The villages along the way pooled money to build a dirt road, which was then reinforced with small stones so that bicycles could be ridden on it.
But no one dared to ride a bicycle on such a road; one wrong move and you'd fall off a cliff, shattering into pieces.
Shen Zhao and Gu Qiu walked quickly, reaching the town in less than an hour.
The two then parted ways.
This town was called Guanyin Town. It wasn't large, with only one main street, and the houses on either side were only slightly better than those in the village.
It wasn't market day today, so there weren't many pedestrians in town.
Shen Zhao carried her bamboo basket, deliberately heading into the alleyways, carefully observing the expressions of passersby.
After searching for over ten minutes, she finally spotted a woman with a guilty expression, carrying a basket, coming out from somewhere.
She walked against the direction they had come from, and as she turned a corner into a small alley, she suddenly sensed someone following her.
She spun around abruptly, only to see several male comrades surrounding her.
A total of five ruffians blocked all her escape routes.
The man standing in the center had a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks. He stood strangely, with one leg supporting him and the other splayed far out.
Shaking his leg, he asked, "Yo, haven't seen you before. Just arrived, right? Which village's educated youth are you from nearby?"
Shen Zhao's eyes scanned him. Today, she was wearing a white sundress with a small floral print, flat small leather shoes, and her hair was not in braids but pinned up at the back with a dark sandalwood hairpin, with a few stray strands falling by her temples.
The wooden hairpin looked plain, no different from a stick, which was why she dared to use it.
But this attire made her look out of place and fashionable in such a small town.
It made her large eyes appear exceptionally bright and clear.
These hoodlums could tell at a glance that she was a newly arrived educated youth.
Only newly arrived educated youth, not yet assimilated and numbed by countless farm chores, would dress so elaborately.
These newcomers, who still had money, were super fat sheep!
That's why these people couldn't wait to surround her.
Shen Zhao stopped in her original place, feigning fear and trembling slightly.
"What, what do you want?"
The hoodlums, smug and leaning back and forth, spoke vulgarities in their dialect.
Shen Zhao didn't understand much, but she could guess it wasn't anything good. Her complexion gradually turned cold.
She didn't want to act anymore...
"What do we want? Of course, we want to be friends with you," the leading hoodlum said, his face full of lust. "And maybe borrow some money from a comrade."
"Twenty each, okay?" Shen Zhao asked.
"Twenty!" The hoodlums were so shocked they forgot to laugh. The five exchanged glances; twenty each meant one hundred for the five of them.
They were rich!
Today, they had truly caught a fat sheep during the New Year.
Asking for a hundred yuan right off the bat meant she must have more on her.
Greed is human nature.
The leading hoodlum stopped pretending and laid his cards on the table. "Cut the nonsense! Hand over all the money you have, and then spend some time with us, and we'll let you go, how about that?"
As he spoke, he reached out to grab Shen Zhao.
He was certain this woman wouldn't dare resist. Even if she did, there were five of them; what were they afraid of from a woman?
Shen Zhao sighed faintly, "I didn't really want to make a move today."
With a backhand, she pulled a wooden shovel from her bamboo basket and 'smacked' it onto the hand that was grabbing her.
The hoodlum's hand immediately swelled up high.
"Ah!" The hoodlum clutched his hand, screaming. His hand burned with pain, and he yelled with a contorted face, "Damn it! You've got some nerve! Hurry up and hold her down for me!"
He was determined to... do things to her first, then...
Make her regret laying a hand on him.
Shen Zhao's eyes were filled with irritation. Were these people blind? Did she look that easy to bully?
Gripping the shovel, she knocked their heads like playing whack-a-mole, making loud thudding sounds.
In less than half a minute, all of them were lying on the ground.
She kicked the leg of the hoodlum leader on the ground. "Stop playing dead, get up."
Hoodlum leader: I didn't check the calendar before leaving home today, how did I run into such a demoness!
He could only open his eyes and struggle to get up. Every movement caused him pain, his head was spinning, and he felt like vomiting.
Shen Zhao kicked the next one. Some of the smarter ones didn't dare to pretend anymore; before she could kick them, they scrambled up and squatted down.
She paused behind one of them and, without hesitation, brought the shovel down.
"Behave yourselves."
The hoodlum leader saw this and immediately knelt. "Comrade, spare us! We'll never dare again, I, I will change!"
As he started, the others also began to beg for mercy.
People like them were bullies who picked on the weak and feared the strong; they were quick to bully and quick to surrender.
As for whether they would truly change or not, that was up to interpretation.
But this time, they genuinely wanted to change; this woman was too terrifying.
Shen Zhao's head ached from their noise. "Shut up, put your hands on your heads and squat in a line."
The scene instantly quieted down.
She placed the bamboo basket on the ground. "Since you disagree with twenty yuan each, then take out everything valuable you have and put it in here."
Everyone suddenly looked up. She meant they should each give her twenty yuan.
"Hurry up, or don't blame me for being impolite," Shen Zhao said impatiently.
Everyone quickly emptied their pockets, throwing coins of one jiao, two jiao, and five fen into the basket. There were even few one-yuan coins.
The five of them couldn't even scrape together ten yuan.
Tsk.
So poor.
Shen Zhao was extremely disgusted. She shouldn't have bothered.
The hoodlum leader said tremblingly, "Uh, comrade, I, this is all we have."
Shen Zhao: "Fine, don't let me find anything."
"No, no, no! I still have some!"
He quickly took off his shoes and took out a yuan from the sole, putting it into the basket. The others followed suit, taking money from their underwear pockets, shoe soles, and socks.
In the end, they collected nine yuan and eighty-five fen.
Shen Zhao used a large piece of cloth to wrap the money, picked up the bamboo basket, and looked indifferent.
"Take off all your clothes."
"Huh?"
The hoodlum leader was stunned.
She hit him on the head with her shovel. "Don't waste my time."
The five hesitated for a long time before reluctantly taking off their clothes.
Shen Zhao left them with only their underwear and then walked away with their clothes in the bamboo basket.
If she didn't leave soon, she was afraid she'd get pink eye.
They were all so skinny, like monkeys; there really was nothing good to see.
As they watched her walk away, someone shivered and asked, "Big brother, what do we do now?"
The hoodlum leader's face turned grim. "Report to the Public Security Bureau! This is robbery, we must report it to the Public Security Bureau!"
"Let's go!"
Shen Zhao had no idea what they were thinking.
As she rounded a corner, she stopped in her tracks and looked at the young man leaning against the wall on the opposite side, her eyes lighting up.
She felt as if her eyes had been cleansed.
The man had a buzz cut, wore a blue shirt, black dress pants, and a black jacket over them. It was a mismatched outfit, but his face was striking.
His features were sharp, his outline slightly rugged, and his eyes held a devil-may-care, wicked glint.
She asked, "Am I good-looking?"
Xiao Jun felt uncomfortable under her gaze and adjusted his jacket. "Not good-looking, too thin."
Shen Zhao: Who asked him if she was good-looking!
Her face was very good-looking, okay? She just hadn't recovered yet.
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