"Things are good. I'm well-known in Xinghua Village. Everyone greets me with respect," Meng Shaode declared.
Wu Dalei immediately burst into laughter, "That's good, that's good."
A Jiu's face twisted as if she had eaten bitter herbs.
Where did her father get such confidence?
Full and satisfied, they waited for Xiao Yanyan and Zhao Kun to return.
A Jiu stretched her neck to peek. They had collected nearly half a bucket of water. Zhao Kun looked weary, as if he had been waiting until he was half asleep.
*Creak, creak, clatter!*
A Jiu ran onto the road and craned her neck to look back.
A dilapidated carriage was lurching towards them.
The driver was disheveled, glancing back every now and then, his whip cracking loudly.
With a bang, the carriage door fell off.
"Dad, hurry! I think that person is being chased," A Jiu yelled out.
Meng Shaode and the others' pupils contracted, and they exchanged glances. They haphazardly shoved the pots into the carriage.
"Quick, get in the carriage."
Meng Shaode scooped A Jiu up and stuffed her into the carriage. He then helped Li's wife and Laizi inside.
He jumped onto the carriage and whipped the horse forward. Cai Lihua, sitting in the front, bounced up and down with the jolts.
A tense atmosphere filled the carriage again, everyone holding their breath.
A Jiu knew they had become like birds startled by the sight of a bow, their first thought at any disturbance being escape.
A Jiu turned and lifted the back window of the carriage to look.
To her surprise, A Jiu gasped, but then she thought better of it and no longer felt afraid.
"Did Jiu'er see clearly? What's going on?" Li's wife asked anxiously.
A Jiu saw it clearly. The carriage belonged to Steward Li.
He was now in tattered clothes, wearing only a ragged white inner garment.
None of his former thugs were present. The carriage was so broken that its door frame fell off with every few bumps, followed by a cover.
He looked as if he had just been robbed.
If it were in the past, A Jiu would naturally have been scared. But seeing this scene now, she wasn't afraid.
She pursed her lips, deep in thought, and a plan began to form in her mind.
Just then, with a clang and a whinny, Steward Li's emaciated horse suddenly collapsed. The carriage overturned, flinging Steward Li far away. He paid no mind to the horse, got up, and took off running.
"The benefactor ahead, please stop! Save this old man's life... Help!"
However, as soon as the carriage entered a bend, it disappeared from view. Steward Li desperately cried for help.
A Jiu saw clearly from the rear window that the bandits chasing him were the same group they had encountered earlier.
Seeing that all the horses on the road had been abandoned, A Jiu figured it made sense. Who would want to kill a penniless old man?
"Dad," A Jiu's eyes lit up as she pushed open the wooden carriage door. "Slow down."
Meng Shaode, panting, reined in the horse. "A Jiu, what's happening?"
"Dad, the person being chased by the bandits is Steward Li," A Jiu said without a trace of fear, a smile even gracing her face.
"Ah? Daughter, what did you say? That Li fellow?" Cai Lihua's eyes widened in surprise.
"Yes, but it seems he was robbed by mountain bandits. His carriage is gone, and he didn't even bring any guards."
At A Jiu's words, Meng Shaode's eyes gleamed.
"You know him?" Wu Dalei, still out of breath, caught up to the carriage, leaning on his knees.
"Of course, we know him very well," Cai Lihua said through gritted teeth.
"Good heavens, I'll go and greet him personally today."
As the carriage stopped, the cries for help from behind grew clearer.
"Benefactor, benefactor, please stop... Save this old man's life, and I will repay you with my own."
Steward Li, exhausted and clutching his chest, stumbled around the bend. Seeing the carriage stopped ahead, he clasped his hands in prayer from a distance.
"Thank you, benefactor."