Friday evening, Jin Yaner booked train tickets and asked Qin Hui to accompany her back to her hometown. Jiang Yanxi specifically instructed Qin Hui on this matter, making it clear that he could go, but he shouldn't overstep any boundaries.
Evidently, Jiang Yanxi was finding Qin Hui quite a handful. The guy had too good of a reputation; if she didn't keep an eye on him, another beautiful woman would be following him around tomorrow.
Jiang Yanxi was undoubtedly under a lot of pressure.
On the high-speed train, Qin Hui munched on melon seeds while listening to Jin Yaner talk about trivial matters from her hometown.
Jin Yaner's return home this time had two main purposes. The first was to visit her parents, as Jin Yaner had been very busy with work and hadn't seen them in a long time.
The other was that her family had arranged a blind date for her. It was clear they wanted to leverage Jin Yaner to earn a bride price.
After all, Jin Yaner had worked hard to achieve her current success. Marrying her off to a mountain village was already difficult.
For someone who lived in a big city, a marriage that determined one's entire life status was a difficult decision to make, let alone marrying someone she didn't know at all.
Therefore, Jin Yaner bringing Qin Hui back to her hometown was undoubtedly to serve as a shield.
Qin Hui was naturally willing to accept such a good opportunity to be a shield for his beautiful secretary. Moreover, since Jin Yaner was Jiang Yanxi's capable assistant, Qin Hui had no reason to refuse.
Perhaps due to staying up too late working the previous night, Jin Yaner fell asleep leaning on Qin Hui after finishing her explanations.
Regarding Jin Yaner's intimate gesture, Qin Hui hesitated for a moment but ultimately decided not to wake her. Since he was there to be a shield, he might as well start adapting early.
The next morning, the high-speed train arrived at the station, and the two of them disembarked.
After a simple breakfast, Qin Hui began to take in the sights of the city.
Unlike the prosperity of Jiangnan Province, this city was quite ordinary, with hardly any skyscrapers.
"Let's go, the car is booked."
Jin Yaner took Qin Hui's hand and walked towards a nearby bus. Qin Hui glanced around and indeed noticed that the people here were dressed much more plainly.
Although Jin Yaner's attire was already quite casual, she still drew many curious glances after boarding the bus.
Clearly, beautiful women are attention-grabbing wherever they go.
"This bus will take three more hours to reach our town. I've already called my eldest brother to pick me up."
A happy smile bloomed on Jin Yaner's lips. In her eyes, any time spent with Qin Hui was a happy time.
Qin Hui nodded slightly, his gaze drifting out the window.
The scenery outside was quite lovely. Being close to the mountains, even the air carried a sweet scent of rice flowers. Qin Hui couldn't help but take a few extra breaths.
If not for so many troubles, Qin Hui would have genuinely liked to live a leisurely life in a place like this.
He couldn't help it; cities nowadays were too competitive, and Qin Hui was getting tired of the rat race.
Screech!
The bus, which was in motion, suddenly braked hard.
"Damn it, can't you drive? You almost hit my head."
"Exactly, you made my snacks fall all over the floor."
The sudden emergency stop filled everyone with complaints.
However, before the bus driver could explain anything, several men in hoods stormed onto the bus, brandishing clubs.
"Everyone, be good. This is a robbery. Hand over anything valuable."
The lean leader shouted loudly.
With this stern command, everyone fell silent. The attackers were too fierce.
"How could this happen? Let's call the police."
Jin Yaner was a little flustered. She hadn't expected anyone to dare to rob them in broad daylight. Such things usually only happened in movies.
Qin Hui was indifferent. He knew that in backward places, there were all sorts of people.
Besides, calling the police would be useless. In such a place, it would take a long time for the police to arrive, let alone the fact that there were no cameras here, making it impossible to catch anyone.
Therefore, the more backward a place is, the higher the sense of accomplishment for criminals, because you can't catch them.
"No, this is my family's life-saving money. We can't give it to you."
A middle-aged man knelt on the ground, begging for mercy. If this money was stolen, his son would have no hope of survival.
"Life-saving money?"
The leader of the robbers frowned upon hearing this.
"Heh, thank you. Since it's life-saving money, give it all to me. If I don't have this money, I'll starve to death. Thank you for your life-saving money."
With that, the leader of the robbers kicked the middle-aged man away, with a look of disdain.
Seeing the man's ferocity, everyone cowered.
At first, a few young men bravely refused to give, but under the education of the clubs, they obediently complied.
Soon, these robbers walked over to Qin Hui, their gazes filled with amusement.
"Gentlemen, we are visiting relatives, and this is all the money we have."
Qin Hui quickly took out his wallet and handed the robber the remaining thousand yuan notes.
The leader of the robbers looked at Qin Hui and finally nodded, accepting Qin Hui's money. It was the first time he had met such a compliant person.
Seeing Qin Hui's compliance, the others' resentment surged, and they looked at Qin Hui as if he were an idiot.
Just as the leader of the robbers was about to turn and leave the bus, one of the robbers beside him set his eyes on Jin Yaner and couldn't look away. He had never seen such a delicate and beautiful girl.
Smack!
"Damn it, what are you looking at? All you think about is women."
The leader of the robbers hit his brother. This guy couldn't move when he saw women.
"Big brother, I didn't mean anything by it."
After the subordinate whispered a few words into his elder brother's ear, their gaze towards Qin Hui changed significantly.
This change wasn't a desire to rob them, but a desire for money.
"Kid, we apologize, but we have to take your girlfriend. You can keep this thousand yuan."
The lean man's gaze became much colder, with an undeniable look.
"It's best to be lenient when possible. You've already taken the money, why make so much trouble?"
Qin Hui said calmly.
Qin Hui wasn't afraid of them and handing over the money obediently because this area was a remote mountainous region and too backward.
Even if Qin Hui beat them up and made them return the money, they would still rob the next bus.
Even if he crippled them, there would still be many people who couldn't afford to eat who would join this line of work. So, this was a problem at its source.
If I can't even get enough to eat, what else am I supposed to do besides robbing?
It's like ancient bandits; why did they become bandits? It wasn't because they couldn't make a living?
"Kid, I've given you enough face. Since you're being disobedient, we'll have to resort to force."
The lean man ignored Qin Hui's dissuasion and swung a club directly at Qin Hui.
Disobedient, huh?
A beating will make him obedient.