Chapter 97: Brothers

Jiang Caicai's worries turned into reality soon.
As he was about to leave, the man who had complained kindly let the horse drink water and asked the two boys who had been there at the beginning to add grass to the horse. Although the older boy was unwilling, he still followed the man's instructions.
When the horse was full and satisfied, and Jiang Caicai was ready to leave, she heard the little boy who couldn't even hold his fart wipe his tears and ask his brother what they were going to eat tonight. Jiang Caicai hesitated, although she had a heart of stone, she couldn't help but soften when she saw these children.
这一心软便注定了姜采采要被卖了，她打算让这两个小孩儿跟她走，并且要跟那个男子商量时，被那人以吃了晚饭再走的借口留下来，最终成功在土匪来时，把她掀了出去。
When facing the vicious and ferocious leader of the bandits, her first regret was: if she was still the dark-skinned Jiang Caicai from before, she wouldn't have had these troubles...
可惜，再怎么后悔，他也被当做一个稀罕物件儿交了出去，姜采采虽然从头到尾都是个欺软怕硬的窝里横，但她深知这个时代的人要么是愚昧至极的极易哄骗的山民，要么是极度遵守礼仪的谦谦君子，想那姜居正从前就是这般，虽然是平民，可也向往君子志气。
The bandits in front of them were obviously also hungry for a long time. When they saw the leader of the village pushing out a handsome and dignified gentleman, they were a little confused. One of them pushed past Jiang Caicai and slapped the village leader a few times, then kicked over a few villagers who were already unsteady on their feet, and left with Jiang Caicai with a high-spirited attitude.
Jiang Caicai rode her horse behind, while the leader of the bandits rode his horse ahead. They continued until they walked out of the village. It was then that Jiang Caicai saw clearly that the group of bandits numbered only around 20, all of them second-rate and suffering from malnourishment. They were thin, with protruding bones, and followed the leader weakly as they searched and robbed in the village.
With some unknown courage, Jiang Caicai suddenly wasn't afraid anymore. She would rather die beautifully than live ugly. She still had a month to live, after calculation. She couldn't be cowardly during the last month of her life in this world.
Yes, she has been too afraid for too long.
She used to be so fierce because she had to take care of her younger siblings, which made her really annoyed. Her hormones were imbalanced for a long time, resulting in her always cursing and wanting to fight with people. But now her little brother has left and her sister is being taken care of by someone else, she has no worries and has become cowardly. She only became brave when she had a reason to be, but now that she has none, she is afraid of everything.
"You guys believe that I'm rich just because that guy told you so?" Jiang Caicai had just finished speaking when she heard a few hungry groans coming from the leader of the bandits behind her.
她转过头，就看见那土匪头子一张又黑又冤的脸，红了。
红了？？？!!!
这也行？姜采采皱眉细细盯着，发现黑色皮肤的人原来脸红可以看出来，比如他的脸跟耳朵之间有一处颜色稍浅的地方，此时一红那里便黑的厉害。
She suddenly realized that she used to blush, and others might have noticed it as well. However, throughout her life, there were only a few people or things that could make her blush, which was very rare. In any case, she relied on her dark skin and did some shameless things without feeling embarrassed.
恍然间，她觉得自己从前有点鸵鸟了……
她这边唏嘘往事，那一边的土匪头子就恼了，粗眉一竖，眼睛圆峥，怒道：“我，我，我有什么，什么好，好看的？看，看够了没，没有……”
When this person spoke, she immediately snapped out of her trance, blinked her eyes, and when the bandit leader finished speaking, she couldn't help but burst out laughing with a snort.
"Y-You, you, why are you laughing?"
Jiang Caicai was even happier when she heard this, and she almost fell off her horse as she held her stomach and laughed. After he finished laughing, she said, "Big, big brother, you, you must shut up, don't speak... your words will ruin the atmosphere..."
The leader of the bandit gang's face was twisted with anger and his clearly-defined beard bristled. He did not say anything, but only let out two loud cries before brandishing his whip and striking at her.
Jiang Caicai anticipated that she would be beaten early on, so she urged the horse to run ahead first. As a result, she avoided being hit. Feeling itchy, she turned back and deliberately stuttered like a bandit: "Y-y-you, you can't, can't hit me. If you hit me, you, you'll all be in trouble!!!"
The bandit leader was infuriated by her words, urging his horse to ride parallel with her and whipping his whip to hit her again. But before he could do so, Jiang Caicai caught his whip and pulled it back, saying, "Wait, don't be so hasty! I, I haven't finished speaking yet..."
The bandit leader became angry and whipped his whip, causing the tail of the whip in her hand to be pulled away. The force was strong enough to scrape off a layer of skin from her palm, causing it to bleed profusely and be extremely painful to the touch. Realizing she had gone too far, Jiang Caicai decided to grab the reins with one hand, flick her wrist and urge the horse to run away by kicking it with her legs.
Even though the whip hit her back, the burning pain spreading throughout her body, she couldn't help but feel excited as she ran. However, she had only run a short distance when a person appeared in front of her, standing in the middle of the road. If it weren't for Jiang Caicai's quick reflexes, today she might have been responsible for someone's death.
She pulled the reins in a panic, and the galloping horse came to a sudden halt with a long whinny. The horse raised its front hooves and stood still. Jiang Caicai intended to bypass the person in the middle of the road and continue running, but the person not only did not move aside, but also laughed foolishly.
She turned her head to look at the leader of the bandits behind her, who had slowed down, and knew that she was in trouble.
Giving up on running away, she turned to check on the wound on her back. But any movement caused her back to ache even more, so she carefully reached back and touched it, finding a small amount of blood on her fingertips.
"Damn it!!! I just learned a little bit, do you have to be so harsh?" She was extremely annoyed and ready to dismount, but the person standing in front of the horse walked over to her with a smile on their face and without even looking, they mounted the horse and sat behind her.
She felt the horse sink a little under her weight, and a warm wall behind her suddenly appeared.
"Hey, what the hell, how can you just get on my horse without permission?" She spoke while elbowing backwards, but was stopped by the person next to her. Then she heard the person say very close to her ear, "I never thought I'd run into someone I know here, but the more I look, the less it seems like you."
Jiang Caicai was shocked and her neck turned red to her ears as she instantly became nervous: "You, you said what? Who are you?"
"What's wrong? The famous Young Master Wei is alone today, and stuttering?"
Jiang Caicai, ignoring the pain behind her, turned her head and asked, "Who are you?"