Chapter 62: A Life-Saving Favor

Today, the three of them had even more supplies on their boat than yesterday. Just the pile of scrap metal Zhao Ping’an had collected took up a lot of space.

On the way home, Chu Peipei asked curiously, “No one tried to rob us today?”

An Nan chuckled, “Are you getting addicted to robbing the robbers?”

Chu Peipei blushed. “Of course not…”

Who would want to be seen as an easy target for others to rob?

But honestly, the haul they got from those bandits yesterday was just too good! Not to mention the hundred jin of potatoes—that alone would last her a long time!

Chu Peipei could never bring herself to rob anyone.

But if someone tried to rob her and she turned the tables and took their stuff instead, well, that was just doing justice, right?

She fell silent, gripping her nail gun and scanning their surroundings warily.

Let’s see—anyone out there reckless enough to try something?

As the saying goes, what you dwell on tends to come true.

Sure enough, Chu Peipei soon stumbled upon a robbery in progress.

Only, the target wasn’t them.

The three of them had just left the floating market in their speedboat when they heard shouting not far away.

“Brothers! That guy who brought a boatload of wilted veggies this morning actually traded for a bunch of rations and meat!”

“Perfect! Let’s take him down!”

“Look at that pretty boy, showing off in his shabby suit!”

“If you know what’s good for you, hand over all your supplies. Maybe we’ll be merciful and let you live.”

Shabby suit?

An Nan looked over and, sure enough, it was Long Cong’an—the man in the suit they’d traded with earlier.

Right now, Long Cong’an was surrounded by three kayaks, each packed with armed men shouting threats at him.

He frowned and tried to reason with them.

“Let’s talk this out. I can pay a toll, but there’s no way I’m giving you everything.”

This was Long Cong’an’s first time venturing out to trade for supplies. He hadn’t expected to be targeted so quickly.

The food on his boat was meant for his wife and child—there was no way he’d just hand it over.

He gripped his weapon—a large sickle—tightly.

“Toll fee?”

The leader burst out laughing. “Did you guys hear that? This pretty boy wants to pay a toll!”

“Dream on! If we can take everything, why settle for just a part?”

“Enough talk. Let’s just kill him and take it all!”

Long Cong’an knew a fight was inevitable. As the men rushed at him, he swung his sickle, managing to wound two of them. But he was outnumbered, and soon he was overwhelmed, taking several cuts himself.

Seeing this, Chu Peipei quickly turned to An Nan. “Should we help?”

“Of course,” An Nan replied without hesitation, steering the speedboat toward the fight.

How could they not help? She still had a thousand jin of fertilizer waiting for her!

The roar of their engine drew everyone’s attention as the speedboat sped over, sending up a spray of water.

Long Cong’an, who’d been struggling against a dozen attackers, suddenly felt the pressure ease and looked over.

He saw a young woman piloting the speedboat with one hand and wielding a nail gun with the other, racing toward them.

With a stylish swerve, she sent a wave of water splashing over the crowd.

Then came a hail of nails, taking down all four attackers who had boarded Long Cong’an’s boat.

Long Cong’an, battered and bleeding, let out a sigh of relief and looked gratefully at An Nan.

Chu Peipei quickly followed up, firing at the attackers’ kayaks and puncturing them in just a few shots.

The bandits, startled by the unexpected newcomers, immediately shifted their focus.

“Quick! Take out those three! They’ve got a nail gun!”

But the trio weren’t about to give them the chance.

Using the same formation as yesterday, An Nan guarded the front with her chainsaw, Chu Peipei took aim and fired, and Zhao Ping’an filled in wherever needed.

The fight was over in no time.

Chu Peipei and Zhao Ping’an finished off the ones floundering in the water, while An Nan jumped onto Long Cong’an’s boat and helped him up.

“You okay?”

Long Cong’an was covered in blood, but finally managed to catch his breath. “Thank you so much!”

An Nan saw that he was bleeding heavily from several deep wounds.

He’d lost so much blood that his lips were turning pale.

“We need to stop the bleeding right away, or it’ll be dangerous.”

As she spoke, she used her backpack as cover and secretly pulled a hemostatic bandage from her storage space, then started bandaging his wounds.

Hang in there, my thousand jin of fertilizer! Don’t you dare die on me!

Long Cong’an gritted his teeth as An Nan roughly tied off his wounds. After a while, he finally started to recover.

“These guys were ruthless! They didn’t just want my stuff—they wanted my life.”

An Nan gave him a look that said, “Well, duh.”

“This kind of ambush happens every day. If you’re carrying this much stuff, you’d better bring a partner next time.”

Long Cong’an nodded.

“I can never repay you for saving my life.” He took off the jade thumb ring he was wearing and handed it to An Nan. “I saw you liked this ring. Please take it as a token of my gratitude.”

An Nan raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t you worried your boss will be upset?”

Long Cong’an smiled. “Not at all. You saved my life! My boss will understand.”

An Nan didn’t stand on ceremony and accepted the jade ring.

“I can’t just take it for nothing—let’s trade it for some crocodile meat.”

Long Cong’an quickly shook his head. “No, no! I said I wouldn’t sell this ring. I’m giving it to you as a gift, to thank you for saving my life.”

He was surprisingly stubborn.

An Nan didn’t argue, just slipped the ring into her pocket.

No way I’m turning this down.

I earned it—I worked for it, so it’s not like I’m taking it for free.

Once Long Cong’an had recovered, they said their goodbyes and headed home.

—

Halfway up the mountain, in the villa district.

Long Cong’an returned home exhausted. His wife, who was cooking, rushed out when she heard him.

When she saw him covered in blood, she was terrified. “Cong’an! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine—just ran into some bandits. I was lucky a kind soul saved me.”

Li Shihan’s eyes immediately filled with tears. “Thank goodness you’re all right… If I’d known, I would have gone with you!”

Seeing her so upset, Long Cong’an quickly pulled her into his arms.

“Don’t cry, honey! I’m fine, really. I promised to take care of you for the rest of my life, and I mean it.”

He took her hand. “Come on, help me bring in the supplies. We got so much, I can’t carry it all myself!”

Li Shihan followed him down the hill, and saw their speedboat and the boatload of supplies hidden in a thicket.

Her eyes widened. “You traded just those vegetables for all this?”"