Chapter 164: Li Guifen with a Bruised Face

An Nan: “But…”

Chu Peipei winked at her. “I know you trust me, but you should really keep this kind of weapon yourself. If there’s real danger, you can give it to me then—it won’t be too late.”

With that, she shoved the gun back into An Nan’s hands and turned to head home.

An Nan watched her retreating figure, feeling a warmth in her heart.

She knew that Chu Peipei was trying to give her a sense of security.

She couldn’t help but think of Gu Zhiyu. He’d done the same before—refusing to take the gun.

They completely overturned her previous life’s belief that “people’s hearts are always sinister.”

She pressed her lips together. How wonderful—after being reborn, everything and everyone around her was so much better.

She was just lost in thought when suddenly, wailing erupted outside the door:

“There’s no justice! You let your dog bite me and won’t even pay for medicine!”

“Pity a widow and her orphan being bullied like this!”

An Nan’s face darkened: She took back what she’d just thought! There were still plenty of annoying people and things!

She ignored Li Guifen outside and went straight back to 1402.

As soon as she entered, she saw Laifu the rooster poking its head around, hunting cockroaches.

An Nan was surprised. She hadn’t been home for a while, and there were big cockroaches again? If not for Laifu, she wouldn’t have noticed at all.

So she praised the rooster.

Laifu immediately perked up, running around and catching cockroaches everywhere. In no time, it had eaten three more.

An Nan waited a while. Seeing it stop searching, she was reassured there were no more cockroaches and finally went to her bedroom to sleep.

Lying in bed with her eyes closed, she still couldn’t fall asleep because of the crying and shouting outside.

An Nan finally lost her patience.

She stormed to the entryway, unlocked the door layer by layer, and then gave Li Guifen a hard kick, sending her flying out.

The old woman immediately fell silent, her small body tumbling down the stairs with a clatter.

At last, An Nan’s ears were quiet. She let out a satisfied sigh and slowly walked down the steps.

She pressed her finger to Li Guifen’s nose—still breathing, not dead.

Relieved, she grabbed the dazed old woman by the collar, hauled her up, and slapped her hard across the face several times, left and right, until her face swelled up like a pig’s head. Only then did she stop.

“This isn’t your village, and I’m not Chu Peipei. If you dare disturb my sleep again…”

An Nan leaned in closer. “Believe it or not, I’ll kill you.”

Li Guifen shrank back, terrified by her cold expression.

She’d often fought and pulled hair with villagers before, but she’d never seen eyes like these.

Only her husband, when slaughtering pigs, had a similar aura.

Seeing her quiet down, An Nan snorted, tossed her to the ground, and went back inside.

This time, no one disturbed her, and she finally drifted off to sleep.

Out in the hallway, Li Guifen clutched her waist, hunched over, and staggered downstairs.

Back in 1301, her son Zhang Xiaobao was sprawled on the sofa, fanning himself irritably.

Hearing her come in, he didn’t get up, just asked from where he lay, “So? Did you bring back anything good to eat?”

When there was no reply after a few seconds, he sat up impatiently. “I’m talking to you—”

He looked up and was startled to see Li Guifen standing there, her face bruised and swollen.

Zhang Xiaobao frowned. “What happened to you?”

Li Guifen knew her son’s troublemaking nature. Thinking of that girl’s cold eyes, she was afraid her son would also suffer at her hands, so she lied:

“Xiaobao, I accidentally fell down the stairs. Let’s just eat some of the old biscuits tonight, okay?”

Zhang Xiaobao looked displeased, but seeing how miserable she looked, he didn’t say more.

He impatiently pulled out a bag of biscuits. “We agreed to save these and get more from Chu Peipei! Can’t you even handle this?”

Li Guifen forced a smile. “Be good, Mom will go ask again tomorrow.”

She hurriedly rubbed her waist and went to rest.

Today she’d been bitten by a dog, kicked down the stairs, and slapped until she saw stars. If she hadn’t been strong from years of farm work, she’d have passed out from the pain!

Zhang Xiaobao munched on biscuits, muttering at her back, “Useless! Can’t even handle your own daughter-in-law!”

When it got cooler at night, he’d go upstairs himself.

If things didn’t work out, he’d use force. That Chu Peipei was just a woman—could she really take him?

Hmph! If she won’t take what’s offered, she’ll get what’s coming to her!

1402.

An Nan slept soundly and woke up feeling refreshed.

It was completely dark outside, and people were starting to head out to scavenge for supplies again.

She got up, brushed her teeth and washed her face. Just as she finished tidying up, there was a knock at the door.

Along with a familiar voice: “Idol, is that you back?”

Zhao Ping’an?

An Nan got dressed and went to open the door.

When Zhao Ping’an saw her, his eyes lit up. “Idol! It really is you!!”

Seeing how excited he was, An Nan couldn’t help but laugh. “How did you know I was back?”

Zhao Ping’an grinned. “I vaguely heard that shrew yelling about dogs. I thought she was just cursing again, didn’t think it had anything to do with you. But then she suddenly went quiet…

So I guessed it must be you who came back and dealt with her!”

An Nan laughed. “Good guess!”

Zhao Ping’an said, “I figured you’d probably want to rest, so I waited until it was dark to come by. I didn’t disturb you, did I?”

An Nan smiled. “No, I just woke up.”

Zhao Ping’an looked her up and down. “Idol, did you run into any danger while you were out?”

An Nan shook her head. “No.”

She glanced curiously at the long case in his hands. “What’s this?”

Zhao Ping’an immediately handed it over. “Your gun.”

An Nan was a bit surprised—why did everyone keep returning her gun?

When did this hot commodity become so unwanted…

She raised her hand and twisted the silver ring on her finger. “Didn’t you already trade this for it?”

That silver ring had really helped her out.

Zhao Ping’an replied, “I’d been wanting to give you that hidden weapon for a while—consider it rent for using your gun. Besides, I didn’t really help much when we took down those guys hoarding food, but I still got a share of the supplies. How could I just take your gun for nothing?”

Seeing An Nan about to say more, he added, “If someone stirs up trouble in the future, you can always give me a gun then.”

An Nan felt a bit helpless. “You and Peipei-jie really do say the same things.”

So she stopped arguing and took the case from him.

Zhao Ping’an asked, “You’ve already seen Peipei?”

An Nan nodded. “Mm.”

Zhao Ping’an then brought up Li Guifen. “That shrew, did she—”

He’d just started when a mocking, sarcastic voice sounded behind them:

“Well, well! The adulterous pair are together again! Caught in the act by me, huh?”"