Yong County. Movie Theater!
Just as Li Yi was about to get in line to buy movie tickets, a little girl walked up to him and said timidly, “Are… are you Brother Li Yi?”
Li Yi took a close look at the little girl in front of him. She was about ten or eleven years old, with a rather delicate and pretty face, but she was thin and frail, and her sallow, small face clearly showed signs of malnutrition.
Moreover, in such cold weather, the clothes she wore looked very thin and were patched up all over, causing her to shiver from time to time as she stood before Li Yi.
“Who are you? Have we met before? How do you know my name?”
As he spoke, Li Yi looked at the girl again, but she still seemed unfamiliar to him. He searched his memory but couldn’t recall where he had seen her before.
“I… I’m Xiaodie. I met you before when I was with Brother Dajun…”
“Dajun… Are you talking about Long Zhanjun? Are you one of his people?” Li Yi asked.
“Yeah, I used to follow Big Brother Dajun!”
“Huh? As far as I know, Dajun brought all his men to the capital. Why didn’t you go?” Li Yi asked, puzzled.
Xiaodie hurriedly explained, “My mom still needs me to look after my little brother and sister. She wouldn’t let me go to the capital with Big Brother Dajun.”
“Besides, I’m still a bit young. Big Brother Dajun told me to stay here and finish school first. He said he’d come back to get me after I graduate from middle school!”
“I see. So, is there something you need from me, or are you facing some trouble?”
Since these were the child soldiers Long Zhanjun had brought along before, Li Yi didn’t mind helping them if they truly needed it.
For one thing, he knew the backgrounds of the child soldiers Long Zhanjun had led were all quite tragic—either orphans with no one to take them in, or children from single-parent families. If he could help, he would.
Secondly, when he and Jiang Xue had come here last time, these child soldiers had been a great help.
Otherwise, relying solely on the two of them, they might not have been able to uncover the truth about Jiang Xue’s background.
Xiao Die fell silent for a moment, then mustered her courage and asked, “Is Big Brother Dajun still not coming back?”
“He probably won’t be coming back!”
Hearing this, Xiaodie’s eyes instantly filled with disappointment and a faint sadness.
“What’s wrong? Is there something you need to tell him? I can pass it on to him!” Li Yi said softly.
Hearing this, hope reignited in Xiaodie’s eyes.
“Brother Li Yi, could you please pass a message to Brother Dajun for me? Just tell him that Sanlaizi and the others have started bullying us again!”
“Oh, who exactly is this San Laizi? Why does he pick on you guys?” Li Yi asked.
“San Laizi and his crew are just a bunch of local thugs. Back when we used to sell sunflower seeds and peanuts here, he’d always steal our stuff and money. But after Big Jun beat him up a few times, he never dared to pick on us again!”
The little girl continued, “But after Big Jun and Mudskipper went to the capital, San Laizi and his gang started picking on us again…”
Just as she was speaking, a girl’s cry suddenly rang out from nearby.
Hearing the sound, Xiaodie’s expression changed, and she immediately turned and ran toward the cinema entrance.
Seeing this, Li Yi immediately grabbed Zhang Ziqiang and followed her.
After just a few steps, they reached the entrance and saw a thug in his twenties, accompanied by several teenagers around seventeen or eighteen, surrounding Xiaodie and another little girl of about seven or eight. One of the thugs was trying to snatch a cloth bag from the younger girl’s hands.
The two girls cried and pleaded, refusing to let go.
Although a dozen or so men and women had gathered around to watch the spectacle, not a single person stepped forward to intervene.
Seeing that the two girls were absolutely refusing to let go, the thug who had initiated the scuffle was instantly enraged and slapped the girl across the face.
“Smack!”
The slap sent the younger girl tumbling to the ground, and the small cloth bag in her hand flew out of her grasp.
The sunflower seeds inside spilled out, scattering all over the ground.
The girl began to cry even harder, then stumbled forward to gather up the dirty sunflower seeds, completely oblivious to the swelling on her face.
But the thug showed no mercy and was about to lay his hands on Xiaodie.
Seeing this, Li Yi immediately shouted, “Stop!”
Hearing the shout, the onlookers automatically parted to make a path, and Li Yi and his companions quickly made their way to Xiaodie’s side.
“Kid, this has nothing to do with you. Mind your own business…”
“Smack!”
Before the thug could finish his sentence, Li Yi slapped him hard across the face, sending him stumbling backward several steps.
At the same time, his right cheek swelled up just as quickly as the young girl’s had.
Seeing his underling get hit, the leader of the thugs immediately stepped forward, cursing at Li Yi: “Who the hell are you? How dare you meddle in our business? Are you tired of living…?”
Before the guy could finish, Li Yi turned to Zhang Ziqiang beside him and said, “He’s got a foul mouth. You handle him!”
With that, he strode toward Xiaodie and the young girl.
“What the hell are you playing at, you big shot? Give me a break…”
“Thud!”
“Ah… ah…”
In the blink of an eye, four or five thugs were all knocked to the ground, letting out agonized screams.
It all happened so fast that the onlookers didn’t even have time to figure out what was going on before the bullies who usually picked on people were all lying on the ground.
Li Yi didn’t even bother with those jerks. He walked over to Xiaodie and the others, helped the little girl to her feet first, and asked, “Are you dizzy? Do you want to go to the hospital?”
Don’t let the fact that the little girl only took a slap fool you—she’s so young, and that thug was pretty strong. That single slap could easily have caused a concussion or hearing damage.
“I… I’m not dizzy. I don’t want to go to the hospital…”
As she spoke, the little girl tried to pick up her sunflower seeds again, but Li Yi stopped her.
“Don’t pick them up—they’re all dirty now!”
“But… but…”
As she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes; it was clear that the sunflower seeds in that little cloth bag meant a lot to her.
Li Yi immediately pulled two yuan out of his pocket, handed it to the little girl, and said gently, “Big brother will buy those sunflower seeds for you!”
The little girl looked at the money in Li Yi’s hand, her throat involuntarily tightening, but she still shook her head and said, “I can’t take your money. My mom will get mad if she finds out!”
Just then, Jiang Xue, Ye Lingyun, and the others caught up. Seeing the two girls in such a pitiful state, they all came over to help.
Zhang Ziqiang, having finished his work, also walked over and asked, “What should we do with these guys?”
Li Yi shot the thugs a disgusted look, then turned to Yang Zhiwen and said, “Zhiwen, take these bastards to the county police station. Tell Captain Xiao to lock them up for ten days or so!”
“Yes, sir!”
With that, Yang Zhiwen immediately stepped forward, grabbed the ringleader by the collar, and ordered the others to follow.
Then, the group headed toward the nearby county police station, wailing all the way!
After Yang Zhiwen had escorted the thugs away, Li Yi had Jiang Xue and his mother-in-law examine the two young girls to see if they had any other injuries.
Fortunately, they had intervened in time; Xiaodie hadn’t been injured, and the one named Xiaoya only had a swollen face.
Other than that, there were no other visible injuries.
Just as Li Yi was considering how to take care of the two young girls, the girl named Xiaoya suddenly knelt before him and said, “Big brother, my mom is missing. Can you help me find her?”
Find her mother?
Hearing this, Li Yi and the others were all taken aback…
…….