Light Rain glanced at her and silently nodded.
Her sister was great in every way, except that she was too strong-willed, sigh!
She sincerely hoped that her sister could have a harmonious marriage and a happy family because her sister deserved to be treated well.
Ling Chengyan dropped off Light Rain and turned back, taking a path outside the teaching college campus for convenience.
Suddenly, soone rushed out of the shadows and nearly collided with Ling Chengyan.
Ling Chengyan sidestepped, her body brushing against the courtyard wall to avoid the person, but unexpectedly, the person took two steps forward and then turned back to pounce on Ling Chengyan.
"Help ! Please help !"
Hearing a young woman’s voice, Ling Chengyan stopped dodging and instead pulled the woman’s hand off herself, clasping the woman’s arm and asking, "What’s going on?"
"A female... a female soldier?" The young woman was surprised, as she had only caught a glimpse of Ling Chengyan’s military uniform in her haste, prompting her plea for help, not realizing Ling Chengyan was a female soldier.
"Run!" The woman reacted quickly, and after her initial surprise, she imdiately shook off Ling Chengyan and attempted to keep running, though she still warned Ling Chengyan before running off.
Ling Chengyan raised her eyebrows slightly and swiftly moved to the base of the wall, lifted her hand to grab onto a large tree, and agilely jumped up to its branches, observing from above as the woman backed away step by step, surrounded by five encroaching shadows.
"You, you, don’t co any closer, or I’ll scream!" The woman tried to suppress her fear and shouted righteously.
The people across grew nearer, and one lanky man laughed, "Did you hear that? She says she’ll scream! Heh heh heh... I didn’t expect I could get close to a beauty of the Wu Family; ah, she slls so good!"
"Get away, my brother’s just up ahead! Brother, co and save ..." the woman shouted in a hoarse voice, clearly to no avail.
The other party was not afraid; on the contrary, they laughed out loud.
"Who doesn’t know that Wu Zhenguo went off to join the army, and there’s been no news from him? Hahaha, you still think your brother will save you?"
"Why don’t you call good brother, and I’ll save you! Hehehe..."
"I can be a brother too; call dear brother, and I promise to take good care of you... Ouch!" One of them got a bit carried away and stretched out his hand to touch the woman’s face.
His hand reached out but didn’t touch the beauty’s face; instead, it was struck back so painfully he felt as if his bones had shattered: "Ouch, my hand’s broken... You little... dare to hit ? Ouch... boohoo... ugh..."
Furious, he raised his hand to hit the woman, only to have his face smacked again unexpectedly. Just as he started cursing, a tree branch was shoved into his mouth, numbing his mouth and tongue.
He spat out the branch, but out ca a tooth and a mouthful of bloody froth.
"Who’s there?"
"Co out, stop playing ghost tricks!"
"Ghost... Could it be Wu Zhenguo is back..."
The woman suddenly cried out, "Brother! I’m here, save !"
The call was desperate and tearful, haunting in the dark night.
"Oh my God... A ghost..." one of them shouted, and the five n, being the most contemptuous thugs, couldn’t withstand it and fled, screaming like banshees, so scared they didn’t know which direction to run.
One tripped over thin air, landing flat on his face with a thud, eating dirt;
Another ran recklessly and crashed headlong into a tree, toppling over with a thud, its fate unknown;
The one who lost a tooth ran in the right direction, only to be kicked from behind, sending him sprawling like a turtle, struggling to get up;
... Five aggressive, rogue hooligans were sohow knocked down and incapacitated in the blink of an eye.
Wu Xiaoyue snapped out of it and ran ho, sprinting onto the main road only to encounter two officers with flashlights coming her way.
"Help, help, save ..." Wu Xiaoyue imdiately shouted.
Ling Chengyan stood under a utility pole dozens of ters away, watching the two officers go back to apprehend the gang with Wu Xiaoyue. Silently, she turned and left.
She had planned to go back and wash Xiaoxing’s hair, but this incident would probably make it impossible to do so in ti.
When she got ho, she found Xiaoxing holding a little mirror, admiring her newly cut bangs.
Seeing Ling Chengyan enter, she imdiately exclaid excitedly, "Mom, look at my hair, is it pretty?"
The little girl hadn’t had bangs before; previously malnourished, her hair was thin and sparse, and her temples were a bit high. With her hair tied up, her forehead appeared high, but now the thin straight bangs covered her large forehead, revealing delicately arched brows and large, jet-black eyes, making her look even cuter and more spirited.
"It’s beautiful, makes your eyes look bigger," Ling Chengyan sincerely praised.
"Hehe, my dad cut it for ," Xiaoxing proudly announced as if her dad’s haircutting skill were exceptionally remarkable.
Liansheng, sweeping up the hair clippings, chuckled and said, "I learned it on the farm. It’s not good, but my daughter doesn’t mind."
"No, Dad, you cut it beautifully, Mom said so too!" Xiaoxing imdiately disagreed, tugging on Ling Chengyan’s sleeve, "Mom, right?"
Ling Chengyan nodded, "Yes, it’s beautiful, really beautiful."
With that, she took Xiaoxing inside to check her howork and calligraphy.
Liansheng watched the mother and daughter enter the small room, the smile on his face fading, leaving a trace of lancholy.
After Ling Chengyan finished checking the assignnts and ca out, Liansheng suddenly said, "Since you’re not leaving tomorrow and Xiaoxing’s ho for the weekend, let’s go to the photo studio as a family and take a family portrait. Xiaoxing and Shi Tou are so big now, and we haven’t had a family photo taken yet!"
Ling Chengyan had taken photos more than once—passport-sized for ID cards and group photos during competitions—but had never taken a picture with her family. Especially with the two kids, taking a photo now would be interesting to look back on when they grow up.
As for a family portrait, she had selectively ignored that idea.
"Alright, if there’s nothing going on, I’ll co back early. Let’s go when the noonti sun is warm, it’ll be just right."
Arrangents were made with a few words. Liansheng checked the ti and offered, "You coax the kids to bed early, I’ll go pick up Light Rain."
With that, he put on his coat and went out.
The night passed without a word until early the next morning. Xiaoxing didn’t sleep in, getting up early and dragging Aunty Light Rain to rummage through the wardrobe, sifting through clothes, discussing braided hairstyles. They whispered and muttered the whole morning without reaching any decision.
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