CH 7

Chapter 7 – Cute

Realizing that it was Su Qin, Yun Fei dropped his guard and looked warily at the girl behind her, “Who’s she?”

Su Qi dropped the rock then grabbed Wen Mei’s hand and told him, “She is also an abducted girl. Feifei, why are you here?”

Yun Fei often feeds stray cats on this mountain. When he came over, he noticed there was a new opening on the cliff and it appeared bright inside. The further he went, the flame was more ablaze and his heart was in his throat when he saw two figures.

He felt slightly relieved to see that it was Su Qin then looking at Zhang Er’wa, who was trussed up and gagged, Yun Fei frowned and asked puzzlingly, “He?”

Su Qin briefly explained what happened to him then said, “Feifei, this kind of vile person should be punished by law. I planned to hide him here and give him some food and drink every few days, so that he won’t starve to death and at the same time, cannot run out too. This place is hidden, no one is expected to come here except you. After we get out later, we will call the police to take him away.”

Of course, she has no idea when she can escape, she can only plan as such first.

A stray cat leapt from the cave mouth to the side of Yun Fei’s feet and rubbed against the boy’s ankle.

He bent down and held the stray cat in his arms while his long clean fingers gently stroked the cat’s body.

With half squinted eyes, the cat acted like it was enjoying itself.

Yun Fei pondered for a moment and said, “It’s not convenient for you girls. Leave it to me to deliver the water and food.”

“Then … you must be careful not to be discovered.”

On second thought it’s true, if the two girls go up the mountain too often, the chances of being discovered is very high.

A person will not die of starvation and thirst for a few days .. imprisoning him here to suffer is because they have no other choice in order to protect themselves. Whether it is morality or by law, they are guiltless and this is also considered a punishment for the human trafficker.

One must know that the mountains are cold and even if a person is not frozen to death in this temperature, it is tormenting enough.

Yun Fei nodded and asked her again, “How do you know that almost no one comes here?”

“Experience. The place is overgrown with bushes and practically pathless.”

Seeing that it was getting late, Su Qin took Wen Mei down the mountain.

Carrying the stretcher and taking advantage of daybreak, Su Qin and Wen Mei trotted all the way down the mountain.

When they reached the mountain temple, the old man was not awake yet. The two girls quickly got under the blanket, wiped their sweat then looked at each other before closing their eyes and fell asleep.

Meng Sisi dared not sleep. With eyes opened, she kept watch in order to avoid the reappearance of another similar situation like Zhang Er’wa.

After rushing around the whole night, the two girls slept until late in the morning.

Once they opened their eyes again, the old man was already sitting at the door smoking un-constrainedly mouthful after mouthful of the tobacco pipe.

Since cooking is not allowed in the mountain temple, they ate the steamed corn buns that were brought from ‘home’. Although it was not delicious, it was enough to fill the stomach.

Su Qin broke a little piece of the steamed corn buns to feed the disabled girl, but she simply didn’t eat. With her throat bobbing slightly, she emitted some ‘gurgling’ sound.

Sitting at the doorway, the old man glanced in and said with a smile, “Our village is not as scary as you think. As long as you are willing to stay obediently and give birth to boys, life will be easier. Don’t think about running away. Your innocence is gone, what can you do if you escape? Are there still men in the city who want you, huh?”

Holding the steamed corn buns and nibbling on it, the three girls glanced at each other without speaking.

Su Qin assented, then broke half of the steamed corn bun and handed it to the old man, “Grandpa, do you want to eat?”

The old man continued to savor the tobacco pipe and waved his hand, “Grandpa is full. You girls are thin, you eat.” He glanced at the crippled girl, sighed and said, “It’s a pity for this girl. That wretched Zhang Feng, can’t she just give this girl a relief? Torturing a girl like this, sinful ah, will surely go to hell.”

He continued to mull over the tobacco pipe then looked at the sky outside in a daze. Inside his turbid eyes were some accumulated complex emotions.

If Su Qin remembers correctly, this old man has two granddaughters and a grandson. The boy who picked up the stones to hit her in the courtyard that day was this old man’s grandson; while the girl carrying her little sister who picked up a bamboo stick to chase after her younger brother was the old man’s eldest granddaughter.

The old man said, “Wait till my eldest granddaughter’s admittance to the university, I will definitely not let them stay in the village to endure hardships. Our family Xiuxiu’s essay scored full marks and the teacher lauded that she can pass the university entrance exam in the future. Later, when she goes to university and earns money, she will be able to buy a house in town for her younger brother and then he can marry a city girl openly.”

Hearing the old man say so, Meng Sisi couldn’t keep calm anymore, “Grandpa, you are a good person and have granddaughters too, can you let us go? My father is very rich, you let us go, I will ask my father to give you a lot of money!”

Su Qin pulled Meng Sisi and hinted for her to shut up.

Turning his face to sweep a glance at the girl, the old man shook his head and said, “Girl, you are someone else’s wife, how would I dare to let you go? I will be burned to death if I release you girls. I still have a grandson and two granddaughters, what should they do if I’m gone? Girls, in this lifetime, Grandpa can’t help you and will work like an ox or a horse to repay this debt in the next lifetime. Don’t think about going home, just stay here and live your lives at ease.”

The old man sighed, then glanced at Su Qin and Wen Mei, and said, “You two have not slept all night, go sleep a while more. If someone comes, I’ll call you.”

Su Qin’s heart jolted.

That’s right. The main hall was so noisy last night, how could the old man not hear? He just turned a blind eye.

The old man placed the pipe’s butt on the threshold and knocked it then muttered, “Retribution ah, retribution ah, retribution will eventually come, eventually come. I shall also not die well, shall not die well yo … “

With head bowed low, Su Qin was silent and stuffed mouthful after mouthful of food into her mouth.

At about noon, Yun Fei went up the mountain to deliver quilts and food for her.

Yun Fei then stuffed a piece of rough paper and a thumb-length pencil tip into her hand.

When Li Chuan and his group arrived at the village last night, it was already very late.

They were taken to stay at the village chief’s house. Thinking that he would see Su Qin when they reached Zhang Xing’s house, he didn’t expect he had rushed over here for nothing.

Early morning. The village was bustling again.

Zhang Xing had slaughtered a pig and a sheep to set up a feast.

In order to welcome the three teachers, more than a dozen tables each with eight big bowls of dishes were set up for the feast in the village, which was the scale of the village’s weddings and funerals functions.

The three teachers and Zhang Xing were at the same table.

During the feast, Zhang Xing enthusiastically toasted Li Chuan and Zhang Cheng. Inside the ceramic bowls was the spiciest grain wine.

Seeing the warm reception of the villagers, Lin Xiaoyin was moved by the villagers’ guilelessness.

Being respected by the villagers made her elated at this moment and gave rise to a sense of pride in her chest.

Lin Xiaoyin was very eye-catching sitting amongst the group of men. Dressed stylishly in a pink heart-neck sweater, her well-developed chest was revealed.

Her figure, appearance and dressing style were exceptionally good, and when she walked past, the wind brought along a pleasant perfume smell.

Since Zhang Xing had stayed in the city before, beautiful women were not rarely seen but he never had meals at the same table with the beautiful women.

At the dining table, Zhang Cheng held up a bowl of wine and had his arm around Zhang Xing’s shoulder, calling him brother, “Being a village chief at such a young age, Brother, you are good ah and really smart! Now that construction and development are carried out in rural areas, you village officials must have gained more or less, right?”

Biting into the wine bowl to take a big mouthful of the strong wine, Zhang Xing smacked his lips and said, “Brother, what are you saying? The government allocates funds to aid our Tuling Town every year, but what happened? The money is withheld at every level, and when it reaches our village, everything is gone. The men in our village even have to rely on themselves to get a wife!”

Fishing out the makeup mirror from her bag to touch up her lipstick, Lin Xiaoyin looked up and asked, “Village Chief Zhang, are you married? How come I don’t see your wife?”

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“Cough …. What married ah, I’m just an old bachelor. As for my wife, I’m still looking ah.” Zhang Xing scratched the back of his head, looking like a silly peasant, “Teacher Lin, you are so pretty, do you have a husband?”

Lin Xiaoyin’s cheeks blushed slightly as she glanced at Li Chuan and said softly, “No … still single.”

The villagers treated the teachers so warmly that even Li Chuan almost believed these ‘guileless’ villagers.

As Lin Xiaoyin was on diet, she didn’t eat much and left the table to go back to the house, and played games on her hand phone.

Smart phones were not common yet during these years and only Nokia hand phones could install JAVA games, which was considered pretty good. She sat on a small stool while a group of children came around to look curiously at the plaything in her hands.

At the dining table, Li Chuan, Zhang Cheng and Zhang Xing had yet to leave the table and were still drinking.

Holding up bowls of wine, Zhang Cheng and Zhang Xing had their arms around each other’s shoulders.

Li Chuan sipped small mouthfuls of the white wine and looked at them indifferently.

How could Zhang Xing’s capacity for liquor be compared to Zhang Cheng, the rich lad who frequented bars since young? He got drunk very soon with his head leaning slanted on Zhang Cheng’s shoulder and began to talk nonsense.

He belched, then wrapped his arms around Zhang Cheng’s neck and asked in his ear, “Brother, you say, are you my brother?”

Zhang Cheng hooked his shoulders and knocked the bowl on his wine bowl, producing a clink sound, “Of course, we certainly are brothers. Village Chief Zhang is not only dashing and personable, but also young and promising ah, how can you not be my Zhang Cheng’s brother?”

Zhang Xing laughed then leaned closer to his ear and asked, “Then tell me, Teacher Lin, how much are you guys willing to sell to me?”

Zhang Cheng’s smile froze on his face and was stunned for a moment before he laughed awkwardly, “Brother, you are drunk.”

“Not drunk! I’m not drunk!” He raised the wine bowl in his hand and threw it hard on the ground, shattering it to pieces.

When Li Yunzhen heard that Zhang Xing was raving drunkenly here, she came hurriedly over to stop him and got two men to take him back to the house.

Watching Zhang Xing being hustled away, Li Chuan put down his wine bowl and asked in a low voice, “What did he say to you just now?”

Zhang Cheng felt intense stuffiness in his chest and whispered, “He asked us, how much we are willing to sell Teacher Lin.”

The blue veins on the back of Li Chuan’s hand that was clutching the wine bowl were prominent while his eyes darkened sinisterly at once, like a fierce beast born out of fire that appalled those who saw him.

Zhang Cheng felt as if Li Chuan had become a different person.

Such a cute nerd in the past, he invariably felt that Li Chuan is a bit abnormal recently.

Facing the mayor, the villagers and the students, he was actually amiable without anything amiss. But towards him, Lin Xiaoyin and the other teachers, his eyes were always ice-cold. At times there was no temperature on his expression when he dined with him at the same dining table while the previous gentle geeky aura had all gone.

When Zhang Xing came to deliver the beddings to their room last night, he was still smiling at first but a moment later, his face instantly turned cold without excessive leeway once the person turned to leave. Staring at the back of the person’s head, he almost wanted to kill him with his eyes.

What could be said about the current Li Chuan?

Just like … a gentle and amiable big golden retriever had turned into a sly cold-faced fox with changeable faces.

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Emm … Zhang Cheng fears such a Li Chuan. He even began to wonder if he suffers mental illness and simply doubts there aren’t any abducted women here.

But those words that Zhang Xing said made him stand back on Li Chuan’s side. He felt so disgusted … and almost threw up yesterday’s supper.

Every family in the village had to send a family representative to ‘feast’ as a respect to the teachers. Since Yun Qin’s status is unusual, she couldn’t come, so she sent Yun Fei over.

Yun Fei came down from the mountain temple, took a bunch of dried corn from the wall of his house and ran all the way to the village chief’s house. Carrying the corn, he deliberately tumbled face down at the door and scattered the corn all over the ground.

Seeing the Fool fall flat on his face, the villagers burst out laughing and mocked.

“The Fool is here to feast ah? What are you doing with the bunch of dried corn?”

“You fool, don’t you look where you walk ah? Just look at you.” An aunty helped him up and bent down to pat the dirt on his knees.

The Fool looked at the crowd timidly then picked up the dried corn without uttering a word and hugged it preciously in his arms before walking cautiously towards Li Chuan, with eyes full of eagerness.

Li Chuan sized up the big boy in front of him. He was about 15 or 16 years old with rather delicate features, fair skin and eyebrows quelled with a hint of timidness and pity.

Pursing his thin lips slightly, the boy stood dumbly beside Li Chuan and wanted to say something but then hesitated.

Li Chuan recognized him.

This was the little pitiful who fled with his wife in the previous lifetime, but was burned alive.

Knowing the answer, he still asked, “Little friend, you are?”

An old aunty next to him chimed in and said, “Teacher Li, this is the Fool from our village. You don’t need to pay attention to him.”

Yun Fei’s eyes clearly lit up, pouted and spoke in a silly tone, “I’m called Feifei, not the Fool.”

Li Chuan stood up and was instantly a head taller than him.

Smiling gently at Yun Fei, he reached over and caressed his little head, “Little friend, what can I do for you?”

Lowering his head again, Yun Fei pursed his lips and muttered in a low voice, “I … I … want to go to school.”

The villagers seemingly heard him joke that the courtyard roared with laughter.

Yun Fei raised his eyes to look at Li Chuan and those puppy-like glistening eyes appeared before the man’s eyes.

The corners of Li Chuan’s mouth slightly hooked up with a smile like the spring breeze and he nodded, “Okay. Everyone has the right to go to school. You want to learn, then Teacher will teach you.”

The villagers around looked at each other in blank dismay, and a while later, they began to praise.

“Teacher Li is really nice.”

“Yes ah, so nice.”

“The Fool is really lucky ah, to meet such a good teacher.”

Smiling foolishly at Li Chuan, Yun Fei grinned and revealed his two small canine teeth while his pair of lovely eyes were full of twinkling stars, “Thank you, Teacher!”

He stuffed the bunch of corn into Li Chuan’s arms and gripped his hand, “Thank you, Teacher!”

Propping up his chin, Zhang Cheng looked drunkenly. His eyes were obscured with a hazy filter.

He looked at the silly boy who revealed two small canine teeth then glanced at his naive face. With both hands supporting his tilted head:

Wow. This silly boy is too damn cute!

Li Chuan’s palm was obviously stuffed with a ball of stuff, yet he acted as if nothing had happened and continued to caress the child’s head, “The class starts tomorrow. Teacher has everything here, you don’t need to bring anything.”

The cute little canine-toothed Yun wagged his tails while the top of his head seemingly had a pair of wolf ears that moved obediently, pursed his lips and nodded, “En!”

The pair of Zhang Cheng’s eyes were emitting rosy bubbles.

Damn … this silly boy is just too cute! Eiks, so envious of Old Li!