NOVPUB
Chapter 511: Chapter 501: There Are Always Consequences for One’s Actions
"Little girl, be smart and hand over your bag, or I can’t guarantee that this knife will listen to me," a young man with a trembling leg brandished a sharp long knife, blocking the path of Shen Yunfang’s tricycle.
Shen Yunfang frowned at the man opposite her, who had a decent look but turned out to be a scoundrel. It just goes to show that you can’t judge a book by its cover. Some people may look dapper on the outside but are rotten all the way to the bones.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but you should hold on to your knife. If it really doesn’t listen to you and you hurt yourself, that would be bad, especially during the festive season. Seeing blood is not auspicious," Shen Yunfang had encountered a few hooligans over the years and wasn’t scared at the sight of this robber, however, she did worry that Shitou and Shuanzi might be frightened. But it seemed that the two kids had their own courage. They didn’t scream or cry when they saw the bad guy, but instead, they slipped down from the tricycle and ran to hide behind her.
That was the right move. If the two kids recklessly charged in, they wouldn’t be helping her; they would only be causing more trouble.
"Hmph, I see you won’t shed a tear until you see the coffin. Then don’t blame me for being ruthless," the man, seeing that he couldn’t frighten the woman opposite him, charged at Shen Yunfang with a murderous glint in his eyes.
Although the area was secluded, there was still a chance that someone might pass by at any moment, so the youth wanted to quickly subdue the woman, grab the money, and flee.
Shen Yunfang kept her eyes fixed on the man, and as she saw him waving his knife toward her, she realized this man wasn’t just trying to scare her; he really meant to harm her. So she didn’t hold back.
In her younger days, she had fought off gangs without fear. Why would she fear a scoundrel like him now?
She quickly ducked under the incoming blade and delivered a sweeping leg kick, which caused the man to stumble and almost fall.
Shen Yunfang was quick and agile as she kicked his kneecap. She didn’t use much force, just enough to make him fall forward. Her fist struck out timely at the hand holding the knife, with a smart move that made the attacker instinctively withdraw his hand. Imagine a person falling forward with a sharp knife in his hand, and retracting it to his chest; the outcome was too gruesome to behold.
"Ah..." the man screamed.
Shitou and Shuanzi shuddered with fear.
Shen Yunfang stepped forward to inspect the man lying on the ground. The tip of the knife had pierced through his waist and abdomen, making a through-and-through. Blood spread across the snowy ground.
"Auntie, is he, is he dead?" The children, after all, were frightened to see the bad guy lying in a pool of blood.
"He should be alive; it didn’t hit any vitals. The blood is just to scare people," Shen Yunfang said calmly.
"Save me..." the bad guy gasped weakly on the ground.
"Are you out of your mind? You tried to rob and kill me and then you wound up stabbing yourself, and now you expect me to save you? Who’s the fool here, you or me?" Shen Yunfang snorted coldly.
"Get in the cart, we’re going home to report this to the police," Shen Yunfang told the kids as she prepared to leave with the tricycle.
"Save me... I beg you..." the villain, not giving up, kept pleading.
"When you charged at me with that knife, why didn’t you think about sparing me?" Shen Yunfang ignored him, but before leaving she threw out another piece of advice, "If I were you, I’d use snow to pack the wound. The cold will cause it to contract, and you’ll bleed less. By the time I report this and bring the police to arrest you, you’ll probably have bled out." After saying that, she rode away with the kids.
"Auntie, will that man really die?" Shuanzi asked quietly.
"No, your auntie told you, his wound just looks serious, but it’s not fatal. In this cold weather, he won’t lose much blood, so he’ll be fine," Shen Yunfang reassured them, although she kept to herself the thought that although the man likely wouldn’t bleed to death quickly in this weather, he could still freeze to death.
In this bitter cold, lying in the snow must have been absolutely suffocating for him. However, Shen Yunfang felt absolutely no sympathy for him. If he hadn’t tried to do something bad, he wouldn’t have ended up in this predicament. If she didn’t have some self-defense skills, she would have been the one lying there in a pool of blood. Thus, wrongdoings had their price. In the end, everyone must pay for the consequences of their actions.
Shen Yunfang, with the two kids, took almost an hour to reach her front door, and she went directly to the police station where Mu Huazhen worked to report the incident.
The officers at the station all knew Shen Yunfang, so after she cooperated and gave her statement, the policemen let her go home, telling her they would contact her if there were any further developments.
As for the person left in the snow, that was no longer her concern.
When she and the children got home, Li Xianglian and Dashuan hadn’t returned yet.
Shen Yunfang instructed the kids not to tell Grandma Wang about what happened on the way, fearing it would be too much for her old age. Shuanzi and Shitou couldn’t pretend nothing had happened; they simply turned around and headed to the market to find their parents.
Shen Yunfang didn’t worry about them, as they were familiar with the area and wouldn’t get lost.
"How come you’re back so early?" Grandma Wang found it strange to see Yunfang back so early.
"Haha, there were so many people at the market today. Seeing that I was selling firecrackers, they crowded around me to buy them. After I sold nearly everything, I came back," Shen Yunfang said as she washed her hands.
"What, you sold all the firecrackers?" Grandma Wang was somewhat incredulous. She had watched Yunfang load the cart when she had left, and it was packed full until not a single item more could fit. 𝑛𝘰𝘷𝑝𝘶𝑏.𝑐𝘰𝘮
"Yeah, almost all of them. Only some sparklers are left," Shen Yunfang thought about bringing more small whips and double shots next time, as those were the bestsellers.
"Ah, that’s really great, I was worried we’d be stuck with leftovers at home," Grandma Wang said, visibly relieved.
"Haha, Grandma, don’t worry. We might have a few Spring Festival couplets left, but I assure you, all the firecrackers will be sold," Shen Yunfang was confident about that.
"That’s good, that’s good. I was just afraid you’d lose money," Grandma Wang didn’t understand much, but she worried that their hard work wouldn’t pay off and they would incur losses instead.
Initially, Grandma Wang had disagreed with Dashuan and his wife doing business with Yunfang. After all, secretly raising some chickens, ducks, and pigs to sell at the market had earned them a bit of money. Wasn’t life much better now compared to the previous years? Satisfied, Grandma Wang thought life was good enough as it was and saw no need for further hassle.
But this time, her son Dashuan was adamant about giving it a shot, and his wife, who wasn’t very assertive, couldn’t stop him. This left Grandma Wang no choice but to go along and hope to keep an eye on things to prevent any losses.
"Grandma, we won’t lose money, rest assured. Come on, it’s not time to cook yet. Let’s count the money together," Shen Yunfang led Grandma Wang to a vacant room. She first spread a newspaper on the bed, then poured out the contents of her army knapsack onto the paper.
Money poured out, amassing in a heap in front of the two women.
"Oh my, that’s a lot of money. In my life, I never thought I’d see so much," Grandma Wang said with a twinkle in her eye, looking at all the money.
"Here, for you to experience the thrill of handling money. Let’s count and see how much we’ve earned this year," Shen Yunfang cajoled the old lady, raising her spirits.
By the time Li Xianglian and the others frantically finished packing up their stall and returned, they saw the mother and daughter-in-law sitting cross-legged on the bed, countingly merrily away.
