In a dark alley diagonally opposite the Wanjin Restaurant, two figures stood against the wall, staring at each other.
After leaving the restaurant, Liu Yusheng didn't go home immediately and headed to the dim sum shop to buy some jujube flower cakes that her grandmother loved, as well as mung bean cakes that her mother and aunt liked. She also bought a few pairs of thick boots for each member of the family and fried peanuts to go with the three old men's drinks. She then went to the cloth store and weighed twenty pounds of new cotton and piled them all up into the wagon, and finally set off for home.
"Where's yours after all that shopping? Didn't you buy some for yourself?" Qian Wanjin asked.
"I don't need to buy anything for myself. Grandma and my parents as well as aunt will prepare them for me." Liu Yusheng smiled. "If I buy some for myself, they won't have the chance to perform."
She almost never bought her own stuff and was spoilt in this manner.
In the dark alley, when the two figures saw the carriage heading out of the town entrance, they dashed and quietly followed.
In the end, they even overtook the carriage and caught up to the front, choosing to hide behind a boulder.
"Da Hong (Big Red), take a quick look. How do I look in this outfit? Aren't I pretty enough? Pathetic enough?" The man pulled on his costume, insisting on fixing the tattered outfit to the most ragged, realistic, and pitiful state.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" The woman's voice was cold and emotionless.
"What else can we do? We've been watching them for over half a month. We've just picked up a chance today. It's now or never. I don't want to sleep on the street every day anymore!"
In order to play the role of a vagrant to the end, they easily reached Cangwu town, ate and slept on the streets every day. They had money but they didn't even dare to stay in an inn, for fear that one day someone would recognize them and expose their identity.
The deal was to be homeless down-and-out vagrants, so that someday, while following their new master down the street, no one would point at them and say, "Oh, I've seen you before! It's at the town inn, and you even slept in the first-class room!"
Haha, that would be embarrassing.
Their master said from the start that their target would take them in if they looked pathetic. He was now making himself more miserable than a beggar, and then planned on fainting in the middle of the cold, bitter winter – the kind that would die if he wasn't saved. If the target was really as soft-hearted and kind-hearted as the master said, she would definitely save him. By then, the snake would creep up the stick, and the rest of the story would be a piece of cake.
The sound of horseshoes drew closer.
"They're almost here. Go ahead and try it." The woman, then coldly gave the man a kick from behind, and kicked him right down the road. "Also, I told you never to call me Da Hong – Xiao Lan, Lan."
"…" Damn woman, what a backstabber. Just come out and say it! The man wanted to turn back and curse, but the carriage was already in sight. He quickly closed his eyes and tilted his head to play dead.
As for the woman, she disappeared behind the rocks and hid in a more secluded place.
"Young Master, Miss Liu, there's someone who has fainted on the side of the road ahead. Should we stop and take a look?" Da Huang was driving, and was the first to see the person lying motionless on the side of the road.
He was curled up and his stature was indiscernible, but he was dressed in tatters, so dirty he couldn't see its color. He was probably a beggar who wandered around the neighborhood and froze to death.
Liu Yusheng lifted a corner of the carriage curtain and cold air immediately swept in. Qian Wanjin shivered and he wanted to close the curtain immediately.
"Stop the carriage, I'll go check," the little girl had already spoken.
The wagon pulled slowly to a stop on the other side of the main road, the horses pranced and snorted through their noses.
"Why do you think you're so good at finding trouble? It's freezing out there. The man who collapsed there might have been out of breath long ago. What's there to see, hurry back!" Qian Wanjin muttered in dissatisfaction. Seeing the little girl jumping off the carriage, he immediately followed. "Wait a moment, why are you in such a hurry! I'll go with you, in case it's a deliberate fainting to kidnap you. You won't have a chance to escape!"
He took a few steps beside the girl, secretly taking half a step ahead with half of his body blocking the girl unobtrusively behind him.
One step, two steps, closer.
The eyes of the man lying on the ground were closed, counting the steps he took and gauging the distance.
At three steps away from him, the footsteps stopped.
Liu Yusheng pulled Qian Wanjin, who was still trying to walk forward, with one hand, and squeezed his palm before he could speak.
Qian Wanjin was stunned. The palm of the small hand was soft and warm. Even the force of her pinch didn't affect him at all, but that kind of touch directly hit the bottom of his heart, as if his heart was the one pinched.
Liu Yusheng looked at the motionless man on the ground and stood still for a moment. Her other hand raised slightly, sprinkling a handful of almost invisible powder which drifted to the man along with the wind. Then she pulled Qian Wanjin back to the carriage. "Let's go."
"…" Qian Wanjin was perplexed. The girl motioned him not to say anything just now, so he shut up temporarily and would ask questions later.
Although Lucky Nannan was young, she never did things aimlessly, let alone something unnecessary.
The man on the ground listened to the sound of the carriage gradually going away, and his heart went cold.
Was she the master said was soft-hearted?
He was so miserable, but she left after coming down and giving him a glance!
Gone!
Even he, a man who could shed blood with his sword all day long, would occasionally reward a couple of steamed buns to beggars on the roadside in the middle of winter! Their target's heart couldn't be any harder!
Plan one – Failure!
Cursing in his heart, the man rolled over and tried to get up and suddenly realized that he could no-longer-get-up!
He opened his mouth to scream for help, but he couldn't make a sound!
Son of a… where are you, Da Hong? Come out and save me!
The woman hiding in seclusion, took in everything that had transpired outside, not even missing the subtle movement of the young child's palm.
She sighed and slowly showed up. "Our target is much more vigilant than we thought. We underestimated her."
What do you mean? The man was so frustrated and bitter that he couldn't speak and could only ask questions with his eyes.
"I think you were exposed and she noticed something was wrong, so she turned around and walked away." After a pause, the woman said, "Oh, before she left, she also gave you some medicine."
"…" He didn't just want to curse his mother, he wanted to curse his father as well.
"This plan failed. We can't be so perfunctory next time. She's surprisingly shrewd. We have to think of a way to gain her trust." With her arms folded, the woman watched thoughtfully in the direction where the carriage disappeared.
Da Hong, Da Hong, damn it! Can you save me first before you sigh leisurely?!
In the carriage, after a long distance away, Qian Wanjin asked, "What just happened? Why did you suddenly leave?"
"Something's wrong with that man. His heartbeat is steady and strong. It doesn't beat that way when he's fainted from the cold. And his exposed hands, his skin might have been dirty, but his nails were clean. Have you ever seen a beggar with no dirt at all under his nails?"
"You were standing so far away, but you could actually feel someone's heartbeat?" Qian Wanjin stared at her as if he had seen a ghost. "Lucky Nannan, are you really human?"