Chapter 15: Robbery!

It was merely that they were green with envy that Ruan Xing, a tiny little girl, could easily earn in a short while money they couldn't earn in several days.

"What you say makes sense, thank you, Uncle." Ruan Xing nodded at Baozi Dashu, carefully fished out the dozen or so coins she had just earned from her bodice pocket, and looked at them with a face full of frailty and reluctance, "I only have this much, is it enough for you two big brothers?"

The two were overjoyed; they had only intended to shake her down for a little, never expecting this little girl to be so easily intimidated that she handed over all the money she had earned today. Now, not only could they have a good meal today, but they could also have a few drinks.

They hurriedly snatched it away and happily tucked it into their robes, "That's more like it. We brothers will spare you this once today; next time you see us, you'd better be proactive!"

"Understood, Big Brother." Ruan Xing said in a thin, soft voice as she watched them take the money and walk away.

On the side, Baozi Dashu sighed, feeling that she was failing to live up to his expectations, "Giving them three or two coins to send them off would have been enough. You gave it all away, so what will you earn today? How will you answer for it when you get home?"

By now, the onlookers had already dispersed because no one wanted to get involved in the disruption caused by those two. Even if she started over now, the effect wouldn't be as good as when she first arrived.

Ruan Xing smiled, "I'm timid. Once I got scared, I didn't think that much. If the money is gone, I'll just earn more this afternoon. They shouldn't come looking for trouble with me again this afternoon."

She picked up her chipped bowl and wrapped everything up in a cloth bundle, "Uncle, you go ahead and get busy. If I run out of eggs, I'll go home to get more and come back to perform magic tricks this afternoon."

Baozi Dashu projected his own feelings onto her, knowing she must be in a bad mood after having a dozen coins stolen from her. After thinking for a moment, he took a plain bun and gave it to her, "It's still hot, take it and eat."

Ruan Xing took the bun, looked up, and playfully blinked, "Thank you, Uncle, I won't take it for free."

Having said that, she carried her small bundle and trotted away.

"This child." Baozi Dashu shook his head with a chuckle, then discovered with surprise that an egg was lying quietly in his steamer.

It had been less than a cup of tea's time since those two left. Ruan Xing remembered which road they had taken and followed behind them, moving slowly while eating the bun and pretending to stroll.

The two were being intimate, arms draped over each other's shoulders, discussing which tavern to go to for a drink in the afternoon. They had no idea there was a little tail behind them until they turned two corners into a deserted alleyway, where a filthy rag descended from the sky, covering both their heads and faces.

"Ouch! What is this!"

"Cough, cough! Who is it! How dare you ambush me!"

Before the furious pair could pull off the rag, they were met with a storm of punches and kicks. They wanted to fight back, but the pain in the places they were struck was unbearable. Within seconds, they went from cursing loudly to begging for mercy repeatedly.

Ruan Xing remained silent, using every move she had learned from the Body Refining technique until she was satisfied, then knocked them both unconscious.

This Body Refining technique was truly useful; one person could beat two untrained youths until they had no power to fight back. It was a pity she couldn't use it openly yet.

It wasn't that she was being overly cautious; it was just that the origin of the technique was hard to explain. She had only been in the hall for three days, yet her martial arts level was already on par with those adult men who had been training for three or four years. If she hadn't been worried about arousing suspicion and inviting trouble, she would have beaten these two scoundrels right at the Shizi Jie intersection. "My money isn't that easy to take."

She put away the rag and kicked them both in the face a couple of times to vent her anger. Only then did she take back the money that had been stolen, and what's more, she gained an extra seven or eight copper coins.

"Consider it your compensation for my mental distress," Ruan Xing thought calmly. Finally, she stripped the two of them until they were left in only their underpants, tore their clothes into strips to tie them up securely, and then departed with composure.

Returning to the hall for lunch, she met the fat cook in the canteen, who was scratching his head and muttering to himself.

"Strange... why does it feel like there are fewer eggs? Could it be that those kitchen helpers were greedy and stole some to eat..."

Hearing this, Ruan Xing smiled slightly and walked back to the small courtyard with her own and Shi Shifu's meal with a steady gait.

If she continued to practice diligently, perhaps the next time she chose a skill, the Simulator would give her a masterful Shen Shou skill. But unfortunately, she couldn't spend a huge sum of one hundred coins on such a thing.

After the meal, Ruan Xing went back to the Shizi Jie intersection to perform. Fortunately, the afternoon was peaceful. She figured that those two scoundrels were usually so overbearing and had offended so many people that they couldn't figure out who had beaten them. The probability of a frail and timid little girl like her beating two grown men until they wailed was almost zero.

Although the onlookers were not as enthusiastic as in the morning, counting it up, she still earned over thirty coins. If she could do this every day, eight or nine hundred coins a month would be a high-paying job. Indeed, as Shi Shifu said, there was no problem with making a living.

Unfortunately, reality was not as beautiful as she imagined. Most people were just looking for novelty; after a few days, once everyone had seen and played, no one would pay attention anymore. If there was no "atmosphere group" to set the mood, this stuff was actually hard to get addicted to. It was no wonder those performers all had to travel the world.

Near dusk, as the sky grew dark and pedestrians on the street became fewer, the working people who had labored all day welcomed a short rest period, and the vendors at Shizi Jie began to pack up their things one after another.

Seeing that Ruan Xing hadn't moved yet, Baozi Dashu kindly reminded her, "It's already dark, little girl, hurry home. It's not safe at night; children of your age are the easiest to be abducted by human traffickers."

"Oh, I'm going back now." Although Ruan Xing wasn't afraid, she didn't want to let down Baozi Dashu's good intentions. Besides, if she waited any longer, no more customers would come to give her money. Unless it was during the holidays when the night market was open, there were usually no people on the street at night; after all, the candles and lamp oil for lanterns were a significant expense. Thus, she lifted the cloth bundle and packed everything on the ground.

Ruan Xing carefully calculated the money she had on hand; it totaled one hundred and seventeen coins. She recharged one hundred coins into the Simulator, bringing her point balance back to 11.3. Feeling a pang of pain, she took out five coins to buy a pastry from Rongfang Zhai—a few tiny pieces, more expensive than the price of meat.

But she didn't buy this pastry to satisfy her own appetite; she wanted to cater to Shi Shifu's preferences and find out more information about the gang that he knew.

She had been eating with Shi Shifu for three days. According to her observations, Shi Shifu generally didn't touch dishes with chili, nor did he eat salty flower rolls. However, he ate more red bean buns, sweet egg soup, and tomato-stewed meat. Therefore, she concluded that Shi Shifu preferred sweet flavors, and he would definitely like sweet pastries.

On the way back, Ruan Xing thought about how to properly butter up Shi Shifu. Her feet walked, without her realizing it, along the road that passed by the Gambling Den. The side door was half-open, and faint noises of arguing drifted from within. Ruan Xing stopped in front of the door. In just three or four days, it felt like a lifetime ago. She had come out of this door and found herself a path that was unknown and detached from the plot.

"Why did you come here?"

The door suddenly opened, and a head poked out. Hu San looked at Ruan Xing with a strange expression and asked the question.

(End of this chapter)