1940s: I supported my wife and sister-in-law by hunting.

It was freezing cold outside, and the northwest wind was howling, cutting like a knife into your face.

The whole village was deserted, with hardly any adults wandering around outside.

At the foot of the mountain, there were several boys and girls, half-grown, sitting on the snow slope, playing wildly with wooden shovel handles in their hands, while two men were chopping firewood at the foot of the mountain with axes.

Apart from these few people, there wasn't a soul in sight along the entire road; every household had their doors and windows closed and were staying indoors.

Chen Gaoshan took a roundabout route and found his way to the back of Zhu Mantang's house.

He carefully scanned the surroundings to make sure no one was around, then took out a wooden ladder from his spatial storage and propped it against the high wall of the Zhu family's backyard.

He nimbly climbed up, peeked into the yard, and saw that the backyard was empty and quiet.

He simply climbed over the wall and casually put the ladder into his spatial storage to avoid being discovered.

With a light leap, he silently jumped into the Zhu family's courtyard.

The moment he landed, he immediately crouched down, lowered his body, and quickly moved along the wall to the window in the middle courtyard.

The moment he regained his footing, he instantly vanished into the space.

Then he raised his hand and adjusted the spatial flow rate, making the time inside and outside exactly the same.

Looking at the large split screen in the space, the images and sounds from the main room in the Zhu family's courtyard were clearly displayed.

Inside the room, two strange men were eating noodles from large bowls, their voices hoarse and their demeanor thuggish.

"Mantang, your father was an old man from Black Tiger Mountain! Now we brothers have suffered a great calamity and have nowhere to turn. The two of us brothers will go down the mountain and into the village to explore the way."

"You know that gang from Bear Ridge, right? A hundred or so big guns, all wiped out by Eighth Master Gray's men. They're definitely coming for Black Tiger Mountain next! We're just waiting here to lay low and avoid trouble. You're not unhappy about that, are you?"

Inside the house, Zhu Mantang watched the two of them intently making noodles, and his heart ached terribly.

These days, food is incredibly precious, and wheat flour is an even rarer commodity. Even our own families are reluctant to eat it every meal. Yet these two big-bellied outsiders are eating bowl after bowl, completely wasting food.

But he dared not utter a sound, much less tell people to leave.

He cursed his damned father in his heart.

His father used to be the bearded man of Black Tiger Mountain, but later he wanted to live a peaceful life and left the gang as the leader of the incense-pulling gang.

He suffered a lot after leaving the group, completely ruining his health, and died in his early forties.

It's peaceful when someone dies, but they're left with a huge mess that's hard to untangle, and it'll drag him down sooner or later.

Zhu Mantang smiled cautiously and asked tentatively in a low voice.

"Third Master, Bear Ridge was a major stronghold, with over a hundred men. And they just wiped it all out like that?"

The man slurped down the noodles in his mouth and replied.

"Of course! Otherwise, the chief wouldn't have been in such a hurry to send us two brothers down the mountain to scout! Stop dawdling and hurry up, tell your wives to make us two more bowls of noodles! This bowl is barely enough to fill a tooth gap, it won't satisfy us at all!"

He stared at the empty bowl of noodles on the table, his eyes twitching.

The flour at home was saved up for holidays and festivals, and today these two outsiders ate most of it.

"Okay, okay, I'll call my people right away and they'll make you two noodles right away, as much as you want, as much as you want."

Another man sitting on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) glanced at him sideways.

"Stop being so stingy! Your dad was a big shot back in the day, how come you're such a spineless coward? You're so weak and spineless."

"We're giving you face by coming to your house today. Once Eighth Master Hui's men reach Black Tiger Mountain, the brothers on the mountain will scatter and a bunch of them will come to your house to stay. You won't even have time to serve them."

Zhu Mantang lowered his head.

If he had known these two scoundrels were coming, he would never have opened the door yesterday.

But it's too late to say anything now. The person is already in the hospital and has eaten at his house. There's no way to get rid of him now.

He could only nod and bow in agreement.

"Yes, yes, you two are right. I'm just a farmer, timid and ignorant."

The third leader scoffed and casually slammed the bowl onto the kang table.

"That's right, we two brothers aren't just here to lay low, we're here to find out what's going on."

"You have to tell us in detail who in this village is rich, who has a lot of grain stored, and who has valuable items."

"Once the main force comes down from the mountain, you'll get your share of the benefits. We'll stay here until Eighth Master Gray's men leave and the storm passes before we go."

Zhu Mantang rubbed his hands together and leaned over to the two men with beards to start a conversation.

"Third Master, I've come up with a plan. Now that all the poles over at Bear Ridge are gone, the next wave will definitely be our Black Tiger Mountain. You won't be able to hide at all."

"Instead of just sitting here waiting for people to come, we might as well go down the mountain and pull off a big heist! There are quite a few families in our village with savings. Wang Changfa's family is the most well-off, with a lot of grain and silver stored up. Then there's Chen Laonian's family and Liu Chunlei's family, all of whom are experienced hunters who go into the mountains to hunt year-round. They definitely have a solid fortune."

"After you finish this job, take the brothers and run as far away as possible. I heard that Hecheng is remote, and Eighth Master Gray's men haven't gone there yet. It's safer to hide there."

He frowned again as he spoke, feigning distress, and then tried to elicit sympathy.

"There's one problem: our village is full of all sorts of people, and my little courtyard is only so big. If twenty or thirty brothers suddenly come, we won't be able to hide them at all. If someone runs out and informs Eighth Master Hui's men, you won't have a peaceful stay."

At this point, he started trying to curry favor again, trying to connect with Black Tiger Mountain.

"My father was a retired leader of the Black Tiger Mountain bandits. The name of Black Tiger Mountain was earned by my father and the bandit leader back then. Without Black Tiger Mountain, there would be no Zhu family like us."

"I remember this kindness in my heart, so I specially prepared five hundred catties of grain for my brothers. It's all packed up and ready to serve as sustenance and travel expenses for you. What do you think of this arrangement?"