Becoming the Villain's Discarded Wife
Chapter 232: Trample

Chapter 232: Chapter 232: Trample

Before Nanzhi could celebrate for long, she could see a crowd rushing towards her when she was still two streets away from the Hongfu Building.

Fearing that the four children would be knocked down, Nanzhi quickly moved them aside to avoid the rush.

Lin Zihan, being the eldest among the children, also extended his hand to keep his younger siblings behind him.

Seeing the panicked look on people’s faces and that they were coming from the direction of Zuitingxuan, Nanzhi felt a twinge of unease.

Could something have happened?

Where were their mothers?

Anxious, Nanzhi was torn between going against the crowd to find the others and ensuring the safety of the children.

While hesitating, she spotted a familiar face, only to brighten up.

"Gu Lang! Over here!"

Nanzhi waved high with one hand while shielding the children with the other.

Gu Lang, who was feeling a bit dizzy and muddled, turned his head towards the sound of his name.

He strained his eyes and after a while recognized Nanzhi who was waving at him.

"Lin, Miss. Lin?" Gu Lang hesitated, unsure if his eyes were deceiving him.

"Gu Lang, what happened to you?" Nanzhi asked with hesitation, observing his dazed look, as if he could collapse at any moment.

She directed him to sit down and rest for a while.

"Over...over there. Someone fell and it’s all chaos. Something happened." Gu Lang said, feeling dizzy as he spoke.

He had planned to go home early, but when he heard the innkeeper talking up the big event of the Shang meeting, especially that they would be distributing "blessed cakes" at the end, he decided to stay out of curiosity.

He had been mingling with the crowd when he started hearing arguments from somewhere, initially just between two women. But then the crowd somehow became unstable, and during the resulting crush, many people fell. He was not trampled only because he got squeezed out with everyone else.

"It’s dangerous there, Miss. Lin, you should take your siblings and leave." Gu Lang warned, before his eyes rolled back and he started to faint.

Nanzhi was shocked but managed to grab his arm just in time to prevent his head from hitting the ground.

"Aunt, what’s wrong with him?" Lin Jian asked curiously, getting closer to look.

He recognized this man, the food lover Gu, who loved to eat at their family’s food stall and always had a big appetite, seeming to eat several bowls every time!

Whenever Lin Jian and his brother didn’t eat their meals properly, their granny would talk about the food lover Gu with his huge appetite.

But now, seeing him faint next to them, Lin Jian found it strange.

"Is he dead?"

Yuanbao touched Gu Lang’s slightly curled hair with a curiosity after Gu Lang didn’t move, and then asked.

"He doesn’t feel any pain!"

"Yuanbao, stop being naughty."

With a helpless sigh, Nanzhi picked Yuanbao up to stop his mischief, and then knelt down to check on Gu Lang.

From what Gu Lang said, Nanzhi concluded that a stampede must have happened at Zuitingxuan, and Gu Lang himself might be suffering from temporary hypoxia due to poor ventilation.

They were two streets away from the Hongfu Building and only one street away from Zuitingxuan. If Gu Lang ended up in this state after he managed to escape, what about their mothers?

With this intrusive thought, Nanzhi’s heart tightened. She wished she could run over immediately to find them.

But she was stuck here with four children and an unconscious man...

The crowd was now in a chaotic mess, with people who had fallen earlier now pinned at the bottom. The less fortunate were trampled a few times and were now curled up, crying softly in pain.

Those who were on the attic watching this chaos from above felt cold sweat trickling down their foreheads.

Lin Fu used a handkerchief to wipe the sweat beads off his forehead before saying with a shiver, "Thank you, thank you so much."

Lin Shougui, equally sweaty, recalled laughing and chatting with Lin Fu downstairs. When his wife came down to ask him to go up, he didn’t even think about it.

Then arguing erupted from somewhere. With even them wanting to join the crowd for curiosity, it was fortunate that their sons came to lead them upstairs, otherwise, they would undoubtedly be stuck in the crowd.

"Lin uncle, there’s nothing to thank about." Lin Yicheng scratched his head, recalling the scenes from the past family’s famine.

During the famine, such scenes were common, especially after the flood.

Reminded of those scenes, Lin Yicheng, usually carefree, couldn’t help but worry.

"Hopefully, there’s no trouble today." Lin Fu murmured after wiping the sweat off his forehead.

Today, the crowd was mostly merchants, hoping to see who would profit in the end and, also, to grab the distributed "blessed cakes". They believe that anyone who can grab a piece of the cake would have good luck for the upcoming year. But this chaos turned the festival atmosphere into a nightmare!

The crowd was feeling suffocated and becoming pale. But luckily, Liu Jie, under the directive of Shen Wenchen, has been patrolling the place. As soon as he sensed the chaos, he rushed over.

In less than half an hour, a group of government officials managed to disperse the crowd, carrying the injured to the medical hall. The matter was finally resolved.

With the averted tragedy, everyone on the attic finally breathed a sigh of relief.

While everybody loves a spectacle, no one wants a tragedy.

"Everything’s fine, everything’s fine now." Lin’s mother felt relieved after seeing the crowd dispersing below.

She had seen too much during the famine. As long as everyone was safe, that was all that mattered.

"Where’s Nanzhi?"

Sun Cui suddenly asked. People then remembered Nanzhi and the children.

Earlier, Lin Yicheng and Lin Ercheng mentioned that Nanzhi had gone home first to fetch the children and would then join them.

"Nanzhi, Nanzhi!" The sudden realization left Lin’s mother in a panic. She imagined the chaotic scene just now and the likelihood of Nanzhi and the children walking into it.

Thinking of Nanzhi and the children, the Lin family was again thrown into confusion. They barely said goodbye to Lin Fu and immediately left the Tea House for home.

"Mother, there should be nothing wrong with Nanzhi. Don’t worry too much." Seeing his mother’s panic, Lin Ercheng hastily tried to comfort her.

"I know, I know. Nanzhi and the children should be fine."

Lin’s mother kept repeating this to convince herself, but was still on edge. Their steps were hurried and their eyes kept darting around, fearing they might see their family somewhere in the crowd.

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