He Heng first fixed his gaze on the three people in front of him. All he saw were their robust appearances, each with a fierce scar on their faces, and they had large curved knives at their waists, suitable for cutting bamboo.
The leader of the group, seeing He Heng standing there motionless, sweeping his eyes over them, without any reaction like a block of wood, couldn’t help but feel anger rising within him. He pointed at He Heng’s nose and scolded:
“Where did this person without eyes come from? I’m talking to you!”
He Heng looked at the burly man blocking his way and then glanced at the little mermaid standing in the corner. He reminded himself in his mind to endure, to hold back, and not to speak under any circumstances.
He hypnotized himself in his mind,
Hold back, don’t speak.
Endure.
Although Wang Da had a sturdy physique, he was half a head shorter than He Heng. So, at this moment, the other party’s condescending look and silence appeared to him as a blatant contempt.
Wang Da, who was used to being domineering in the countryside, had never suffered such grievances. He immediately took a step forward and shouted at the other person:
“Ah, are you mute?”
Saying that, he extended his hand and “smack, smack!” slapped He Heng’s face twice, exuding a provocative meaning in every move.
He Heng was immediately irritated; he despised people touching him without any reason, especially his face. Who knows if this person had washed his hands?
In the next moment,
“Ah!!!”
Wang Da let out a pig-like scream. In that instant, He Heng lifted his leg and kicked fiercely towards his crotch. He hadn’t anticipated that Wang Da, in the midst of intense pain, would lose his balance and fall backward, sitting on the ground.
“Big brother?”
Seeing this person daring to lay hands on their big brother, the two brothers by his side immediately drew the curved knives from their waists and swung them towards He Heng.
In the instant the curved knives swung towards him, He Heng agilely sidestepped, and the sharp blades just brushed against his fluttering hair as he avoided them. The blades embedded deeply into the bamboo trunk behind him.
Due to the excessive force, the curved knife was deeply lodged, and Wang Er couldn’t pull it out from the bamboo for the time being.
Thus, disarmed, he was swiftly countered by He Heng. His arms were forcefully twisted, and he was slammed onto the ground covered in gravel in the blink of an eye.
“Crap!”
Wang Er cursed in pain, struggling to get up from the ground, only to be kicked in the back by He Heng as he managed to rise, prompting him to let out a series of agonized howls.
“Big brother, second brother, there’s still one more!”
Seeing that none of them were a match for He Heng, Wang San immediately changed his target, attempting to use Qiao Ran in the corner as a hostage.
In the blink of an eye, He Heng sensed their intentions as Wang San moved. He decisively pulled Qiao Ran into his arms, then swept his long legs, kicking the approaching chubby guy several meters away.
“Ugh!”
The little mermaid suddenly had his wrist caught, and as he lost his balance, he thought he was about to fall, but instead, someone pulled him into their arms.
Next, Qiao Ran felt his back against the firm and powerful chest of the other person. Because they were so close, he could even sense He Heng’s warm breath spraying on the side of his face.
For some reason, in that instant, his heart went “thump thump thump!” very quickly.
At this moment, the bandits who were sprawled on the ground, seeing that He Heng only embraced Qiao Ran and just looked at them with a smirk, without further action, were afraid that he might pursue them. Seizing the opportunity, they quickly got up, slapped their buttocks, and fled.
Watching the bandits hastily fleeing, He Heng chuckled speechlessly.
Really, robbing with such little skill?
Isn’t this just giving it away for free?
With this thought, He Heng confidently turned around. Just as he was thinking about how to receive praise for being a hero without revealing his identity to the little mermaid, tragedy struck.
Because this remote rural junction had a rugged and uneven road surface filled with many small stones, He Heng looked graceful while turning around, but he stumbled over the scattered stones. His left foot caught a stone, and then his right foot followed suit, making his appearance quite awkward.
Crap!
In that moment of losing balance, his inner despair was profound. Why did these speechless things always happen to him?
In the next second, He Heng executed a magnificent turn that turned into a forward fall due to inertia, finally landing on the ground while holding Qiao Ran.
Qiao Ran wasn’t hurt as he fell with the protection of the other. However, he subconsciously thought that the person was trying to shield him and ended up getting beaten down by those bandits. With a hint of concern, he asked, “Are you okay?”
Hearing this, He Heng almost instinctively wanted to blurt out, “I’m fine.”
But in this critical moment, he remembered that if he made a sound, his “scumbag” identity would be exposed.
In his urgency, the words “I’m fine” got stuck in He Heng’s throat. He felt like the speechless Little Mermaid in Atlantis, dancing on the edge of a knife, unable to speak a word.
As it turns out, being in a script for a scumbag wasn’t the most frustrating thing in this world. Even more frustrating was Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale – “The Little Mermaid.”
Hearing the complete silence from the other side, Qiao Ran grew even more worried. Recalling the intense sounds of the fight just now and considering the outnumbered situation, he couldn’t help but wonder if He Heng got injured while protecting him.
With concern, he urgently asked, “Are you injured?”
After maintaining silence for a continuous half-hour, He Heng couldn’t resist and let out a soft “Ah.”
However, right after this single syllable, an alarm sounded in his mind: [Warning! Warning! If you speak, the other party will recognize your identity~]
Curses!
Helpless, he had no choice but to keep the rest of the syllables stuck in his throat. In the end, after halfheartedly attempting to utter something, all that came out was an awkward “Ah.” To cover up his embarrassment, he coughed a couple of times.
The blind little mermaid, heightened in his sense of hearing, immediately sensed He Heng’s difficulty in speaking.
Who talks like that normally?
The only possibility is that…
The other person is actually mute!
As the truth gradually surfaced, Qiao Ran first froze for a moment, then voiced his speculation,
“You can’t speak, can you?”
Upon hearing this, He Heng was almost instinctively about to refute with a “No,” but he couldn’t utter a single word.
At this moment, an inspiration struck his mind like lightning.
Why couldn’t he just pretend to be mute?
Being mute is good,
Being mute is clever,
Mutes don’t need to speak.
Wouldn’t this save him the trouble of explaining?
He decided to go for it.
The next moment, He Heng imitated the appearance of a mute, pinching his throat and uttering a few “Ah, ah” with varied intonations. These “Ah, ah” sounds portrayed the helplessness and confusion of a mute person vividly.
Seeing He Heng’s reaction, Qiao Ran immediately realized that the person who saved him might indeed be mute.
Recalling the insulting tone those bandits used when calling him “mute,” he thought they must have hit a nerve. And now, continuously reminding He Heng of the fact that “he couldn’t speak” was like rubbing salt in someone else’s wound, wasn’t it?
With this in mind, Qiao Ran immediately blushed, shaking his head slightly, “Sorry, I didn’t know.”
“You can write on my palm; I can read it.”
Seeing this, He Heng took his hand and wrote, “I’m fine, those bandits have run away, you don’t need to worry.”
Feeling the slight itch as the other’s slender fingers traced over his palm, Qiao Ran adjusted a strand of hair falling near his temple, unintentionally revealing his elf-like pointed mermaid ears. He whispered softly in He Heng’s direction, “Thank you.”
Then, as if remembering something, he asked with great concern, “Are you really not hurt? How did you fall just now?”
“I have medicine at home. If you’re hurt, don’t endure it alone. You can come with me, and I’ll help you apply some medicine.”
He Heng wasn’t injured; he confirmed the intactness of his handsome face the moment he got up from the ground. However, looking at the mermaid’s concerned expression, it seemed not a bad idea to visit the other’s home.
After waiting for the other’s response for a while, Qiao Ran’s voice softened, “It’s okay if you don’t want to. Maybe I was presumptuous.”
As his words trailed off, the atmosphere suddenly fell into silence, and then, a faint sobbing sound rang in their ears.
It sounded like someone was crying, overcome with sadness.
Hearing the other person cry, the little mermaid panicked, “What’s wrong with you?”
Seeing no response from He Heng and thinking that he had touched a nerve, Qiao Ran immediately began to apologize incoherently, “I’m sorry! I won’t say anything, please don’t cry.”
“Hmm, hmm,” He Heng pursed his lips, covering his face as he feigned a few sobs. Then, he grabbed the mermaid’s hand and wrote on it:
“It’s not because of anything. It’s just that no one has ever invited me to their home.”
The other person’s fingers were slender and strong, and the moment they traced over his palm, Qiao Ran felt a tickling sensation, causing a brief distraction. Suddenly, he snapped back to reality and exclaimed, “Ah?”
He Heng immediately began his improvisation, unfolding his rich imagination. He vividly described the miserable experiences of a mute person.
“The people in the village don’t like me. They all resent me for being mute. Even though no one says it out loud, I know it very well. They not only despise me for being mute but also think I’m foolish.”
“A while ago, there was a big wind in the village that blew down my family’s house. I still have nowhere to go, and no one is willing to take me in. Every night, I can only sleep under the bridge on the roadside.”
Writing up to this point, He Heng couldn’t help but let out a couple of “sobs”.
Although his deep and magnetic voice sounded a bit “sobby”, it left Qiao Ran somewhat stunned. However, the little mermaid couldn’t help but sympathize with the seemingly miserable encounter of the person in front of him.
Even though they had just met by chance, he had saved him from the clutches of those bandits. This mute person clearly had a kind heart, yet he was ostracized in the village because he couldn’t speak. The thought of this made Qiao Ran unable to bear it and he suggested,
“It’s okay, don’t be sad. If you have nowhere to go, you can stay with me for a few nights. Although my home is not big, squeezing in two people is no problem.”
Upon hearing this, He Heng immediately wrote in the other person’s palm, “Really?”
“You don’t mind that I’m mute?”
“How could I?” Qiao Ran shook his head, “If it weren’t for you just now, I would have been robbed by those bandits. Why would I mind? Besides, I can’t see, would you mind that I’m blind?”
He Heng: “No.”
Qiao Ran smiled at him, revealing his mermaid’s pointed little fangs when he smiled.
“By the way, I don’t know your name yet?”
“I’m called Qiao Ran. How should I address you?”
Upon hearing the other person speak, He Heng first froze for a moment. In that moment, his brain rapidly went into action.
Firstly, he absolutely couldn’t reveal his real name; otherwise, everything would be exposed. Moreover, the name “He Heng” seemed too cultured for a mute person not well-liked in the village.
So, after careful consideration, he turned the other person’s hand and earnestly wrote,
“I’m called Da Zhu. You can just call me Da Zhu.”
This name was perfect—down-to-earth, easy to say, and required fewer strokes to write. Most importantly, the little mermaid would never associate him with the scumbag that was the original owner of this body.
After all, which male lead in a chase-your-wife’s-crematorium script would be named Da Zhu?
Thinking of this, He Heng couldn’t help but secretly admire his own cleverness.
So, when He Heng’s accompanying adjutant rushed to the scene, what he saw was this scene:
The little mermaid was holding a man who was nearly half a head taller than him. He comfortingly patted the man’s back, adorned in a three-tiered peacock-patterned brocade, and softly reassured him,
“It’s okay, Da Zhu. If you have nowhere to go, just come home with me.”
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