Getting a wife was one of the three tasks Liu Mang had during his trip to Jiangnan City.
Liu Mang had considered this matter more than once, what kind of wife should he marry?
The delicate girl in front of him was, by any account, a pretty girl, a good match for Liu Mang's taste.
Just as he was about to embrace her, the girl quickly stepped back, dodging him, "What are you trying to do?"
Liu Mang had missed his chance and was a bit disappointed, scratching his head sulkily, "I wanted to kiss you a bit, didn't you just say you wanted to give me your most precious thing? I remember it very clearly."
The more Liu Mang spoke, the redder the girl's face became, her moon-like fair and smooth cheeks were now blushing, shyly turning into a red apple, she spat out softly, "Pervert!"
"How do you know my name is Liu Mang?"
Liu Mang kept scratching his head, sighing to himself that he seemed to be famous, as wherever he went, people knew his name.
"No wonder you're so shameless." The girl, busy taking a necklace off her pink neck, handed it to Liu Mang, "I don't care if you're a good person or a bad one, but since you saved me, I'm giving you my most precious thing. Here, take it."
Liu Mang took the necklace and looked at it, a simple red cord strung with a green bead, "You say your most precious thing is this little bead?"
"Yes, this bead was the only thing my grandmother left me before she passed away, it's my most precious possession."
The girl spoke softly, with a sense of unwillingness in her voice, her eyes never leaving the bead.
Liu Mang slapped his forehead, damn it, crap, shoot, your sister ah￥%@##@￥#&...…..
All his happiness was crushed, and he was extremely disappointed.
Suddenly, Liu Mang noticed a small smirk at the corner of the girl's eye, and instantly understood what had happened.
It seemed that this seemingly innocent girl was deceiving him.
She said she would give him her most precious thing, but once she was saved, she reneged on her promise.
Alas, what's with the reliability of people these days?
Just as Liu Mang was considering making the girl fulfill her promise, meaning to steal a peck from her, the girl said, "Don't you like it? If you don't like it, could you give it back to me?"
"Nah, I don't dislike it, thanks." Liu Mang put the necklace around his neck, not caring whether the bead was from the girl's grandmother or mother. Since she gave it to him, it was his now.
Thinking that Liu Mang would return the necklace if she showed reluctance, the girl did not expect him to accept it without any politeness, "You're really funny. So, your real name is Pervert, a scheming pervert?"
Liu Mang replied, "Do I, a respectable person, seem like someone who would be a pervert?"
"Yes." The girl confidently answered. This guy in front of her was even more shameless than those hoodlums.
Am I really that shameless? Liu Mang felt a wave of feebleness, "Remember this, my last name is Liu, and Mang as in the edge of a blade. What's your name?"
The girl pursed her lips and said coquettishly, "Why should I tell you?"
"Fine, forget it then. If there's nothing else, hurry on home. Also, as a girl, don't come out to drink late at night. It's like asking for trouble. You got lucky with me this time, but you might not be so fortunate next time."
Liu Mang waved his hand at the girl, shooing her away, then found a place to sit down and took out the wallets he had just obtained, rummaging for the cash inside.
The girl didn't leave; instead, she sat down next to Liu Mang, "Lin Jiaojiao."
Liu Mang was busy counting money and didn't hear clearly, "What?"
"I said, my name is Lin Jiaojiao." The girl revealed her name, "Although I think you're a bit odd, I can tell you're a good person."
Liu Mang said, "In this world, good and bad people aren't always that clear-cut."
"I don't believe that." Lin Jiaojiao wasn't afraid at all; she covered her little mouth and giggled, clearly not intimidated by Liu Mang.
"If that policewoman had been like you, I would've had a wonderful night." It was all Lu Mengyao's fault.
After rummaging through all the wallets and not letting a single coin slip by, and adding it all up, it was just over two hundred yuan, Liu Mang couldn't help but curse, "Turns out they're all broke, a bunch of them together still have less than a cab driver!"
Once he pocketed the money, Liu Mang noticed that Lin Jiaojiao was still standing there, "Why haven't you left yet?"
With her small hands twisted together and her slim waist gently swaying, Lin Jiaojiao looked pitiful, helpless, and fragile, gazing at Liu Mang with wide, expectant eyes, "I have no home to go back to."
"No home to go back to?"
"Yeah, my dad spends all day drinking, gambling, womanizing, and has a really bad temper; he hits me all the time. He lost a lot of money these past few days and even borrowed from loan sharks. He said he's going to sell me to a pleasure house to work off his debt. I just managed to run away, or else I really would have been sold off."
As she spoke, Lin Jiaojiao's voice trembled, and tears began to roll in her eyes. She looked so pitiful and helpless it was impossible not to feel sorry for her.
Just looking at Lin Jiaojiao's delicate appearance, regardless of whether her story was true or false, it felt like not helping her would be an unforgivable act. Liu Mang shrugged, "Fine, consider it my bad luck then. I'll see it through to the end, come with me."
He took Lin Jiaojiao's small hand, leading her quickly towards the park's exit.
Her hand held by a strange man, Lin Jiaojiao became shy, wanting to pull away, but then thought better of it, "Where are you taking me?"
"Where else? The police station, of course. Where else could I take you?"
At the mention of the police station, Lin Jiaojiao stopped in her tracks, pulling on Liu Mang, "No, I won't go to the police station. The police can't help me with this kind of family issue. Liu Mang, please don't take me to the police station. If you do, I'll definitely be sent back to my dad, will definitely get beaten, and be sold to a pleasure house."
Liu Mang pointed to his own nose, "You can't be thinking I should take you in, right?"
Lin Jiaojiao nodded earnestly and vigorously.
"That probably isn't a good idea." Liu Mang admitted he wasn't familiar with Lin Jiaojiao, and besides, he didn't even know where he would stay himself.
"Brother..." Seeing Liu Mang did not agree, Lin Jiaojiao clung to one of his arms and shook it hard, "You can't just abandon me like this. Think about it, I'm a girl, it's easy for me to run into bad people. Maybe as soon as you leave, I'll be taken advantage of by someone else. I could even be sold to a bathhouse and have my whole life ruined. If I really end up like that, Liu Mang, would you be able to live with yourself?"
She had a point; abandoning such a delicate young girl alone, there was a chance something could happen.
Torn between coldly refusing or kindly taking her in, before Liu Mang could decide, suddenly a piercing engine noise came from ahead.
Liu Mang reacted swiftly, pulling Lin Jiaojiao behind some roadside shrubs to hide.
The two of them peeked out toward the distance, only to see several cars crazily driving into the park, heading straight into its depths until they had to brake at the stairs where they could no longer continue.
Before the screech of brakes had even stopped, the car doors flew open, and more than ten men dressed in white shirts and black trousers jumped out and rushed into the park. The leader shouted, "Search for her quickly, we must find her!"
Liu Mang noticed that Lin Jiaojiao's complexion changed, turned a bit ugly, a bit scared, obviously those people were coming for her, "Who are they?"