The Fortunate Lady and Her Mountain Man

Chapter 196: Chapter 196: A Bit Too Coincidental

The night was quiet, broken only by the occasional chirp of an insect.

In the north, May was technically the start of summer, but the night air still felt like the cusp between spring and summer. A gentle evening breeze blew past, making a slight chill in the air unavoidable.

Ji Huan walked to the low shed where the homeless man stayed and crouched down. Lifting the straw mat that served as a door, she held up her oil lamp. Just as she expected, its light revealed the homeless man leaning against one of the wooden posts inside.

He was still wearing the old clothes and shoes Widow Xie had brought him as the weather began to warm. Beneath him was a tattered straw mat, with some old bedding laid to one side.

He sat there, half-upright, his head bowed, silent and still.

Ji Huan couldn’t tell if he was asleep. She called out to him tentatively a few times but saw no reaction.

’He must be asleep.’

Ji Huan glanced at the large bowl of noodles in her hands, which she had specifically saved for him. She sighed and muttered to herself, "By the time you wake up, these noodles will be all mushy..."

Throughout the afternoon and into the night, not only had she and the villagers who helped search for the boy gone without eating, but the homeless man and Dabao had also been left with empty stomachs.

Dabao, now fed and content, was fast asleep. But the homeless man... ’Did he really fall asleep on an empty stomach?’

Ji Huan set down the bowl of noodles and lowered the straw mat back into place. Then, she picked up her oil lamp and headed back the way she came.

But after she left, the man who had seemed to be asleep slowly lifted his head.

Through the gap between a wooden post and the straw mat, his gaze followed the direction of Ji Huan’s departure.

Completely unaware of this, Ji Huan locked her courtyard gate, washed up, and climbed into bed. She had just blown out the lamp and lain down when she felt the covers next to her shift.

Ji Huan turned on her side and reached out to stroke Dabao’s cheek.

"You’re not asleep?"

"Woke. Up."

Dabao was a light sleeper; the slightest sound could wake him.

It was as if the little guy had some kind of internal radar. No matter how soundly he was sleeping, he would quickly wake up if Ji Huan wasn’t beside him.

Seeing him trying to wriggle closer, Ji Huan patted him through the covers. "Be still. Don’t you want your foot to heal? You shouldn’t be moving it. Now, go to sleep."

Dabao did stop moving, but he didn’t obediently close his eyes.

He turned his head toward Ji Huan and said slowly, "Bit. The bad. Guy."

Ji Huan thought for a moment and understood what he meant.

She had warned Dabao time and again not to bite people.

And Dabao had slowly broken the habit.

But she had also told him that strangers who tried to bully him or lure him away with food were bad people—and it was okay to bite bad people.

Dabao had remembered that firmly.

Not only did he remember, but he also put it into practice and had escaped disaster because of it.

Widow Xie had mentioned her lingering fear, saying she couldn’t bear to imagine what would have happened if Dabao had truly been lost.

’She was no different.’

Thankfully, those terrible things hadn’t happened. Thankfully, Dabao was still by her side at this very moment.

More than being grateful to the heavens, Ji Huan was grateful to the homeless man.

’Thinking back on her wariness toward him, she didn’t regret it.’

’It was always wise to be on guard. That was a separate matter from her gratitude.’

Still, Ji Huan felt that she could be kinder to him in the future. After all, he had saved her only family, and... she had misjudged him.

Ji Huan continued to chat idly with Dabao.

From his halting words, she was able to piece together the general course of events.

It was much as she had guessed.

However, one thing Dabao said caught her attention.

"You’re saying those two traffickers were hired by someone specifically?" Widow Xie asked, startled.

Since they had been up so late the previous night, the Hu Family hadn’t set up their street stall today. After eating, Widow Xie brought Hu Dacheng over to apologize to Dabao face-to-face.

Normally, Hu Dacheng would have thrown a tantrum. Apologizing to a little brat younger than him? That was far too humiliating.

This time, however, he was surprisingly obedient and even gave Dabao a proper bow.

’It seemed Widow Xie must have had a good "chat" with him after they got back.’

Widow Xie asked her question again.

Ji Huan nodded.

When the two men had grabbed Dabao and were heading for the village entrance, the shorter man had urged the taller one to hurry up.

But the taller man had said, "What are you afraid of? If we get caught, it’s not our problem. They can go find the person who hired us."

Of course, these weren’t Dabao’s exact words; rather, they were what Ji Huan had pieced together from his fragmented account.

But when she repeated it back to Dabao, he had nodded, so the meaning couldn’t have been far off.

"No way! Who would do something so wicked? Aren’t they afraid of being cursed to death by the other villagers?"

Widow Xie instinctively refused to believe such a theory.

They were all from the same village. Even with the usual squabbles and arguments, nobody would resort to such a vile act of revenge—an act that could end a family line! What kind of cruel heart, what deep-seated hatred would drive someone to do that?

"You and Dabao just keep to yourselves. You haven’t offended anyone, so who could..."

Her voice trailed off as she met Ji Huan’s clear, sharp gaze. Suddenly, it dawned on her. "You suspect the Ji Family?"

Ji Huan didn’t hide her suspicion.

Even though a witness had later helped Mrs. Zhu prove that her meeting with the strange men at the village entrance was a misunderstanding, Ji Huan remained skeptical.

’Not one more, not one less. Exactly two men.’

’The description matched perfectly: one tall, one thin.’

’If it was a coincidence, it was far too convenient.’

’Huang Juncai and his cousin happened to come to Dafeng Village that day. Mrs. Zhu happened to be at the village entrance at that precise moment. And she happened to run into the two "lost" men.’

’Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. So many "coincidences" piling up could no longer be called a coincidence.’

"To be honest, I also think Mrs. Zhu is a piece of work, but to say she has the guts to sell a person... that’s..."

Widow Xie shook her head, feeling that Ji Huan was overestimating Mrs. Zhu. Besides, the suspicions against her had already been cleared.

Ji Huan had a rather thorough understanding of Mrs. Zhu’s true nature, so she didn’t deny Widow Xie’s point.

"Even if Mrs. Zhu had the nerve, she doesn’t have the brains. With her straightforward, simple-minded nature, if she really wanted to sell Dabao, she would have just grabbed him herself. She’d never think of taking the roundabout route of hiring someone else."

"Then what are you... You suspect someone was helping Mrs. Zhu?"

Seeing Ji Huan nod, Widow Xie asked in shock, "Was it Old Man Ji and Aunt Kang?!"

’Ji Qingshan and Aunt Kang... They were certainly capable of using Mrs. Zhu as their pawn.’

’But if that were the case, why go to the trouble of selling Dabao? They would have tried to sell her instead.’

’Not that they hadn’t tried to sell her before.’

’Besides, Ji Huan had carefully recalled their reactions at the time and confirmed they were unaware of the plot.’

’She had another suspect in mind.’

’When she had held the knife to Mrs. Zhu’s throat, Mrs. Zhu, in her utter panic, hadn’t cried out for the head of the family, Ji Qingshan. She hadn’t called for Aunt Kang or Ji Lianhuai either. Instead, she had screamed relentlessly for Ji Xiu’e.’

’The person you think of at a life-or-death moment is either a loved one you can’t bear to leave, or someone you’re certain can save you.’

’In her memory, Mrs. Zhu and Ji Xiu’e didn’t get along well at all. When had the two of them become so close?’

’Was it possible they were suddenly the best of friends, ready to die for one another?’

’Ji Huan leaned toward the second possibility.’

’So, the question remained—what made Mrs. Zhu so certain that Ji Xiu’e could save her?’

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