A second ago, she had been bragging. A second later, Little Bei couldn’t help but whisper to Mu Jingzhe, “Mommy, are you tired? How about you let me down?”
“I’m not tired. This little weight of yours is nothing. You’ve only been up there for a minute.” Mu Jingzhe laughed and patted her leg. “Don’t worry. I’ll put you down when I get tired.”
The traffic light turned green. Mu Jingzhe carried Little Bei along the crowd as they passed the crossroads. Because Little Bei was up there, it was easy to see them.
Shao Qihai, who was secretly protecting the mother-and-daughter pair and had been following them, had mixed feelings when he saw them from behind. Logically speaking, he should be the one carrying Little Bei on his shoulders.
These days, Shao Qihai had been thinking of ways to disguise himself and follow them. He didn’t dare relax at all. Gradually, he saw how they interacted with each other.
Shao Qihai felt that it was different from what he had known and seen before. It was a method that he had never thought of before and it often surprised him.
For example, right now, he found it funny but also felt that this was good. Little Bei was different from what he remembered. She had become braver and more cheerful.
As a mother, sometimes Mu Jingzhe didn’t act like a mother, but sometimes she was the best mother. She had her own unique way, which included carrying Little Bei on her shoulders right now.
Shao Qihai thought a lot in an instant and secretly reflected on many things. He felt that he hadn’t done enough in the past.
His gaze constantly followed them from a distance that was not too far or too close. He didn’t dare get too close lest he attracted Mu Jingzhe’s attention. Ever since the last incident, Mu Jingzhe had been very vigilant. Twice, Shao Qihai had almost been caught by her.
However, he couldn’t stay too far away. Otherwise, if something happened, it would be too late. Thus, Shao Qihai managed to stay within three steps of them with difficulty.
As he listened to Little Bei and Mu Jingzhe speak, Shao Qihai couldn’t help but smile. His heart became increasingly calm, but as he followed Mu Jingzhe and Little Bei through the next junction, he suddenly felt that something was amiss.
Shao Qihai was very sensitive to danger. When he felt that something was wrong, he happened to see a man wearing a hat brush past him and walk toward Mu Jingzhe from the back.
With a silver flash, Shao Qihai saw the slowly revealed dagger in his hand stab Mu Jingzhe.
Shao Qihai’s expression changed as he recalled the victim who had collapsed among a stream of people last time.
This was a similar scene. There were bustling streets around, and crowds of people were coming and going. The traffic light had turned green as the victims followed the stream of people. Catching them off guard, the perpetrator had brushed past them and followed them to stab them in the back. All of this had happened extremely fast. Once the perpetrator stabbed the victim, they would disappear into the stream of people.
By the time one reacted and collapsed, the perpetrator would have already walked far away along with the crowd.
A fatal blow in what seemed like the safest and most relaxed place was extremely difficult to guard oneself against.
Mu Jingzhe knew that someone was targeting her. In the past few days, she hadn’t relaxed, especially when she was alone or there were few people around. However, she had never expected that these people would change their methods and attack at a time when she felt the safest in a really crowded place.
Mu Jingzhe was almost unprepared and had no way of preparing for this. If she were to guard against every passerby, she would go crazy.
She didn’t have any experience, but Shao Qihai did. The tragedy that had occurred last time replayed in his mind. Shao Qihai’s eyes widened, and he rushed forward. At the last moment, he blocked the blade and grabbed the dagger.
Instantly, his hand was covered in blood. Shao Qihai grunted and reached out to grab the person with his other hand. However, the person with the hat reacted extremely quickly. Seeing that he had been exposed, he pushed Shao Qihai fiercely and turned to run.
Shao Qihai, who was pushed by him, accidentally bumped into Mu Jingzhe, who was in front of him. Due to the strength of the push, he ended up pressing against Mu Jingzhe’s back.
As Mu Jingzhe walked, she suddenly felt that something was amiss on her right. Just as she was about to turn around, she felt someone press against her from behind. It was a very hooligan-like feeling.
F*ck! Mu Jingzhe cursed inwardly. She turned around dangerously and saw a dazed old man.
“Little Bei, hold tight!” Mu Jingzhe shouted as she punched Shao Qihai’s nose.
Blood instantly spurted from his nose. Shao Qihai’s vision blurred as he heard Mu Jingzhe’s curses. “Don’t think that your old age gives you a free pass to act as you please or that I won’t hit you just because you’re old. Old pervert, pui!”
Shao Qihai was anxious. “No, I’m not…”
He wanted to explain, but before he could do so, Mu Jingzhe kicked him hard.
Shao Qihai: “!!!”
That day, a shocking scene took place in the streets of Ocean City—a young lady with a little girl on her shoulder started beating up a shameless old man.
The shameless old man, Shao Qihai, suffered a nosebleed. He curled up on the ground and almost ascended to heaven. He felt that he had probably been crippled by that kick.
At that moment, the pain of the cut in his hand was nothing.
When Shao Qihai saw that Mu Jingzhe still wanted to beat him up, he shivered and thought to himself, ‘She’s attempting to kill her husband, right?’
In order to prevent himself from really being killed, Shao Qihai tried his best to speak. “Don’t misunderstand me. I only helped you because I saw that someone wanted to harm you. Look, the knife is still here!”
Shao Qihai’s face was red, and his nose was bleeding. He was in an unprecedentedly sorry state as he shouted to prove to Mu Jingzhe his innocence. Luckily, the dagger was still there.
Mu Jingzhe was stunned. She had actually felt something touch her just now. Looking at the dagger and then at his hand, Mu Jingzhe restrained her nerves. Thinking of what had happened previously, she believed him a little.
When she realized she had almost been killed in this sea of people, she couldn’t help but feel a chill down her spine.
“Where’s that person?”
“Over there. He ran in that direction. He’s wearing a blue hooded shirt and a black cap.” Although he’d only had a brief encounter with that guy, Shao Qihai had seen his face very clearly and immediately remembered his characteristics.
Fortunately, the delay wasn’t big. Furthermore, there were many people and things on the road, so that person had luckily bumped into the cart selling fruits and gotten delayed.
Mu Jingzhe looked over and happened to see the man Shao Qihai had described being held back by the boss. They seemed to be arguing.
“Wait for me to come back!”
Mu Jingzhe hated this person, who had attacked her time and again. She thus told the lewd old man, “I’m going to come back later to either settle the score with you or thank you.” Then, she took off and chased after the guy in the blue hooded shirt.
The man who had attacked her went by the nickname Three Seconds. This implied that he was fast and could take a person’s life in three seconds. His methods were ruthless, and he was full of tricks. He had thought that nothing unexpected would happen this time. After all, he had been in the right place at the right time.
He hadn’t expected to be stopped when he’d tried to escape. He had even encountered a cart that had been pushed out. The cart had been knocked over, and the boss had held him back recklessly.
What was even more unfortunate was that due to this delay, Mu Jingzhe had caught up.
Seeing that Mu Jingzhe was about to catch up to him, Three Seconds cursed. Without thinking too much, he hit the boss’s neck with his arm to shake him off and ran.
“Stop right there!” Mu Jingzhe watched as that person sprinted away. She was still hugging Little Bei and didn’t dare to let go. As this affected her speed, she wouldn’t be able to catch up to him.
However, Mu Jingzhe wasn’t willing to let him off so easily. She anxiously took off her shoe and aimed at him.
Mu Jingzhe was lucky this time. Her shoe landed on his head.
Three Seconds felt something approach him from behind. He thought that it wouldn’t hit him, but a second later, he received a heavy blow on the back of his head by something that felt like a brick.