9 Deaf

"Xia! Xia, come back!" Han Lian Ai almost shouted when she saw Han Wu Xia disappear into the crowd. "Damnit!"

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Deep inside the crowd, Han Wu Xia tried to squeeze his way through. When he finally managed to get to the center, Han Wu Xia looked at the scene in front of her with contempt.

"Take this, you little thief!"

"Haha! This will teach you not to come here and dirty the air around us again!"

Two men were kicking and stomping on a boy who wore a dirty brown commoner robe. The boy was shivering under their feet. He tried to cover and protect his head with his left arm while the other hand was tightly embracing something. The two men were both wearing the restaurant's uniform, the difference between them was that one had short hair.

Han Wu Xia's head was filled with rage as he ran to the two men and pushed one of them.

"Agh!" The long-haired man fell to the ground with one push from Han Wu Xia. The crowd gasped, their eyes widened. "That hurt, ah!"

"Yazhu!" The short-haired man ran to his friend. "Who the h-"

The short-haired man was mad as he looked up at the boy who pushed his friend down. When he did, he shivered. The short-haired man could not see Han Wu Xia's face as it was covered with the veiling screen but he could sense Han Wu Xia's frightening aura.

Behind the white veiling screen, Han Wu Xia's eyes gleamed gold as his anger stirred his Kirin blood. It soon came back to normal. He did not heed the Yazhu's curse as he turned his body and walked to the boy who was still shivering on the ground.

"I am sorry..." Han Wu Xia kneeled and checked the boy's bruised body. When he made sure that none of his bones was broken and he was still be able to walk. He called to him. "Hey, it is alright now. You can get up."

When the boy did not move, Han Wu Xia became anxious.

Don't tell me...

He called up to him several times more and the boy still did not answer. Han Wu Xia's eyes widened. He tapped the poor boy's shoulder and made the boy face his way. Han Wu Xia made a hand signal to him to which he replied.

[You can get up now.]

[Oh, ah, alright...] The boy slowly lifted his body and sat in front of Han Wu Xia. He looked left and right to trying figure out what happened while he was shutting his eyes. He shivered again when he saw the two restaurant employees staring at him with hatred. [They, they are still here...]

Han Lian Ai had also arrived at the scene. She frowned at the sight.

To think that this boy is deaf... How savage of them to beat up a handicapped young boy!

She changed her mind about dragging Han Wu Xia back to the carriage where Ni Wen was waiting and thought about helping the boy too.

When she stepped up and come to aid Han Wu Xia. Only then, people realized her presence. Even though her face was covered with the veiling screen, Han Lian Ai's body stature and elegant way of walking hooked the crowd's eyes. Han Lian Ai did not realize the people around her stopped watching the commotion and were looking at her instead.

"Who is that lady?"

"I don't know, I have never seen her before."

"And you bragged to the whole town that you know all the high-class ladies."

"Ay, by the look of her clothes, she should be around second-ranked officer's daughter, ah! Maybe she never went out, or was sickly?"

"Ay! You are so useless la!"

Han Lian Ai glanced at the two men who were sitting on the ground. The men stood up and saw her walking their way. "What are you hoodlums doing on the street? Making a commotion and disturbed the traffic."

"We are just teaching a thief some lessons, Miss." They curtsied.

The Heaven Restaurant people recognized Han Lian Ai as an official's daughter because of her clothes, they showed some respect, but Han Lian Ai could still see a thin layer of arrogance on them.

The must think that with Concubine Fu's backing, they will be spared.

Han Lian Ai walked to Han Wu Xia who was aiding the boy that was beaten. The boy was trembling with fear and anxiety as he looked up at Han Lian Ai.

Once she saw all of the boy's bruises and wounds, Lian Ai gritted her teeth.

"Is that so?" Han Lian Ai voice made the air chilled.

"The, the thief was in the fault Miss, he stole our food…" The short haired one, Qui, gulped. "If, if we don't teach him a lesson now, who knows whether he will steal from us again."

"What proof you have to judge him as a thief?"

"The, the steamed bun on his hand Miss! He, he stole them from our restaurant!" Yazhu exclaimed.

"Ho?" Han Lian Ai still had a chilling air around her. The checked the boy's arm. There was a steamed bun that the boy painstakingly tried to protect. "A steamed bun, eh?"

Han Lian Ai turned her head and looked past the two men. There was the restaurant, it was surely not a small one. It had a two-storied building that was as big as eight normal shops with a large sign 'Heaven' written on it.

Did they beat him to black and blue just for a steamed bun? It seemed like things had changed since I died, to think that devils work in heaven now.

"He did not steal that bun." Han Wu Xia told Han Lian Ai. Han Lian Ai saw the boy agreeing to what Han Wu Xia said.

"He, he is lying! He did not say anything when we asked him! He tried to run a-"

"He did not reply because he could not hear!" Han Wu Xia's angrily shouted. "He is deaf! Don't you realize?"

"Still, still! That does not say that he did not steal the bun…"

"It does not say that he stole the bun either!" Han Wu Xia's eyes changed color again. Just before Han Wu Xia charged and taught the two men a lesson, Han Lian Ai halted him.

"Hold it, Xia. Don't rush."

Han Lian Ai hand signaled to the deaf boy. Long ago, when she was still Hui Lei, Lady Tian taught him how to use the hand signal. Lady Tian told him she learned the skill when she visited an orphanage. Hui Lei was sure Han Wu Xia was taught by Lady Tian too.

The deaf boy understood what she said and replied.

"He said that he paid for the steamed bun. But the person in charge of the counter was lazing around, the lazy counter person told him to just leave the money on the table. That was how he walked away with the steamed bun." Han Lian Ai stated clearly. "Who is in charge of the cashier?!"

"No, not us... The, the person in charge of the cashier..." Qui looked back to the restaurant. The cashier man had a pale face. "You!"

"There, there is no money on this table." The cashier man rebuked. "There, there is no proof!"

Han Lian Ai clicked her tongue.

He is lying, I am sure he pocketed the money for himself, ah! This has become something troublesome and annoying!

Just before Han Lian Ai voiced her thought to the cashier man.

"What is going on here?" A lovely and girly voice was heard.

When Han Lian Ai turned his head toward the voice, her face lost its color immediately. Oh, shit!

The cashier man looked like he just saw the ray of the day. He exclaimed.