Chapter 104 - Robbery (2/2)
“Take out your money! Otherwise, I’ll kill you!” The masked man tried to make his voice sound deeper and pretended to sound vicious. But there was still a faint sense of immaturity within his voice.
Upon hearing him, Xiaocao had determined that he wasn’t very old and should be at the age when his voice was changing. They had earned more than two hundred copper coins from peddling this morning. In the purse, she not only had the money they earned this morning, but also a deposit of two taels from the restaurant’s boss. She was really reluctant to hand it over obediently.
She stalled for time as she tried to think of a way to get away, “Don’t act recklessly! There’s a lot of pedestrians on this road at this time. Roadway robbery is a felony. If you get caught and sent to the yamen [1], you will first be punished with fifty strikes. Even if you don’t die, your skin will tear off!”
When the masked man heard her, all the flesh on his body trembled. He tightened his grip on the stick in his hand, pointed at the sisters, and angrily said, “Cut the crap and quickly hand over the money!!”
Xiaocao looked around and quietly squeezed Xiaolian’s palm. She suddenly had a look of surprise and loudly shouted behind him, “Uncle Zhao! Did you come to sell game?”
As soon as he heard that it was the skilled fighter Hunter Zhao, the masked man was so scared that the stick in his hand fell to the ground. He turned around and looked behind himself, while he got ready to escape.
The moment he turned his head, Xiaocao pulled Xiaolian and ran in the opposite direction with all her might.
When the masked man saw the empty path behind him, he finally realized that he had been fooled. He scolded at them, “Stinky brats, I definitely skin you alive when I catch you!” After that, he swiftly ran after the sisters.
Although the sisters took the lead, their legs were short and weak, and was soon caught up by the robber. He furiously reached out his hands and pushed Xiaocao very far away. He said fiercely, “You dared to trick me! If I don’t beat you up until you’re crying for your parents, then I won’t go by the surname of…”
He wasn’t so foolish as to tell them his family name, and swiftly stopped himself before he exposed his own surname. He angrily sent a hard slap towards Xiaocao’s direction.
However, at this time, Xiaolian suddenly strode forward and blocked her younger sister. With a sharp sound of the clap, Xiaolian staggered several steps backwards and fell to the ground after being hit. Her fair and tender face instantly became swollen.
Xiaocao rushed towards her to help her up. Her heart ached as she blew on her red and swollen face. She had always protected people who were close to her. For her younger siblings in her previous life, she had been in countless fights with people who had bullied them. She had ‘gloriously’ won the title of a tigress!
She tightened her fist and clenched her teeth. Directly fighting with the opponent would be her last resort. Based on his reaction when she tricked him earlier, he should know Hunter Zhao, Uncle Zhao. In addition, she had this lingering feeling that there was a sense of familiarity from the robber. She suspected that he was someone she knew and could possibly be someone from Dongshan Village…
[Yaaawn… Stop guessing. There’s no one else other than your eldest paternal cousin, who’s lazy, gluttonous, and a good-for-nothing!] The lazy voice of the little divine stone sounded in her ear as the little golden kitten on her shoulder stretched its back.
Yu Ge, Yu Heizi? Xiaocao looked at the other person’s plump figure, who had a sharp rooster-like voice. He appeared to be tough on the outside, but was timid inwardly… It really was him!
Little Divine Stone nonchalantly said, [Little girl, do you want me, this Divine Stone, to use my power and teach that fellow a lesson?] Although the little celestial stone had recognized Xiaocao as its master, it usually didn’t treat her with high esteem.
Xiaocao knew that Yu Ge, appeared fierce and malicious, but he was actually cowardly inside. She recalled how, on the day she woke up, he got so scared that he nearly wet his pants because of a few words. A plan was forming within her mind…
Yu Heizi had secretly eavesdropped on his mother and grandmother’s conversation. He found out that Xiaocao went to the docks every day and earned over a hundred copper coins. Since he was young, his stingy grandmother had always stealthily fed him delicious food behind younger siblings of the second branch’s back, but she had never given him more than two copper coins for allowance. It wasn’t even enough to buy a piece of candy from a peddler.
One hundred copper coins was like a fortune to him. He thought about all the things he could do if he had a hundred copper coins. He would be able to buy two fragrant sesame pancakes stuffed with several pieces of beef and have a good meal in town. He could also buy a pearl hairpin for Xiaoxiang, who liked to dress up, to make her happy.
The next morning, he had heard that the two little girls, Xiaocao and Xiaolian, were the ones going to the docks today, and thus an idea formed in his mind.
[1] Yamen (衙门) - government office in ancient China, which works as a courthouse, police station, etc.