14: Chapter 14 The Despicable Thief 14: Chapter 14 The Despicable Thief With that money, her family could have a good year.
An Hao finished selling early and went to find Uncle Chen to ride on his ox cart, but he wanted to linger a bit longer, so An Hao decided to walk back slowly by herself.
Unbeknownst to her, someone had already set their sights on her from early on.
As An Hao walked ahead, that person followed her at a distance, and when they were out of town and people were few and far between, he suddenly sprang up from behind and knocked An Hao to the ground.
“Ouch, don’t you have eyes when you walk?” An Hao’s buttocks were sore from the fall, and her belongings had been flung aside.
As she struggled to get up, the man pinned down her hands and feet.
A chill ran through her heart—could it be a ruffian at this time of the year?
Before An Hao could come to her senses, the man reached into her pocket, pulled out the money on her, and started to run.
So he was after the money!
That was the hard-earned money she got from selling goods from dawn to dusk, and her whole family was counting on that money for the New Year.
Stop right there!” An Hao rolled over and scrambled up from the ground, chasing after him fiercely.
That guy was a well-known rogue in town, with neither father nor mother, always stealing chickens and dogs.
He would steal a bit and live off it for a while, then go back to stealing again.
He had even been detained before, but the police couldn’t do much about him; he only stole food and drinks, which wasn’t enough for a sentence.
With the New Year approaching, this rogue also needed to eat, so he had set his sights on An Hao early, following her after she finished selling.
An Hao ran and shouted, but there were no people in sight.
Thinking of her own hardships, An Hao clenched her teeth and chased with all her might.
Down the dirt road, a car was coming in the distance.
The driver saw a girl in a red jacket and blue pants desperately chasing a man.
As she ran, she also shouted loudly, causing the man driving to frown.
He drove the car even faster, and as the distance closed in.
He faintly heard the girl shout, “Stop!
So, he pressed even harder on the accelerator, and the car kicked up a trail of dust.
By the time the car got close, An Hao had already caught up with the little rogue.
She kicked him from behind, sending the little rogue sprawling, and she fell to the ground as well.
Taking advantage of the rogue’s struggle to get up, An Hao quickly scrambled to her feet, pounced on him, and sat on top of him, fighting to get her money out of his pocket: “Give me back my money!
The little rogue also became infuriated; it was humiliating for a grown man to be pinned down by a young girl!
Angry, he swung his hand to slap An Hao.
An Hao dodged the slap by tilting her head and, clenching her fists, she pounded the little rogue: “That’s for stealing money!
That’s for not doing good!”
She had only landed a couple of blows before the little rogue grabbed her wrist.
No matter how hard she tried, she was still a slender girl, not strong enough, and certainly no match for a grown man.
The little rogue flipped over, pinning An Hao underneath him, and raised his big hand: “This little lady sure is feisty, even daring to defy me!
Is it just about stealing some money from you?
You really want to fight for your life with me?”
An Hao thought she would surely be slapped hard on the face and was frightened when suddenly, a loud and thunderous voice roared in her ears.
The voice was commanding and full of deterrence, scaring the little rogue so much that his hand paused mid-air and he did not bring it down.
As An Hao turned her head to look, the person standing there was none other than her husband from her previous life—Qin Jian.