C73

Xiaowan looked at the mountains on both sides of the road, high and low, the Xiaowan at the depth of the mountain had never been there before, she muttered: "Could it be that they entered the mountain?"

And today, just before noon, the newly appointed county official sent someone to ask Ling Chaofeng to go to the yamen, not to target the inn, but instead, to invite all the merchants there today. The yamen's main hall was completely filled with people, and Yue Huaiyin, who was as beautiful as a young fairy, was evidently out of place.

However, she was the owner of the Rouge Shop, and everyone around her knew that the new magistrate was staring straight at her as he listened to his master's explanation.

Although Ling Chaofeng was standing in the corner and had an extraordinary temperament, he couldn't hide it either. He looked at everything indifferently, and even though he realized that Yue Huaiyin was looking at him, he pretended not to see it.

When the newly-appointed county official chattered for a long time and everyone was about to leave, Yue Huaiyin passed through the crowd and came to see Ling Chaofeng. Up until now, she had not had a chance to see Ling Chaofeng alone and Mu Xiaowan kept pestering him by her side.

"Ling …"

But just as Yue Huaiyin spoke up, other people started to walk over. Ling Chaofeng was not really a loner, but on the Baisha Town, there were a few who had a good relationship with him, so after a few words, they left towards the door.

"Boss Yue?" Suddenly, the magistrate of the yamen, with a face full of smiles, came up to her and said, "Your excellency, please speak to me from behind."

Yue Huaiyin's heart sank, all the men in the world were the same.

She turned to look at Ling Chaofeng's back. This was a different one, but unfortunately, it was not hers.

"Right away." She smiled gently at Grand Master, "This humble girl also has something to say to magistrate."

When Yue Huaiyin returned to the Rouge Shop, it was already dusk. Upon entering the shop, she heard the servants chatting, saying that Susu and the Auntie Chen had settled in at the Baisha Village, with a decent house and a few acres of land which had been arranged by the people from the Ling Xiao Inn.

She walked past the shop with an indifferent expression. As she was about to head to the backyard, she heard someone say, "Why is her Ling Xiao Inn so good to her?

Yue Huaiyin's heart suddenly trembled, the people in the shop all laughed, and said something that was definitely not possible, but hearing it made them take it to heart, no matter what, they would never forget.

Susu's appearance, if it was in her previous place, would definitely be the best of the best. If not, she would not have been abused and envied by the Madam in the capital city. She had married before, and was no longer Huang Hua's daughter. Ling Chaofeng really did take her as a child, so he did not need to worry about anything.

Mu Xiaowan had been in the house for so long, yet she was not pregnant. Could it be that her stepmother had beaten him to a pulp before, making him unable to bear children? Ling Chaofeng, he …

The door was suddenly pushed open, and a servant girl brought water over. This broke Yue Huaiyin's wild thoughts, and the servant girl in front of him, for some reason, was so angry that her eyes turned red and her fists clenched tightly. She trembled and asked: "Miss, magistrate is making things difficult for us?"

Yue Huaiyin said in a faint voice, "It's not a problem, you can go now."

After the first ten days of April, there was no longer any drizzling rain. The green on the mountain gradually became lush, and wild flowers bloomed piece by piece. Xiaowan picked a big basket of flowers every day to make dried flowers to hide in in during winter when she wanted to take a bath.

That morning, Susu left the house at her usual time. She randomly pulled a few willow branches at the entrance of the village and weaved them into a ring along the way. When she reached the inn, she gave the Xiaowan the flower hairpin to wear.

The man he did not see that day, he met again as usual during the past few days. It was almost at the same place, but he had already surpassed Susu. However, according to the analysis of both the Xiaowan and the Aunt Zhang, the person who was doing the work at the pier was either a gigolo or a maid.

The man walked further and further in, the willow branch in Susu's hand was done, when Susu saw the pink and purple flowers blooming by the side of the road, he squatted down to pick a few, just as the beautiful flowers reached his hands, someone suddenly jumped out from the side of the road and hugged him tightly.

Susu screamed, but her mouth was quickly stuffed, she felt dizzy and she was dragged into the forest, then thrown to the ground.

In front of him were two men with obscene appearances and dirty bodies. It was unknown when they had hidden here to wait for him, but one of them said, "young lady, you have finally come."

Susu's hands were tied up, her mouth was stuffed with cloth, his legs that were frantically kicking about were caught by one of them. He smirked and took off Susu's shoes and socks, her rough hands touching her exquisite jade feet, she even stuck out her tongue and licked them, then laughed out loud: "young lady's feet are so fragrant!"

On the other hand, the man took off his clothes and pants hurriedly put the dirty thing in front of Susu, scaring her to the point that she had to close her eyes. Soon they were upon her and began to tug at her clothes, touching her in the soft places before the moon.

Susu knew that her time was up.

With a ripping sound, Susu's clothes were torn apart and her body turned cold. She had to force the two moons to retreat, and her heart surged with desire to die. She no longer had the courage to continue living.

Susu opened her eyes and saw a man rolling on the ground under a tree at the side. His entire body was curled up from the pain, and the other man was shouting loudly: "What is that thing?"

A piece of cloth suddenly flew over, covering Susu and also covering her exposed body, only hearing the two people crying and begging for mercy, and then being carried up, with her body tightly wrapped up, she finally revealed her head, and saw the man in front of her.

His dark face, which he brushed past every morning, never spoke to her.

Susu was already in tears, and the cloth bundle in her mouth was being pulled out. She trembled, her heart full of fear, but was unable to say a single word.

That person heaved a sigh of relief. "I'll take you home."

He even knew where Susu's family was. Almost every day, he would go out with Susu and go to the tavern while was just a maid at the pier.

The man did not say a word and carried Susu on his back. Susu saw that the two people were tied up tightly with a hemp rope and thrown into the bushes.

After bringing Susu into the house, she came out to thank the man a thousand times. Suddenly, she heard the sound of a wooden chair falling to the ground, and his aunt ran back in fright, her daughter actually hanged herself.

"Susu!" The Auntie Chen screamed out in fear. The man had only taken a few steps before she came back. Seeing that the young lady was hanging on the beam, the aunt hugged his leg tightly.

"Susu, how can you abandon mother …" Auntie Chen cried as she hugged the unconscious Susu. Fortunately her daughter was still alive.

"Auntie, you better guard her." "I'm afraid she won't be able to get over it."

Auntie Chen sobbed until she regained her senses, then choked: "Young lad, can I ask you one more thing? Do you know about Ling Xiao Inn, can you help me deliver a message?"

When the people in the inn saw that the strangers had come to send off the message, inviting them to the village, Xiaowan did not know what had happened.

Ling Chaofeng rode her over. On the way, he saw something hidden in the bushes, but it seemed to be rushing over to see Susu. It did not stop for even a second.

After seeing the mother and daughter duo, knowing that Susu had been kidnapped by people on the way and her clothes were all torn, Ling Chaofeng finally realized that the beast that was tied up in the grass was actually the young man who saved Susu.

Xiaowan was extremely sad. When Susu woke up, she hugged him and cried, boiling hot water to give him a bath. She rubbed him again and again, almost removing a layer of her skin.

Ling Chaofeng came to ask her what he wanted to do with those two brutes. Susu shook her head and laid in the arms of the Xiaowan, she simply did not want to bring it up again.

Because there were guests staying in the inn, they were afraid that they would suddenly return during the day, so they left Ershan to look at the shops. Uncle Biao and Aunt Zhang came as well.

The whole family sat under the roof and discussed, saying that they couldn't let Susu go to the inn alone in the morning anymore.

The Aunt Zhang said angrily, "We have been here for more than ten years. Although the road is desolate, this has never happened. It is truly an eye-opener."

He then said, "Why don't we go and live in the store? We can take care of each other, and you two are here too. We can't be at ease."

It was almost noon by then. Uncle Biao got up and said, "I'll cook dinner for you."

Auntie Chen hurriedly said: "Big Brother Zhang, I'll do it. You rest."

While they were being modest, Auntie Chen saw the little brother who saved Susu's life. He seemed to have come here to take a look, but when she suddenly saw the people in the courtyard, she actually didn't dare to enter anymore.

"Thank you, young man." Auntie Chen ran out, "You haven't eaten, right? Come and eat, let me thank you properly."

Inside the room, Aunt Zhang entered and gently said to Susu: "Don't be afraid, just treat this as a nightmare and once you wake up from your dream, everything will be fine. Are you really going to abandon your mother and die?"

Xiaowan asked: "Aunt, who is outside?"

Aunt Zhang said: "It's the young lad who saved Susu. I think she was afraid that something might have happened to Susu and came here specially to eat with him."

Susu's eyes suddenly lit up, and said to Xiaowan: I want to see him.

They helped Susu out, and the tanned young man said to the Auntie Chen: "Aunt, just call me Da Qing, I'm living at the back of the village, there's food at home, I'm going back to eat."

When Susu was supported to the roof, she knelt down towards Da Qing. Xiaowan did not stop him, scaring the young lad to the core yet she did not dare to reach out to support her, and said: "Miss, do not be like this, we will stay in the village."

Susu's tears fell like rain: "Thank you big brother, thank you …"

Seeing that, the Xiaowan ran over to tell him. He cupped her fists towards Da Qing and said: "I sold these two beasts to the slave trader, the silver that I sold you, I'll give it to you, little brother."

Xiaowan asked his husband, "Why did you sell them out? Did you ask them why they were stuck there?"

Ling Chaofeng's expression became serious: "Relax, I've asked all the questions I need to know."