“Those words aren’t wrong.” Ran Feize said in all seriousness.
Su Xiaopei thought in her heart, ‘of course’. This person had been capable of slipping laxatives to a group of good fellows before snatching the credit for himself. When it came to being realistic, he wasn’t much different from herself. It was just that this was a thankless task, the success rate wasn’t great, and a mere five taels of silver didn’t appeal to him. She had no choice but to rouse his interest through other means.
“It’s just, does Miss not know that one must provide clues on the criminal’s whereabouts in exchange for the reward? We have no clues to report and even had to ask the local officials for the latest news. How will the government officials be aggreable?”
Su Xiaopei was stunned as if she was struck by a blow. That’s right, how had she not thought of this simple truth?
“As Miss’ legs have yet to fully heal, it won’t bode well for me to send you away immediately. Being idle is still being idle after all- I will go and make more inquiries.”
‘Being idle is still being idle’, to say something like that! But Su Xiaopei was in no mood to remind him of the cruel reality that he had but fifteen copper coins with him. She was also still shocked speechless by her own fundamental and childish mistake.
Ran Feize left, leaving Su Xiaopei by herself in the room. The silence allowed her to become more collected. But the moment of calm led her to feel down-trodden.
Matters like investigating a case is no easy task. Although Su Xiaopei was unsure what kind of protocols the officials followed when handling a case, in modern times, case details were usually not disclosed to the public. Officials had reservations about releasing it to mass media, much less to ordinary people.
An arrest warrant was an arrest warrant. If a person could run to the authorities and say, “Officer, I saw the arrest warrant and took an interest in wanting to participate in the case. Let me hear the details, or it’ll be difficult for me to catch the criminal”- it’d be too courteous of the officials to merely kick this type of person out the door, wouldn’t it?
Su Xiaopei immediately became worried. What had she been thinking? How could she think to send Ran Feize to inquire about the details of this case? And he actually went. The local officials wouldn’t label him as the criminal’s accomplice and arrest him, right?
Su Xiaopei took a few deep breaths. She knew she had a problem.
In the ordinary, modern world where she had existed, although it couldn’t be said that she was the ‘pride of the heavens’, both her academic and professional career had been smooth sailing and glorious with boundless possibilities. The ordeal with her father’s murder and death had been the driving force behind her success, allowing her to go faster and farther. She was the professor’s brightest and most favored protégé, and also the young expert whom associates liked to show off. Therefore, it was undeniable that she was arrogant, stubborn, and hypercritical such that despite her fine looks and good income, her luck with romance was too tragic to even look at.
But upon arriving here, she was deemed poor in looks and old. She had neither money nor ability and if she was cast out onto the streets, no one would care even if she begged for a job while grabbing onto someone’s leg and sobbing. Of course, she probably wouldn’t be able to squeeze out a single tear with that foul temper of hers. How would she survive without any skills or craftsmanship?
Hard labour? She had no strength- she couldn’t even compare to Tang Lian’s leg power when traversing the mountain trail. Forget about chopping wood for a living. Work as a seamstress? She knew herself too well to have any aspirations for it. Cooking? She knew how to use a microwave. She could even cook an egg and instant noodles or something by turning on the gas stove. Open a shop and settle accounts? She knew how to use a calculator but she had never even touched an abacus in her life and she didn’t know how bookkeeping worked.
Make do with getting married to beg for a meal? She thought and calculated it. At what age did women marry? Thirteen, fourteen? Fifteen, sixteen? If a person married and had children at fourteen, then with her soon becoming twenty-seven, a woman her age would have a daughter ready to marry and have children of her own…….
In essence, she could be considered a grandmother.
This was too frightening. She was simply old, ugly trash and a female trash at that.
Ran Feize must have understood that, she supposed, and so sending her to the nunnery was the most simple and comfortable solution.
Additionally, she had already been here for two days. In that other, normal world, she must have already missed work for two days. Would someone call her? If she couldn’t be found, the editor-in-chief would notify her aunt, then her mother would know, become anxious, and go searching for her. Has everyone already filed a police report? She had inexplicably gone missing, what would her mother do?
Su Xiaopei became extremely saddened. Her mother lost her husband. Will she now lose her as well?
Su Xiaopei thought she hadn’t pondered much over these issues. She knew very clearly that a person must maintain an optimistic mentality during times of distress and hardship. She’d dealt with such cases before, providing psychological counseling to people after they experienced a disaster.
Fine, this situation she’s currently in could be considered a disaster, right?
The main point was, in the face of catastrophe, the first principle of mental self-preservation is — don’t think too much.
There existed statistical data showing people who had higher levels of intelligence tended to have poorer psychological stress tolerance. The reason is that people who were prolific thinkers tend to think too much when they encounter difficulties and the more they think, the more they would fall into despair. Simple-minded people, on the other hand, don’t ponder over things too much. So on the contrary, they were able to relax and retain their survival mode.
Su Xiaopei understood this concept and believed she would do well in self-regulation. But she surprised herself just now with how she lost hold of common sense and the most basic of situational analysis. What did this clearly say?
She was experiencing adverse effects from immense stress the contrast in her condition within these two worlds caused.
It was no wonder that things like traversing worlds were absolutely beyond a normal person’s scope of imagination. All types of accidents had been within range of Su Xiaopei’s imagination- stepping through through worlds had not.
She wanted to help Tang Lian; she, herself, also very much needed help.
The more Su Xiaopei thought about it, the more confused her heart became. She was beginning to feel hopeless towards the five silver taels by this time. Ran Feize was right. Everyone was offering reports with the wanted notice in hand in the hopes of earning the money, so for him to obtain all this information was not easy. A regular official would definitely never reveal the details of a case to a stranger. The purpose of offering the reward was simply to make a report if a suspicious person was sighted. And in this case, it would take the heavens dropping it into your lap and for luck to crash into you.
Su Xiaopei was sullen, despairing over the five silver taels and over her future prospects. She now had to rely on material assistance from others for even her clothing. She couldn’t even afford a toothbrush. Where else could she go to earn money? Would she be able to survive?
Su Xiaopei lapsed into a daze for quite a while before realizing that she was becoming increasingly dispirited.
This was certainly not a good sign.
Su Xiaopei regulated her breathing, straightened her back, lifted her chin. She then moved her head from side to side and forced the muscles around her mouth to move, pulling the corners of her lips upwards to put on a happy and spirited expression. This type of intentional body language possessed a therapeutic quality. Stimulating muscles that are directly linked to emotional expression activates the autonomic nervous system and allows for the activation and experience of the corresponding emotions and mental activity.
Don’t think too much. She needed to pull herself together and maintain a level of critical thinking and an optimistic state of mind. She’d only just begun living in this world. It would be good to adjust to the changing circumstances and use methods to deal with trouble according to the situation.
Just as she felt her spirits slowly returning and filling her body, the door to the hut suddenly opened and Ran Feize stepped inside- only to be startled when he saw Su Xiaopei’s upright posture and smiling widely like a fool.
He gave Su Xiaopei a fright as well and she hurried to restrain her actions and return to normal.
Has so much time already passed?
“Warrior has returned.”
“Hm.” The startled expression on Ran Feize’s face was fleeting as he quickly appeared calm again.
“I’m doing training exercises.” Su Xiaopei felt the need to explain herself.
“Hm.” Ran Feize’s unperturbed attitude made Su Xiaopei feel as if her made-up explanation was infantile and superfluous. It was certainly embarrassing to be so calmly regarded as a nutcase.
“Warrior has worked hard.” If there was no hope for the five silver taels, she had prepared mentally to let it go.
“Fortunately, Miss’ entrusted task was not disappointed, at long last.”
“Huh?” What did that mean?
Su Xiaopei didn’t dare to hold out hope.
“A certain young, brother constable agreed to help me as a favor and investigate the details of this case. Shi’tou Town did not keep a case dossier here so he must go to Ning An City and enquire with Head Constable Qin. That place was the last location the criminal perpetrated an attack and Head Constable Qin is still staying there to investigate. The brother constable said he will hurry with a fast horse and should be able to provide an answer in three days.”
Su Xiaopei’s eyes widened in shock. “Why is this young constable willing to help you?”
“He regards me as a brave hero and so, naturally, he was willing to help.”
Su Xiaopei’s draw dropped. No way, right? A ‘brave hero’?
But- “Even if this young, brother constable is willing to help, will they be able to share details with him by running over to look for this Head Constable?”
“He said there won’t be any issues; he had originally been working under Head Constable Qin. When the reward notice was sent out to various cities, he received an order to patrol and inspect each of them. It is permissible to return to report on the completion of his task and probe on the deeper details of the case.”
Is it really okay? Why did Su Xiaopei feel that this was rather unsafe?
“Be at ease, Miss. Besides, being idle is still being idle; there is no harm in waiting a few more days.”
Being idle is still being idle…..
Su Xiaopei was speechless.
“Well then, how exactly did Warrior convince this young, brother constable to help?” She was too curious how this ‘brave hero’ image came about.
“I informed him that I was the person to capture that devil, Zhao Chengzhi, in the Luo Tuo Mountains. More than ten different Jianghu factions of renown participated so he naturally knew of it.”
Su Xiaopei’s jaw dropped even further.
Why indeed, how glorious it must have been for him to snatch the credit of capturing that wretched devil from the hands of those factions, right? Here he was going about shamelessly telling others ‘I am this so and so’, and this constable simply believed him? And not only believe but also idolize him?
Su Xiaopei could imagine Ran Feize with that ever serious face of his as he bragged to that constable. He always had that calm and collected expression on his face.
Su Xiaopei couldn’t help but take a closer look at him at that moment. This Warrior was actually quite good-looking, indeed. With strong, well-defined eyebrows and large eyes, a straight nose bridge, and moderately full lips, no matter how one looked at him, he was quite the upright, prim and proper type of handsome man.
And this serious, handsome man was thick-skinned, so shameless that it could cure a person’s heart.
Su Xiaopei felt her vigor and strength had fully returned. To have spurred the constable into action, regardless of the five silver taels, it seemed life in the future will still be a hopeful one.
This Warrior’s existence was surely more effective than psychological counseling.
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