Chapter 147: Hero Saves the Beauty

Chapter 147: Chapter 147: Hero Saves the Beauty

Lu Tingting groggily opened her eyes. A circle of people surrounded her, and it took her a long moment to come to her senses.

Feng Meihua looked at her, her relief palpable. "You’re finally awake!"

Lu Tingting sat up dazedly. "What happened? What’s wrong with me?"

"You ran into a kidnapper! Luckily, you also ran into Teacher Shen. Otherwise, you would have been in real danger today!"

Before Lu Tingting could process Feng Meihua’s words, a young, handsome face entered her field of vision.

The man was very tall with fair skin. His features were refined and handsome, and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses rested on his straight nose.

He wore a white shirt, looking clean, scholarly, and handsome.

Lu Tingting stared, completely stunned.

Feng Meihua’s voice pulled her back to reality. "This is our school’s new teacher, Shen Yanzhi. Teacher Shen."

Shen Yanzhi adjusted his glasses, smiled, and nodded at Lu Tingting. "Hello."

His voice was like frost-covered zither strings—crisp and pleasant to the ear.

Feng Meihua’s excited voice rang in her ear: "Xiao Lu, you have to thank Teacher Shen properly! Thanks to him noticing something was wrong, he saved you from the kidnapper. It’s just a shame that kidnapper was so cunning and managed to get away..."

Hearing Feng Meihua’s words, Lu Tingting suddenly recalled the moment before she fainted. She had desperately thrown herself at Shen Yanzhi, and he had caught her in his arms.

He looked lean and scholarly, but his embrace had been surprisingly broad and his arms very strong.

Heat rose to her cheeks. "Thank you for saving me."

Shen Yanzhi’s smile was bright and open. "You were the one who threw yourself at me. I wouldn’t have noticed anything was wrong otherwise. You saved yourself."

Teased by him, Lu Tingting’s face flushed bright red. Her heart felt like a little rabbit was trapped inside.

THUMP-THUMP-THUMP. It didn’t stop beating wildly even after she returned to the army base.

As she got off the ox cart, she saw the tall, imposing figure of Lu Cheng in the distance. The suppressed grievances she felt could no longer be held back and tears welled up in her eyes.

"Third Uncle, I almost didn’t make it back today! SOB, SOB, SOB..."

Lu Cheng looked her up and down. Seeing that she was unharmed, he secretly let out a sigh of relief.

He’d been scared half to death when he got the call from the town’s police station.

If his niece had really been lost under his watch, forget about his family not forgiving him—he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself.

Just as Lu Tingting was crying her heart out, someone flicked her on the forehead.

"My dear niece, how were those dried fish? Still want to eat them in the future?"

Lu Tingting clutched her forehead and glared at Jiang Moli with reddened eyes. "It’s none of your business!"

"Who told me to be so fond of you? I just love meddling in your affairs."

Lu Tingting glared at Jiang Moli, puffing her cheeks, but for once, she didn’t talk back.

Outsiders wouldn’t know, but she understood perfectly well.

Part of the reason she’d escaped today was thanks to Jiang Moli.

It was something Jiang Moli had said on the train that made her realize she had been drugged, which in turn gave her the idea to save herself.

Lu Tingting introduced Shen Yanzhi to Lu Cheng.

Learning that this was his niece’s savior, Lu Cheng proactively extended his hand. "Teacher Shen, a pleasure to meet you. I’m Lu Cheng, Tingting’s third uncle. Thank you so much for saving her."

A flash of surprise crossed Shen Yanzhi’s face when he heard Lu Cheng was Lu Tingting’s third uncle.

After all, Lu Cheng looked to be about the same age as him, yet he had such a grown niece.

"Comrade Lu Tingting was quick-witted and sharp. I just happened to be the one she chose."

Hearing this, Lu Tingting’s cheeks couldn’t help but burn.

The truth was, she had smelled the scent of cooling balm on Shen Yanzhi and had instinctively sought him out for help.

She hadn’t expected that Shen Yanzhi would not only be the new teacher but also be so tall and handsome, not in the least inferior to her third uncle.

The memory of being held in his arms surfaced in her mind, and her heart began to go THUMP-THUMP-THUMP again.

Just as she was lost in thought, she suddenly felt another slap on her forehead.

"Are you in heat? Why is your face so red?"

Meeting Jiang Moli’s teasing gaze, Lu Tingting felt a surge of anger at having her thoughts exposed. "Can you please stop bothering me?"

"Fine. You stand here and don’t move. I’ll go buy you some oranges."

Lu Tingting eyed her suspiciously, then turned to head back to the dormitory, only to be stopped by Lu Cheng.

"Your third aunt told you to stand here and wait for her."

Glancing at Shen Yanzhi, who was still there, Lu Tingting gave a sullen grunt of acknowledgment.

Jiang Moli returned quickly, carrying a mesh bag filled with some snacks and fruit.

"Here, for you."

With an expression that clearly said ’You’d be this nice?’, Lu Tingting was suspicious. "You didn’t poison this, did you?"

Jiang Moli grinned, showing her teeth. "Relax, even if I did, the poison wouldn’t get to you. This isn’t for you. It’s a thank-you gift for you to give to Teacher Shen."

Verbal thanks were worthless; you had to give something tangible to be sincere.

Lu Tingting took the bag and offered it to Shen Yanzhi.

Shen Yanzhi instinctively tried to refuse. "There’s no need. It was no trouble at all."

Jiang Moli said, "Teacher Shen, if you don’t accept the thank-you gift, our only other option is to have Tingting pledge her life to you."

The scene fell silent for a moment.

Shen Yanzhi smiled and accepted the bag. "Well then, it would be impolite of me to refuse."

Jiang Moli slung an arm around Lu Tingting’s shoulder. "That was close. I almost let you have it too good."

Lu Tingting shot her a glare, then turned and stomped back toward the dormitory, her cheeks puffed out.

Feng Meihua stepped in with a smile to smooth things over. "It’s getting late. I’ll take Teacher Shen to get settled in so he can get some rest."

"Alright, thank you for the trouble."

After nodding to Lu Cheng and Jiang Moli, Shen Yanzhi followed Feng Meihua toward the guest house.

Lu Cheng walked with Jiang Moli toward the guest house as well, talking about Lu Tingting. "It’s a good thing she’s okay, otherwise I wouldn’t know how to explain this to my eldest brother and sister-in-law. I’ll have the unit hire a new teacher as soon as possible, then Tingting can go back with you."

Jiang Moli couldn’t help but say, "The tricks these criminals use are endless. It’s impossible to guard against everything."

’Disguising themselves as a snack vendor... if it had been me, I might have fallen for it too.’

Thinking this, she pursed her lips toward Shen Yanzhi, who was walking ahead. "This Teacher Shen, what’s his story?"

From his looks and temperament to his clothes, he didn’t seem like an ordinary person.

"He returned from abroad. Comes from a scholarly family. He was sent down to this place."

With just those few words, Jiang Moli understood.

In these times, anyone from a well-off family could easily be "labeled."

Someone like Shen Yanzhi, who had even studied abroad, was especially unwelcome in the current climate.

Back in the dormitory, Lu Tingting was dying of frustration.

’What’s with that Shen guy? Is a fresh, young beauty like me really worth less than a bag of snacks?’

With that thought, she couldn’t resist picking up a mirror to look at her face.

’Am I not pretty enough, or does Shen Yanzhi just not like my type?’

’I wonder what kind of girl he likes. It can’t be someone delicate and spoiled like Jiang Moli, right?’

The thought had barely formed when she remembered that Jiang Moli was already her third aunt, and she relaxed.

...

After getting Shen Yanzhi settled, Feng Meihua walked home, patting her chest in lingering fear.

An acquaintance from the family residential area saw her state and curiously asked what was wrong.

Feng Meihua didn’t hide anything, recounting in full detail how Lu Tingting was almost kidnapped and happened to be rescued by Shen Yanzhi.

"...Xiao Lu went out with me. If she had really been lost, I wouldn’t have been able to explain myself even if my whole body was a mouth!"

"You’re right, that was a close call. We’ll have to be more careful when we go to town from now on."

The story spread from one to ten, and from ten to a hundred.

In less than half a day, the news that Lu Tingting had nearly been kidnapped had spread throughout the entire family residential area.

Jiang Qing heard the news when she went out to get her lunchbox in the evening.

Compared to the other family members’ unease and worry, she only felt it was a pity.

’Why couldn’t the kidnapper just take her away? That kidnapper is completely useless.’