Wang Baozhu hastily wiped her tears away and looked up at the man approaching. Frowning, she didn’t say a word and hurriedly tried to get up, only to let out a cry and fall back down as her foot twisted.
She had not anticipated falling to the ground, but instead, she fell into a man’s arms. Yet at this moment, Wang Baozhu would not act inappropriately. She quickly pushed the man away, "Uncle Zheng, thank you."
Zheng Kuan smiled lightly, not minding at all. With only one arm, he had no choice but to drop the fish on the ground when he tried to catch her. Seeing that she was alright now, he bent down to pick up the fish and then turned to leave.
However, after pushing him away, Wang Baozhu failed to stand steady and ended up sitting on the ground for real.
Zheng Kuan didn’t bother to check on her and continued to walk away.
That’s when Wang Baozhu panicked. The village was far away, and since all the villagers were at the banquet, no one would hear her even if she shouted for help. How was she going to get back? Was she to just sit here? No, she must make Zheng Kuan take her back, so she began to cry loudly.
Zheng Kuan had already walked quite a distance but hearing the crying behind him, he had no choice but to stop and walk back, "What’s with you girl? I kindly tried to help you and you shrugged me off, now that I’m leaving you start crying. What’s the sense in that?"
Although Zheng Kuan was from Xiaobudong Village, it was only separated by a river from Dapu East Village. The two villages were essentially like one, and people from other villages commonly referred to them collectively as Budong Village; thus, everyone was familiar with each other.
Especially since Wang Sheng used to be a troublemaker known by everyone in the neighboring villages, and now he was even more infamous. His three children were also well known to the locals.
"Uncle Zheng, I was wrong. I’ve twisted my ankle..." Wang Baozhu, now truly helpless, could only seek Zheng Kuan’s assistance.
"So what do you want me to do?" Zheng Kuan looked down at the girl sitting on the ground and perhaps due to the angle, his gaze fell on the open neckline of her dress, where the edges of her half-exposed breasts were just visible.
Wang Baozhu had intentionally unbuttoned her dress a bit to seduce Yang Rusong earlier.
Zheng Kuan couldn’t help but swallow hard. Although the girl was young, her figure was not inconsequential. He was a grown man, and one who hadn’t been with a woman for several years, so naturally, he felt a reaction.
Zheng Kuan used to be a hunter, and back then he was the only one in the surrounding villages. With his brawny build and strength, he could hunt something every time he went into the mountains, and his life was relatively good. However, as prey became scarce near the foothills, he thought of venturing deeper into the mountains. Of course, part of the reason was the rumors of hidden treasures in Xiaocang Mountain, which tempted him to explore. But there were fierce beasts in the deep mountains. Stubbornly undeterred, he ended up bitten by a venomous snake. Though he managed to crawl his way back down, he ultimately lost his left arm but saved his life.
With one arm gone, he could no longer hunt and had to rely on a few acres of farmland, which made life quite miserable. His wife ran off with a peddler who often came to sell goods two years ago, leaving behind a daughter named Zheng Xiaohua, ten years old this year.
Of course, the story told outside was that the wife despised him for his disability and poverty, but no one knew the specifics. However, the neighbors all knew about Hunter Zheng’s explosive temper. After his wife left, not only did he make a scene at his in-laws’ house, injuring his father-in-law, but he also often beat his daughter. Poor Xiaohua was often seen with a bruised face, doing household chores like washing clothes and gathering wild vegetables...