Chapter 7 Wendy Was Bullied!

Startled at the sight of the soldier, the three hooligans stopped their vile acts. Realizing they outnumbered him though, they felt an air of confidence.

"Oh, look, a soldier! This has nothing to do with you. Mind your own business," one of the hooligans said, waving the knife at the soldier.

"How could you abuse these woman in broad daylight? What's wrong with you? Aren't you afraid of being punished by law? Leave now!" The soldier helped Wendy up and strode towards the hooligans fearlessly.

Twirling the knives in their hands, the hooligans taunted, "Humph, don't try to be a hero! You're outnumbered. We'll let you leave with your dignity. Just go."

The soldier stood his ground and glared at the hooligans with fire in his eyes. He paused before charging at the men like a rampant bull.

He rushed over fearlessly and grabbed the blade from one of the hooligan's hands. He moved like lightning, zipping and darting, hitting one hooligan after the other and leaving them all battered and bruised on the ground.

They had all put on a macho facade, but as soon as they saw the immense abilities of the soldier, they all tucked tail and ran away.

Celia and Wendy were astonished. In all honesty, they had no hope in the soldier, but it turned out he was an incredible man. He frightened the hooligans in a matter of seconds.

The soldier walked up to Celia and asked, "Are you all right?" As soon as their eyes met, there was an instant connection. They both felt like they had met each other before.

"Did we met somewhere?" The soldier rubbed his head shyly. Celia's raw beauty caught him off guard. No wonder those men couldn't resist their temptations. Money wasn't enough when they saw how gorgeous she was.

'What do I say to a girl like this?' he thought. Celia pursed her lips and smiled brightly. Although she was in a state of shock, she could at least feel some relief that this angel of a soldier was here to protect them now.

"Ahem, what just happened?" Dazzled by Celia's sweet smile, the soldier lowered his head and asked, blushing uncontrollably.

"My mother and I were returning from town this morning when we came across these awful men. They were just after our money but soon they had other plans. We're lucky you showed up otherwise I don't know what would have happened." Celia still looked frazzled.

Although this whole ordeal was traumatic, she still counted her blessings. She came across Jasper and now this soldier had come to save her. Not a bad day after all.

"My name is Shalom Qin. Where are you going?" Shalom pried, looking over at Celia and Wendy.

"We live in the D Village," Celia blurted out.

"Isn't it more than thirty miles away from here? Are you going to walk back?" He looked at them, staggered.

"We don't have much money. We have no choice."

Celia smiled bitterly. There were other ways of getting home but the bus would only come much later in the day, so Celia and Wendy decided to go back on foot.

After thinking for a while, Shalom looked at Celia intently and asked, "I'm going that way. Can I give you a ride?"

"No, thanks. You've done more than enough today. We can't possibly ask for any more help," Wendy refused in fear. She hadn't been in a car for her whole life.

"Mom, we still have things to do after we get home. If it's on his way, why not? My feet are aching!" Celia pouted and cried out.

"But..."

"Don't worry. It's okay. I'm going that way. Besides, it will take you hours to get home on foot. If you come with me, I'll have you there within half an hour," Shalom persuaded with a smile sprawled across his face, showing his easygoing attitude.

It seemed pretty obvious that Shalom and Celia had fallen in love at first sight.

They spoke happily all the way back to Celia's village. It felt like the time flew by, all too quickly in fact. Shalom didn't stick around and left immediately, too shy to stay any longer.

D Village was not a big place. Hearing that they returned in a military vehicle sparked intense gossip throughout the village. Everyone wanted to know what the relationship between Celia and the soldier was.

The women around here didn't hesitate to judge people. The only reason they held their reservations against Celia and this soldier was because of the respect they held for a military officer. They wouldn't dare offend any soldier.

The most important thing now was to start making money. Celia left her mother to clean up around the house while she went to the mountain to get more bamboo to weave baskets in the evening.

D Village was surrounded by mountains in three sides. There was by no means a shortage of bamboo, so it was very easy to collect bamboo for the villagers there.

Half an hour later, Celia went home exhausted, dragging some bamboo to the house. She was met with a heartbreaking sight. Her mother sat in the doorway with bruises on her face and tears in her eyes.

Celia's face darkened when she saw her aching mother. She put down the bamboo and ran to her, asking, "Mom, what happened? Who did this to you?"

"No, it was an accident." To keep Celia from worrying, Wendy swallowed her pain and hid what really happened.

Celia grabbed her hand and lifted it up to inspect it. It was covered in scratches and bruises, making Celia's rage skyrocket. She said, "Mom, there are scratches all over you and there's a palm print on your face. Who did this? I'm not going to just stand idly by."

Celia didn't care about her past life. After she was reborn, she was determined to protect her mother no matter what.

"No, Celia, please don't worry. I'm fine." Wendy sighed. She didn't want to make trouble and she most certainly didn't want to get Celia involved for no reason.

"No, you can't let people push you around. You were bullied. I can't stand this. Just tell me what happened." Celia looked at Wendy with a red rage in her eyes. She needed to make this person pay for what they did to her mother.

"It's your aunt. She came to our house and saw the two bags of salt we bought. She said she had no salt left and took one of our bags. I didn't say anything and later she saw the noodles that I got for you. She said that Wade liked noodles and she wanted to take them but I wouldn't let her, so she hit me. The worst part was that she took the noodles anyway..." Wendy tried to hold back her tears as she whimpered her words out.