Chapter 10

est course of action when two people part ways is for one to stay put. If both parties were to run about haphazardly, they would likely drift further and further apart.As twilight approached, the thic..."Mom! I'm back," Li Jing brought me to her house, just like she was leading a little puppy.

Although Li Jing's mother is only in her forties, she has a lot of white hair and many crow's feet. She looks weathered and experienced.

"Xiaojing... who is this Is this your classmate"

"No, Mom," Li Jing tugged at my arm and said, "Mom, I caught this guy by the moat just now. He was sneaking around, clearly not a good person. I suspect he's electrofishing."

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"Electric eel" Li Jing's mother asked me in confusion, "Young man, are you an electric eel"

I hurriedly explained that it was all a misunderstanding, I wasn't any kind of electric fish at all.

Li Jing's mother looked at me kindly and shook her head, smiling: "I don't think you are like an electric fish, Xiao Jing. This time, you made a mistake. You even brought someone here. Apologize to them quickly."

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Later I figured out the situation and understood why Li Jing wanted to catch electric fish.

This is because the Shun De Forestry Bureau offered a reward. At that time, the ecological damage to the Yangtze River was serious, and Chinese sturgeon and finless porpoises were on the verge of extinction. The authorities were determined to protect inland water environments, and this wave of action also extended to Shun De.

Anyone who catches an electric fish for electrofishing can go to the Forestry Bureau to claim a reward, with a bounty of five hundred dollars per person caught!

That's why the girl Li Jing wouldn't let go of me. She treated me like a catfish, wanting to take me to the forestry bureau to exchange for money...

Because her family is short of money.

Under her mother's forceful demands, Li Jing reluctantly apologized to me. She said, "Sorry, classmate."

Li's mother was very hospitable. To express her apology, she let me stay for lunch.

It's almost two o'clock now, and I'm starving, so I agreed.

For lunch, there was rice. Mother Li made three dishes: scrambled eggs with chives, loofah and string beans, and cold sliced lotus root. The home-cooked dishes were very tasty.

I slurped my noodles with gusto, while Li Jing watched me coldly. She tapped the porcelain bowl with her chopsticks every so often, making a loud racket on purpose, which caused Li Mu to frown repeatedly.

She thinks I ate her eggs.

Li's mother rebuked her: "Little Jing, how can you be so rude Where did this classmate offend you"

Li Jing bit her chopsticks and said with a sneer, "He didn't do anything to me, but I just can't stand this kid."

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I got mad at the time too.

Although I wasn't born into a wealthy family and grew up poor and neglected, one thing I have is a strong sense of self-respect.

I immediately put down my chopsticks and bowl, and got up to bid farewell to Mrs. Li.

"This girl, who cares about eating eggs from your family," I angrily thought to myself.

Right as I got to the door, a large group of people pushed me back.

There were six or seven people, all young and middle-aged in their twenties and thirties. They carried paint buckets in their hands, and some even held sticks.

"Where is Li Dequan Li Dequan, come out here!"

"If you don't come out, I'll kill your wife and children!"

They were all looking fierce and menacing. I had never seen such a sight, I was immediately terrified. Li Jing and her mother weren't doing much better either, their faces were pale with fear.

This person walked into the room carrying a paint bucket. After seeing the food on the table, this person coldly smiled.

"Damn, he still has money to eat eggs! He has money to eat eggs but doesn't pay me back"

"I'm going to make you eat this!" He picked up the paint bucket and poured red paint all over the table.

The smell of paint was pungent and unbearable. The dishes on the table were instantly smeared with red paint, Li's mother looked terrified, and Li Jing lowered her head in silence.

"Hee hee..." The man chuckled, "Want to eat eggs Don't have any money, do you"

He used a stick to stir-fry the oil-painted chives with eggs and poked them in front of Li Jing.

"Come on, eat this. Eggs are delicious, right Just finish this plate and we can leave. Haha."

Several others chimed in with laughter.

"What are you doing!" I can't watch this anymore, isn't this bullying!

"Well now," the man said, looking at me with a smile. "Brother, tell me, what's your name"

I took a deep breath and said, "My name is Li Jing. If you dare to cause trouble, I will call the police!"

"Huh Call the police"

Suddenly, there was a burst of laughter all around.

"It's only natural to repay debts! You little brat dares to call the police!"

He swung a stick in his hand wildly at my head.

I instinctively raised my arm to block, but I was too slow. It didn't block, and I took a solid hit on the head with a stick.

Something sticky was on my head. I reached up to touch it, and then a stick smashed into my head, making me bleed.

I only felt a dizzy spell in front of my eyes.

"Stop it!"

"I eat! I eat!" Li Jing, who had been bowing her head all along, suddenly raised her head and shouted with red eyes.

Li's mother kept wiping her tears.

Li Jing grabbed the eggs from the plate with her hand and stuffed them into her mouth.

Those eggs were covered in paint, and the smell was pungent. Li Jing took a bite and immediately vomited.

"Haha, you're not doing this right, eat it all! I said eat it all! Are you deaf"

Li Jing grabbed another egg and stuffed it into her mouth.

Five minutes later, the plate of eggs was gone.

"Well, well, this was interesting. We got to see a good show today. And by the way, remind Li Dequan that when we come back, if there's still no money, things won't be so simple."

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Let me know if you have any other text you'd like me to translate!

This group of people left behind a sentence, cursing and swearing as they walked away.

My head was broken and I bled a lot. I was in great pain lying on the ground at that time.

"How are you" Li Jing wiped the paint from her mouth and carefully helped me up.

Mother Li fetched some cloth and simply bandaged my head for me. I lay on their bed for more than an hour before recovering.

"Little student, about... I'm sorry, for hurting you," Li Mu said to me with a face full of guilt.

"Auntie, what are those people doing" I asked her, gritting my teeth against the lingering headache.

"My father went bankrupt and owes them a large sum of money," Li Jing said.

"Did your business fail How much debt do you have"

"Ai..." Li Mu couldn't help but shake her head. "50,000 yuan..."

"Fifty thousand yuan! So much!" I was taken aback by the amount. That much money, even if I didn't eat or drink, it would take two or three years to pay it back.

"Little student, do you live at school or are you going to the hospital We'll send you back, we really apologize for this," Li Mu apologized to me again.

"No, no, I don't need to go to school. I can walk by myself now. I'm fine walking on my own."

When I left, Li Jing came out to see me off.

"Sorry about that just now," she mumbled, walking beside me with her head down.

"It's fine, it's all over," I waved my hand and smiled generously.

"Aren't you from our school Which high school do you go to I'll come find you to play later," Li Jing suddenly asked me.

"Huh This, this...."

I lied and said, "I'm in high school at No. 1 Middle School."

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Let me know if you have any other text you'd like me to translate!

"You're from First Middle School, right Then you must be a good student," Li Jing said with a smile.

My face turned red and I couldn't speak. My grades have always been among the bottom three, which is quite stable.

Back then, Little LingTong was just becoming popular, ordinary students couldn't afford phones, so naturally, no one had phone numbers. However, Li Jing said that if I had time, I could come find her to play and she even asked me to tutor her with her homework.

Back at the inn, Wang was drinking tea.

He almost spat out his tea when he saw I had wrapped my head in a bandage.

Wang shouted to me, "Yunfeng, what's wrong with you Did you fall into a pit while scattering earth"

I have to say this awkwardly: "Head, I got beaten up by someone."

">e walkie-talkie, there came a series of loud knocks on the door from Douzi.After opening the door, Douzi nervously threw two raincoats to me and Hong Jie. He told us to put them on quickly before he l...