Good morning!
Li Baobei smiled faintly and greeted her.
Jia Lin dared not look at her anymore, thinking to himself, "It must be because she's too old to have married yet that she finds men attractive."
He was internally devastated.
Anji glanced coldly at the two people who had their heads down, then picked up his teacup and continued drinking.
"A beautiful appearance really does cause trouble."
She glanced up at Li Baobei, who was sitting down gracefully, and said, "But it's good that she's pretty."
(A large-scale, silent demonstration of double standards.)
Soon the waiter brought out some delicious food, and the four of them began to eat.
Li Baobei was eating her steamed bun in small bites when she suddenly heard two people eating next to her talking quietly.
She then pricked up her ears and listened secretly.
Passerby A: "Did you see that? Over on Ping'an Street, six or seven bandits died suddenly. The deaths were quite gruesome. They were all killed with a single blow, and I heard there were no signs of resistance at all."
The other person looked surprised: "Really? I didn't hear anything about it today?"
Passerby A: "You still don't know? When they found him this morning, his body was already stiff. The government just hastily carried him away. It's a relief that those wicked bandits are dead."
Passerby B: "Who exactly committed the murder? Do you have any inside information?"
Passerby A: "I haven't heard any rumors yet. In my opinion, it's probably some chivalrous knight who came to help those in need."
Passerby A suddenly lowered his voice: "If we could take that big corrupt official down, that would be even more exciting, sigh!"
"Shh~"
Passerby B quietly made a shushing gesture, then carefully looked around and whispered, "You can't say things like that. The county magistrate controls Ning'an City now. I heard that the bandits are all his henchmen, and he might even have spies around him!"
Li Baobei listened quietly to their conversation, glancing at An Ji discreetly. An Ji continued eating his breakfast without a trace of emotion.
Li Baobei swallowed hard: "As expected of my handsome older sister, I must love her fiercely!"
Then she looked at Anji with adoring eyes. Anji felt her burning gaze and then coughed awkwardly.
Li Baobei suddenly realized what was happening and continued eating the steamed bun.
The two passersby next to them continued talking.
Passerby A: "Did you know that a high-ranking official recently came from the capital? I think his surname is something like He. I heard he's known as the Living Yama in the capital."
Passerby B: "Everyone in the city knows this! But I think I'm going to die in this Ning'an City, which eats people up without spitting out the bones."
Upon hearing this, Li Baobei suddenly felt a pang of anxiety, her face turned deathly pale, and she even dropped the chopsticks in her hand.
With a loud "clang," everything seemed to fall silent.
Two passersby immediately turned to look at her with puzzled expressions. Li Baobei quickly bent down to pick up the chopsticks.
Where did my chopsticks go?
Only after her pale face regained its composure did she sit up again, as if nothing had happened.
The passerby continued talking.
Passerby A: "Brother Liu, what makes you say that?"
Passerby B: "Alas! Several imperial envoys have come to Ning'an County before, but they all died tragically. Even the people sent from the palace couldn't find anything wrong with them. They just disappeared without a trace."
I think this is the only way out for Ning'an County. No one can save it now. Even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake. Alas..."
Passerby A: "Sigh, yeah! What can ordinary people like us do but accept our fate? Let's have a drink and drown our sorrows."
Passerby B: "Come on, have a drink."
The two of them drank in silence.
Li Baobei has completely lost his appetite; his mind is filled with He You.
Li Baobei then took out three one-hundred-tael silver notes from her sleeve and gave them to Jia Lin.
"You should go back to the village!"
Upon hearing Li Baobei's words, Jia Lin and Gou Dan suddenly felt as if they had been abandoned.
The two of them knelt down straight off the stool.
"Young master, please don't just abandon us like this! Gou Dan and I are both orphans. We really don't know where else we can go but with you, sob sob sob..."
The two grown men broke down in tears in front of everyone.
Li Baobei felt like she wanted to disappear into a crack in the ground when everyone in the hall looked at her.
But she continued, feigning indifference, "When did I say you couldn't follow me?"
The two looked at Li Baobei with teary eyes and hesitated.
"It seems that they didn't say that."
"Please sit up first."
Li Baobei frowned, her tone icy: "If you don't get up, I'm really going to kick you out."
The two of them immediately stood up and sat down, but they remained motionless except for their eyes.
They looked like two children being criticized.
Li Baobei really wanted to laugh at that moment because they looked so silly and dumb!
She suppressed her inner thoughts and said, "I told you to take the money and buy some useful things to take back to the village to help those in need. I'll come back to you once I've finished my business. If things don't go well... then I might never come back."
Li Baobei's expression gradually became serious.
Jia Lin and Gou Dan seemed to sense her predicament and then fell silent.
"What is the name of your village?"
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