The man rushed towards Xu Xingchen with his teeth bared. Xu Xingchen seized the opportunity and when he opened his arms, he bent his waist and slipped out from under his arms.
He ran and shouted: "Help! Robbery!——"
The sound of dogs barking and faint human voices echoed around him. As he approached the alley exit, Xu Xingchen's face lit up with joy. Suddenly, his collar tightened and he was pushed to the ground from behind.
"Fuck you, bitch, how dare you play tricks on me!" The man's eyes were bloodshot, and he pinched Xu Xingchen's neck almost to strangle her to death.
Xu Xingchen couldn't break free, so he kicked the man who was pressing him down.
The air in her lungs became thinner and thinner, and she made a hoarse sound in her throat. She was about to suffocate.
The man with bloodshot eyes had a crazy smile on his face. Xu Xingchen wailed in his heart, this was not just an ordinary robbery, this was a perversion!
"stop!"
"Boom—"
Suddenly, there was a delicate cry accompanied by a muffled sound, and she pinched Xu Xingchen's man, rolled her eyes and leaned back.
Xu Xingchen was able to breathe, gasping for air in big gulps. The suffocating feeling made her vision go black. When she could see clearly, she saw a woman holding a wooden stick in her hand, gasping for air just like her.
She spoke in a hoarse voice: "Thank you... ahem, thank you."
The woman heard the voice, came to her senses, swallowed her saliva and replied, "You're welcome."
Xu Xingchen calmed down a little and sat up. The woman who rescued her had already tied the man up tightly.
She moved her lips, wanting to ask the woman where the rope came from, but just as she was about to open her mouth, the pain in her throat made her cough.
When the woman heard the cough, she remembered that there was a wounded person who needed care. She clapped her hands and walked forward, "Are you okay?"
Xu Xingchen waved her hand to indicate that she was fine. After coughing twice, she cleared her throat and said, "Thank you for saving me, young lady."
"Oh, I'm glad you're okay." Hearing her thanks, the woman wiped her nose and replied proudly, "It's just a small favor, nothing to worry about."
Xu Xingchen smiled. This girl was quite interesting. She picked up the bag that had fallen not far away and breathed a sigh of relief.
The woman stood there and said, "What should we do with this person?"
"Send him to the authorities." Xu Xingchen replied without raising his head.
"Oh~ So you are all sent to the authorities..." She thought she could just order the death by beating.
"What?" The two of them were a little distance apart, and the woman's voice was soft, so Xu Xingchen couldn't hear clearly.
"Nothing, let's take him to the authorities together." The woman rubbed her hands, eager to try.
Xu Xingchen: “…” What’s so exciting about sending someone an official?
The two men dragged the man to the gate of the government office, but the woman suddenly became cowardly and huddled in the corner, waving at Xu Xingchen, "Well...you can take the man in. I won't go in."
Xu Xingchen looked at her suspiciously. Wasn’t she excited to come to the yamen?
But she didn't refuse. She had to go back before sunset and there was not much time left.
After knocking on the red-painted door of the yamen and explaining the situation to the runners, several runners came out and carried the person inside.
After coming out of the yamen, Xu Xingchen glanced around and found that the woman was gone. She muttered to herself that she had not yet properly thanked her.
She stood at the gate of the yamen for a while, but the woman still didn't show up. She didn't want to wait any longer and prepared to leave.
Rounding a corner, the woman jumped out with a "Ha!" "Here I go again."
Xu Xingchen: “…”
She comforted herself that this was a benefactor.
The two walked together for a while and chatted a lot on the way. Xu Xingchen found that although this woman was born in this era, her thoughts were surprisingly open, which made her feel that she had met her too late.
In this way, she would regret not making friends with this friend. "Do you know your name? I can come to your house and apologize someday."
The woman stood with her hands behind her back, facing Xu Xingchen, and walked backwards in front of him. Against the light, she replied in a clear voice, "My name is Hua Luo."
"Hua Luo..." Xu Xingchen chewed it carefully, "My name is Xu Xingchen, you can call me Xingchen."
Hua Luo also felt a sense of familiarity with Xu Xingchen through their conversation. "Okay, Xingchen."
The two smiled at each other.
But Xu Xingchen really couldn't delay any longer. She hesitated a little and said, "Hua Luo, I need to go back now. Where do you live? I'll come to thank you next time."
Hua Luo rolled her eyes, took off the sachet from her waist and handed it to her, saying, "No need. Next time we meet, use this sachet as a token of trust. Wear it on yourself, and I will appear."
Considering that Hua Luo just didn't dare to go to the yamen, Xu Xingchen guessed that the other party might have some unspeakable secrets, so he didn't ask too much and accepted the sachet.
The two said goodbye and Xu Xingchen hurried back to the village.
Before dark, she finally arrived at Sanwan Village and waited for her home.
A group of people gathered at her door. She pushed through the crowd and someone shouted, "Widow Xu is back—"
Everyone made way for them, and the villagers who were moving things in the yard stopped what they were doing and asked, "What are you doing? Why are you moving my things?"
The leading villager rolled up his sleeves, held his chin high and said, "As long as you compensate for the losses caused by the locust plague, we will naturally leave you alone. Otherwise, we will use your belongings to pay off the debt."
Xu Xingchen laughed angrily, "Why? I already said that the locust plague was not caused by wheat."
"There's no reason for that. It's just that everyone planted your wheat and lost it all. It's a question of whether anyone can survive this winter."
The villagers echoed this sentiment, saying, "My family was counting on this year's autumn harvest, but it's all gone this year."
"It's all Widow Xu's wheat. If I had known, I would have planted my own sugarcane."
"Me too, I'd rather grow vegetables."
The unspoken chatter made the leading villager even more arrogant. "Did you hear that? Everyone thinks your wheat, Widow Xu, has caused us to have no harvest this year. So, tell me how you're going to compensate us."
Xu Xingchen gritted her teeth, and at this moment, a villager came out of her house holding a drawer, shouting excitedly: "Money, there is money!"
The villagers rushed forward, and it was too late for Xu Xingchen to stop them. The dozens of taels of silver in the drawer were snatched away in the blink of an eye.
Some people even asked, "These are not enough. My family has more than ten acres of land."
Xu Xingchen had a gloomy face, and the greedy faces of the villagers were reflected in her eyes. She didn't feel sorry for the money, but she was speechless towards these ignorant people.
She said coldly: "I will pay you back all the compensation you want later, now leave my house immediately."
A woman in the crowd walked out with a laugh and jokingly said, "Compensation? Can you afford so much? I hope you don't run away when the time comes."
Xu Xingchen frowned at the person in front of her, "Who are you?" This was the first time she saw this person, and she was sure that this person was not from the village.
The woman put her hands behind her back and said, "I'm from Licheng."
The villagers whispered, "Licheng? Is it the Licheng among the thirteen cities?"
"Oh my god, he's from the city."
Hearing the exclamations behind her, the woman became even more proud. "My name is Wang Muling, I'm Aunt Wang's niece. I'm here to lead everyone to prosperity."
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