Yue Han thought for a while, then said uncertainly, “Then maybe… start by catching the pig?”
They looked at each other and laughed at the same time.
Heavy footsteps came from behind. They turned to see four or five men in thick padded coats approaching with iron bars in their hands. Every one of them had a sallow face and bulky body, with a lewd glint in his eyes.
Without showing anything, Yue Han moved Li Yihan behind him. “May I ask what you want?”
The man in front struck his iron bar against the ground and brazenly looked Yue Han up and down. “This man’s even prettier than the women people buy and sell. City folks really are different. Don’t you think?”
“Big bro, if we sold a man like this, he’d definitely fetch a lot.”
“And that little girl behind him—she’s underage too. Nice and tender.”
Li Yihan had never encountered people this crude. They appraised her like merchandise in the crudest language imaginable, without the slightest restraint. Her whole body tensed in fear as she clutched Yue Han’s arm.
Her grip hurt. Yue Han turned slightly.
Shielding the movement with his left hand, he quickly pulled out the walkie-talkie with his right and stuffed it into Li Yihan’s arms. Lowering his voice, he soothed her. “In a moment, I’ll draw them away. Take the walkie-talkie and run. Keep shouting into it the whole time. As long as someone is within a hundred meters, they’ll hear you.”
“What about you?!”
“I’ll be fine. Don’t be afraid.”
“How could you be fine?! There are so many of them, and they have clubs. You…” Li Yihan’s voice rose, her small face full of disagreement.
Yue Han smiled. “Don’t worry. They can’t beat me.”
The reassurance had absolutely no credibility. Yue Han’s thigh wasn’t even as thick as one of those men’s arms.
Forget Yue Han fighting five of them. Five Yue Hans probably couldn’t beat even one.
Li Yihan still wanted to argue, but Yue Han made an immediate decision. “Go get help. When I count to three, run.”
There was no better option. She was a minor; staying here would only create more trouble.
Without warning, the man with his back to Yue Han took a brutal kick to the waist. The kick struck with thunderous force, making him retch as he pitched forward unprepared and knocked down two others.
Yue Han shouted, “Run!”
What happened to counting to three?!
Li Yihan didn’t dare hesitate. She bolted. A girl who normally felt as if an eight-hundred-meter run would kill her somehow produced the speed of a fifty-meter sprint and ran with everything she had.
Her heart ached and her eyes grew hot. She couldn’t resist stopping and turning her head.
At that moment, Yue Han was surrounded by five men. All five were large and muscular, holding iron bars and wearing vicious expressions. Yue Han, by contrast, looked frail, pale-skinned, like a delicate white flower about to be blown over.
How could a weak man like Yue Han, who looked incapable of restraining a chicken, possibly beat them?
Didn’t everyone say Yue Han had a terrible temper, overestimated himself, and had an awful reputation?
Bullshit!
Yue Han was clearly a simple, kind big brother!
Li Yihan gritted her teeth. She couldn’t hold Yue Han back. She had to find help quickly!
As she ran, Li Yihan shouted, “Is anyone there?! There are thugs! It’s dangerous over here!”
The following cameraman had not gone far. Hearing her, he hurried over. “What happened?!”
“By the river! By the river!” Li Yihan’s face was flushed and she was gasping. “Brother Yue Han is in trouble by the river! Go help him! I’ll keep looking for people!”
Voices quickly came through the walkie-talkie. Following the source, the production team found Li Yihan. She was crying so hard she couldn’t form a complete sentence.
Lu Huiqing looked around. “Where’s Yue Han?”
Li Yihan cried even louder. “Brother Yue Han fought five really vicious thugs to save me! He’s by the river! Hurry and help him!”
“Thugs?! Yihan, are you all right?!” Song Cui lost all color and hugged Li Yihan, hurriedly checking her.
“I’m fucking fine! Brother Yue Han is the one in trouble!” Li Yihan shouted.
Nobody could have imagined a problem like this occurring during a variety-show shoot. Zhang Deyi hurriedly said, “Everyone meet at the river. Go find Yue Han!”
They were just about to spread out when rustling footsteps came from behind, accompanied by the drip-drip of water.
“Looking for me?”
The voice sounded confused and puzzled, carrying a touch of innocent bewilderment, clear and gentle.
Li Yihan hurriedly broke free of her mother’s arms. She ran until she was only two or three steps from Yue Han, then slammed on the brakes and bounced backward two steps at lightning speed, eyes full of horror. “Brother Yue Han, what happened to you?!”
Yue Han was soaked from head to toe. Ink-black strands of hair clung to his forehead, and water dripped steadily from his whole body.
His pale face, wrapped in droplets of water, was as clear as a moonlit lake and as pure as melting snow, giving off an almost sacred innocence from within.
Ruining the atmosphere, however, was the pig clutched tightly in Yue Han’s arms—twice as wide as he was and barely breathing.
Behind him, the cameraman’s expression shifted through a storm of emotions. The look he gave Yue Han was indescribably complicated.
“W-what happened? Weren’t there thugs? Why is there also… a pig?” Zhang Deyi’s eyes moved uncertainly between Yue Han and the pig.
The cameraman sighed meaningfully. “Director Zhang, Teacher Yue is genuinely hardcore.”
Zhang Deyi: …?