Transmigrated as Cannon Fodder — I Rise to Female Lead Through Hard Work-Chapter 34: Kidnapping

"Let’s go to the creek to drink some water, this sun is really something today." Ding Anmin wiped her sweat with one hand and strode towards the creek, putting down her net bag and scooping up water with both hands to drink.

Yi Roujing stepped forward and stopped her, "You don’t even know if this water is clean."

"We’ve always been drinking it like this. The water in this creek is very clean. Can’t you see it’s at the foot of the mountain, it’s spring water." Ding Anmin retorted.

"A lot of families come here specifically with buckets to fetch water. It’s sweeter than the water from wells or rivers. Want to try?"

"Shh." Yi Roujing quickly pulled Ding Anmin aside and covered her mouth with one hand, signaling for her to pick up the net bag. The two retreated three steps back and hid in the dense shrubs at the foot of the mountain.

"What are you..." Yi Roujing increased the intensity of her hand over Anmin’s mouth, and soon enough footsteps were heard, more than one person approaching.

Ding Anmin was puzzled. Even if someone came, why did they have to hide? Until she saw four unfamiliar faces, and one of them was carrying a sack.

"Big brother, didn’t expect such a pretty girl in this desolate place. She can probably sell for a good price," a wretched man with a pointed face said with a grin.

The man addressed as the boss, with a scar from his right eyebrow to his nose, looked vicious due to its position. But his features were quite masculine and well-defined, Yi Roujing thought as she observed him slowly putting down the sack, then washing his hands and face at the creek.

In the bushes, Ding Anmin’s face turned pale at once. She carefully examined the sack on the ground, indeed shaped like a person, making her tremble with fear.

"Can you speak any louder?" The scarred man said without even turning his head, causing the wretched man to immediately cover his mouth to signal silence.

But he could only hold back for a while before speaking again, "Big brother, this girl’s stepmother must be truly wicked, paying us to kidnap her and sell her for a good price. To get a good price, she must be sold to some obscure place where she could never escape."

"But big brother, why did you take on this job? You’ve never dealt with this kind of thing before," the wretched man asked with some doubts.

"Zhao Guang, just shut up. Of course, big brother has his own plans," said the most handsome-looking man among the four, though his eye-rolling contradicted his otherwise refined appearance.

"Big brother, are you going back soon?" The man who had been silent, the one with the darkest skin but the purest eyes, asked straightforwardly, staring directly at the scarred man’s eyes.

"Soon." The scarred man smiled with a tug at the corner of his mouth, "Heizi."

"Huh?" The dark-skinned man looked up, meeting the scarred man’s gaze.

"When the girl wakes up, you three scare her a bit, tell her about her stepmother’s plan, then let her go," the scarred man instructed.

"Huh?" The wretched man exaggerated his expression, "Big brother, we’re just going to warn her and let her go? Then we..."

"Do you know that girl?" The handsome man asked.

The scarred man neither confirmed nor denied, but the other three seemed to understand.

"Got it." Heizi readily agreed, and the other two said nothing.

"Mmm..." A moan came from the sack, indicating the person inside was about to wake up. The scarred man walked several steps and hid in the bushes. Upon seeing Yi Roujing and Ding Anmin already hiding inside, he froze for a moment.

The scarred man squatted right next to Yi Roujing, with Ding Anmin anxiously clutching Yi Roujing’s wrist, trembling, transmitting her fear through her arm. Yi Roujing patted her hand comfortingly.

At the creek, the wretched man opened the sack, revealing a familiar face. Ding Anmin’s eyes widened in shock, instinctively wanting to shout but Yi Roujing covered her mouth, the scarred man observing everything clearly.

"What are you, what are you, what do you want to do, cough cough..." Xia Xingchen coughed, her face flushed red.

"What can we do? We’re just here to warn you," the wretched man clicked his tongue, "You’re lucky, running into us four... three with a bit of conscience, or else you wouldn’t even be left with bones."

Xia Xingchen shivered uncontrollably, sitting on the ground, stumbling backwards while the wretched man closed in step by step.

"We don’t target girls. Today, we’re feeling generous enough to tell you to watch out for that wicked stepmother of yours. Don’t get sold and then help count the money." The wretched man snorted, waved his big hand, and the three turned to leave. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

In the bushes, all three inadvertently twitched their mouths. Isn’t that warning too vague? Nothing was clarified.

Yi Roujing found herself amused, turning to meet the scarred man’s gaze, surprised to find him righteous instead of just a hooligan. Listening to his words, it’s clear he knows Xia Xingchen. Besides, in the book, Xia Xingchen wasn’t kidnapped from the Dingping Production Team, but from Jing City. It seems that her safe arrival in Jing City owes a lot to this man.

No wonder when Xia Xingchen’s stepmother saw her return in the book, the description of her shock almost overflowed from the pages.

Though this part isn’t mentioned in the book, it’s odd. Could it be that this man doesn’t even have a minor role, not even appearing?

"Xingchen." Ding Anmin had already rushed out, embracing the panicked Xia Xingchen to comfort her.

Yi Roujing also stood up, but the scarred man didn’t.

"Please have a good talk with her," the scarred man said, looking up at Yi Roujing.

"Mm." Yi Roujing nodded in agreement, and the scarred man crouched and left.

"Anmin, big sister, what are you doing here." Seeing familiar faces, the frightened Xia Xingchen immediately calmed down, though her face remained pale.

"We came back from the county and happened to pass by," Yi Roujing replied.

Yi Roujing remembered the book mentioned a part where one day during work, Xia Xingchen didn’t return after cutting pigweed, nor did she come back to the Zhiqing spot for lunch. The Zhiqing folks went out looking for her, but not long after, Xia Xingchen returned by herself.

Though upon her return, her back basket was empty. Everyone speculated whether something had happened to her, although she seemed unharmed. However, she fell ill the next day, recovering only after three days in bed. The team leader’s wife visited to check on her, claiming her body constitution was weak, but otherwise fine, promptly shifting village gossip from Xia Xingchen having an incident to her being sickly.

That depiction focused on the female lead because, during the search for Xia Xingchen up the mountain, Song Zhiluo discovered wild Lingzhi.

Wild Lingzhi, Yi Roujing was a bit envious, it’s valuable. Of course, Song Zhiluo didn’t find it to sell, but sent it to Jing City to build connections for the Song Family, fostering favorable conditions.

Where was it found? Yi Roujing pondered repeatedly, for the content was explicitly marked as fictional by the author, which she usually skimmed through. Now... she regretted it.