FDNL CH 10

Chapter 10 – The Search

Su Lianyi’s round, pale hand clenched tightly into a fist.
She loosened it, then clenched it again—her eyes filled with fury as she glared at the bullies in front of her.
Every fiber of her being screamed to rush forward and beat them bloody.

“Lianyi, what’s with you today?”

Her father, Su Feng, noticed something strange about his second daughter and frowned.

“Nothing,” she sighed. “I just got woken up by Third Brother and I’m in a bad mood.”

For now, she had to protect herself first.
She’d deal with the rest later.

The others all nodded in understanding.
Although she seemed a bit “off” today, that fierce glint in her eyes was still the same—so no one suspected anything.

“Alright then, Lianyi,” said one of the men—a hunchback named Zhao Datie with yellow teeth and shifty eyes that gleamed with lewdness. “Go search that woman and the old hag. See if they’re hiding any money.”

Zhao Datie wasn’t exactly attracted to Lianyi, but he’d always looked for excuses to get close to younger women.

At his words, the kneeling woman froze in horror.
Her face turned white; her body trembled all over.

Lianyi could tell at a glance—
the money really was on her.
And she also knew her “father,” Su Feng, wasn’t the kind of man to be fooled easily.

“Alright,” she said evenly, then walked toward the poor family.

The other men exchanged greedy smiles.
They were already imagining the wine and meat they’d buy with the stolen silver tonight.

The woman panicked. Her grip loosened on the little boy—
and the child leapt up and ran straight at Lianyi.

“You witch! I’ll kill you!”

The old grandmother gasped and tried to stop him,
but in her panic, her breath caught—and she fainted on the spot.

Lianyi reached out and lightly pushed the boy away.
He was far too thin and weak; even a gentle push sent him tumbling to the ground.

“Let my Jin’er go! I’ll give—”

Before the woman could finish saying “money,”
Lianyi quickly covered her mouth.

Using her own wide frame, she blocked the view of the men behind her,
and in a low whisper said to the woman,

“Don’t say a word.”

The woman froze, confused, but didn’t dare to speak again.

Lianyi released her hand and, under everyone’s watchful eyes,
pretended to begin searching the woman’s body.

When her fingers brushed the woman’s lower back,
she felt several small, round metal pieces.
Copper coins.

“Nothing,” she said flatly.

“Nothing!?”

Su Feng’s eyes widened in disbelief.
After years of scamming and extorting, his instincts told him this woman had to have money.

Even the woman and her family stared blankly, unable to believe what they’d just heard.

“Nothing,” Lianyi repeated coldly.

“You sure?” Zhao Datie growled. “You’re not hiding it for yourself, are you?”

He didn’t believe her, and took a step forward—clearly intending to “check” the woman himself.

The woman went pale and backed away in terror.

Lianyi’s expression turned icy.
She took one stride forward and—smack!—her palm cracked across Zhao Datie’s face.

“What are you? Daring to question me, Su Lianyi!?”

The slap was brutal.
Zhao Datie, strong as he was, spun several times before crashing to the ground.
He spat out a mouthful of blood—along with one of his yellow teeth.

“Su Lianyi! Don’t go too far!”

Another man, Wang Erlai, rushed over to help his friend.
He was about fifty, gray-haired, with the face of a man who should have earned respect—
but his eyes were filthy, his manner disgusting.

Before Lianyi could speak, her younger brother Su Bai jumped in first.

“Too far? He’s lucky my sister didn’t beat him to death!
Always leering at her like a dog in heat—
You want me to dig your eyes out next time!?”

Lianyi couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.
Well, she thought, at least this little brother’s got some guts.

“Leering? At her?” Wang Erlai barked a laugh.
“Su Bai, don’t kid yourself.
Take a piss and look at yourselves—fat as pigs!
Who’d be lusting after your sister? I’d rather mount my own sow at home!”

“Wang Erlai, you’ve got a death wish!
How dare you insult my children like that!”

Su Feng exploded.
Insulting his daughter was one thing—but calling her a pig made him a pig too!

Even though Su Feng was old and not as strong as before,
everyone knew the Su family siblings were good fighters.
Just that one slap earlier showed Lianyi could easily overpower a man.

Wang Erlai blanched.
He wasn’t stupid enough to fight, so he spat viciously on the ground.

“Fine, Su Feng! You’ve got guts.
Just wait and see!”

He dragged the dizzy Zhao Datie up and stormed off.

Su Feng spat on the ground too, glaring at the poor family huddled on the floor.

“Didn’t even get a single copper out of it—what rotten luck!”

And with that, he turned and left, fuming.

Su Bai pulled on Lianyi’s sleeve.

“Come on, Sis, let’s go.”

“I’m going home,” she said coldly, yanking her hand free.

“Huh? But Father’s mad. Shouldn’t we try to calm him down?”

Lianyi’s eyes darkened as she glared at her father’s retreating back.

“If you want to comfort him, be my guest.
I’m in no mood. He’s angry? So what—I’m angrier.”

“Alright, alright, I get it, Second Sister,” Su Bai said, smiling awkwardly.
“Sorry for waking you up today and making you come all this way for nothing.
My bad. I’ll buy you some face powder later to make up for it.”

Lianyi couldn’t help but laugh—
half amused that the original Su Lianyi even cared about face powder,
and half at this silly little brother who, despite his faults, wasn’t all bad.

The siblings went their separate ways—
one home to sulk, the other off to soothe their angry father.

And just like that, a potential tragedy was quietly defused.

***

Back at home, Lianyi lay on the clean bedding,
trying to rest—but she couldn’t sleep.
Her mind kept drifting to that poor family.
Her chest felt tight, her throat even tighter.

On the way back, Su Bai had told her the story:
The family’s surname was Sun.
They had moved to the village not long ago.
They’d been struggling already,
but after the husband fell seriously ill, they lost their only source of income.
To make things worse, medical expenses had drained what little savings they had left.
Now, they barely had enough to eat.

Lianyi had once sworn never to practice medicine again—
and she wasn’t a saint—
but she still had a conscience.

She lay there, tossing and turning for hours, unable to rest.

The door creaked open.

The man—Da Hu—had returned.
His sharp eyes swept the room, taking in the clean bedding and the lazy woman still in bed in broad daylight.
Disdain flashed in his gaze.

“You’re back?”

Lianyi quickly sat up, instantly on alert.
This man was… neither friend nor foe.

“Someone’s here to see you.”

As always, his words were few and cold.

“Oh?”

Lianyi adjusted her clothes and hurried out—half out of curiosity, half to escape his presence.

Outside the courtyard gate stood two figures—
a woman and a small child.

It was the same pair she had saved that morning.