From Folly to Fortune：I Rewrite My Life After Rebirth!

The man heard this, turned around and bowed to the big fellow, babbling pleas for mercy.

”Sir, we... we don’t want much money, just enough to eat!”

”’Don’t want much money’ my ass! You’re a beggar and still dare to open your lion’s mouth. Why don’t you just go rob someone?”

The big fellow kept cursing the man relentlessly.

The man kept apologizing over and over; his attitude was genuinely good, just far too humble.

”Sir, there are three of us in the family, it’s really not easy scraping by. The child hasn’t eaten in two days. Please, have a bit of mercy and let us perform here!”

”Scram, scram, scram! You stinking beggar can’t get food, what’s that got to do with me? I’m not in charge of beggars!”

The big fellow shoved the man hard. If the waiter beside him hadn’t grabbed him, the man would have fallen.

”Uncle, please be kind!”

Suddenly, the little girl called out to the big fellow.

The big fellow’s eyes lit up when he looked at the little girl, then said to her, ”Little lass, you sure you want your parents to perform?”

The little girl opened her big, watery eyes and said, ”Mm! Uncle, please be kind, help us out! We won’t ask you for money!”

”Little lass, that’s not how you beg someone!” The big fellow suddenly grinned at her, his smile downright lecherous.

”Uncle, how should I beg? I’m listening!”

The little girl was very sensible; she knew that if they couldn’t perform, she and her parents would have to go on hungry again.

”At the very least, you gotta let me cop a feel!”

As he spoke, the brute reached out to grab the little girl’s wrist.

The little girl realized what was happening, shrieked, and darted behind her father, trembling all over.

The man with the erhu was startled, and blocked the big fellow. ”Sir, don’t do this. My girl is still a child, she doesn’t understand anything!”

”She doesn’t understand; you do! You tell her: I’m going to touch her!”

As he spoke, he lunged again toward the little lass hiding behind the man.

The girl’s mother was so frightened she dropped to her knees. ”Sir, we won’t perform, we won’t perform! I beg you, let us go!”

Just then, the other three men stood up too, cutting off all escape for the family of three.

”Hmph, too late! I’m gonna make you perform for me today!” The big fellow said, yanking the man who was blocking him aside in one go.

The little girl was so scared she burst out crying, tears rolling down like beans.

The big fellow glanced at her, then reached straight toward her chest. His hand was about to touch the girl’s chest when a hemp rope suddenly flew over and tightly wrapped around his hand.

With a loud ”snap”, the man was yanked by the rope and sent flying toward the inn’s doorway.

Mu Shuangshuang stood up, and with the hemp rope in her hand lashed madly at the big fellow who had already crashed to the ground.

She deliberately aimed for his hands and feet, because those parts usually weren’t covered in cotton-padded clothes, so getting hit there really hurt.

The man was whipped by Mu Shuangshuang till he howled. On the ground he kept flailing his arms and shaking his legs, looking like he was dancing.

”What the hell are you?” the man swore. This time, the rope landed straight on his mouth.

He clutched his mouth in pain, then yelled at the other three men who were stunned, ”Are you all dead? I’m getting beaten up and you’re not helping!”

Before the three could move, they heard Mu Shuangshuang say, ”I just listened to you talking and can tell you three are men who understand reason!

You’ll have daughters of your own someday. Do you want your own girls getting their chests grabbed in public? This guy’s words aren’t reliable, his character is rotten. Being friends with him will get you killed sooner or later!”

The three men paused when they heard Mu Shuangshuang, their steps faltering.

They actually took in half of what she said.

But they still hesitated, glancing at the man who was now only capable of wailing under Mu Shuangshuang’s rope.

”You turtle bastards, what are you staring at? Hurry up and kill this punk, move it...”

All this way, Mu Shuangshuang had simply tied her hair up in a man’s topknot and, copying Shen Feng’s look, put on a bamboo hat. No one had thought she was a woman.

”Hear that? This guy clearly wants you to die!

It’s New Year’s time—things should be harmonious—but he’s hell-bent on stirring up trouble.

Search your own conscience: would you send your family or friends into danger, make it so they can’t even spend the New Year in peace?

We’re all just struggling to get by. Being alive is hard enough—why make life harder for people who are suffering just like you?”

As soon as Mu Shuangshuang finished, the three men exchanged looks, then all shook their heads.

The three went back to their seats, leaving only the man at the inn’s entrance still struggling.

His mouth was simply too foul, so Mu Shuangshuang looped the hemp rope around his neck and dragged him outside.

When she came back, her hands were empty; the hemp rope was gone too.

The young waiter hurried over to greet her.

”Young master, that man...”

”I tied him to a tree, selling him as frozen pork! Tomorrow when I hit the road, I’ll take him along.”

”Ah? Take him... along?”

The waiter had probably never heard anything like that before; he was a bit stunned.

But he quickly figured it out: taking that man away meant he at least wouldn’t cause trouble for that poor family of three.

”Young master has a kind heart. Oh, right, just now our Shopkeeper said your meal can be on the house!” the waiter said.

Mu Shuangshuang heard him and glanced at the Shopkeeper, who was still clicking his abacus.

A young man in his early twenties, ordinary-looking, but warm-hearted.

”No need. When you’re running a shop, you should charge what ought to be charged! I’m staying at the inn today—just give me an extra bucket of hot water.”

Mu Shuangshuang said half-jokingly.

She went back to her seat and continued eating, completely undisturbed by what had just happened.

The man, seeing the danger was past, walked up to Mu Shuangshuang and was about to kneel to her.

Mu Shuangshuang grabbed him and pulled him up.

”Uncle, Auntie, start playing the erhu. If you play well, everyone will tip you! Right, everyone?”

Mu Shuangshuang had just beaten someone up—since she said so, who dared say otherwise?

So the crowd chimed in one after another.

The couple set up their posture and began to play the erhu.

You could tell they’d been playing for years; their skills were very practiced.

It’s just that the tune didn’t carry that festive joy of the New Year.

The erhu itself doesn’t sound as cheerful as some other instruments, and if you play melancholic pieces on top of that, it makes you want to cry.

Mu Shuangshuang felt this wouldn’t do. She called over a waiter from the inn and asked him to prepare a set of bowls of different sizes, plus two pairs of clean chopsticks.

At first everyone was listening to the erhu, and the more they listened, the sadder they felt.

Just then, a series of crisp tapping-on-bow sounds rang out. At first it seemed like random knocking, but gradually the rhythm turned lively.

”Uncle, listen to this melody once and play this tune!” Mu Shuangshuang bellowed.