NCCnovel Chapter 254: From Good Person to Wicked Woman
Chapter 254: From Good Person to Wicked Woman
Just then, as Fang Xiaoxiao was unable to defend herself, three people suddenly appeared from the sparse crowd.
These three people were Long Jinyan and his group.
Long Jinyan walked over, holding a sesame seed cake in his hand, looking quite pleased with himself.
He glanced at the father and daughter performing acrobatics, then at the silver coins in the gong in the old man's hand, and immediately blurted out his answer.
"Not bad, old man. Your acrobatics must be quite remarkable to receive such a generous reward."
As a general, he had traveled all over the country for a period of time and knew people who performed acrobatics.
However, among the people he met, none were willing to give such generous rewards; at most, they would only give him some copper coins.
At this moment, Li Xiaoxiao stared at him with shining eyes.
Her eyes held a look of delight, as if she had encountered her lover whom she hadn't seen for many years.
She slowly walked towards Long Jinyan, her eyes reddening, and her words sounding slightly nervous and excited.
"Jin, Brother Jinyan, is it really you?"
"Ok?"
Long Jinyan snapped out of his daze and turned his gaze to the woman who was less than two meters away from him.
It looks familiar, yet it also seems quite unfamiliar.
For a moment, he couldn't quite remember who the woman who called his name was.
He could only ask with a puzzled tone.
"Young lady, do you recognize me?"
"Brother Jinyan, have you forgotten me? I'm Xiaoxiao!"
"Xiaoxia?"
Long Jinyan pondered for a long time, but still didn't have much of an impression, so he could only shake his head to indicate that he didn't recognize him.
Fang Xiaoxiao, who was struggling with how to end things, was turned into a bystander by this sudden realization of their relationship.
She quietly moved closer to Long Jinyan and asked in a low voice.
"Jinyan, did you do something to offend that girl?"
Long Jinyan shook his head again, indicating that he did not recognize him.
That's strange. If he doesn't know them, why do they know him?
Seeing that he didn't seem to be lying, Fang Xiaoxiao could only look at Li Xiaoxiao with curiosity.
"Little sister, are you sure you haven't mistaken me for someone else?"
Seeing the two acting so intimately, Li Xiaoxiao felt resentful and her words were not very friendly as she gave them a cold shoulder.
"Whether I admit my mistake or not is none of your business. Please, madam, do not take my side."
"!!!"
Well, I was just asking out of kindness, is it really necessary to react so strongly?
Fang Xiaoxiao was taken aback by Li Xiaoxiao's words and couldn't help but complain in her heart.
However, as a businesswoman, this was nothing to her, and she maintained a gentle expression, smiling sheepishly.
“Oh, little sister, what you’re saying is really unreasonable. I just wanted to help you confirm. If you really know my Jin Yan, then we’re family.”
"Pah! Who is your Jin Yan? You're shameless! Just because you're rich doesn't mean you can trample on others. It's disgusting!"
"????"
Li Xiaoxiao showed a look of disgust, glared at Fang Xiaoxiao, then turned her expression to one of joy, and pulled her elderly father beside her with a smile.
"Father, look! It's Brother Jinyan! The same Brother Jinyan we rescued by the river back then!"
Mr. Li's eyesight was failing, so he squinted before he could clearly see the man with thick eyebrows and big eyes in front of him.
When he saw who it was, his body trembled and his voice became even more excited.
"Jin, Jin Yan, it really is you. Father misses you so much. After you recovered from your injuries, you left without saying goodbye, which worried our family for a long time. Xiao Xiao even mistakenly thought that you went hunting in the mountains and fell off a cliff, and wanted to go with you."
As Mr. Li spoke, tears streamed down his face, as if he had found something in his memories that he deeply regretted and suffered from.
He thought back to the first time he took his daughter to the riverbank and saw Long Jinyan, who was covered in wounds and on the verge of death. Then his daughter wanted to get engaged to him and spend her life with him. Then he disappeared without saying goodbye.
These scenes played out in the old man's mind like a movie.
Fang Xiaoxiao frowned slightly as she listened to the old man's story.
I never imagined that in such a vast world, I could witness such a melodramatic event; it's far more interesting than reading a novel.
Many novels these days are written in a way that's utterly rubbish, and the plots are so absurd that she finds them utterly ridiculous.
For example, there were very popular novels before, such as the one about an amnesiac brother falling in love with a country girl.
Fang Xiaoxiao first looked at Long Jinyan, then at Li Xiaoxiao, before speaking.
"Jinyan, did you suffer some kind of severe blow before, which caused you to lose your memory?"
"Why do you say that, my lady? How could I possibly have amnesia?"
"Then, if you haven't lost your memory, how do you explain these two?"
"This……"
For a moment, Long Jinyan didn't know what to say.
His mind was in a mess. Facing the father and daughter in front of him, he felt a strange sense of familiarity, yet he had absolutely no recollection of them.
Helpless, he still shook his head, indicating that he did not remember.
Seeing this, Li Xiaoxiao's mood instantly plummeted, and tears streamed down her face.
"Forget it, Father. Perhaps Brother Jinyan is doing very well now and no longer needs our poor family."
As she spoke, she would occasionally glance at Fang Xiaoxiao, who was dressed in a gorgeous long dress.
Indeed, although the two were of similar age, Fang Xiaoxiao, dressed in a fur robe and fine silk, was like a phoenix in the sky compared to Li Xiaoxiao, who was dressed in coarse linen. There was no comparison between them.
At this point, Li Xiaoxiao reached into the gong, took the silver coins, and threw them towards Fang Xiaoxiao.
“Although my daughter and I live in poverty, we do not wish to be humiliated by you, you wicked woman.”
"Father, let's go. Let's not linger in this sorrowful place any longer!"
"????"
Faced with Li Xiaoxiao's behavior, Fang Xiaoxiao felt wronged. She was doing a good deed, but ended up being labeled a wicked woman.
Just in time.
But then a mocking voice rang out from behind him.
"Oh dear, where did this young lady come from? How dare she set up a stage and perform for money without registering in our jurisdiction? Does she know that she is violating the laws of Da Yu!"
A fat man, as round as a ball, with a face covered in pockmarks, walked toward them.
Behind the man were three or five other men who looked like hooligans.
Fang Xiaoxiao turned around and looked at him, but found that she did not recognize him. She had no choice but to ask He Jinnian, who had worked in the capital city, who was standing next to her.
"Jin Nian, do you recognize these people?"
He Jinnian glanced at it and shook his head.
"My lady, I do not know such a scoundrel. He must be a lackey kept by some local gentry."
During the Great Yu Dynasty, many officials who resigned or retired became local gentry after returning to their respective territories. They would maintain a group of subordinates in their local residences and operate many businesses, such as gambling dens, brothels, money shops, pawnshops, and brokers, which were industries with slightly gray income.