Reborn as the Villain's Wife, I Shine in 80s-Chapter 537: I willingly throw myself into your arms

Under the setting sun, Zhao Chun watched the silhouettes of a group of grown men sprinting away. His clear, calm eyes suddenly darkened. Under the emperor’s reign, such brazen behavior? At this moment, a line of lyrics popped into his head: "If you see injustice, give a shout. Strike whenever you need to strike." 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Let’s see what this young master can do!

Rolling up his sleeves, he charged forward!

The young woman quickened her pace as much as she could. She had looked back earlier and, seeing no one following her, had just breathed a sigh of relief. But before she could fully exhale, the noise behind her reached her ears.

It turned out the group of men from the table earlier were now chasing after her!

She was startled, her face drained of all color. She broke into a run, her legs moving frantically. She didn’t know what to do. Besides running, all she could hope for was to reach home as quickly as possible. In her heart, she silently prayed these men weren’t after her, that they were chasing someone else, or simply drunk and playing some running game.

Clearly, her thoughts were far too naive—because soon, she was surrounded by the men.

"Yo, this little girl’s got quite the good looks, doesn’t she?"

"No doubt about it."

"Missy, we’ve got a question for you. Are you a woman?"

The girl was so frightened she was on the verge of tears. She couldn’t even make sense of their question; just hearing their voices made her tremble with fear. She tried to step back, but there was no way out; she wanted to burst through their encirclement, but she didn’t dare make a move.

"W-what do you want?" Her mind blanked out. That was the only sentence she could muster.

"Oh, nothing." One of the men crossed his arms in front of his chest, his voice oozing lewdness. "We just want to be friends with you and have a little chat about what it means to be a woman."

"I-I don’t know." The girl’s voice cracked, her words coming out stammered, but she managed to summon the courage to try walking away.

The men, in perfect sync, reached out to form a tighter circle. "Hey now, don’t go."

"We haven’t even started our discussion."

"No worries if you don’t know. We’ll teach you how to be a woman."

"Heh heh heh~~~" More disgusting laughter followed.

One of the men, seeing her trembling pitifully, got irritated. He stepped forward and yanked her into his arms. "Don’t touch me! Help! Help!" She struggled desperately in his grip, screaming toward the other side of the street for help.

Even being touched made her feel unbearably uncomfortable!

But it was too far away. She couldn’t tell if anyone had heard her—most of them seemed in a rush to get home, it being rush hour. And besides, they were mostly women and children; there weren’t many men around. She was falling into despair.

"Haha, missy, what are you doing?"

"It’s not even that cold. Why are you shaking like this?"

"Come here, let me warm you up."

A hand slid over her body, another began pulling her toward a nearby alley.

The other men chuckled a few times and, thinking the side of the road wasn’t convenient, naturally clustered together and pushed the two deeper into the alley. "Let go of me! Help! Help!" The girl screamed and struggled with all her might, kicking and hitting furiously. But she was far outmatched—one woman against several men. These thugs were only emboldened by her helpless frailty.

"Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing? Stop this right now!" Just as these men, fueled by their drunken courage, were about to cross the line, a lazy but mocking voice cut through the air, slipping into their ears. Oddly enough, the voice sounded somewhat familiar.

At least it wasn’t the police—that much was certain.

The confrontation was abruptly interrupted, leaving the men fuming.

The man they called "Second Brother" turned furiously and spat on the ground. "What’s your problem, you punk? Get lost, or we’ll beat you to death!"

"Help..." The girl wiped away tears, recognizing him as the young man who’d been sitting across from her at the noodle shop. Instantly, she pinned all her hopes on him.

Zhao Chun casually clasped his hands behind his back, his eyebrows quirking teasingly. "Now, come on, guys. You’re caught in the act, and you still want to keep it all to yourselves? How about leaving a share for your little brother here?"

The girl’s eyes went wide with shock, her tears surging even harder. This man looked every bit the refined gentleman, yet it turned out he was no better than these thugs! What was she supposed to do now?

The men squinted suspiciously at him, sizing him up. Properly dressed, neat looking... Could he actually be one of them?

Second Brother jabbed a finger in Zhao Chun’s direction. "I told you to scram. Didn’t you hear me?"

"Don’t be like that..." Zhao Chun said, still smiling as he swaggered toward them. Just as he neared, his hand shot out, yanking the girl behind him with force.

The girl let out a sharp scream, overwrought with surprise. Behind him, she saw a wooden stick. Before long, the stick lashed out in a sweeping arc, smacking all four men squarely in the face. Zhao Chun spat angrily: "Listen here, assholes! You’ll call me Grandpa Zhao before I’ll bow to a few little punks!"

The sudden turn of events left the men clutching their faces, wailing in pain. But soon enough, they fought through the shock and raised their fists.

Zhao Chun was already in a foul mood, practically brimming with explosive energy. With a makeshift weapon in hand plus a recently honed physique, he was more than a match for them. Within moments, the group of men was crying out in defeat.

"You’re seeking death!" One particularly enraged man, his face swollen and blue, pulled a gleaming dagger from his pocket. The others quickly followed suit, each brandishing a knife.

"Oh, wow," Zhao Chun exclaimed, widening his eyes. Casually, he slapped the wooden stick against his palm a few times.

Then he reached behind him. "What, you think you’re the only ones with knives? You think Grandpa Zhao doesn’t have one too?"

The men faltered, visibly unsure of themselves, choosing to stand their ground but not act.

Zhao Chun let out a cold chuckle before hurling the stick at them with force. Grabbing the girl’s hand, he shouted, "Run!" In truth, he didn’t have a knife at all!

"Get them!" The stick struck some of them, further enraging them.

Zhao Chun, familiar with the local streets, ran smoothly and swiftly, deliberately steering them toward crowded areas. The girl, dazed and overwhelmed, could only be dragged along in his wake. To say she ran with him would be inaccurate—it was Zhao Chun pulling her, as her legs had all but given out. She had just moved to this city a few days ago and had never encountered anything like this.

Across the street, he spotted patrol officers. Stopping to catch his breath, he called out, "There are a few thugs with knives chasing us!"

The patrol officers exchanged glances, suddenly on high alert, and adjusted their posture to approach.

Zhao Chun propped his hands on his knees, then straightened up, his fair face glistening with sweat.

"Hey... are you alright?"

Exhausted, the girl squatted on the ground earlier but had started sobbing uncontrollably as soon as she’d caught her breath.

Seeing her curled up in a ball on the ground, Zhao Chun scratched his head, unsure of what to do. Comforting women wasn’t exactly something he was skilled at, except maybe for Tian Sangsang.

He draped his thin jacket over her shoulders. The girl shrank away from him, refusing the gesture, standing warily. Zhao Chun held out the jacket again. "Don’t worry. The police are already on their way to arrest those guys."

"What about you?" she sniffled, tears still streaming down her face.

Zhao Chun laughed heartily. "Me? Oh, earlier I was just talking big. Someone like me? I’m a good guy."

Before his words could properly land, he was suddenly enveloped in a hug!

Not by a knife—but by a sobbing woman.