"You make a mistake, you admit it. You get hit, you stand firm!"
"You were caught red-handed stealing by me. It was already merciful of me not to send you to the police station, and now you've come running to me asking for a refund?"
"If I'm not mistaken, the money you have hidden on you is far more than what you gave me, isn't it?"
"And just now, if I hadn't let go of you, what do you think your fate would have been in the end?"
Although the girl wanted to refute my words, she knew in her heart that every word I said was reasonable.
After struggling for a long time, she finally remained silent.
At this moment, I had already started eating my noodles on my own, too lazy to bother with her.
Not long after, the stall owner brought another bowl of steaming noodles and carefully placed it in front of the girl.
Perhaps because she was hungry, or perhaps because she knew the money that had entered my pocket was unlikely to be recovered, the girl turned her anger into appetite. She picked up the large bowl of noodles and began to eat without any regard for her image.
About five minutes later...
Having finished first, I got up to leave without a word.
Just then, the girl, who had finished eating right after me, casually wiped the oil stains from the corner of her mouth with her hand and said in a low voice, "Little cheat, finished eating?"
The moment I heard this, my body trembled slightly, and then I sat back down.
I looked her up and down, took out a red Nanjing cigarette, lit it, and smoked silently, my eyes clouded.
I remembered Uncle Tuo once saying that if one's identity was exposed by a fellow disciple while traveling in the jianghu... never, absolutely never panic!
Just as I was thinking about how to get away, the girl suddenly spoke, "Little cheat, what's your name?"
Taking a deep breath and extinguishing the cigarette butt, I leaned my head towards the girl and said in a low voice, "My name is Da Jianming, and I'm not a cheat. Also..."
"Speak to me with a clearer voice."
"I know you're a nimble-fingered thief!"
Upon hearing my words, the girl stared at me blankly, unable to utter a word.
After a long while, the girl, having come to her senses, took a deep breath and finally reacted, "Heh heh. A cheat is a cheat! Sharp eyes, quick hands, and keen ears."
Her words did not anger me. With a calm expression, I said lightly, "I'm sorry, I'm really not a cheat. You've mistaken me for someone else."
Hearing me say this, the girl immediately leaned her body towards me, patted my shoulder, and chuckled softly, "Heh heh. Your imported sack is quite skillfully packed!"
I remained silent, my gaze fixed on my nose, my nose on my heart.
Seeing that I still wouldn't admit it, the girl suddenly said meaningfully, "Little cheat, do you know whose money those were that I gave you yesterday?"
As she spoke, she glanced at me, and the faint smile on her face suddenly made me feel that something was not quite right!
Pausing slightly, the girl said mysteriously, "It was from that little punk who was shouting that he had diarrhea and no money to buy toilet paper!"
Her words shocked me, and immediately a surge of anger rose in my heart.
I knew I had been tricked by her.
It was at this very moment that I realized, just as I had seen through her disguise as a boy, she had likely seen through my identity in secret when we interacted yesterday.
I looked at the girl, at a loss for words to refute, and could only say coldly, "I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about!"
As soon as I finished speaking and stood up to leave, the girl suddenly added, "The Baole Chess and Card Room about twenty meters to the east, that's the place that punk patronizes."
"He has at least a dozen or twenty men under him! If you want to leave, you can."
"As long as you dare to leave, I'll call them all over! I forgot to tell you, that stack of money... had half a business card for the Baole Chess and Card Room tucked inside!"
"What exactly do you want!?" I was furious, "I've already told you, I'm not a cheat! We met by chance, you tried to steal from me and failed, and I asked you for money. Is it necessary to scheme against me like this?"
Hearing my words, the girl clearly didn't believe me. With a faint, cold smile on her lips.
Without a word, she simply got up and walked onto the street, then fixed her gaze on the Baole Chess and Card Room diagonally opposite the mobile noodle stall.
A moment later, seeing the young punk from yesterday, the one who had no toilet paper for his diarrhea, whistling and casually scratching his backside as he ambled out of the chess and card room and under a tree on the street, the girl immediately sidled up to me and whispered softly, "Believe me, if I call him over now, your ending... will be even worse than mine was yesterday?"
Looking at the girl, whose eyes revealed a playful glint, I turned and walked away.
But after only a couple of steps, I stopped again and asked without looking back, "You sought me out first thing in the morning, what exactly do you want me to do for you?"
If I still couldn't figure out at this point that she had an agenda in finding me, I might as well just bash my head against a wall!
"Clever!"
Seeing that I had finally conceded, the girl, who understood the unspoken, gave me a perfunctory compliment and then quickly walked up to me, stood on her tiptoes, and whispered something in my ear.
Five minutes later...
I frowned, looking skeptical, and asked, "It's that simple?"
"It's that simple!"
"This matter is not only not difficult for you, but it also won't incur any losses."
"I'm staying in the inn next to yours. After it's done, you can come find me directly."
After speaking, the girl pointed to the inn where she was staying, then stepped away and headed towards the inn.
Just as the girl's figure was about ten meters away from me, she suddenly turned back and smiled at me, "A life-saving favor in the jianghu! Consider it me owing you one."
After saying that, she walked forward without looking back.
"Damn you..."
Seeing her walk away, I couldn't help but want to curse, but then I forcefully restrained myself.
Uncle Tuo, oh Uncle Tuo!
You said that meeting a beggar in the morning would bring a day of good luck! What's the meaning of this?
At this moment, I really wanted to leave, but the thought of her unpredictable movements made me hesitate.
I don't know which of the girl's words are true and which are false. But I know that the beggar who came this morning must have something to do with her!
Staring blankly at the young punk not far ahead, who was whistling at a ginkgo tree and watering it with abandon, I felt an indescribable complexity in my heart.
The task the girl gave me was simple.
To con the young punk, whose pockets she had emptied yesterday, leading to him having no money for toilet paper when he had diarrhea.
As for the reason, she didn't say.