Chapter 80: Fright

Chapter 80: Chapter 80: Fright

After Ling Qianjun left, Hua Buwan took out her phone to call her grandfather. He told her that he and her grandmother had just gone out, so she didn’t need to drop anything off; they would come see her when they returned later.

She kept a small portion of the remaining longans for herself and divided the rest into little bags, heading out to distribute them to her neighbors.

On her way out, she cast a glance at the pawnshop next door. Ever since its owner had been hauled off to the police station, the store had remained firmly shuttered. Today, however, the lights were on. Someone was inside.

The door was shut tight, though, making it impossible to see who it was. Hua Buwan decided she needed to keep a close eye on the place. After all, they had forged some serious bad blood.

Setting her concerns aside for the moment, she went about delivering the longans.

The older neighbors were pleasantly surprised when she showed up with the fruit. They warmly invited her inside to chat, pressing apples, oranges, drinks, and candies into her hands. Unable to refuse their hospitality, she accepted a few small items from each household.

She listened as the elders shared stories about her maternal grandparents’ past. They held her hands affectionately, urging her to visit more often and stay in touch. Hua Buwan responded graciously, chatting with them for a while before finally heading back to the supermarket.

To her surprise, just as she returned, the door to the neighboring pawnshop swung open. She paused for a fraction of a second but quickly feigned ignorance, pushing open the glass door of her supermarket and slipping inside. Besides, she could still monitor the outside through her storefront’s glass facade.

A moment later, a scrawny, frail-looking man emerged. Catching a glimpse of his face, she noticed a distinct resemblance to the pawnshop owner. It was his son.

Suddenly, the man turned his gaze toward the supermarket!

Startled, Hua Buwan instinctively shrank back to hide, only to bump directly into a firm, solid chest.

Panic seized her at the realization that someone else was in the store. Her breath hitched. Her heart hammered against her ribs—THUMP, THUMP, THUMP—beating so violently that it made her eardrums throb.

Reacting on pure adrenaline, she threw a vicious backward elbow strike and stomped hard on the intruder’s foot!

But the intruder’s reflexes were far faster than hers. He caught her elbow in a flash and nimbly side-stepped her stomp.

"I’m done for. I’m completely toast," she thought. She had never learned proper self-defense, relying only on amateur parlor tricks. Whoever had sneaked in felt like a trained fighter—someone she stood absolutely no chance against in a brawl.

Weighing her options, she decided to scream. There was a slim chance the man outside wasn’t looking for revenge and might actually help. Even if he wasn’t, maybe another passerby would hear her and come to the rescue.

She opened her mouth, but before a single sound could escape, a large hand clamped firmly over her lips.

All hope instantly turned to ashes in her chest. How she wished Ling Qianjun would suddenly appear to save her! But he had just left with his share of longans; there was no way he would be returning to the supermarket so soon.

Just then, a deep, familiar voice sounded from above her.

"It’s me." Ling Qianjun looked down at her tearful, desperate expression, his voice laced with concern.

He had returned to the supermarket earlier, but finding it empty, he figured she was out delivering the longans and had simply sat down to wait. When he spotted her approaching the door, he had stepped forward to greet her. But following her line of sight, he had noticed someone stepping out of the adjacent shop.

He hadn’t wanted to be seen, knowing his unexplained presence might bring her trouble, so he had quickly ducked out of sight. He certainly hadn’t expected her to dart inside and hide in the exact same spot.

Before he even had a chance to speak, she was already throwing elbows and stomping feet.