Chapter 31: That Girl Won’t Make It?
She squatted down, carefully searching through a clump of weeds, and finally found a common wild grass that looked a bit like Dragon Beard Grass.
Just as she was stuffing the grass into her cloth bag, Cao Daqiang suddenly rushed out from behind and snatched it from her hand.
"Hey! What do you think you’re doing? You jerk, give that back!"
Shanshan screamed and lunged at him.
But she was too short and weak; she couldn’t reach the hand Cao Daqiang held high above her.
"Heh heh, so this is the medicinal herb that’s supposed to cure Yang Dapeng, is it?"
Cao Daqiang sneered, looking down to inspect the plant.
"You wretched girl. Instead of showing respect to your own father, you’re giving this treasure to an outsider?"
He suddenly raised his hand to slap her, his palm whistling through the air as it aimed for Shanshan’s cheek.
But Shanshan was already on her guard.
The moment his hand was halfway up, she deftly dodged to the right.
Cao Daqiang hadn’t anticipated the move. He lost his balance, stumbling and spinning around twice on the spot.
"You’ve never taken care of me for a single day. Why should I listen to you?"
Shanshan retreated two steps, her small chest heaving.
"You’re not a good father at all! I don’t want to listen to you! I’m going to make sure Uncle gets better soon so he can take care of you!"
"You ungrateful little brat! I was right to abandon you back then!"
Cao Daqiang gritted his teeth.
"It would have been a waste to raise an ungrateful thing like you!"
Shanshan’s eyes widened, and she stared at him without blinking.
"Ungrateful?"
She spoke softly.
"What have you ever given me? Have you ever fed me a single bite of food?"
"You!"
Cao Daqiang’s face paled, and the words caught in his throat.
"Since when is it your place to talk back to your elders?"
He looked at her face—her eyes, the bridge of her nose, the stubborn set of her lips...
She looked exactly like that woman.
His heart clenched. A wave of inexplicable panic erupted in his chest.
’No...’
’I’m not the one who was wrong.’
’She was the one who came on to me!’
’This won’t do!’
’I can’t let this kid stick around.’
’Just looking at that face every day is enough to drive me crazy.’
’And that’s not even mentioning the big plan I’ve been working on.’
’I absolutely can’t let her ruin everything!’
"Come here a second. I have something to tell you."
He beckoned to Shanshan, trying to force a pleasant smile.
But the corners of his mouth had barely turned up before they froze in place.
Not only did Shanshan not move forward, she took another two steps back, her eyes fixed on him warily.
"Just as I thought, a disobedient little brat! Stay right there!"
Cao Daqiang suddenly shot his hand out, grabbing straight for her arm.
Shanshan was already preparing to dodge, the tip of her foot already shifting to the side.
But she was ultimately too weak. She had barely moved half an inch when his palm brushed past her sleeve.
The next second, a huge force slammed into him from the side.
Cao Daqiang had stepped on a patch of moss, and his center of gravity was completely thrown off.
His knee hit the ground with a heavy THUD.
Shanshan was wearing a thick, padded cotton jacket, making her look as plump as a little round dumpling.
She flailed her arms and legs but couldn’t manage to push herself up.
Gritting her teeth, she simply rolled over on the ground and pushed herself into a sitting position.
Cao Daqiang’s eyes went red. He snatched up a dead branch and swung it viciously at her little face!
Shanshan instantly dodged out of the way.
Cao Daqiang panted heavily, the veins on his forehead bulging.
He raised the branch again, bringing it down a second and a third time, cursing viciously.
"You think you can run?! You think you can dodge?! I’ll smash that worthless face of yours to a pulp today!"
Shanshan was scared out of her wits, and a scream tore from her throat.
"AHHH!!!"
"Go on, scream! Screaming your lungs out won’t do you any good!"
Cao Daqiang sneered.
"This place is desolate. There isn’t another living soul for miles! Who’s going to hear you? Who’s going to come save you?"
"Don’t blame me for being cruel. You’re asking for it!"
He lunged at her, his hands reaching straight for her slender neck.
Just as his hands were about to close around her throat, suddenly...
"BANG!"
Something slammed hard against his calf.
"What the hell was that?!"
Filled with rage, he kicked out viciously.
A gray rabbit was kicked and sent flying.
Before Cao Daqiang could even register what happened...
...a dark shape slowly emerged from the bushes.
A wild wolf crouched low, its eyes, filled with murderous intent, locked onto Cao Daqiang.
"A wolf?! Where the hell did a wolf come from?!"
Cao Daqiang’s soul practically left his body.
A warmth spread through his crotch, and the reek of urine filled the air.
Heedless of anything else, he whipped around and bolted.
Shanshan, who had been knocked to the ground, rubbed her backside and whimpered in pain.
She propped herself up with both hands and slowly sat up.
The alpha wolf walked over, head bowed. Its breath, visible as a white mist, gently brushed against her knee.
"Ptooey! Shameless bastard. He wanted to ruin my face? Then he can’t blame me for what I’m about to do!"
Shanshan spat on the ground and leaped to her feet.
She vaulted onto the wolf’s back, pressing her hands lightly on its neck.
The alpha wolf let out a low whine, then kicked off with its powerful legs, hurtling in pursuit of Cao Daqiang.
Gritting his teeth, Cao Daqiang hopped and limped along on one foot, covering a surprising distance in the blink of an eye.
From a distance, Shanshan watched him stumble and scramble through the woods.
She didn’t hurry to close the distance. Instead, a cold smile touched her lips as she raised her right hand.
The dry branches all around them suddenly began to move, though there was no wind. One by one, they rose into the air.
Then, with a flick of her wrist...
...the branches went whistling through the air, a dense swarm of them lashing out at Cao Daqiang.
By the time Cao Daqiang finally escaped the forest, his padded jacket was in tatters, and his face was covered in scratches.
Head down, he staggered into the family residential compound.
Hearing the commotion, Liu Yingzi and her daughter rushed out. The sight of him left them completely stunned.
"Oh my god! What happened to you? Who did this to you?"
Liu Yingzi lunged forward, her hands shaking uncontrollably.
Cao Daqiang refused to say a word.
He collapsed onto the doorstep, grabbed a bowl of water, and gulped down two full bowls without stopping.
Liu Yingzi quickly brought some ointment and carefully cleaned the blood and grime from his face.
It wasn’t until he was lying on the warm, heated bed that he closed his eyes and haltingly recounted what had happened.
"Wolves... a pack of wolves... that girl... she knows a Spell... branches like knives... I... I almost died..."
"So what do we do now? There’s no way that girl survived, right?"
Liu Yingzi asked quietly, her eyes filled with terror.
"In this cold, the wolves must have come down from the mountains. I doubt that kid is coming back," he muttered.
"When a pack of wolves surrounds someone... forget a little girl, even a grown man would be torn to shreds."
"Right! The herb!"
His eyes shot open and he grabbed Liu Yingzi’s wrist.
"Get my herb! Yingzi, go ask for a leave of absence for me from the work team! We can’t delay this any longer, or it’ll be too late! We have to go find the leader right now and establish Jiajia as his benefactor!"
’The couple thought gleefully to themselves that once this was settled, Jiajia would get all the credit.’
’From then on, they’d live a life of luxury, and their fortunes would be reversed.’
But they had no idea that Ling Anxun had already met Shanshan.
Even if they tried to force the credit onto Jiajia, it would be pointless.
Ling Anxun, however, was in no hurry to expose them.
He simply sat in his wheelchair, his calm gaze fixed on Cao Daqiang.
"Mr. Cao, you say you picked this herb from the mountain behind your home? Which plant was it? What month does it bloom? How many veins do the leaves have?"
"Leader, that’s just a common weed from the side of the road. It has no medicinal value whatsoever."
"What? Impossible! That’s the one... I myse—"