C30

Xiaowan had suffered countless hardships and could not stand to be pitied by others. She squatted down and said gently: "Aunt, please come and have a seat at the store, I'll get some water for you guys to eat."

Xiaowan could see the skin below from the young woman's sleeve. With the familiar scene that she was familiar with, she subconsciously grabbed the girl's arm, lifted her sleeve, and saw the lines of whip marks that were extremely shocking.

"This is?" Xiaowan's heart suddenly clenched.

"Miss, we only want some water, please don't let anyone see us, please Miss." The older woman hid her daughter behind her, tears in her eyes as she begged, "Miss, please don't let anyone find out where we are. Please."

Xiaowan's heart was already in pain, there were tears in her eyes as she said repeatedly: "I got it, auntie, wait a moment, I'll go get the water for you guys now."

"Well water is enough, we …" Seeing the Xiaowan walk into the shop, the aunt stopped him and said that it should not be too troublesome, but the Xiaowan had already ran away.

In the main hall of the inn, Ling Chaofeng was still chatting with his father in law, while the Master Mu was considered a person who travelled extensively, gaining some insights. They chatted about the major engineering matters of different regions, causing the atmosphere to be quite good.

At this moment, Master Mu shifted the topic back to his daughter, and said with a little guilt: "I don't know how Xiaowan told you about the past, but I myself understand that I have let down this daughter of mine for seventeen years. However, I want to support my family and will not be home for many years. It's really … Sigh, no matter what you say, it's useless. I only hope that Manager Ling can treat her a few more times.

As his father said these words, Ling Chaofeng saw from the corner of his eyes that the Xiaowan had snuck back. While no one was looking, he went to the kitchen, and then sneaked out to pack a few things in a wooden basin. He was in a hurry, it seemed like there was something wrong with the back door.

However, he still calmly dealt with the Master Mu, "Please be at ease, your son-in-law will take good care of Xiaowan."

Inside, there was a pot of tea, two bowls, a few big meat buns and two side dishes. She placed the food down and said: "Aunt, you guys eat first, I'll bring some more for you guys to eat on the way. How much longer do you guys have to walk for, you guys … …"

She asked, but the two of them didn't have time to answer. They hadn't eaten for several days, so they had already gone mad with hunger.

Xiaowan ran back to her own room, wanting to make more rations. Coincidentally, her father saw, and said angrily: "My daughter, stop washing your shoes, why don't you come sit down and talk. How can you leave Young Master alone, and have father look at you properly."

"I-I'll be here soon. I'll be ready soon." Xiaowan made an excuse and ran away. She wrapped up the leftover white bread in the kitchen and filled up two bags of water. The dried radish sticks under the eaves also grabbed a few pieces and stuffed them into the bag.

However, the woodpile was empty. Besides the wooden bowls and plates, the two ladies and the food were all gone.

Xiaowan carried her backpack and looked to both sides, heading towards the direction of Baisha River Pier, where two figures dove into the bushes by the side of the road.

"What are you looking at?" Ling Chaofeng's voice suddenly came out, causing Xiaowan to panic as the backpack in her hands fell onto the ground.

Ling Chaofeng slowly walked over, picked up the bundle, and untied it to have a look.

The Xiaowan waved his hand and said, "I am not running away, nor am I taking it for my father. Hubby, I …"

Ling Chaofeng did not pursue the matter and did not question further, but only said: "Father-in-law is about to leave, we will send him off."

As they entered, their luggage was casually placed at the side, and the couple walked to the door, instructing Ershan to get a carriage and send Master Mu back.

Master Mu thanked him profusely before looking at his daughter again. After hesitating for a while, he took out a piece of silver from his purse and stuffed it into Xiaowan's hands, saying: "My daughter, your father has let you down and also has let your mother down. From now on, you must live a good life with the shopkeeper."

After all, she was still his father. She promised with tears in her eyes, telling him to be careful on the road.

The carriage gradually moved further and further away, and Ling Chaofeng went forward to hug his wife's shoulder. "The wind outside is heavy, let's go in."

"Hm." Xiaowan held back her tears and wiped them away as she said softly, "Husband, thank you for receiving my father. Thank you for returning so many things to him."

Ling Chaofeng did not say anything, and brought her back to the shop. Coincidentally, he heard from Aunt Zhang that something was strange: "What is this bag for, did Master Mu leave it behind for you? Now, will we be able to catch up? "

Xiaowan hurriedly said: "Aunt, leave it to me."

She took the bag and turned to see Ling Chaofeng looking at his indifferently. Xiaowan felt his heart tremble, whether or not she should speak the truth, but that aunt begged her not to let anyone discover their whereabouts.

After half a day passed without incident, the Xiaowan followed the Uncle Biao in the kitchen to help with the pickled vegetables. After Ershan sent the dishes to the Master Mu, he took over another job from Ling Chaofeng to do and did not return for a while. The Aunt Zhang laughed and said: "I would like to hear about your family after Ershan returns.

Xiaowan shook her head. "I don't care about her."

As soon as he said that, the sound of horses could be heard from outside the store. They thought Ershan had returned.

Xiaowan poured a bowl of tea and offered it to Ershan to drink, only to see five well-dressed people barging in from the front. They were not from the yamen, and did not look like they traveled the world either.

"Which one is the shopkeeper?" They said it bluntly, and guessed they weren't natives. The accent sounded like it came from the north.

Ling Chaofeng walked out indifferently and glanced at them. The leader was startled, he would have never thought that they would meet such an extraordinary person in the wilderness. He paused for a moment, then arrogantly said, "We are from Beijing, and we lost a servant girl in our residence. We chased them all the way here." He warned the shopkeeper, "If we see a mother and daughter in such dire straits, if we tie them up and inform us to come get them, my master will definitely reward us handsomely." If you want to chase them away, we will not hold it against you. However, if you want to hide them and protect them, my master has a great background. If the shopkeeper still wants to do business here, you better listen to me. "

Ling Chaofeng said indifferently: "The store is open for business, customers are coming and going, only for tea, wine and food, no need to meddle."

That person snorted a laugh. "That would be for the best." After thinking for a while, he said, "Since you guys are here, bring me some food. I'm hungry."

They ate and drank to their heart's content, threw down their silver, and set off, as if to go to the wharf and see, and rode away.

After Ling Chaofeng put away the silver, he did not see Xiaowan in the shop, he was busy packing up and did not care much about it. He thought for a bit, then walked towards the back door, indeed he saw that in the dusk, Xiaowan was holding the package, looking around.

"Where are you going?" Ling Chaofeng asked.

Xiaowan turned around in panic, her lips tightly pursed. His husband had a stern expression as he coldly said, "Go back to your room."

When she returned to her own room, Xiaowan was still holding onto her bag. She was really worried that she wasn't able to give these food to the two of them.

The people who claimed to be from Beijing seemed to be looking for them. They were so far away from the capital, how did they get here? And those people were vicious, they didn't seem like good people no matter how one looked at them.

Not long after, Ling Chaofeng also returned to his room and closed the door. The couple looked at each other, Xiaowan's expression was not weak, she had her reasons. Ling Chaofeng did not scold him directly. Instead, he patiently asked what was going on.

He then sighed, "There are all kinds of people coming and going here every day, begging for food in misery and poverty. Can you manage every single one of them?"

Xiaowan lowered her head and did not make a sound.

Ling Chaofeng said: "You don't know their background, so you just casually struck out to help them, what's the point in doing so if you bring disaster upon yourself, and cause yourself to be unable to help them?"

He reached out to take out the bundle held in Xiaowan's embrace: "Give me the thing, don't bother with this matter anymore."

"But …" The Xiaowan held onto her backpack tightly, and said angrily, "Hubby, that girl has many wounds on her body. She must be the same as me in the past, getting beaten up everyday. "Why, why do so many people like to beat people to death? What's so fun about it?"

Ling Chaofeng frowned: "Is her entire body injured?"

Although he could understand why the Xiaowan would miss out on these two strangers, Ling Chaofeng couldn't help but send people to look for them. They would definitely cause a commotion, and might even harm them.

When she heard that her husband was willing to save the mother and daughter, Xiaowan was at ease and even admitted her wrongs. She shouldn't have hidden it from her husband.

However, after more than ten years of torture, the Xiaowan was extremely sensitive to this kind of thing. The wounds on that girl's body could not be removed from her sight, and she was unable to sleep soundly.

Ling Chaofeng watched as she quietly got up and sat in front of the mirror to comb her makeup. He wasn't as bright and lively as he usually was.

"Bang, bang, bang …" The sound came out suddenly, the shop door was knocked, Xiaowan recovered her senses and stood up, her heart seemed to have sensed something, but seeing that Ling Chaofeng had also stood up and donned her robes, the two of them hurried downstairs. Ershan also dressed up to see what was happening.

Ershan stepped forward to open the door, and as soon as he did, a soft body fell on top of him, causing Ershan to panic. An older woman followed in, her body covered with dust as she knelt on the ground and kowtowed: "Save us, shopkeeper, please save us …."

Ling Chaofeng's thick eyebrows slightly knitted, and he heard the faint sounds of horse hooves chasing after them. He also heard Xiaowan shouting, "Miss, are you awake?"

He looked at Ershan, who quickly carried her and ran to the back. Ling Chaofeng supported the old lady: "Aunt, follow me."