Time is Slow / Meet You in My Prime - Chapter 3 : Escape

Qiao Zhao had thought about this a long time ago.

For a man like Chi Can, there must be many women who flirt with him on a daily basis. If she stopped them without caring, she might be regarded as a woman with ulterior motives.

Well, calling him 'Uncle' should put people at ease, right?

Qiao Zhao, who thought she was being considerate, spoke quickly, explaining the whole story: "I am the daughter of Li Xiu Zhuan from the capital. I was abducted here by human traffickers during the Flower Festival. Please, Uncle, save me..."

Uncle...

These words made Chi Can's mouth twitch, and he chuckled a few times. He knew without thinking that beside him were his two good friends, and it made him want to cover the girl's mouth with his hand.

He was obviously only a few years older than this little girl; how come he was an uncle? He should be called Big Brother!

But... if a girl came out in broad daylight and called him 'Big Brother,' his first reaction would probably be to push her away, right?

Thinking of this, Chi Can's eyes deepened, and he looked at Qiao Zhao seriously.

The little girl had a slender figure and was delicate, like a white magnolia bud that was about to bloom but could not withstand the wind and rain. She was particularly pitiful, and a red mole on the end of her eyebrow made this magnolia flower look more charming.

This was a smart little girl, Chi Can thought.

"Ni Ni, come back quickly and don't offend the distinguished guest!" The man who finally got rid of the restaurant waiter rushed over and reached out to grab Qiao Zhao.

Qiao Zhao's body flashed like a nimble fish, and she hid behind Chi Can.

The man missed the target, and he was anxious and angry. He explained, "Sir, this is my daughter. She is angry with me because she was disobedient. Don't listen to the nonsense of a child..."

"Uh, are you his daughter?" Chi Can turned sideways and looked at Qiao Zhao with a smile.

Despite her delicate appearance, the girl's tone was exceptionally firm as she calmly uttered the words: "No."

"Big brother, she said no," Chi Can looked at the man.

The man saw that something was not right, so he immediately put on an honest look and sighed, "My Lord, you don't know, two days ago this girl was coaxed into eloping by a stinky boy, and I finally got her back, but she got angry with me and refused to acknowledge me as her father. She insisted on telling others that I was a human trafficker just to find that stinky boy!"

The man was sure that once he said this, others would stop interfering. The last time this damn girl ran away, he used this excuse.

He couldn't help but glance at Qiao Zhao, with an implicit warning in his eyes.

You damn girl, I'll deal with you later!

Qiao Zhao looked at him calmly and suddenly smiled.

Different times, different circumstances.

The little girl Li Zhao asked for help from the onlookers. Although there were many people, as long as this person could give a reasonable reason, those people would disperse as they thought it was none of their business.

However, right now, she was asking for help from a specific person, so that person would invisibly have a greater sense of responsibility and would not blindly listen to the man's explanation.

What's more, he was Chi Can. If he didn't even have this ability to distinguish, how could he deal with the royal relatives and nobles with complicated minds?

"Little girl, did you really elope with someone?" Chi Can leaned forward slightly, smiling, clearly laughing at Qiao Zhao.

Qiao Zhao asked seriously, "Uncle, if your daughter eloped with someone, would you shout it out like this without caring about her reputation?"

Of course not!

Chi Can subconsciously wanted to answer, but he held it back.

Are you kidding me? How could he have such a big niece? He had heard this little girl call him 'uncle' too many times.

Chi Can silently stood a step away, glancing at the crowd that gradually gathered around him from the corners of his eyes. Not wanting to get entangled with the man, he said calmly, "What you two said makes sense..."

"Sir, how can you listen to what a child says? Besides, this is a family matter between us, father and daughter..."

Chi Can smiled at the man. He was so handsome that his smile really made people lose their composure: "Don't worry, Big Brother, I'm certainly not the kind of person who meddles in other people's business."

The man secretly breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. Then he heard the handsome man slowly say, "So let's go see the official and let the Baoling County Magistrate decide who is right and who is wrong."

Facing the stunned man, he comforted him gently: "The three of us brothers will send you to the gate of the government office and will definitely not interfere."

"You, you..." Meeting someone who didn't play by the rules, the man was speechless for a moment.

Chi Can suddenly frowned, turned his head, and said to the man in blue, "Zi Zhe, I remember that this Baoling County Magistrate served in Jiafeng County three years ago, right?"

Qiao Zhao took the opportunity to secretly glance at the man in blue. Her grandfather had a close friend who was a divine doctor. When she was eight years old, her grandfather fell ill and, at the suggestion of the divine doctor, her grandfather took her and her grandmother back to Jiafeng to live.

In the past few years, Doctor Li would come to Jiafeng every year to stay for a while to take care of her grandfather.

She usually read a lot of medical books, and whenever Doctor Li came, she would take the opportunity to ask him for advice on medical skills.

After more than ten years, she could be considered half a disciple of Doctor Li, and later her grandfather's health was always taken care of by her.

It was not until she was eighteen that she was forced by her seriously ill grandfather to return to the capital and marry the second son of Marquis Jing'an.

Her husband was ordered to go to war on their wedding day before he even had time to remove her wedding veil.

Not long after, her grandfather passed away, so she rarely saw outsiders during her time in the Marquis of Jing'an's mansion.

Of the three people, she only knew Chi Can. They met in Jiafeng.

The man in blue didn't notice Qiao Zhao's scrutiny and said, "This isn't the capital; how would I know which county magistrate it is? Shi Xi, if I remember correctly, you've been to Jiafeng three years ago, right?"

Chi Can nodded: "Yes, I had tea with the Magistrate of Jiafeng County at that time. When I came here this time, I vaguely heard that he was transferred to Baoling City."

When the man heard that Chi Can actually knew the county magistrate, he dared not argue with him and ran away while the other person was talking.

The man in green, who had not spoken a word, kicked the man to the ground and said coldly, "It seems that this man is really a human trafficker!"

Qiao Zhao shouted, "We can't let him go! This trafficker has an honest face, but he has kidnapped so many girls. I was lucky to be rescued by Uncle. I'm afraid other girls would have been..."

After hearing her words, the onlookers were immediately furious and said, "The kidnapper is the most despicable; beat him to death!"

Chi Can and the other two, along with Qiao Zhao, cleverly moved to the side to make way for the angry people.

Soon, they heard the kidnapper's screams like pigs being slaughtered.

Turning to another street with a few pedestrians, Chi Can and the other two looked at the little girl who was following them closely and looked at each other in surprise.

What should they do after this?

The man in blue and the man in green exchanged glances and looked at Chi Can together. Whoever caused the trouble should solve it.

Chi Can raised his eyebrows and said, "Little..."

He wanted to call her 'little sister,' but when he thought about how this little girl had always called him 'Uncle,' his tongue suddenly got tied.

Qiao Zhao was very considerate and said quickly, "Uncle, you can call me Third Miss Li."

"Third Miss Li..." Chi Can's mouth twitched again and again and finally couldn't help but say, "Actually, you can call me Brother Chi."

"Brother Chi." Qiao Zhao readily followed suit.

As long as you take me back to the capital, I can even call him Master Chi.

"Hey..." Chi Can's toothache finally stopped, and he asked with a smile, "Do you live in the capital?"

Seeing Qiao Zhao nod, he shook his head and said, "That's unfortunate. We still have to go to Jiafeng, so it's not convenient to take you with us. How about this? I'll hire a carriage to take you back to the capital."

Jiafeng?

Qiao Zhao's heart skipped a beat.

Li Zhao's home was in the capital, while Qiao Zhao's home had always been in Jiafeng.

She had never kowtowed in front of her grandfather's grave and didn't know how her grandmother and others were doing now.

"Uncle, uh, no, Brother Chi, I want to go with you." Before the three of them could speak, Qiao Zhao quickly explained, "Brother Chi is kind-hearted and hired a carriage to take me back to the capital, but it's hard to know a person's heart. What if the driver has bad intentions towards me halfway through the journey? What should I do?"

The first person she approached was Chi Can, so it naturally depended on whether Chi Can agreed.

Seeing that he was still hesitating, Qiao Zhao blinked and said, "Brother Chi saved my life; I have no way to repay you..."

Chi Can immediately became alert.

Is it possible that this little girl will say that the only way to repay him is to give herself to him?

He knew it... saving people was risky!

"But if Brother Chi takes me home, my parents will definitely reward you handsomely."

A generous reward?

Chi Can almost choked up.

This was different from what he expected, and suddenly he felt very uncomfortable.

The man in blue and the man in green laughed at the same time.