Chapter 90: This Young Lady Looks Unfamiliar

Xia Yan jogged over and scooped Lin Hongzhuo into her arms, quickly checking him over for any injury. Only after she saw that the skin on the back of his hand had been scraped a little did the knot in her chest finally loosen.

She brushed the dirt from Lin Hongzhuo’s clothes, then straightened and turned to face the woman who had been cursing nonstop. Though Lin Hongzhuo had run quickly just now, he had still kept to the edge of the road.

“Have you finished shouting? You weren’t even looking ahead while riding your bike, just craning your neck left and right the whole way—what are you so smug about? I was about to ask you for an explanation, and now you’re the one cursing us first.”

The woman got to her feet and strode over to Xia Yan. She was more than half a head taller.

“What the hell are you? This brat hit my bike, and now you want me to explain myself? Let me tell you, this bicycle is a Tongcheng brand—brand new! Now the wheel is flattened. You’re paying for it!”

“Pay?” Xia Yan sneered when she saw how unreasonable the woman was. “You ran into my son and still want me to pay? Don’t you think that’s ridiculous?”

“It was clearly your son who crashed into my bike.”

As she spoke, the woman sized Xia Yan up. Seeing that Xia Yan was so young yet had a son that old, she immediately sneered, “So young and already a mother. What, did you learn to climb into men’s beds when you were a child? No shame.”

The words had barely fallen when a sharp crack rang out. The woman clutched her face at once. “You dare hit me? Do you know who I am?! I’ll fight you to the end.”

She was big-boned, but the only things she knew how to do were grab hair and kick at the belly.

Xia Yan was different. Having learned Wing Chun, she easily dodged the woman’s flailing hands, stretched out a leg, and gave a light trip. The woman went sprawling face-first onto the ground.

She lay there for quite a while before struggling back up. When she did, one of her front teeth was on the ground, making her look absurd.

Staring at the tooth, she wiped her mouth with her sleeve. A streak of bright red immediately stained the fabric. Then, as if mad, she bent over and charged Xia Yan.

This time she had grown smarter. She wrapped both arms around Xia Yan and slammed her toward the wall.

In a contest of finesse, Xia Yan could win easily, but in brute force she was far from a match.

A dull thud sounded as Xia Yan’s back crashed hard into a telephone pole nearby, and for a moment it felt as though her whole body had fallen apart in pain.

“Mom!”

“Xia Yan!”

“Sis!”

Seeing Xia Yan being struck, the three children cried out at once and rushed over anxiously to help.

Lin Nuannuan threw her strength into it and clung to the woman’s leg, Lin Hongzhuo bit down on the woman’s exposed wrist, and the eldest, Lin Hongzhe, leaped up, landing directly on the woman’s back and yanking her hair from behind.

The woman was no pushover either. Enduring the pain, she lifted her leg and kicked Lin Nuannuan away.

By now more and more people had gathered to watch. A woman wearing a green headscarf hurried over and picked up the little girl who had fallen on the ground. She had just begun to ask what was going on when Lin Nuannuan, forgetting all about the dirt on her body, ran back to cling to the woman’s leg again.

Seeing her daughter kicked, Xia Yan somehow found the strength to heave the woman over and slam her to the ground.

“Fine, you’re relying on numbers, are you? All right. Just wait for me...”

The woman struggled up from the ground. Seeing she was no match for Xia Yan, she pushed her bicycle and turned to leave, not forgetting to throw down threats as she went.

As soon as the woman left, the woman in the green headscarf came over and kindly warned her, “Girl, you’d better take the three children and go. That woman isn’t someone you can afford to offend.”

“What’s there to be afraid of? If she comes again, I’ll just beat her and make her leave,” Xia Yan said as she crouched to brush the dirt off Lin Nuannuan. “Nuannuan, did you get hurt when you fell just now?”

“No, Sis. Nuannuan doesn’t hurt at all.”

Seeing Xia Yan so unconcerned, the woman grew anxious. “That woman is called Li Sanxia, the younger sister of Li Dagou.”

“Sanxia? I’d still call her ‘Great Dam’ for all I care. What’s this about big dog and little dog? Are they going to eat me alive or something?”

Xia Yan picked up Lin Nuannuan and wiped the dust from the little girl’s face.

“Oh dear, Li Dagou is a notorious ringleader among the local hooligans. Back in the day he was the chief enforcer for the Zhao landlord family. Now that the Zhao family has been dealt with by the authorities, he’s the most vicious one in town. You’ve beaten up his sister; he’ll definitely come looking for trouble.”

Barely a moment after the woman finished speaking, noisy voices rose from not far away. Li Sanxia was following beside a man, pointing in Xia Yan’s direction while talking nonstop.

The woman’s face changed. She hurried off with her head lowered, not daring to linger another second, afraid of getting dragged into trouble.

Xia Yan had not expected this woman to call people so quickly. It had only been a few minutes, and she had certainly not expected the woman to be the sister of the local gang boss.

“Brother, it was this vixen. She wrecked my bike and hit me,” Li Sanxia said, her expression twisted as she pointed at Xia Yan.

Seeing that the other side had more people, Xia Yan shielded the three children behind her. “You even called people over? I thought you were supposed to be something impressive.”

Li Sanxia was just about to say something when a hand appeared in front of her and stopped her.

“Brother...”

“This sister looks unfamiliar. Haven’t seen her before, have we?” Li Dagou said, trying to sound learned.

At first sight of Xia Yan, he had been unable to look away. Such a fresh and lovely girl, he had never seen one like her in this town.

Li Dagou stroked his goatee, and with his shifty, rat-like eyes, he looked as lewd as could be.

“It was your sister who hit my son first and swore at us, so I had to defend myself!” Xia Yan forced herself to remain calm, protecting the three children while stepping backward.

Li Dagou waved a hand, looking entirely unconcerned. “That’s nothing. You weren’t hurt, were you?”

Li Sanxia snapped in frustration. “Brother, why are you helping outsiders? Just look at my brand-new bicycle!”

“A broken bicycle can always be bought again. But if this sister gets hurt, I’d be heartbroken,” Li Dagou said, and throughout it all his eyes never once left Xia Yan.

There were plenty of onlookers, yet not a single person stepped forward to help.

At that moment, Lin Hongzhe broke free from Xia Yan’s hand and ran in front of her. “What do you want?”

“Xiaozhe, get behind me...” Xia Yan grabbed his clothes and tried to pull him back. Lin Hongzhe had a fierce streak, but he was still only a child.

But the child shook her hand off. “If Father isn’t here, then I should be the one protecting you.”

Then he turned to Li Dagou again. “If you know what’s good for you, leave now. When my father gets here, you won’t be able to leave.”

Li Dagou first froze, then glanced left and right at the men behind him. He pointed at Lin Hongzhe and burst into laughter. “Did you hear that? This brat says when his father comes, we won’t be able to leave. Hahaha...”

When the laughter died down, Li Dagou narrowed his already small eyes. “Brat... if I don’t teach you a lesson, how am I supposed to keep my footing in this town from now on!”