Chapter 295: Village Thugs Blocking the Path

Mou Lili was busy to the point of exhaustion, having to process orders every single night.

But she still felt uneasy.

Livestream selling is a matter that requires caution; once there are too many negative reviews, it is possible to get one's account banned.

Out of consideration for her reputation, Mou Lili even hired Jin Li to go to the Ju Lin to keep watch, ensuring every crate of kumquats was ripe and large.

Jin Li told Mou Lili to rest easy; with him there, those people certainly wouldn't dare to pass off inferior goods as quality ones.

Meanwhile, Mou Lili continued teaching her classes.

On this day, Xiaozhu did not come again, and Mou Lili felt anxious all morning.

Because Xiaozhu's younger brother and sister had already followed their parents to town, yet he hadn't come to class—could something have happened at home?

At noon, Mou Lili decided to go up the mountain to take a look.

Xiaozhu's home was quiet; he was the only one there, covered by a quilt, his head burning with a high fever.

"Xiaozhu, are you sick?"

Mou Lili went to touch his forehead.

Xiaozhu swallowed, his voice hoarse: "Teacher..."

"Are you uncomfortable? Have you taken any medicine? Do you want to see a doctor?" Mou Lili had been teaching them for so long that she had developed an emotional bond; she did not want anything to happen to any of her students.

Xiaozhu said: "I drank some medicine."

The so-called medicine was just some herbal decoction his parents had boiled; people in the village all drank this to break a fever.

Mou Lili felt uneasy and wanted to call Ling Feng to have him buy some cold medicine, but there was no signal here, and the call wouldn't go through.

Once, she finally managed to get through, but it cut off before he could answer.

"I'll go pour you some hot water to drink; you need to drink plenty of water when you have a fever," Mou Lili said.

After pouring water for Xiaozhu, she asked if he was hungry.

Xiaozhu nodded.

Mou Lili then went to cook a bowl of noodles for Xiaozhu.

Fortunately, she knew how to use the rural stove and how to start a fire; after all, when she was little, she often had to help her family burn firewood to steam buns.

While cooking the noodles, she cooked a portion for herself as well, to save herself from having to run to Jin Shu's house to eat after going down the mountain.

Mou Lili originally intended to feed Xiaozhu, but Xiaozhu insisted on eating by himself; he was embarrassed to let Mou Lili feed him. In their village, children usually had to eat by themselves by the age of two; if they didn't eat, they went hungry, as parents didn't have that much time to feed them.

After finishing the noodles, Mou Lili saw that Xiaozhu's fever had gone down a lot and his spirits were good, so she told him to rest first, saying she would come to see him again in the evening and would have Ling Feng go to the county seat to buy some fever-reducing medicine.

Mou Lili washed the bowls and headed down the mountain by herself.

As it turned out, she saw a few people sitting halfway up the mountain; it was that group with the big gold chain.

"Hey, city girl, you've got so much free time today, coming to care for your students?" the Big Gold Chain greeted her first.

Mou Lili wasn't afraid; she just kept walking.

But the mountain path was very narrow, there was only this one, and the Big Gold Chain and his group were blocking it, leaving her nowhere to go.

"Move aside," Mou Lili said with a cold face.

"Pretty girl, come to the county seat with us brothers to have some fun; we'll sing some karaoke, and we guarantee we'll bring you back after."

Mou Lili said indifferently: "I'm not interested."

"My treat."

"Not necessary," Mou Lili said.

A thug behind the Big Gold Chain said: "Pretty girl, don't be ungrateful. Do you know who our Quan Ge is?"

"Isn't he just a person? Could he be a pig instead?" Mou Lili asked.

The thug said again: "Out here in the middle of nowhere, if we wanted to do something, nobody would know. Look at this hillside, there are plenty of graves; aren't you afraid that one of those graves might have your name on it?"

Mou Lili sneered: "Brother, don't try to scare me. I wasn't raised on fear. We aren't the same kind of people; let's keep to our own paths. You don't need to waste your time on me."

"Really not giving us face?" The Big Gold Chain smoked, then puffed a cloud of smoke into Mou Lili's face.

Mou Lili didn't dodge; she gave a cold laugh, then pulled a pack of cigarettes from her pocket, lit one, and puffed a cloud of smoke into the Big Gold Chain's face.

The Big Gold Chain had only puffed smoke, but she had puffed a skull shape into the air.

The group of thugs stared in stunned silence.

At the same time, they looked at Mou Lili.

Mou Lili said: "Don't think I don't know who you are; you're just a bunch of village thugs. I have people backing me up too."

"That pretty boy?"

"Pfft!" Mou Lili smiled: "You think he's just a pretty boy? I might as well tell you: don't provoke him, and don't provoke me, otherwise his father could make your whole family disappear with the flick of a finger."

As Mou Lili spoke, she pushed one of the thugs aside.

Perhaps frightened by Mou Lili's words, the thug subconsciously cleared the path.

Mou Lili walked down the mountain with composure.

Watching Mou Lili's back, the thug asked the Big Gold Chain: "Quan Ge, is what she said true?"

The Big Gold Chain said: "Regardless, this woman doesn't look simple."

"The way she smokes is so street-smart; it really feels like she's the type of person who has a backer."

The Big Gold Chain threw the cigarette butt in his hand onto the ground and said: "Observe for now; let's see if they actually have a backer before we do anything."

Another thug hurriedly stepped on the cigarette butt on the ground: "Quan Ge, start a fire on the mountain, and you'll be sitting in prison until the bottom rots."

"Alright, alright, be careful next time!"

Just as Mou Lili reached the bottom of the mountain, she saw Ling Feng hurrying toward her.

Seeing Mou Lili, he finally let out a sigh of relief: "You didn't say anything when you called me, making me think something happened to you. Jin Shu said you didn't go back for lunch; did something happen?"

Mou Lili said, "Xiaozhu has a fever. I originally wanted to call you and have you buy some fever-reducing medicine on your way back, but there is no signal on the mountain. I finally managed to get through, but it cut off again after a moment."

"How is Xiaozhu now?" Ling Feng was also worried about him.

"A little better, his spirits are fine too. I told him to lie down and rest at home."

"Jin Shu should have fever-reducing medicine at his place; I'll ask him for some in a while."

Thinking of the big gold chain, Mou Lili added, "Do you know there are a few village thugs in the village?"

"Village thugs?"

"They intercepted me on the mountain today," Mou Lili said.

She felt it was necessary to tell Ling Feng; if this group could intercept her, they could intercept him too.

Ling Feng couldn't help but say angrily, "So arrogant? Where are these people? I'll go find them."

Mou Lili pointed toward the mountain: "They were just at the mountainside a moment ago, but I don't know where they are now."

Ling Feng asked, "Do you think I wouldn't dare to go?"

"Go ahead. If you haven't come down in an hour, I'll go up to collect your corpse."

"Underestimating who?" Ling Feng went up without another word.

Mou Lili stood where she was, her heart skipping a beat.

Was he going up to stand up for her?

Nothing would happen to him if he went up, right?

Right now, it was time for class, and the children were all inside waiting for her.

She thought for a moment and decided to go to class first.

In any case, it would boil down to two outcomes.

First, Ling Feng gets beaten up, but those people certainly wouldn't dare to take his life.

Second, Ling Feng settles those people.

If he couldn't even handle a few village thugs, then he might as well roll back to Beishi early and consider it a realization of reality.