby darkness. The woman pushed open the door, and in the moonlight, her bare bottom could be seen. She then squatted down not far from Old Man Gou to relieve herself. In the dead of night, to a man, that sound was of peerless beauty.

Old Man Gou continued smoking while listening to the man's coughing from inside, a sound that gradually drowned out the noises made by the woman. With another wistful sigh, Old Man Gou lunged at the woman. After struggling for a brief moment, the woman finally acknowledged her defeat, gave up resisting, and accepted the pleasure and humiliation forced upon her by Old Man Gou.

Afterwards, Old Man Gou continued walking onward. The sole purpose of his trip had been to come take a look at this thatched hut, though he hadn't expected to encounter such scenery. Tying his trousers back up, he left again.

Just at that moment, he heard the man inside stop coughing, only to curse angrily about something. To any man, such words remained utterly degrading, yet upon hearing these curses, Old Man Gou accepted them peacefully without any further displeasure.

The man wanted to climb out of bed, but due to his physical condition, he was temporarily unable to move and had to lie back down for the time being. As for punishing the wicked, he could only pin his hopes on the deities of heaven and earth.

Hearing that the man ultimately couldn't get up, Old Man Gou suddenly lost the desire to turn back. Besides, deep in the night with the boundless wilderness stretching out, where else could be called home? He now prepared to follow the woman into the house. Dilapidated though the thatched hut was, it still counted as a roof over one's head, which was certainly better than sleeping out in the open wilderness.

However, before he entered the house, the man let out another fit of violent coughing, followed by an extremely angry roar, as if he no longer harbored any attachment to the bustling human world. Hearing this sound, Old Man Gou shuddered from head to toe; his stride lost its former vigor, and for a moment, he didn't even want to go in anymore.

Glancing at Old Man Gou standing outside, the woman found it inconvenient to close the door either, knowing that he wanted to come inside. If she shut the door, Old Man Gou would have to spend the night out in the freezing gale, and by then, he would probably be coughing continuously just like her husband. Remembering this, a spark of compassion stirred within the woman, and she ultimately refrained from driving Old Man Gou away. Yet she couldn't walk away either, because leaving the door open to let the wind in would be severely detrimental to her husband's health.

The woman looked at Old Man Gou with a reproachful gaze, though she dared not say anything out loud, fearing that if her husband found out in the middle of the night, she would only be left to swallow her grievances in vain. When it came to a physical fight, how could her husband ever be a match for Old Man Gou?

In the moonlight, tears could be clearly seen streaming down the woman's face. So clear were those tears, yet in the eyes of Old Man Gou, they possessed a turbid allure. Seeing those tears reflecting the moonlight, their enchanting charm and peerless romantic grace made him feel that even death right then and there would be entirely worth it.

Should Old Man Gou go in or not?

Old Man Gou wasn't sure either. Yet the biting wind outside was so fierce and bitter that if he didn't go in, things would undoubtedly be quite miserable by tomorrow morning.

Still, Old Man Gou wedged his body into the doorway, stretching his neck out to peek inside and see if there were any terrifying weapons like knives waiting for him. A careful look revealed that there truly were no knives in this place. Reassured, he stepped inside. As he entered, the woman made a feeble gesture of obstruction, while the tears on her face appeared even clearer, more enchanting, and more moving.

Naturally, the woman's resistance was no match for Old Man Gou's brute force. She even worried that her rickety door would break, rendering it unable to block the fierce wind and causing her children to fall ill—for how dearly she loved her children. Releasing her grip, the woman allowed Old Man Gou to push his way in. Dawn had yet to break, and the thatched hut was pitch black, leaving one momentarily unaware of where the woman had gone.

"Where are you?" Old Man Gou asked, his voice lowered like a thief's, making the woman look down on him even more. Could this even be considered a man's voice?

There was no answer. However, he heard a faint rustling sound—a mere light brush against the floorboards—which instantly let Old Man Gou know precisely where the woman was hiding.

Just then, the man on the bed began to cry out. His condition must have been extremely grave, otherwise his cries wouldn't have sounded so helpless. At that instant, a fierce gust of wind howled outside, causing the dilapidated door to slam shut with a resounding crash. Startled, Old Man Gou stumbled and fell right onto the floor of the room.

By now, the man had managed to drag himself up and lit a candle. Though the flame was small, it was enough to clearly reveal who the intruder was.

Catching sight of Old Man Gou, the man for some reason pretended not to see him. Instead, he crawled from the bed, dragged himself to the battered door, and pulled it tightly shut. He then wedged a wooden post beneath the handle so that the fierce wind could never blow the broken door open again, before returning to his bedside with peace of mind. As he climbed back into bed, he cast one final glance at Old Man Gou—a gaze as dim and faint as the light from the most distant star in the sky.

Meanwhile, the woman stepped forward, her features truly exquisite. In the candlelight, her tears remained as clear as spring water. With a sudden puff, she blew out the candle, plunging the room back into near-total darkness where almost nothing could be seen.

After letting out a long, wistful sigh, the man was seized by another fit of violent coughing; clearly, the raging wind outside made him profoundly uncomfortable.

The night was deeply still, while the wind outside gently tapped against the door, causing the rickety wooden panels to emit a faint, rattling sound in the breeze.

By then, Old Man Gou had also climbed onto the somewhat aged bed. Though old, for reasons unknown, the bed felt remarkably warm, and lying upon it, Old Man Gou truly felt a deep sense of comfort.

The howling gale raged on, and the desolate village seemed to tremble gently in its embrace.