Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

Meanwhile, Xia Yu followed the thief, and the two chased each other until they unknowingly ran into a sparsely populated alley.

Finally, he ran into a dead end with no exit. The thief originally intended to use the debris piled up at the base of the wall to climb over the high wall. Perhaps he had been running for too long and was exhausted, as he failed to climb over and was grabbed by one of his trouser legs by Xia Yu, who was right behind him.

"Let me go, or I'll kick you in the face!" The thief, though panting, still threatened Xia Yu arrogantly.

"You dare? Give me back my things right now, or I'll send you to see the authorities," Xia Yu threatened back.

"Go to the authorities? Do you think I'm easily scared? I'm not afraid of going to the authorities. At most, they'll lock me up for a few days and give me a few free prison meals. What can they do?" As he spoke, he actually used his other foot to kick Xia Yu's hand that was pulling on his trouser leg.

Xia Yu's hands ached from being stepped on, but she endured the pain, thinking of the things stolen from her father and aunt. Looking at the thief on the wall, she thought, "We've caught you, and you're still so arrogant." A surge of anger rose within her, and with a sudden pull, she dragged the thief down from the wall.

The clutter piled up under their feet collapsed under their pulling force, and Xia Yu was also pulled down and fell to the ground, her grip on the thief loosening momentarily.

Feeling temporarily freed from his restraints, the thief scrambled to his feet and tried to run towards the alley entrance. But before he could fully stand, Xia Yu pounced on him from behind, pinning him to the ground. Xia Yu then flipped over and straddled him, pinning his hands behind his back, just like the way police officers apprehended criminals in her past life.

"Ouch...ouch...ouch...ouch." As Xia Yu twisted his hands behind his back, the thief let out a series of cries of pain.

"Hmph, you still feel pain? Hurry up and hand over what you stole, or I might accidentally break your finger." Xia Yu threatened, pressing down hard on the thief who was still trying to resist on the ground.

"I'll take it, I'll take it. Let go of my hand first. The thing is in my arms. Let go of my hand first and I'll take it." He knew Xia Yu was just trying to scare him, but he was also afraid that she might accidentally break his finger.

"Trying to fool me? You'll probably run away the moment I let go. I'll take it myself." With that, Xia Yu pressed down hard on the thief twice more, making him yelp and scream. Just as Xia Yu was about to reach into his clothes, before she could even touch them, she heard him shout...

"Men and women shouldn't touch each other! Help! Someone's trying to ruin my reputation..." Xia Yu was so angry at his incoherent shouts that she was about to stuff something into his mouth when she heard someone shout...

"Miss!"

Xia Yu looked in the direction of the sound, but there was no one there. Looking up, she saw Nineteen standing on the eaves of a house, peering down.

Seeing that the face that had been raised was indeed Xia Yu's, Nineteen jumped down from the eaves with joy.

"Miss, we've finally found you! Are you alright?"

"no"

The thief, who had been screaming and yelling just moments before, suddenly stopped when he realized that instead of calling for a savior, the person on top of him had summoned a helper—one that could fly! He just hoped he wouldn't get beaten too badly.

"Nineteen, hold her tight, make sure she doesn't get away. I'm going to take out what he stole." After saying that, he got up from the man and had Nineteen grab the man so that he was standing facing him.

Xia Yu finally got a good look at the thief's face. It was thin and sallow, with decent features and large eyes, but he looked tired and listless. She reached into his coat and felt for several bags and a cool chain. She pulled them all out at once.

Xia Yu put the things she had taken on the ground, found Wang's money pouch, opened it and saw that the silver was still inside. She stuffed it into her pocket along with her father's pocket watch. She then opened the other two money pouches on the ground.

"Heh, quite a haul today," Xia Yu said, opening the other two money bags and dumping their contents onto the ground. One money bag contained a dime of silver and a dozen copper coins, while the other contained a silver note and a few pieces of loose silver. Unfolding the silver note, he discovered it was a ten-tael note.

Seeing what Xia Yu had poured out, the thief's face became uneasy, filled with regret. He should have returned the two money bags first before coming out.

“Those two are mine, you can’t take them,” he couldn’t help but say as he saw Xia Yu’s hand lingering on the broken silver on the ground.

"Yours? I don't believe it. Why don't we go to the government office and let the magistrate decide? Oh, right, someone just told me that going to the government office would be a good opportunity to get a few days of free jail food." He finished speaking and glanced at the nineteenth-year-old standing behind him.

"Let's go, Nineteen, take him to the government office."

"Yes, Miss. Let's go... to the government office, to stop you from stealing my young lady's things." Nineteen pushed the man, pretending to really head towards the government office.

The thief, who had just been lamenting the loss of his money, suddenly panicked when he saw these two young girls, roughly the same age as him, actually intending to take him to the authorities. He knelt down before Xia Yu with a thud.

"I was wrong, please don't send me to the authorities. I have an eighty-year-old mother at home, oh no, I mean an eighty-year-old grandmother, and a two-year-old brother who is crying for food. Please spare me." He said, weeping and bowing his head, seemingly genuinely repentant. If it weren't for those familiar pleas for mercy, he would have appeared quite sincere.

“You’re a complete liar. If you had told me the truth, we might have let you off the hook. But you’re in this state, and you’re still lying and deceiving people. It would be better to take you to the authorities. Perhaps the owner has already reported it to the authorities. Go now, and you can still return the money to them.” After saying this, he didn’t even look at the thief kneeling on the ground, and turned to walk out of the alley.