Chapter 2324: Chapter 2388: Down-and-Out Situation

The woman thought she had scared the little girl, a smug expression appeared on her face, even shaking her head slightly with satisfaction. In her heart, she was calculating that even if the girl disagreed, she would still have to marry her off. Just a child, what can she do even if she cries and fusses? A beating and some intimidation will suffice. Besides, that family offered a substantial sum, ten thousand yuan.

In this day and age, a dowry of ten thousand isn’t much, but the money will go to the woman and her family, not the child. Such money shouldn’t be wasted. Although the man from the other family does have a disability, rumored to be a dwarf, only about a meter in height, and naturally looks needn’t be mentioned.

But, for this unlucky star that jinxed her parents, being married off without anyone despising her is already fortunate enough, what more can she ask for?

While the woman was thinking, she tossed a small bag she was holding onto a stone at the door. She was just about to turn and leave, as she rarely came here. Partly because she thought this place was too filthy, and partly because she didn’t want to see the little girl. According to the local belief, a girl whose parents died early is unlucky.

But before leaving, the woman suddenly became curious about the man the little girl saved, so she turned around and was about to pull open the door. The little girl, seeing her move, quickly said, "Auntie, what are you doing?"

"What am I doing? I’m going to take a look at that wretch!" said the woman.

Come in now, let’s see what kind of vicious woman could do such a thing, thought Li Yifei, eyes widening, as the little girl said, "Auntie, there’s nothing worth seeing, he... is injured, and stinks!"

"What’s wrong, is that wretch not wearing clothes?" the woman retorted, dissatisfied.

"No, no..."

"Then why won’t you let me in? Let me tell you, step aside quickly, damn it, you’re getting more disobedient by the day, keep this up and don’t say I didn’t warn you I’ll hit you!" the woman threatened.

The little girl instinctively stepped back, seemingly recalling some unpleasant memories. The woman, in one swift motion, pulled the door open, instinctively covering her nose, frowning as she looked inside. The room was small, so she quickly spotted Li Yifei, leaning weakly against the head of the bed.

Their eyes met, and the woman was about to start mocking him, but was startled by Li Yifei’s gaze. How can this man’s eyes be... so fierce? The woman couldn’t help but mutter to herself, subconsciously wanting to avoid Li Yifei’s eyes. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Who is Li Yifei? He’s a man who’s been through hell and high water, even though he’s currently immobilized by internal injuries, he’s still a tough guy. If he puts his mind to it, he can definitely scare the other party just by looking at them.

The woman was indeed frightened by Li Yifei for a few seconds before she reacted, becoming quite angry, glaring at Li Yifei and saying, "Such an old wretch!"

Li Yifei looked at her without saying a word, emboldening the woman, who said, "What are you glaring at? We’re your saviors, is this how you treat your benefactors? No wonder you’re such a wretch, you deserve it."

"Auntie..." the little girl followed her in, anxiously saying.

"Shut up, bringing a wretch into the house, and this old!"

"She is my savior, but you are not!" Li Yifei replied, his voice cold, which startled the woman. She found the voice deep and carrying an inexplicable fear, causing her to jump.

"You you... wretch, say one more word and I’ll have you thrown out right now!" the woman said angrily.

"Auntie, please, just go back first. I promise once he heals, I’ll send him away, so he won’t cause you any trouble!" the little girl, grabbing the woman, pleaded.

"You think saying no trouble means no trouble? Do you know who he is? Bringing unfamiliar people home recklessly, you really are... I’ll just have your uncle come and deal with you later!" the woman said angrily.

After speaking, the woman turned to leave, the little girl breathed a sigh of relief, and chased after her to see her off.

Li Yifei couldn’t even move a finger right now, let alone deal with people, so he also felt somewhat helpless.

A few minutes later, the little girl quietly returned to the room, and upon seeing Li Yifei looking at her, said, "Sorry, my aunt... she’s just like that, don’t mind her!"

"I don’t mind. I do, in fact, owe you thanks. If it weren’t for you, I’d be in danger!" Li Yifei said.

"No no, I just... brought you back, didn’t even manage to find you any medicine, hope you don’t mind. I’ve heard that in the cities, people sometimes can’t figure things out because of emotions or money, so they commit suicide. I’m too young to talk people out of things, but I always feel that if you can live steadily, it’s better than anything, because being sick feels terrible!" Though the little girl said she wasn’t convincing him, she couldn’t help but add, "Uncle, if it’s about emotions or anything like that, I don’t think it’s necessary, as long as you’re alive, there’s always hope of all kinds, even if it’s a serious illness, there’s hope for a cure. When my parents were alive, they didn’t give up either, but... their illness was too serious, one of those incurable kinds!"

Li Yifei meant to smile, but couldn’t bring himself to. After the little girl finished speaking, he nodded heavily, saying, "Thank you for your advice, but it’s not because of those things. I got into a fight with a particularly powerful person and defeated him, but it took a lot out of me, so I lost consciousness. By the way, where did you rescue me from?"

"The sea..." the little girl said, frowning and blinking, seemingly not understanding what Li Yifei meant.

"The sea?" Li Yifei repeated, recalling the sound of waves he’d heard, now quite sure it was the sound of the ocean. It seemed he’d ended up by the sea.

The little girl nodded and said, "Yes, I live very close to the sea, but the location is high, so there’s no need to worry about the tide!"

"So, I drove straight into the sea?" Li Yifei was unaware of what happened during that time, so he asked.

The little girl nodded and said, "Do you have a car? I don’t know, I was going to the shore, happened to see you floating on the sea, so I quickly swam over to pull you out. Luckily, you didn’t drink seawater, so there was no need for artificial... uh, respiration!"

"You learned that?" Li Yifei asked.

"I learned it, but never used it. In our area, rescues happen regularly, but it never called for me to save people. My dad, when he was young, saved three college students who had gone out swimming, got caught in the current, and were swept away until my dad rowed by and rescued them." The girl spoke with pride, talking about her dad’s exploits, she was evidently very proud.

Li Yifei nodded repeatedly, saying, "Living by yourself at such a young age, how do you manage day-to-day, farming?"

With these words, the girl shook her head, a dark cloud passing over her face as she fell silent before raising her head to say, "The fields we had, my uncle’s family is farming them now. They give me some grain each month as rent, just enough for me to live on. I’m young, eat little!"

Her last words gave Li Yifei the impression that her uncle provided very little grain, internally sighing, he asked, "What else do you do?"

"Every morning I go to the shore. We have a big beach nearby, and further away there are rocks that are exposed when the tide goes out, with all sorts of shells, small crabs, shrimp and such, easy to catch. It was near there where I found you. Thankfully, there were rocks, snagging your clothes, otherwise, who knows where you would’ve drifted!" said the girl.

She seemed more at ease now, less shy. Li Yifei listened, nodding, silently considering how lucky he was that after fainting, his body went into a self-protective state, avoiding drinking seawater. But if he had floated for long in the sea, waking in such a state, wouldn’t he be doomed to drown?

If he really drowned in the sea, Li Yifei would feel so frustrated. Given his life, having encountered all sorts of dangers, to drown alive in the sea in such a frustrated way, he would find it hard to accept.

"If these are your means, is it enough to live on?" Li Yifei asked.

The girl nodded first, then, after a silence, shook her head, saying, "We used to have a house, even a two-story one, but after my parents got sick and passed, my aunt sold it, claiming it was for my future schooling, but..."

"But they sold the house and didn’t give you the money, leaving you in a place like this?" Li Yifei followed up.

"Mm... but I don’t blame them; without my uncle and aunt these past years, I’d have had it harder, maybe wouldn’t have survived till now. With their help, no one’s around to bully me, so..."

"Someone bullies you?" Li Yifei asked with a frown.

"Some... but they’re just kids, often saying I’m an orphan without parents, that I’m... a jinxed star who curses my parents, so they don’t play with me, only mock me, sometimes throw stones at me!" The girl spoke of her sad, humiliating experiences, but Li Yifei noticed that there wasn’t much sadness on her face, as though... she had grown accustomed and unconcerned, talking about it without emotion.

Before Li Yifei could ask further, she smiled slightly, saying, "But lately they haven’t come around much!"

"Why?"

"They’ve gone to school in town, to better schools, and rarely come back, so they don’t come around much anymore!" she replied. When she spoke of schooling, Li Yifei distinctly saw the longing in her eyes, a hunger for knowledge, a desire for... a normal life among peers.