Rascal finds fault, old friend saves beauty
"Ah yo...!" Just as Li Yu-e had just walked out of the store, a person suddenly rushed over from behind them and collided with Li Yu-e, causing her to stumble backward several steps. The ceramic bottle in that person's hand also fell to the ground and shattered into pieces. If it had hit Xingzi, it would have been very dangerous.
"What's wrong with you? Can't even watch where you're walking!" Li Yu Jiao had just been relieved that it wasn't Xingzi who got hit, and was about to scold the person who bumped into her, but unexpectedly, that person started yelling first.
"How dare you scold people so casually? It was your fault that you bumped into me, and yet you're the first to complain..." Li Yu'e glared at the person in front of her, her heart burning with anger.
"How could I be so unlucky? I'm telling you, this is a family heirloom passed down from my ancestors. You broke it today and now you're not giving me an explanation? Don't think about leaving here today!" The man was short and thin, looking like he hadn't eaten in days, but his voice was loud. After finishing speaking, he waved his hand and four young men walked out of the crowd, surrounding the three women. Li Yu'e knew that these people were definitely not good people. She thought to herself, "At this point, we're just three women, one of whom is pregnant... it looks like we can only admit defeat and spend some money."
"How much?" Li Yu-e asked with disgust after glancing at the leader.
"100 oceans... I must say, this is a treasured family heirloom passed down from my ancestors. But today, considering the two beautiful ladies present, I'll make an exception and take a small loss."
"100 taels of silver? You might as well rob us! You scoundrels!" Li Yu'e had thought that spending a few small coins would be the end of it, but she hadn't expected these people to open their mouths so wide. These 100 taels may not be much for the Zhao family, but for an ordinary household, that's enough to support a family of four for three months.
"Ah, yeah, I'm a rascal. Hehe, but if this little girl can have some fun with me, I might consider giving her a discount." As he spoke, he actually reached out and touched Yun Qiao's chest under the gaze of everyone, scaring Yun Qiao into screaming and hiding behind Xingzi. Li Yuer tried to go over but was blocked by several other people.
"You people are really lawless, if you continue like this we'll call the police!" Xingzi pulled Yunqiao behind her and said to that person with a stern expression.
"Damn it, haha... You're really something, this cop in the movie is my sworn brother, hehe... I've played with so many 'women', but never a pregnant 'woman', and such a beautiful one at that, definitely not ordinary... Ahh, damn it! This stinky bitch actually dared to hit me!" The man was just getting into his stride when suddenly he was slapped in the face by Xingzi. He was taken aback, rubbed his red face, and cursed as he tried to strike back.
"Stop it!!!" Just then, a loud shout came from the crowd. The onlookers who had been watching hastily made way for a path, although they were also very angry with these people, but because they were afraid of getting into trouble, none of them dared to step out and rescue them.
"What's the big deal about bullying a few women with so many of you?!" The newcomer was a young man wearing a well-pressed Cheongsam, about 175 cm tall, with a buzz cut and looking very spirited and handsome. He spoke slowly and deliberately, but when everyone saw that he was alone, they couldn't help but feel a chill for him.
Seeing someone come out to fight for justice, those people let go of Xingzi and surrounded the young man: "Ah, it seems you want to be a hero and save the beauty? I think you're really tired of living!" After finishing speaking, one of the tall and strong men next to him swung his arm, and with a loud shout, he charged over with a wooden stick.
"Cloud clever, daughter"
"Xingzi, are you okay!!!..." Taking advantage of the few thugs turning towards the young man, Li 'Yu' Jiao hurriedly went forward to check on Xingzi and Yunqiao.
"Mom, we're fine, you're fine too, right?"
"Great, great, great...!" Just as Anzi's words were not yet finished, a sudden burst of cheers and applause erupted from the crowd. It turned out that the man who had just rushed up hadn't even touched the young man before being kicked far away, and was now clutching his stomach on the ground, wailing in pain. The other few men saw that things were not going well, and without saying a word, they lifted their companion and slunk away amidst the crowd's jeers and catcalls.
"Thank you so much, young man!!!..." Li Yu-e walked up to the young man with gratitude as she saw the thug running far away.
"Madam, you're too polite. Is everyone all right?" The young man patted his somewhat wrinkled clothes and smiled unintentionally as he returned.
"Thank you, we're all fine, don't know what to call each other yet... just about to say something, but then..." Li Yu'e wanted to say more, but saw the young man's strange gaze.
"Anzi..." The person did not respond to Li Yu'e's words, but instead saw Anzi excitedly shouting loudly.
"Is that Inoue? You're Inoue!" At first, Kyoko also found it strange that the man was staring at her all the time. When she took a closer look, she felt like she had seen him before. When she heard the man call out her name, she suddenly remembered - they were old acquaintances from their hometown! The two of them excitedly asked about each other's experiences over the years. Of course, by this point they were no longer speaking Chinese, but rather fluent Japanese. The crowd that had been cheering and jeering stopped making noise when they saw that both parties were Japanese, instead staring at the four people with hostile gazes. Some of the bolder ones even started cursing: "We should have killed those Japanese dogs a long time ago!"
It was 1933, the September 18th Incident in 1931 had turned three million Northeastern people into slaves of a lost country, and most people who escaped afterwards were scattered all over Bei Jing. The two of them were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't notice the expressions around them at all, until Li Yu'e gave her several meaningful glances, she finally came to her senses, and hastily brought Ikeda to Li Yu'e's face, introducing him in Chinese: "This is my mother-in-law, this is Yun Qiao, Mother, this is Ikeda-kun, our senior from school with Zhi Bang."
"Auntie..." Jiro bowed respectfully in front of Li Yu'e and said.
"Hehe... thank you so much! If it wasn't for you, I don't know what would have happened just now!" Li Yujiao thought about what had just happened and still felt a bit shaken. She glanced at Xingzi and continued: "Xingzi, since we're friends and you just saved us, why don't we invite Mr. Inoue to our home as a guest? On the one hand, you can have a good chat, and on the other hand, it's also a way for us to express our gratitude."
"It's nothing, it was just a small effort, Auntie, you're too polite!"
"Inoue-kun, since we've met here, why don't you come in and sit down for a bit?"
"Alright, you tell me your home address and I'll definitely visit next time I'm free. This time really can't, I have to rush out of Shenyang. Oh, forgot to tell you, it's Professor Ishii who called me out."
"Has Uncle come to China? When did that happen? What is he doing in Shenyang? Why didn't he even tell me?" Akane was excited to hear that her uncle, Ishii Shirō, had arrived in China and asked several questions in a row.
"I'm not sure about this either, I came here to buy a Chinese cheongsam for Mrs. Ishii, and now I have to rush out to catch the boat, Auntie, next time I'll definitely visit you"
"Alright, you go ahead and take care of your business, remember to come visit us at home when you have time."
"Inoue-kun, please give my regards to my uncle and tell him that if he has time, Kyoko hopes he can come to Beijing. I miss him," she said as she took the pen and paper from Inoue's hand and wrote down Zhao's address.
"Alright, I'll be sure to pass it on. Well, I'll take my leave then, Aunt... goodbye..." Jiong took the note and bowed to Li Yu'e before hastily waving goodbye to the three of them.
