After being slapped twice in a row, even the most patient person would lose their temper.
“Su Mulan, you—”
Su Mulan’s voice was even louder than his: “Zhao Zhenhua, what did you say to Qin Yue? Why did he run away as soon as he saw me?”
Qin Yue was Su Mulan’s classmate. In her previous life, they had met when she was at her lowest point after losing her job.
It was only then that she learned Qin Yue had always liked her. When he found out she hadn’t gotten into university, he had written to her, offering to lend her money so she could retake the exams.
But the reply Qin Yue received was from Zhao Zhenhua, who warned him in the letter that they were engaged and told him to stay away from her…
When Su Mulan brought this up, Zhao Zhenhua immediately forgot about the two slaps he had just received and hurriedly explained: “Mulan, don’t be fooled by Qin Yue. I heard his family is a mess. You mustn’t get involved in that trouble.
My feelings and my thoughts—I’ll tell you everything tonight. Please, please come to the movie, okay?”
As he spoke, Zhao Zhenhua once again held out the movie ticket, looking at Su Mulan with hopeful eyes.
As long as Su Mulan went to the cinema, Huilan would no longer have to live in fear.
Huilan came from a noble background and deserved a better future.
And he was Huilan’s most loyal protector.
For this, he was willing to sacrifice his own love and marriage!
Su Mulan glanced down at the movie ticket, a cold smile curling at the corner of her mouth. “Fine, I’ll give you one more chance. Let’s see what sweet talk you can come up with.”
The thug who had harassed her was definitely arranged by Zhao Zhenhua. She would catch that thug and then send Zhao Zhenhua straight to jail!
After sending Zhao Zhenhua away, Su Mulan immediately left the house and headed to a nearby scrap recycling station.
“Uncle Liu, are you busy?”
Uncle Liu chuckled. “What’s there to keep me busy? Are you here to see Cuicui?”
Su Mulan shook her head awkwardly. “I’m not here to tutor Cuicui. I wanted to ask you for a favor.
My parents have been working night shifts lately, and I suspect a thief has been eyeing our house. So, I was hoping to borrow a stun baton from you to help me feel safer. I’ll return it in a couple of days, once my mom switches back to the day shift.”
In her previous life, after the incident, she had been too afraid to leave the house for a long time, always feeling like someone was out to harm her. Uncle Liu had given her a homemade stun baton to help her feel braver.
She had always thought it was fake, but later, she used that very stun baton to knock out a thief.
Uncle Liu didn’t hesitate. He went into the inner room and brought out a dark, sturdy baton, carefully showing her how to use it. “Be careful. Don’t hurt yourself.”
Su Mulan practiced swinging the baton a couple of times and smiled brightly. “Don’t worry, Uncle. I know how to use it.”
…
In the evening, Su Mulan dressed just as she had in her previous life—wearing a floral-print maxi dress, her hair tied up in a high ponytail, and carrying a large cloth bag. She headed straight for the cinema.
Just like in her previous life, she waited at the cinema entrance until dark, but there was no sign of Zhao Zhenhua.
Worried that the situation might have changed, Su Mulan stubbornly waited until 8:30 p.m., when the movie ended, before starting her walk back home.
As she passed through a dimly lit alley, someone covered her mouth and dragged her into the bushes.
But she had been prepared and wasn’t afraid. She bit down hard on the person’s hand, took two steps forward, and screamed at the top of her lungs, “Help! Someone, please help me!”
The thug reached out to grab Su Mulan, his voice leering. “Little girl, stop shouting. Even if you scream your throat raw… zzzzt~”
Before he could finish speaking, a surge of electric current swept through his entire body.
Looking down, he saw Su Mulan had somehow produced a stun gun, its discharge end aimed directly at the palm he had intended to grab her with.
A few seconds later, the thug collapsed unconscious on the ground.
Su Mulan ran out holding the stun gun, just in time to bump into Zhao Zhenhua and the reinforcements he had brought.
She immediately burst into tears: “Call the police! Someone just tried to assault me, and I stunned him. Don’t let him get away!”
Hearing this, Zhao Zhenhua’s face turned even paler than the light from a flashlight.
Those brought by Zhao Zhenhua were all family members from the garment factory. Upon hearing her words, some rushed over to ask if she was hurt, while others ran into the alley she pointed to.
Zhao Zhenhua opened and closed his mouth several times before finally reacting, urgently stepping closer: “Mulan, there must be some misunderstanding—zap—”
“Don’t come any closer!”
Su Mulan raised the stun gun and pointed it at Zhao Zhenhua. Her movements were too quick, her words too slow, and Zhao Zhenhua accidentally got shocked.
However, Zhao Zhenhua was relatively lucky—at least he wasn’t knocked unconscious.
Just then, the thug was dragged out. A tall man asked, “Mulan, is this him?”
Su Mulan nodded repeatedly: “Uncle, he’s the one who tried to assault me!”
“That bastard! Let’s take him to the police station right away!”
Zhao Zhenhua panicked and took two more steps forward: “Mulan, maybe there’s a misunderstanding here…”
“What misunderstanding?” Su Mulan cut him off. “Zhao Zhenhua, why do you keep speaking up for that thug?
Are you in cahoots with him, deliberately plotting to harm me?
Now I remember!
It was you who asked me out to the movies, then deliberately didn’t show up.
If it weren’t for you, I would never have been in this situation.
Tell me the truth—why did you want to hurt me?”
As she spoke, she suddenly charged forward, using the stun gun as a weapon and striking Zhao Zhenhua hard.
Whenever Zhao Zhenhua tried to fight back, she would flip the switch, shocking him into a daze and weakening his limbs.
She swung the stun gun with such force that the people from the residential compound dared not approach, only shouting from the sidelines: “Mulan, calm down. Zhenhua isn’t that kind of person.”
“Mulan, stop hitting him. If you keep going, something bad will happen.”
Su Mulan paid no attention, striking him again and again with loud thuds.
It wasn’t until she heard a familiar voice approaching from afar: “Mulan! Mulan, where are you? Don’t scare your mother.”
Hearing her mother’s voice, Su Mulan immediately threw down the stun gun and rushed over: “Mom, I’m here.”
She hugged her mother, whom she hadn’t seen in years, and burst into loud sobs: “Mom! Mom, I missed you so much…”
“Mulan, Mom’s here.”
Song Yumei gently patted her daughter’s back, her voice trembling slightly but doing her best to comfort her: “Don’t be afraid. Mom’s here now. No one can hurt you.”
Su Mulan cried until she was nearly drenched in tears, gasping for breath.
In her past life, her mother had been laid off in 1994 and went to help at her restaurant. On her way home one night, she was hit by a car.
The driver fled the scene. By the time her mother was found, she was already gone.
It had been so, so long since she had seen her mother…
Su Mulan cried for a while before finally calming down. Wiping her tears, she said, “Mom, I’m fine. I was just scared.
Luckily—luckily I thought it wasn’t safe to go out alone at night for a movie, so I borrowed a stun gun from Uncle Liu. Otherwise, something terrible really would have happened.
That man was already stunned.
When he grabbed me, he said someone had sold me and told me to behave.”
“Let’s take him to the police station and let the authorities interrogate him. We must find out who’s behind this.”
Song Yumei felt a chill run down her spine upon hearing this. “So it wasn’t an accident? Then we must report it to the police! Big Liu, Little Zhao, could you two do us a favor and take him to the station?”
“Auntie, it’s no trouble at all. We’ll make sure he gets there.”
Song Yumei then thanked the neighbors from the residential compound who had come to help. “I’m so sorry to trouble you all so late at night. I’ll treat you to a meal another day…”
“We’re all friends here, no need for formalities. Let’s get you to the station first.”
“Exactly, you’ve helped us out plenty before. No need to be so polite.”
The people from the residential compound split into two groups. Half went back to deliver the news, while the rest, carrying flashlights, headed toward the nearest police station.
Only Zhao Zhenhua was hiding behind a tree, clearly planning to slip away.
Su Mulan didn’t give him the chance. She called out directly, “Zhao Zhenhua, you were the one who asked me to watch a movie and then stood me up, which led to this happening. You’re also one of the people involved, so the police will definitely have questions for you. You have to come with us.”
Seeing Zhao Zhenhua’s evasive behavior and recalling Su Mulan’s earlier words, everyone looked at him with suspicion.
Someone even asked directly, “Zhenhua, did you have something to do with this?”
Zhao Zhenhua waved his hands frantically. “No, no, it has nothing to do with me!”
Su Mulan curled the corner of her mouth into a faint smile. “If you’ve done nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear. Since it has nothing to do with you, then come along.”