USWHC -Chapter 84 Leaving Just Like This? (Part 4)

The crowd slowly thinned. People in front of the noodle stall came and went in waves, wearing satisfied smiles as they set off for home.

But Zhu Jie sat there dazedly, staring into the distance. The sun had long since tilted westward—why hadn’t he returned yet? Had he fallen into the latrine? Should she find a hook and try to fish him out?

Her thoughts flitted between mischievous speculation and anxious worry. He wouldn’t have run into trouble, right? Nothing had happened up ahead, had it?

The pedestrians on the street were calm, without a hint of panic—so surely nothing had gone wrong. She kept reassuring herself: he was a grown man; there was no way he could have run into a sexual assailant.

As for robbery… heh, with someone like him, even a petty thief would cry at the sight of him. Perhaps the thief might even hand him a few loose silver coins out of pity!

“Little lady, why are you all alone here?”

At that moment, someone suddenly blocked her path. Zhu Jie snapped out of her daze and looked closely—it was Hu Sanliu, leering at her.

“Where’s Erhan? How could he leave such a beautiful lady alone here?” Hu Sanliu teased in his usual sly tone when Zhu Jie ignored him, and, brazenly, his hand wandered to lift her clothes.

Seeing him dare to tug at her garment with those filthy hands, Zhu Jie immediately frowned and snapped, “What are you doing?”

Hu Sanliu wasn’t intimidated in the slightest by her anger; he just chuckled, “Little lady, lost your way? Let me take you home,” and went straight to grab her hand.

Seeing him grow increasingly insolent, Zhu Jie’s face darkened. She decisively slapped his outstretched hand away. “Ji Yi will be back soon!”

Hearing this, Hu Sanliu glanced around nervously. Seeing no sign of Ji Yi, he smirked lecherously, “He’s coming back? And what if he does?”—then again tried to grab her hand.

Zhu Jie’s heart started to race. She hadn’t expected Hu Sanliu to be so bold—daring to make a move on her in broad daylight. She coldly demanded, “What do you want?”

Her loud shout immediately drew the attention of those nearby. People saw this beautiful young girl being harassed by a sleazy man and widened their eyes, seemingly trying to figure out what was happening.

Feeling the crowd’s gaze, Hu Sanliu grew a little flustered at Zhu Jie’s boldness, but he refused to back down verbally. In fact, he shouted even louder: “What? Your man sold you to me? And I can’t even touch your hand?”

Zhu Jie was stunned by his words and quickly retorted, “What nonsense are you talking about?”

“You still don’t know? Erhan just sold you to me—thirty taels of silver! Don’t believe me? Come with me and let’s confront him together!” Hu Sanliu’s tone became more convincing as he straightened his back and loudly announced it to the crowd.

The onlookers’ gazes toward Zhu Jie shifted to pity. They seemed to genuinely believe him; some whispered, “Such a beautiful girl… how unlucky can she be?”

“Lies!” Zhu Jie refused to believe it even a little. She knew Ji Yi wasn’t that kind of person!

Hu Sanliu, smug and lecherous, reached for her again, shouting brazenly, “Just come with me!”

Zhu Jie was both shocked and panicked. Who could save her? She looked around the crowd for help, but no one stepped forward—everyone just whispered among themselves.

She turned to the noodle stall owner—the same man who had personally served her and Ji Yi the noodles earlier—but he looked at her indifferently, as if accustomed to such incidents.

No way… Zhu Jie’s head felt like it was about to burst. Suddenly, she recalled the posts she’d seen online in her modern life about women being abducted. Some audacious abductors would snatch women right in the street, pretending it was a domestic dispute, and drag the girls away in front of everyone—just like Hu Sanliu.

Now she was facing such a brazen man. He might not be a kidnapper, but he was definitely a filthy pervert!