"What should we do? Are they here for the money?"
"After we get through this section, when we reach the fork in the road ahead, we'll split up."
Ji Yanwen hesitated slightly: "Let's split up? You don't mean you don't want to pay, do you?"
A black line appeared on Jiang Bai's forehead.
"Don't worry, I won't renege on my debt. I'm an extremely honest person."
Ji Yanwen moved his lips slightly. Honesty? Not necessarily!
Although he still had doubts, he also wanted to know whether the person following him was after Jiang Bai or him.
He was confident that he had not been exposed.
The two parted ways at the fork in the road, and the people following behind them almost without hesitation went straight down the road Jiang Bai had taken.
When the piercing gaze disappeared, Ji Yanwen breathed a huge sigh of relief.
He pretended to crouch down to pick something up, then took the dagger out of his boot and hid it in his sleeve, which gave him a sense of security.
Meanwhile, Jiang Bai led the people who were following her toward Pingshan. Sensing that the person was still there, she went straight into the mountain.
As the man followed, he noticed that the forest was becoming increasingly dense, and it was pitch black inside, with little sunlight able to penetrate. A chill ran through him, and he stopped in his tracks.
Seeing that Jiang Bai was heading deeper into the mountains, the man gritted his teeth and turned back. Anyway, the girl was probably somewhere in or near the mountains. He could just have Granny Chen ask around in the village.
"I wonder if today's plan will succeed? Chen the matchmaker, Chen residence, I hope Song isn't in the Chen residence."
Jiang Bai murmured to himself, confirming that the person who had been following them had left, before heading towards Jiangjia Village along another road.
The person following them was named Chen San, the nephew of Xu Mama, the head of the kitchen, and also a servant of the Chen family.
"Aunt, we've lost track of him."
"What? How did we lose them?"
"I'm afraid that girl sensed something. As soon as she left the city, she went straight into the mountains. There are wild beasts in those mountains, and I dare not go in."
"Hey, you cowardly brat!" Granny Xu raised her hand to strike, and Chen San quickly begged for mercy.
"Good aunt, although we lost her, I guess that little vixen must be from around the mountains. Granny Chen knows the villages in that area well. Why don't we have Granny Chen go and inquire about her?"
"Then why don't you hurry up and go?"
Granny Xu made a move to hit him again, but Chen San, seeing that things were not going well, ran away quickly.
"You brat, who am I doing all this for?" Granny Xu spat, but there was no anger in her eyes.
Jiang Bai took a long detour, having to avoid people along the way. Fortunately, everyone was either busy drawing water or weeding in the fields, so no one noticed her.
When they got home, Jiang Lu and Jiang Songwen were not there either; they must have gone to the fields to weed.
He took out the salt and herbs he had bought from his basket, hid the silver in five or six different places, covered the places where he hid the silver with soil, and stomped it flat. Then he put away the herbs, seasonings, and salt, put the basket on his back, and headed towards the village in front of the mountain.
Meanwhile, Ji Yanwen, who had returned to Qianshan Village, also encountered trouble.
“Brother Yanwen.”
Not long after entering the village, before even reaching Li Fugui's house, a massive figure rushed towards Ji Yanwen like a mountain crashing down.
She was enormous, weighing about 300 pounds. Her facial features were squeezed together by fat and covered with dense red bumps, making her look quite frightening.
Her eyes, squeezed into slits, were filled with joy, as if she had spotted delicious meat, and she pounced on Ji Yanwen.
His image was reflected in her eyes, and his handsome face deeply attracted her. All she could think of was the scene of her parents being close to each other that she had seen by chance.
They've arrived.
That's the look in her eyes.
A naked, undisguised look in his eyes, as if he wanted to tear him apart and devour him whole.
Ji Yanwen felt a chill run down his spine, his body stiffened, and he turned and ran away.
Li Yao missed her target. She froze for a moment, watched Ji Yanwen run away, her mouth trembled, and she burst into tears, running home.
"Mother, Mother, I want Brother Yanwen to play with me."
"I want my brother Yanwen to play human pyramid with me."
Li Yao, who is already fifteen years old and almost sixteen, still has the intelligence of a three-year-old child. When she doesn't get what she wants, she cries and throws a tantrum at her mother. She swings her mother's arm, which is thicker than her mother's thigh, while crying and acting spoiled.
Madam Cai loved this daughter the most, and hearing her cry broke her heart.
I didn't pay attention to what she meant by "human pyramid".
"The boss, the boss."
Li Fugui was repairing a broken stool at home when he heard his wife calling him, so he hurried inside.
Seeing this familiar scene of his daughter crying and making a fuss, he couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.
"Daughter, did you see that Scholar Ji? He must have ignored you again. Go to his house and see if he's back."
After saying that, Madam Cai whispered to comfort her daughter who was crying loudly, steadyed her body which was being pulled from side to side, took a handkerchief to wipe her tears, and comforted her as she wiped them: "Yao'er, be good, don't cry. Mother will ask Father to find you a husband, and let Scholar Ji be your husband, okay?"
What are you saying?
"What are you saying? Your daughter is almost sixteen and still doesn't have a husband. Since she likes that Scholar Ji, let's just go along with her wishes. Anyway, Scholar Ji is poor and short-lived. Marrying our Yao'er is a blessing he earned in eight lifetimes."
"What if he doesn't agree?"
"He won't agree? With his poor and shabby appearance, what girl besides our Yao'er would be willing to marry him?"
That makes sense.
Li Fugui couldn't refuse his wife, so he took some things and went out to Ji Yanwen's house.
To avoid Li Yao, Ji Yanwen took a long detour. When he got home, he leaned against the door, his mind filled with Li Yao's sticky gaze and the pimples on her face.
It wasn't that he judged people by their appearance, but the way Li Yao looked at him every time made his scalp tingle.
That look in his eyes was exactly like the way a village thug looks at a young girl or wife; it made people very uncomfortable.
The thought that Li Yao was sixteen years old and that she shared the same birthday as him made him feel even more distressed.
Could it be that during the marriage arrangement, she will be matched with him?
Ji Yanwen was greatly frightened and quickly poured himself a glass of cold water. The cool water dispelled the terrible thoughts.
"Scholar Ji, is Scholar Ji home?"
Li Fugui, carrying some wild fruits he had picked from the mountain, knocked on the door by the roadside.
"Uncle Fugui, what brings you here?"
He opened the door a crack, then blocked it himself, without inviting anyone inside.
Li Fugui frowned, thinking that since this scholar's parents died early, his manners were still lacking. After he and his daughter got married, he, as the father-in-law, would have to teach him a lesson.
"Why don't we go sit in the back?"
Since Scholar Ji wouldn't invite him in, he couldn't very well force his way in. So he pointed to the back of Scholar Ji's house, where it was secluded and deserted, and there was a large rock where he could sit down.
"Uncle Fugui, is there something you need?"
Sit? Sit where? The area behind is a mess. It's only because it's near the mountain and there's no road that it hasn't been discovered. He was planning to clean up the area after he finished eating. How could he let Li Fugui sit there?
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