Chapter 3 Just Pinch It Casually

Her heart racing in panic, she withdrew her hand and slapped Old Xu across the face with the back of her hand, "If you don't scram now, I'm going to call for help."

Old Xu clutched his face, his voice ominous, "Call for help? Go ahead. Why don't we let everyone in Huang Liang Village come and see? Let's see who ends up losing more face—you or me?"

At his words, a chill instantly surged from the soles of Yang Xi's feet to her forehead.

These kinds of situations often put women at a disadvantage, especially in impoverished areas with nowhere to turn for justice. Even if she was innocent, she would still inevitably be the subject of gossip.

Caught off guard, Old Xu had already grabbed her hand, smiling lewdly, "You'd better come with me, otherwise, I won't be buying your shrimp anymore. If we really rip off each other's masks, it won't look good for either of us."

He was playing both good cop and bad cop.

Actually, to tell the truth, Old Xu was really not keen on coming to Huang Liang Village to collect crayfish. He had come here with a clear purpose, after taking an hour to travel.

Having laid the groundwork for so long, he thought that Yang Xi had already tasted the sweetness and, needing him, would not easily refuse.

"Get lost, just get lost," Yang Xi may have seemed fragile, but on this matter, she was particularly principled, and she resisted fiercely.

But Old Xu, who had been doing manual labor for years, was extraordinarily strong.

"Hiss..." Yang Xi struggled desperately but couldn't break free.

As Old Xu became more aggressive, Yang Xi was so angry that she began to cry, even harboring thoughts of death.

"You old lecher! How dare you run wild in Huang Liang Village." Just then, a figure suddenly drifted in, and immediately Yang Xi felt lighter as Old Xu was hoisted into the air by someone and then thrown heavily onto the ground.

She could see an imposing figure with one hand lifting Old Xu into the air before tossing him to the ground with great force.

Thinking back to what had almost happened and having been rescued, Yang Xi began to cry out of helplessness, but with those tears, all the repressed feelings inside her were vented, and she felt much more relieved.

The figure before her seemed even more stalwart, and she thought... Could this be a hero saving a damsel in distress?

As Yang Xi thought about this, after a few sobs, she stopped crying.

"Ouch, my buttocks." Old Xu screamed in pain, but as soon as he uttered a word, another slap landed heavily on his face, knocking out two of his teeth and causing half of his face to swell instantly.

"Scram, and if I see you again, I'll kill you," Liang Jingxian yelled angrily.

Huang Liang Village had more than one hundred thirty households, and the Liang Family was quite far from the Chen Family. Liang Jingxian had only just arrived when he saw Old Xu, that disgusting fellow, attempting to assault Yang Xi.

If this had happened in a deserted place, Liang Jingxian might have killed him with a single slap.

Guilty as charged, Old Xu did not dare to make further trouble on the territory of Huang Liang Village and fled in a pathetic state, without even a fart to herald his departure.

"Are you okay?" Liang Jingxian turned around, extended his hand, and prepared to help Yang Xi.

"Is it you?"

"Is it you?"

The two of them almost exclaimed at the same time.

But the next moment, Yang Xi's face was full of guilt.

In truth, after returning from the streamside, Yang Xi remembered the snakebite incident and saw the medicine on her calf, realizing that she had misunderstood Liang Jingxian.

To meet again under such circumstances was truly embarrassing.

And Liang Jingxian had not expected that the person who kicked him by the stream was Yang Xi.

"Get up," Liang Jingxian muttered speechlessly.

Too embarrassed to take his hand, Yang Xi pushed herself up from the ground.

"Ahem, the children, I'm here to treat them," Liang Jingxian coughed lightly, changing the subject to avoid the awkward situation.

Yang Xi suddenly remembered the urgent matter at hand and hastily patted the dust off her clothes, her face flushing as she said, "You must be Aunt Xiaofen's son, Liang Jingxian, right? Come on, follow me inside."

Yang Xi originally felt indebted to Liang Jingxian, and now, with this life-saving grace, Liang Jingxian stood about ten feet tall in Yang Xi's heart.

She led the way, practically floating with each step.

After entering the house, Liang Jingxian went to the bedside and felt the two little ones. They had a severe fever. If he hadn't arrived in time and they'd waited until tomorrow to go to the hospital, they might have been in life-threatening danger.

"Hmm, it's nothing serious. Go get a basin of warm water ready," Liang Jingxian said without giving the full, worrying truth, seeking to comfort her.

He didn't have any herbs on hand now, so he could only resort to acupuncture and massage.

Actually, acupuncture would be faster, but using needles on the two little ones might scare Yang Xi, so Liang Jingxian chose the more mentally taxing option of massage.

"Phew..." About forty minutes later, Liang Jingxian let out a long sigh of relief, finally finishing Liu Xiaofeng's massage, and her temperature had gone down.

He wiped the sweat off with a tissue and thought disdainfully of the tissue's poor quality—it was rough and uncomfortable.

Yang Xi stepped forward to wipe the sweat off Liu Xiaofeng, touching her forehead, then her back, confirming that her temperature was back to normal and her breathing smoother.

"Thank you, truly thank you. Liang Jingxian, your medical skills are really amazing. Just a few kneads and all is well."

Liang Jingxian couldn't help but roll his eyes at her and said, "Just a few kneads? That took almost half an hour, okay?"

And such a massage takes a lot of strength; didn't you see I'm soaking wet with sweat?

But these thoughts, he deemed unnecessary to voice to Yang Xi.

Seeing that Liu Xiaofeng was alright, Yang Xi finally relaxed and said with a smile, "Yes, yes, you're right. Sorry about that."

Her smile revealed two small dimples, making her look particularly charming.

"That guy just now, what was he up to? He doesn't seem to be from our village, does he?"

After casting a few more glances at Yang Xi, Liang Jingxian continued to massage Liu Xiaolong while striking up a conversation.

"He's from Jinghong Village, he came here to buy crayfish," said Yang Xi, her face clouding with worry.

"What's the matter? Do you still have a lot of crayfish left unsold?" Liang Jingxian inquired.

"He used to come every three days, but this time I've stored them for four days—about fifteen or sixteen jin. What's more, he's afraid to come and collect them now. I'll have to haul them to town tomorrow to see if I can sell them off," said Yang Xi with a wry smile.

Liang Jingxian inquired about the buying price and then said, "How about this, I'll buy your crayfish; whatever quantity you have, I'll buy."

Yang Xi was taken aback, then replied with a bitter smile, "Thank you, but there's no need." She didn't want to accept charity.

"Don't overthink it. I plan to process these crayfish myself, and once they're ready, I'll sell them in town," Liang Jingxian explained with a smile, sensing Yang Xi's concerns.

At the same time, he grew more fond of Yang Xi. Even in these circumstances, she insisted on earning her living through hard work and refused to accept charity.

"If you're going to sell them after processing, then I won't be shy," Yang Xi said, not turning down the offer. "Go ahead and take all the crayfish from my tank."

She decided to give all the crayfish to Liang Jingxian; after all, she couldn't eat that much herself. If Liang Jingxian was indeed going to sell them, she could continue to catch crayfish in the future. If he was just going to eat them, she wouldn't bother catching more and would find other work to do.

After massaging Liu Xiaolong too, Liang Jingxian picked up Yang Xi's bucket and collected all the crayfish, weighing roughly sixteen and a half jin.

"Five yuan per jin, that's ninety yuan," Liang Jingxian said as he pulled out one hundred yuan and handed it to Yang Xi. "Keep the change, and I'll settle the rest next time."

"No, no, I can't take this money. Consider the crayfish a gift from me, to make up for this evening, when I accidentally, I... oh yes, how much is your consultation fee? I still need to pay you for that," Yang Xi said with a flushed face.

"The consultation isn't expensive—ten yuan for each child, and another ten yuan for me extracting the snake venom from you tonight, a total of thirty yuan. Take this one hundred yuan; you still owe me forty, which we can offset against the crayfish you catch next time."

Liang Jingxian didn't let Yang Xi refuse; he simply took the crayfish and left. Holding the money, Yang Xi watched him stroll back, a touch of warmth crossing her heart.