Xu Mingli hadn't expected the other party to find this place. When he saw the scarred man running over, he was so frightened that his hand went limp and he almost fell off the windowsill. He hurriedly jumped down, not even bothering to brush the dirt off his body, and ran as fast as he could into the depths of the alley.
"Trying to run? No way!" The scarred man gritted his teeth in anger, grabbed a wooden stick from the corner of the wall, and chased after him.
The alley was narrow and piled with residents' belongings.
Xu Mingli had only run a few steps when he felt the footsteps behind him getting closer and closer. When he turned around, he saw that the scarred man was only two or three meters away from him. He was so scared that his soul almost flew out of his body.
In a moment of desperation, he saw a stack of empty pottery jars by the roadside, and without thinking, he grabbed two and threw them behind him.
The earthenware jar crashed to the ground with a loud bang, scattering shards everywhere.
The scarred man instinctively stopped and dodged the shards. When he looked up again, Xu Mingli had run a little further ahead, and had also knocked over the pile of firewood next to him. A pile of firewood rolled in the middle of the road, blocking his way.
"You fucking want to die!" The scarred man's forehead veins bulged with anger. He kicked away the firewood and sped up to catch up. He was about to grab Xu Mingli by the back of his collar when the other man pushed away the old wooden box next to him.
The wooden crate crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The scarred man almost couldn't dodge in time and was hit on the foot.
He could no longer contain his rage and threw the wooden stick in his hand, yelling, "You fucking tried to run away! I'll beat you to death!"
The wooden stick whistled through the air and slammed hard into Xu Mingli's calf with a thud.
"Ah—!" Xu Mingli let out a shrill scream, staggered forward two steps, and his knees hit the ground hard, bleeding.
But he dared not stop. No matter how much it hurt, he couldn't stop, because if he stopped, it would all be over!
He gritted his teeth, pushed himself up, and dragged his injured leg, limping forward as he continued to run. With each step, his calf felt like it was being pricked with needles.
The scarred man, panting heavily, was about to chase after the man and pin him to the ground when his henchman suddenly scrambled over and grabbed his arm. "Brother, don't chase him! The police are here. They've been cracking down hard in town lately, keeping a close eye on us. If you keep chasing, you'll definitely get arrested!"
The scarred man's heart sank. The situation was indeed tightly controlled now, especially for someone with a reputation like him. If he were caught chasing and beating someone up now, who knew what charges would be leveled against him? Not only would he be in trouble, but he might also implicate his brother.
He stared intently at Xu Mingli's receding figure, finally spitting out a curse, "Damn it! That kid's got a tough life!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than the police arrived. "Hey, you guys upstairs, what are you doing!"
"Oh, we were just strolling around, we didn't do anything..."
Xu Mingli ran a long way before collapsing beside a haystack by the roadside, panting heavily, after confirming that the scarred man hadn't caught up.
The spot on his calf where the wooden stick had hit him was swollen and burning hot. Even the slightest movement felt like countless needles were pricking his flesh, causing him to gasp in pain.
The spot on his stomach where the scarred man had kicked him before was still throbbing with pain. Every breath he took felt like a strain on his internal organs, and even his half-crippled right arm started to go numb.
"Why...why can I find someone who knows Xu Xinghe whenever I look for them!" Xu Mingli gritted his teeth, slamming his fist hard on the ground, his fingernails digging into the dirt, but he felt no pain.
He couldn't understand it; he was just... so unlucky!
His plan failed, his arm was crippled, his wife was stolen, and now even when he tries to hire thugs to kidnap someone, he runs into a brick wall and gets beaten half to death!
He mentally recited each of their names, his eyes filled with venom. "You just wait, I won't let this go!"
But after the anger subsided, all that remained was a profound sense of powerlessness.
Xu Mingli tried to stand up, but as soon as he exerted force, a sharp pain shot through his calf, causing him to fall back down.
The soil beside the haystack smelled musty. He looked at himself covered in dust and touched his empty pockets.
The scarred man stole all the money they had prepared, and now they don't even have money to buy a steamed bun.
If he had known this would happen, he wouldn't have stayed in town yesterday. He thought he would rest for the night because of his stomachache and then go back to the village today, but it turned out like this.
I can't go back to that rented room...
Since the scarred man was able to find that place, he would definitely go there to stake it out again; going back would be like walking into a trap.
Xu Mingli could only drag his injured leg and limp towards the edge of the town, each step feeling like walking on a knife's edge.
There was an abandoned livestock shed there, which had been neglected for years. It was filled with hay and garbage and emitted a pungent stench.
Xu Mingli was too exhausted to walk any further, so he could only squeeze into the innermost corner of the livestock shed and sit down against the cold earthen wall.
Insects were crawling on the hay, but he didn't care about feeling disgusted; he just wanted to find a place to hide for a while.
Xu Mingli is now hoping to run into someone passing by...
He hid in the barn for a full hour before finally hearing footsteps outside.
It was an old farmer carrying vegetables on a shoulder pole, passing by the livestock shed.
Xu Mingli quickly got up, enduring the pain, and walked to the entrance of the shed, calling out to the old farmer, "Grandpa, Grandpa, please wait!"
The old farmer stopped and looked at him suspiciously. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"
"Sir, I have an urgent matter I'd like to trouble you with." Xu Mingli tried to make his tone sound sincere. "Could you go to Hongqi Village and pass on a message to Feng Qiushi? Tell her that her friend is here and asks her to come over as soon as possible."
The old farmer frowned. "Feng Qiushi? I don't know him."
“When you go to Hongqi Village, just say you’re looking for Feng Qiushi. You don’t need to know him.” Xu Mingli quickly added, afraid the old farmer wouldn’t help. “Tell her to give you five yuan as a tip, and she’ll definitely give it to you!”
Upon hearing that there was five yuan, the old farmer's eyes lit up, and he immediately nodded, "Okay, I'll pass on the message to her when I pass through Hongqi Village! Don't lie to me, or I'll come looking for you!"
"I'm definitely not lying to you, don't worry!" Xu Mingli quickly assured him.
He felt a little relieved after watching the old farmer leave with his load on his shoulders.
Now we're just waiting for Feng Qiushi to arrive...
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