The bruises and swelling were justified. It seemed he had been beaten pretty badly yesterday. Su Cui rubbed her chin. She had thought that if Zhao Pengfei was hospitalized after being beaten by his wife's older brother, he might not come today. It seemed her persuasion last night had worked well enough—Zhao Pengfei actually believed there was a Buddhist monk here to help him avoid a bloody disaster! His IQ was almost pleasantly surprising to her.
Zhao Pengfei limped across the stone bridge, about to descend. Su Cui lifted her foot and followed.
She didn't follow too closely. As she walked, she waved the palm-leaf fan in her hand. To hide her oddly muscular body, she had deliberately worn long sleeves and long pants today, making her look a bit short and stout, like a "real" passing old lady. When she saw a vegetable stall, she even pretended to buy two bunches of green onions.
After following for a while, Zhao Pengfei stopped and rushed forward with some excitement...
Su Cui's eyes lit up. She still maintained her original pace. Before long, she heard a roar ahead: "What the hell are you doing!" The surrounding people, like gossips, gradually formed a circle. She then shuffled forward with quick, eager little steps like a gossipy old lady, quickly approaching the crowd ahead.
Su Cui: "Let me see, let me see. Tsk tsk tsk..."
The people around pointed and whispered. In the middle of the crowd were a burly bald man with tattooed arms and Zhao Pengfei, whose mask had been knocked askew.
The bald man looked disgusted, waving his fists and roaring, "Fuck off with your Buddhist monk bullshit! Believe me, I'll beat you to death!" Though Zhao Pengfei had already taken a punch from the bald man, he still wouldn't give up. "Master, just let me have a few puffs! Otherwise, I'll die the day after tomorrow!"
Zhao Pengfei hadn't wanted to believe that "master" he met last night. He had planned to go home and report the jade pendant scam to the police. Who knew that as soon as he entered his house, his wife, who had been missing for many days, had actually come home! And she had brought an "uninvited guest"—his brother-in-law! The prophecy was too accurate!
Thinking of that "bloody disaster," Zhao Pengfei believed it was better to believe it than to doubt it. He forced himself to run to Hechuan Du Qixiang. Good thing he came! There really was a bald Buddhist monk! Look at the sunlight reflecting off that bald head! He must be an extraordinary high monk.
"Master! Give me a little more of that sun-moon divine energy!"
Zhao Pengfei stood up and shouted, then threw himself onto the bald man, hugging him tightly. In the man's struggling embrace, he ecstatically took a few deep breaths. Coupled with his bruised and swollen face, he was an absolute greasy mess. Some passersby shuddered and rubbed the goosebumps on their arms.
"That guy is so perverted," a passerby couldn't help saying.
Su Cui agreed wholeheartedly: "Yeah. The world is going downhill..."
"Call the police... This is really scary."
The bald man's face darkened. He had just returned from a mission today and was inexplicably hugged and rubbed by Zhao Pengfei, disgusted to the point of vomiting. His hand had already reached into his pocket, itching to pull out the gun and blow Zhao Pengfei's head off. But seeing the crowd and hearing several people say they would call the police, he feared messing up his boss's business. He coldly punched Zhao Pengfei to the ground, barely memorized Zhao Pengfei's swollen face, and quickly left.
No one stopped the bald man from leaving.
Zhao Pengfei lay on the ground for a long time without getting up, and no one dared to help him. Only the nearby shopkeepers, afraid someone might die, called the police.
The commotion died down. The crowd talked a bit and then dispersed.
Su Cui had been watching the bald man. He was a subordinate of a mafia boss in "Yangchun Baixue." When the bald man reached into his pocket, her heart tightened—he really did carry a gun. Fortunately, the bald man had held back because of the crowd.
This also confirmed Su Cui's speculation.
Although this was a "harmonious" novel world, it still followed basic social rules. The powerful mafia forces in "Yangchun Baixue" still had some scruples in this world.
Gripping the palm-leaf fan, Su Cui patted her old waist.
Although she now had a body comparable to steel, whether it could stop bullets was uncertain. She had no place to test it. It seemed she would have to find ways to steer clear of these mafia types.
...
On the way back, Su Cui stopped at a newspaper stand to get a few expired old newspapers to read.
She had transmigrated into a very explicit novel, but as she spread out the newspapers and carefully selected a few after reading, she had to admit: if the female lead really developed as the book described—kidnapping, abuse, all kinds of plays—once exposed, it would definitely make the social news.
The unfamiliar old ladies and gentlemen around her, with nothing to do, knew that Su Cuihua had recovered from paralysis and came to visit her. Su Cui understood this—old people are idle. No matter who came, she pretended to be a bewildered old lady who had been paralyzed for too long and was a bit lost about the world's developments. Then she slowly chatted with the old folks to understand this book world.
Starting from daily life and moving through newspaper news, Su Cui got a general idea.
To be honest, it hardly seemed like a book world.
Overall, it wasn't much different from the world she had transmigrated from. Arson and murder would still be punished by law. The only difference from her original real life was that there were a few large financial groups controlling the economy, along with a bunch of mafia forces and a few mafia bosses.
It was a novel, Su Cui understood.
This "harmonious" book, which her cousin had even printed with a cover, truthfully knew how to hook readers. If the female lead was constantly pushed around by various random people, how could readers watch? How could the female lead's various physical charms be highlighted? How could various scenarios be written? After all, crimes like kidnapping, abuse, and forced sex—without powerful forces, how could news be suppressed?
Just among the men who had snatched the female lead, several appeared in just a few newspapers. Su Cui felt a toothache and deeply felt the heavy responsibility.
She had skimmed the book, so she only vaguely remembered some recurring male characters. But in "Yangchun Baixue," the female lead could meet anyone on the street, and they would all have ill intentions toward her.
The reason she had carefully read most of the early part was that it had many "seemingly good" companions for the female lead—male classmates, kind passersby, and so on.
Unfortunately, after a few chapters, they all tore off their masks, every one of them hypocritical scum.
For example, early on, there was a male classmate of the female lead who seemed very righteous. Su Cui thought he was okay, but after skipping a few chapters, she saw that this male classmate had done all sorts of things to the female lead. After flipping many more chapters, she saw that this male classmate had inherited some financial group and continued to bounce around.
Su Cui shook her head, flipping to another page of the newspaper. Suddenly, her fingertip stopped in the middle of the page: Zhao Group invests 60 billion yuan in the Yangtze River area on Puyun Road, creating a street integrating tourism, cultivation, shopping, dining, and entertainment...
Zhao Group?
That sounds familiar... Where had it appeared in this book?
...
When she returned home.
Su Baixue happened to wake up from her nap.
Seeing Su Cui open the door, she walked out of her room with sleepy eyes and asked, "Grandma, where did you go?"
Su Cui held up the green onions and said, "I bought two bunches of green onions. Didn't you say you like egg drop soup the most? Grandma will make scallion and tomato egg drop soup tonight."
"Grandma, you still remember..." Su Baixue was a little shy.
"I remember." Su Cui smiled.
Su Cuihua's memories were all in her head—how could she not remember?
To be honest, this was Su Cuihua's life. Su Cui had no interest in interfering. After all, she had been dragged into a book world and hadn't volunteered to grow old. It was unreasonable to expect her to take responsibility for Su Cuihua's life, right? No matter how optimistic she was, encountering such a thing left a grudge in her heart.
But Su Baixue... When reading the book, Su Cui had already felt sorry for this girl. Now that they lived under the same roof, thinking about what Su Baixue might encounter in the future, Su Cui couldn't just stand by and do nothing.
Su Baixue was about to take the high school entrance exam. After dinner, she immediately washed the dishes and went to her room to study.
Su Cui thought for a moment, told her she was going to the square for a walk, but actually to familiarize herself with the surroundings.
On the road, she met a few old ladies from the same neighborhood who were going to the square to dance. One of them often gave Su Baixue some food. She had a kind face, was slightly plump, and her surname was Li, named Li Guizhi.
Li Guizhi and her group chatted and laughed, not noticing Su Cui.
Su Cui didn't approach. She waited until they had left before slowly heading to the square. She wasn't a real old lady; with her family so poor, she had no heart for dancing.
What could a sixty-two-year-old, uneducated, unskilled old woman do to earn some money?
Su Cui had been pondering this question since transmigrating into this book world. With her current appearance and age, it was hard to find a decent job. At this age, no one would hire her, and even if they did, it would be inconvenient to work a fixed location every day—Su Baixue would be in danger.
This was a book world where the female lead could be forcibly taken away by scum just walking on the street.
So Su Cui thought again: what job suitable for a sixty-two-year-old, uneducated, unskilled old woman could also allow her to stay by the female lead's side and protect her?
She couldn't think of one for the moment.
"It seems that no matter how I earn money, I can't compare to those wealthy and powerful conglomerates," Su Cui sighed, sitting by a flower bed.
Money, money.
A shooting star streaked across the night sky.
Su Cui looked up. Starlight flashed briefly in her cloudy eyes.
Suddenly, she felt a heat in her palms. Frowning, she looked down, her eyes widening in disbelief. On the fingers of both hands, countless golden words were flooding out: Jade Pendant.
Holy crap, my fingers turned gold!
Gold, golden fingers?
This was way too straightforward...
The pigeons in the square sensed something and huddled together in the dark, shrinking their heads. When rain began to fall, broken petals clung to the wet black branches.
Passersby hurried. On their phone screens, local news flashed.
Today's headline was: "Follow-up on the 'Bald Man Assaulted and Molested on the Street in Hechuan Du' Case: The attacker Zhao, suspected of forced indecency and affray, has been criminally detained by the police. The victim Yu's injuries will undergo forensic evaluation in accordance with legal procedures."
Su Baixue stopped writing at her desk. Wind blew in from the window. She got up to close it. The wind on her face carried the chill of rain, seeping into her bones.
"The weather has changed," she whispered.