Miao Chu

Chapter 41 Panic
The road in Suanzao Lane is not wide to begin with, and seven or eight students, although not lined up in a row, still took up most of the space.

Seeing that a number of burly men were coming from the opposite direction, two or three of them even stepped aside to make way for them.

The people coming towards them ignored them and walked straight past, one of them brushing heavily against Wang Chang's shoulder, who was standing on the far side.

Wang Chang winced in pain, cried out "Ouch!" and turned around, expecting someone to apologize. But no one turned back, and he even heard a disdainful "Tsk" before walking away in the blink of an eye.

Several classmates nearby, seeing this, were naturally annoyed and couldn't help but complain.

Who goes there?!

"How can you be so unreasonable!"

Some people advised, "Forget it, he's probably just crazy, just ignore him."

Wang Chang was somewhat sullen. He endured his anger and walked forward for a while. He didn't know if it was his mind playing tricks on him, but his shoulder became more and more painful. In particular, the "tsk" sound kept echoing in his mind, and he became angrier and angrier. He turned around and chased after it.

His classmates, who were standing nearby, called to him but he couldn't stop, so they quickly followed two others.

However, after a short while, one of the three returned, running back at that.

"What happened?"

"Could it be that a fight has broken out?"

"Don't cause any trouble, or it'll be a problem if the school administrator finds out!"

"No! No!" The man who had run back gasped for breath and said urgently, "It seems to be a bunch of hooligans causing trouble for stall owner Song!"

"Just now, Wang Chang was about to reason with them, and we followed him upstairs. Who would have thought that we would hear them talking about going to smash up the Song family's door and demand that the Song stall owner vacate the premises as soon as possible!"

How could the crowd not be furious when someone imitates this?

"Didn't Miss Song say last time that she had already reached an agreement with the person who forced the purchase, and that she would move in a month later?"

"Why are you going back on your word?"

"Even if there's nothing wrong with the sales documents, there's only a young woman in the house right now, and the property hasn't been transferred yet; she's still surnamed Song. It's the middle of the night; we can't just barge into someone's house, can we?"

"Let's go take a look! We can't let stall owner Song get bullied!"

Without needing any persuasion, the group turned around almost simultaneously and chased after them.

At the Song Family Restaurant, Song Miao chased Lin Yiwen away and immediately closed the door.

Although she found this person unlucky, she didn't take him seriously. She simply assumed he was a zombie who had come back to life and chased him away. As long as his mouth shut up from now on, she would consider him to have died and returned to the underworld.

As dusk approached, it became difficult to see clearly inside the house, so Song Miao lit an oil lamp in preparation for washing the plates and dishes used to entertain everyone.

However, as soon as she walked over, she saw several grapefruit peels and pulps that had been cut open with a cross in the basket. Just as Cheng Zijian had told her, each one had very thick peels and pulps.

Thinking of the pimples on Cheng Zijian's and Wang Chang's faces earlier, and seeing so many grapefruit peels and pulp left, Song Miao immediately made up her mind.

People in Beijing love to eat pomelo flesh, but few know that the pomelo peel is also a good thing. It can clear heat, moisten the lungs, reduce internal heat, and relieve dryness. If it is prepared properly, it tastes quite good.

These peels are so thick and large, it would be a real shame to throw them away, so she plans to use them to make stuffed pomelo peels.

Stuffed pomelo peel is a common winter dish in Lianglu, Guangnan. Apart from the trouble of processing the pomelo peel, it's not a big deal.

Just do it.

Before the peel had dried, Song Miao used a knife to cleanly peel off the oily yellow outer layer of the pomelo peel. She then cut the peeled pomelo peel into triangular pieces and made a deep opening in the longer cross-section of the triangular peel – this is where the meat is stuffed. The deeper the opening, the more stuffed meat it can hold.

She had only sliced ​​two pieces when she heard someone knocking on the door.

The banging on the door was loud and intimidating.

Song Miaoxian initially thought it was Lin Yiwen again, but after a moment's observation, she realized something was amiss.

Sure enough, after knocking for a while without anyone responding, the people outside shouted through the door, "Song family, pay your debts! This house has already been sold, and you're still staying here. Have you no shame?!"

Someone kicked the door and shouted, "Open the door! If you're going to get married, get married; if you're going to move out, move out! Stop standing there!"

"This house has changed owners long ago. If you don't leave, we're going to kick you out!"

"If you don't open the door, we'll break it down!"

As they were speaking, someone outside started kicking and banging on the door.

The gate of Song Family Restaurant has been there for over a hundred years without ever being replaced. Just now, Song Miao had only casually closed it and was about to leave, so the bolt was only loosely inserted. It couldn't withstand such a kick and bump, and soon it was already wobbling.

As dusk approached, judging from the commotion outside, there were at least several men present. Song Miao was home alone and was unwilling to let them in.

But judging from their tone and actions, they don't seem to be just going through the motions and may not be willing to give up easily.

She hesitated for a moment, glanced around the stove, and picked up a long-handled kitchen knife.

She had just bought this cleaver recently; the blade was very sharp, and it felt heavy in her hand.

With the kitchen knife in hand, Song Miao felt a little more confident.

She didn't answer the door, but instead took a few steps back and chose a spot in the middle of the hall.

Just as I stood still, I heard a loud "bang." Sure enough, the door hadn't been closed very securely before, and the bolt had been forced open with repeated force.

The two burly men who were trying to break down the door were caught off guard and stumbled into the house. They managed to grab the ground and barely escaped falling.

Before Song Miao could speak, several more people entered from behind. Before she could react, one of them said, "I thought no one was home—isn't Miss Song at home? Are you pretending to be stupid, clinging to this sold house and refusing to return it to the buyer?"

This man was none other than Diao Zi, a subordinate of Boss Liao.

He was already resentful after being beaten, and he was furious and wanted to vent his anger on someone. He had been blocked at the door for half a day, which made his anger burn even more fiercely. Now that he had entered the door and saw Song Miao standing in the hall, he said, "What do you mean by not saying anything?"

The food in Song Family Restaurant had already been mostly moved out. After Song Miao arrived, she didn't have much money to replenish it, but in order to set up her stall, she still bought a lot of steamers, stoves, pots and other items over the past few days.

As you enter, there are two wall-mounted stoves against the left wall, with many cooking utensils on the stoves.

As soon as Diao Zi entered the door, he raised his hand and knocked over two empty steamers on the stove, and then overturned the pomelo that Song Miao had peeled halfway to the ground.

The white grapefruit peel and pulp got dirty instantly.

He took a few more steps in, kicked a pot against the wall, and it fell over with a bang.

With him taking the lead, the others followed suit, preparing to find things to smash and destroy.

Song Miaona, whose knife-wielding hand had been hidden in her sleeve, slowly raised it upon seeing this and asked in a loud voice, "Aren't you all afraid of dying when you break into people's homes at night?"

Her voice was steady, and her hand, accustomed to holding a knife, was also steady. At first, the men didn't take it seriously, but when they saw the kitchen knife in her hand, no matter how different the size and strength of the two men and women were, they still felt a little trembled as they looked at the blade reflecting the oil lamp.

One by one, they all stopped in their tracks.

Song Miao ignored everyone else and stared at the leader, asking, "Where did you all come from? Breaking into someone's house at night without cause is punishable by forty strokes of the cane, and the homeowner will be killed on the spot—don't you know that?"

As she spoke, she took a step forward, her voice lowering as she held the kitchen knife in front of her without trembling.

“You must all think that I am a woman with limited strength and cannot kill anyone. I am only raising my knife to scare people. If I can’t kill them, can’t I at least hurt them?” “I can’t cut three or five people, but I can surely cut one or two. If I can’t cut their hands and feet, can’t I cut their faces or eyes?”

"I just don't know who's unlucky enough to be the one who goes blind and loses a hand—but once one of them comes up, and I swing this knife, he'll have no one else to rely on. You can kill him however you want, I'm not afraid."

As she spoke, she walked further and further ahead.

However, those who had just rammed the door or smashed things all retreated in response to her movements.

That's right. Once she swung her knife, there was no way to stop her. Several grown men could easily cripple her if they rushed forward.

But who will be the first to take the hit?

Swords and blades have no eyes.

With such a gleaming cleaver, there's nowhere for eyes to grow.

As they retreated, they couldn't help but exchange glances, all seeing the familiar guilt in each other's eyes.

—Any grandson can take this knife, but it can't be me!

He punched the old master to death.

With a knife in hand, even a three-year-old child can injure an eight-foot-tall strong man.

They all have families to support; even if they don't have young children, how can they not have elderly parents?

But this girl from the Song family is a complete bachelor!

No one dared to move, and the scene remained deadlocked for a while.

The others were alright, but Diao Zi was the leader and had been assigned a job by Manager Liao. He had come to make amends for his mistakes, so he was naturally the most anxious.

He repeatedly urged his men with his eyes, but whenever they caught a glimpse of him looking over, they either lowered their heads to avoid him, or looked innocent, or even stepped aside, as if to make room for him to go first.

Diao Zi had no choice but to curse under his breath. However, he softened his tone and said, "Young lady, why resort to violence? It's not like you have nowhere to go. There are some wealthy families in the west of the city. You can just walk in with a sedan chair and live a life of luxury. They might even come back to thank us later!"

As he spoke, he made a move as if to lunge forward.

His gesture was quite obvious; it was merely a threatening act, hoping to scare Song Miao away, but he didn't actually dare to step forward.

Having been accustomed to chopping meat from beasts, Song Miao knew that if she yielded to a human, the consequences would be dire. Yet, she gripped the knife without even a tremor and charged forward.

Upon seeing this, the men scattered in all directions, fearing they might touch the blade.

When the scoundrel saw Song Miao's movements, he panicked. His legs went weak and he was about to retreat when someone suddenly pounced on him from behind and slammed him heavily to the ground.

Diao Zi was caught off guard and was startled.

He was a porter by trade, with strong hands and feet, and used to fighting. This time, he endured the pain, rolled over, and pinned the person behind him to the ground. He didn't even see what the person looked like, only that it was a man, and raised his fist to punch the man in the face.

Before it even hit anything, several more people rushed at it from behind.

One person grabbed his left hand, another pulled his right hand, and yet another dragged his back, actually managing to lift him off the ground.

Diao Zi was subdued by three men, and not knowing whether they were armed or not, so he was naturally shocked and cursed, "Which son of a bitch is this?!"

He called out again, "Brothers!"

Even before he shouted, the others had already pounced over, ready to throw punches and kicks, when they heard someone outside shout, "Someone has broken into a house at night—Miss Song's house has been robbed! Go report it to the authorities! Go report it to the authorities!"

Everyone was startled and started looking up or turning around. Even Diaozi, who was being held down by the three men, desperately tried to look outside.

—It turned out to be a few young people who looked like students standing at the door.

Although it was dark, the lights inside shone on their faces, clearly illuminating their youthful panic.

One of them widened his eyes and shouted, "Lock the door quickly, leave someone here—I can run fast, I'll go find the patrolman!"

Another person shouted, "I'll go report this to the authorities!"

As they spoke, they turned around almost simultaneously and ran out of the alley.

As they ran, one of them turned back and shouted, "Close the door! Close the door!"

All of this happened so fast that the scouts had no time to react.

Before Song Miao could even strike with her knife, seeing the students' actions and the rioters' reactions, she immediately understood the situation.

Two students have already run away, and there are only six students left in the room. If a real fight breaks out, they are no match for these strong men who are used to using their strength. If they anger them and they resort to violence, they might suffer a great loss.

The nearest patrol station is three streets away; by the time they come and go, it will be too late.

As for reporting to the authorities—it's getting dark, and while it's not impossible for them to ignore us, there's no one dead or injured here, so even if they come, they'll probably just be there to make a show of it.

Moreover, the coroner examined Song Dalang's body that day, and came out the results so quickly after only touching his eyes twice. How could the person standing behind him not have some connections in the yamen?
However, if students of the Imperial Academy get into fights outside, even if it's out of a sense of justice or to uphold the law, it's still against the rules. If the school officials bring it up, even if it turns out to be nothing serious in the end, the ensuing entanglement will still cause trouble.

If things drag on for too long, and there's even the slightest mishap, it could delay the upcoming public examination, and in the end, it's our side that suffers.

But the leaders didn't realize that this group of students was hesitant to act rashly.

It's better to scare people away first. Once you have leverage over them today, it will be easier to use it to do things in the future.

Song Miao quickly gave Cheng Zijian, who was standing behind and pulling on Diao Zi, a meaningful look.

Cheng Zijian stared intently, focused solely on his work, fearing he might slip up. Seeing Song Miao looking over, he blurted out, "Don't worry, Stall Owner Song, we've already caught this man!"

Helpless, Song Miao turned her head to look at the ground again.

The person who was originally pinned down by Diaozi on the ground was also a student, Wang Chang.

Wang Chang, however, was much quicker. When he saw Song Miao gesturing to her shoulder, he immediately understood, put his right hand on her shoulder, and fell to the ground, crying out "Ouch!" repeatedly.

Song Miao switched the cleaver in her hand to her left hand, hurriedly squatted down, and seemingly unintentionally took out a handkerchief with her right hand and wiped the bottom of the pot that Diao Zi had kicked over, leaving a black mark. She then quietly stuffed the handkerchief into Wang Chang's hand.

Wang Chang grabbed a handkerchief, tore open his shirt, and clutched his shoulder, screaming in agony, "My hand is broken! Go report to the authorities! Go see a doctor!"

Everyone looked over, and under the dim light, they saw that the exposed shoulder was indeed covered in black bruises, clearly beyond repair.

Several men who were about to rescue someone, and others who were about to fight, were stunned by the scene and all turned to look at Diao Zi.

Even when Diao Zi was tackled to the ground earlier, he was not as panicked as he is now.

motherfucker.

How come this student is so fragile!

He didn't exert any force at all!
Could his hand really be broken?
Could it be that bad luck really did manage to cripple a college student?

Thank you to the bookstore, my cat named Egg, and Meng Po, and to the two kind souls who gifted me a writing aid each =3=
Many thanks to the person who fell into the water at the bookstore for this small token of my appreciation :)

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(End of this chapter)