Whenever Xi Qingyue encountered delicious food, she wanted to buy as much of it as possible and store it in her spatial realm, so she could eat it whenever she pleased. After all, she was not short of money.
The cooks in the shop worked quickly. Before long, dish after dish was brought to the table.
Looking at the steaming lion’s head meatball in front of her, Xi Weilan immediately picked up her chopsticks and took a bite. Her face lit up with delight. “Big Sis, this is delicious! It’s much better than the ones we bought before.”
Xi Qingyue tried a bite as well and nodded with a smile. “Mm, there’s crab roe in it. This restaurant makes it very well. We’ll buy more to take with us later.”
After that, the two of them sampled steamed fish, crab-roe tofu, stir-fried river snails, fried lotus-root sandwiches, drunken shrimp, and all sorts of other delicacies. Everyone else in the shop was left staring at them in astonishment.
The two little girls had eaten more than any of them. Just how much could their stomachs hold?
This time, Xi Qingyue and Xi Weilan kept a much lower profile. They did not finish all several dozen dishes; instead, they ate half and packed up the rest.
It was not that they could not eat any more, nor were they afraid of attracting attention. They simply wanted to sample other delicacies as well.
The curfew here did not begin so early. It would not officially start until midnight, and the night market was full of delicious food. They could stroll around and play while slowly digesting their meal. In any case, they were not tired yet.
When the two girls left carrying bags and bundles of food, everyone in the shop turned to look at them.
Someone could not help sighing. “What big appetites children have these days. I wonder what family they belong to. They even came out without a maid accompanying them.”
He had said it without any ulterior motive, but someone else immediately began entertaining a different idea.
The two girls were as pretty as dolls, and they were dressed so well. They might be young ladies from a wealthy family. If someone kidnapped them and demanded a ransom, they would probably fetch quite a bit of money.
The shopkeeper frowned unhappily when he heard that. He glared at the man and signaled to one of the shop assistants. “It seems we miscalculated the bill for those two honored guests. We overcharged them by one qian. Go after them and return the money.”
The shop assistant understood at once and hurriedly replied with a smile, “Yes, Shopkeeper.”
He then raced ahead of the others and caught up with the sisters.
“Is something wrong?” Xi Qingyue had not yet put the things away in her spatial realm. She was just about to take Xi Weilan to another street, so she was surprised by the shop assistant’s arrival.
“Be careful. The shopkeeper sent me to warn you. He’s worried that someone might try to take advantage of you.”
The shop assistant leaned closer and whispered the warning. Then, pretending to be casual, he placed something in her hand.
Xi Qingyue was astonished by what he said. The shopkeeper certainly had admirable character. He had actually taken the initiative to warn his customers, despite the considerable risk involved.
If there was a problem with the shop assistant, or if someone discovered what he had done, the shop itself could easily become the target of their resentment.
She gave the shop assistant a wide grin. “Please thank your shopkeeper for me. We’ll come again.”
With that, she and Xi Weilan turned into another street.
The next instant, the sisters vanished from sight.
Inside the spatial realm, Xi Weilan’s little face was filled with anger. “Big Sis, we only went out to eat, and those bad people already set their sights on us. They’re bullying us because we’re children!”
Xi Qingyue smiled and gently patted her head. “We are children, after all. But we’re also a pair of mirrors that reveal demons. If they only want our money, we’ll take their belongings and beat them up. If they intend to harm us, we’ll kill them and take their possessions. Either way, we won’t be the ones losing out.”
Xi Weilan’s eyes immediately lit up when she heard this. It did sound like a pretty good arrangement.
She giggled. “Big Sis, then how do we get people to come rob us?”
If people kept trying to rob them, they could keep making money.
Xi Qingyue instantly understood what she was thinking. She chuckled. “We don’t need to do anything. Just let things take their natural course.”
After saying that, she brought Xi Weilan back outside.
Xi Qingyue did not plan to stay in Yongfu City for long. She intended to visit the water towns of the south one by one before heading to Lu Qianning’s fiefdom and playing at being a local sovereign.
During that time, she would show no mercy to anyone who came looking for trouble.
Xi Qingyue held Xi Weilan’s hand as they happily wandered around the night market. They bought a little from every stall, eating what they had purchased before resting for a while and continuing their shopping. They strolled along one street after another without feeling tired, but the people following behind them were exhausted.
Xi Qingyue gave those people no opportunity to make a move. She deliberately stuck to crowded places because she had not finished enjoying herself yet. Once she decided it was time to rest, she would find a secluded place and deal with them.
Aside from the people who had followed them from the food shop at the beginning, more pursuers had joined in later. The main reason was that the two little girls had no maids or guards with them, making the others think they had an easy opportunity.
Finally, when those people were beginning to lose patience, Xi Qingyue led Xi Weilan onto a secluded street. There were no shops here, only the backs of residential buildings. At this late hour, the residents had long since gone to sleep.
A bearded man came running over with several others, panting heavily. He was cursing as he approached. “You two little brats, I’m already exhausted. Don’t you ever get tired? Forget it, I’m not robbing you of your money anymore. Just give us a little compensation for our trouble. I have to at least buy my brothers something to drink.”
He sounded extremely irritable, leaving Xi Qingyue momentarily stunned. There really were all kinds of robbers in this world—even ones who negotiated.
She shook her head at the Bearded Man. “We don’t have any money left. We spent it all buying things just now.”
As she spoke, she took out a purse and turned it upside down, shaking it to show that it was empty. At the same time, the bracelet on her wrist jangled conspicuously.
The Bearded Man looked astonished. “Don’t you go home? You’ll need money to take a boat back, won’t you?”
Xi Weilan looked at him in confusion. “Uncle, we can walk home.”
At those words, the Bearded Man was so angry that his beard seemed to stand on end. He turned around and walked away with his men.
He had not really wanted to rob two children in the first place. He had even planned to take their money while leaving half of it for them. But now he had wasted all that effort chasing two abnormal little gluttons. If he had known, he would never have followed them around.
One of the youths beside him asked, “Boss, we’ve been hungry all night. Where are we going to get something to eat now?”
The Bearded Man slapped him on the back of the head. “Idiot. The vendors are about to close their stalls. If we don’t have money, we’ll steal some food. Grab it when no one’s looking and run.”
And so, the Bearded Man and his companions came and went as though they had merely stopped for a chat with Xi Qingyue. She was left speechless.
Xi Qingyue did not stop them. They were not beyond saving. They had left as soon as she said she had no money, and they had not tried to take the jewelry from the girls. People like them were unlikely to commit truly heinous crimes, so there was no harm in letting them go.
But not everyone was like the Bearded Man.
The Bearded Man had barely been gone for a short while when another five or six men appeared. The leader had a shifty, rat-like face, and his eyes roamed over Xi Qingyue with ill intent.
“She’s not bad-looking. She’ll fetch a decent price.”
One of his underlings suddenly spoke up. “Boss, let’s take everything valuable from them, then send them to Young Master Meng. I heard Young Master Meng has been looking for young girls these past couple of days.”
The leader’s face lit up with delight. “Excellent. We’ll do exactly that.”
Xi Qingyue watched their excited faces and smiled. Very good—these people could go check in down below now.
