Wa Yiting was just driven to cry harder by his words, and she glared fiercely at him before turning to run away. However, she didn't get far before another piercing scream rang out.
Ruan Qun and Ruan Jiaojiao rushed toward the sound, only to see Wa Yiting fallen on the ground, with the contents of her basket scattered all around. Not far off, on a small hillock, stood a small figure—the little villain who hadn't been seen for two days.
The little villain, hearing the noise behind him, looked over impatiently, and in his hand, he was holding several pitch-black rats, several of which were still squirming and squeaking... It was indeed quite frightening.
Wa Yiting probably fell because she got scared by the rats.
When Ruan Qun saw the rats, his first reaction was to protect Ruan Jiaojiao; he moved in front of her to block her view, worried that she might also be scared of the rats, and he comforted her, "Sister, don't be afraid, your brother will protect you."
But how could Ruan Jiaojiao be afraid? In her past life, she was a cat—only rats were scared of her. However, since she had gained intelligence, she didn't eat these creatures, deeming them too full of bacteria. She generally preferred to steal food from that wolf.
Did the little villain catch so many rats because he wanted to eat them? Being so hungry that he could only eat rats seemed rather pitiable.
She pushed past Ruan Qun, who was blocking her view, and watched as the little villain, after giving them an impatient glance, walked away with the rats in tow.
"Xiaojiu, why don't you guys play with him?" Ruan Jiaojiao curiously asked Ruan Qun after the silhouette of the little villain was out of sight.
Ruan Qun rubbed the mud on his hands and replied, "He's been aloof and odd since he was young." It was as if he thought of something, and he turned to Ruan Jiaojiao and whispered, "Sister, you better not play with him either. I heard he even hits adults, he's really bad." Young children can't yet discern right from wrong, and simply take whatever they hear as the truth.
Ruan Jiaojiao didn't respond to his words. Her gaze fell on Wa Yiting, who was still crying.
From her observation just now, it seemed that the female protagonist and this villainous male supporting character currently had no interactions yet... which was good!
To avoid any future excessive interactions between them, she said to Ruan Qun, "Granny said he's very pitiful, so you brothers should also play with him from now on." She figured that the reason the villain was eccentric and reclusive was probably because he'd suffered too much bullying and discrimination as a child, which gradually twisted his nature.
If she could straighten out his nature from a young age, then he probably wouldn't end up doing something as twisted as destroying the world in the future.
In a moment, Ruan Jiaojiao felt that she had suddenly found the most important thing for her to do in this world! As for why it was the most important, naturally, it was because only if the world didn't end could she do other things, like protecting the entire Ruan Family and so forth.
"Granny said that?" Upon hearing that it was Ruanlin who had said it, Ruan Qun became somewhat hesitant. After thinking for a moment, he nodded his head and said, "Then next time we go out, let's invite him too. Alright, let's go back now. The others have probably already caught sparrows and found bird eggs."
As for Wa Yiting at the side, both of them chose to ignore her.
Wa Yiting, seething, grabbed handfuls of wild grass from the ground. Thinking of the rats that Xiu Xi had caught, and fearing that there might be many more around, she didn't dare to linger. She quickly got up, leaving the scattered items on the ground as they were. She picked up her basket and hurried to catch up with Ruan Jiaojiao and the others.
When Ruan Jiaojiao and Ruan Qun returned to the spot, Ruan Feng and the others had indeed come back. Little Fatty was even holding a bird's nest. Seeing Ruan Jiaojiao, he excitedly came over to present his treasure: "Sister, look, Fourth Brother found this, I'll roast it for you to eat!"