“Kangkang, go back first.” Lin Qiuman lowered her head and smiled at him.
Li Qiang was the kind of man who talked nonsense and behaved improperly—who knew what filthy things he might say. She didn’t want those vulgar words to dirty Shen Lingkang’s ears.
Shen Lingkang gently shook his head.
If he left now, Li Qiang would definitely bully Teacher Lin.
“It’s fine. Didn’t you say your brother was looking for you?” Lin Qiuman hadn’t expected Shen Lingkang to care about her this much. Naturally, she felt very comforted.
“Hurry up and get going.” Li Qiang was already impatient. As he spoke, he stepped forward, about to push Shen Lingkang.
Lin Qiuman immediately stepped in front of Shen Lingkang, patted his little head, and gently pushed him away.
Shen Lingkang hesitated for a moment, then turned and ran.
“You came alone to escape the famine and you’re living at a small school without even a courtyard wall. At night, there’ll definitely be shady people coming to cause you trouble. Come on, go home with Brother Li Qiang. I guarantee you’ll have food and drink.”
Lin Qiuman forced a smile and stepped back calmly. “Big Brother Li Qiang, you’re really kind-hearted. But I didn’t come here alone to escape the famine. If you want me to live with you, I’ll have to go to another village and bring my parents and younger brothers here. Do you have enough space in your house?”
“You didn’t come alone?” Li Qiang frowned when he heard that. He already felt like his old mother was a burden.
If he had to bring her parents and brothers too, wouldn’t that mean he’d be worked like a donkey?
“I already told my parents and brothers—if I find a good family, I’ll bring them all over so we can enjoy the good fortune together.” Lin Qiuman smiled and stepped a little closer to Li Qiang. “Today the old village chief wanted Lao Maohua to take me in, but he refused. You’re a good man—why not help me out? As long as you accompany me to bring my parents and brothers here, we’ll go register our marriage immediately.”
Li Qiang twitched his mouth. He thought to himself: Lao Maohua was such a capable and shrewd man, yet even he didn’t want this famine refugee woman? Could there be some hidden problem?
Lin Qiuman knew Li Qiang always compared himself to Shen Linghua. Li Qiang was thirty and still unmarried because he was a local hooligan.
Shen Linghua, on the other hand, was twenty-three and simply didn’t want to marry. Back then, taking care of Shen Lingkang had left a psychological shadow on him—he didn’t want to marry and have children anymore.
So whenever someone introduced a match to Shen Linghua, he would always say, “I’m not in a hurry. Li Qiang isn’t married yet.”
Over time, whatever Li Qiang did, he would compare himself with Shen Linghua.
That was why in her previous life, when Shen Linghua took her home as his wife, Li Qiang felt deceived. He became furious and made a big scene.
“So, what do you say, big brother?”
“Well… I can only bring you home. I can’t take your parents and brothers.” Li Qiang’s gaze once again fell on Lin Qiuman’s palm-sized face. His mouth went dry as he swallowed, reaching out and starting to touch her.
“Hiss—!”
The moment Li Qiang’s hands touched Lin Qiuman’s shoulder, a sharp pain shot through his backside. He jumped up, clutching his butt and turning around to curse, “Which bastard did that?!”
“Your grandpa, that’s who!”
Shen Linghua held a slingshot pulled back tightly. A small stone was loaded in it, aimed directly at Li Qiang’s crotch.
“Lao Maohua, damn your grandmother!” Li Qiang cursed through gritted teeth while clutching his butt, but he didn’t dare step forward to fight Shen Linghua.
After all, he was no match for him.
“Li Qiang, if you want to marry Teacher Lin, report it to the village chief and marry her properly. But if you mess around and bully her, the chief will skin you alive.”
Shen Linghua pulled the slingshot hard, and the stone shot forward, landing precisely in front of Li Qiang’s cloth shoe where his big toe poked out.
Just one centimeter closer, and he’d be crying while clutching his toe.
“Teacher Li at the school is on maternity leave, and the new teacher hasn’t arrived yet. If you bully Teacher Lin, all these students’ parents will beat you to death.” Shen Linghua snorted lightly. “She’s my brother’s teacher. If you make it so my brother can’t study, I’ll shoot off your third little leg. Believe it or not.”
Li Qiang’s face darkened as he sized up Shen Linghua. Even this fearless brute didn’t dare mess with Teacher Lin, so how could he? He certainly didn’t have the guts to anger the village chief. Muttering curses under his breath, he turned and left.
“Third Brother, thank you.” Lin Qiuman watched Li Qiang flee in panic and walked over to Shen Linghua to thank him.
In her previous life, he had protected her with the same domineering attitude. Back then he kept calling her “my wife,” not “Teacher Lin.”
Shen Linghua twitched the corner of his mouth. “Who’s your third brother?”
This woman gave Kang Kang pencils and now called him Third Brother—was she still thinking about becoming his wife?
She really was persistent… incredibly determined.
“You’re Kang Kang’s third brother. Isn’t it normal for me to follow Kang Kang and call you Third Brother?” Lin Qiuman smiled softly. Under the reddish glow of the sunset, she looked even more alluring.
“Whatever.”
Shen Linghua swallowed and didn’t dare look at her charming face again, afraid he might get fooled.
Watching Shen Linghua’s departing figure, Lin Qiuman thought for a moment before carrying her wild vegetables and firewood back to the small school.
Li Qiang causing trouble served as a warning to her. Living alone as a woman, there might be other shady people plotting against her.
Thinking of this, she touched the red string and entered her space.
She ran to the mall’s security room and grabbed two electric batons, a pair of handcuffs, and an iron rod. Pushing a shopping cart, she placed these weapons at the spot where she usually appeared when entering the space.
The lobby of the space—where she appeared—covered several hundred square meters. It was usually used for car exhibitions. Walking across that area alone would take at least a minute or two.
This way, if she encountered danger, she could instantly enter the space and grab the electric baton to attack bad people.
After all, only she could enter the space. If those reckless fools came to trouble her, she could knock them out with the baton and handcuff them.
Whether she stuffed them into a freezer to freeze to death or took them to the rooftop and threw them down—who would ever find out?
“Heh, this space is actually a great place to destroy evidence.”
Lin Qiuman muttered as she came out of the space. Feeling more confident now, she was no longer afraid.
Although she wasn’t hungry, she still had to keep up appearances. Carrying her food container, she went to the well with a windlass in the main street of the village to line up for water.
Even though she wore rough, ragged clothes, her delicate appearance still drew quite a bit of gossip among the villagers. Many of them wanted to get close to her so they could introduce her to a potential husband.
“I heard you came here fleeing the famine?”
“Mm.” Lin Qiuman stood behind an old woman wearing a slanted-front jacket. When greeted, she answered politely.
The old woman snorted. “Your family must be useless. Who would send a young girl out alone to flee the famine? From the looks of it, they didn’t send you here to escape hardship—they sent you to find some fool to marry, so the whole family can cling to him afterward!”