By the time Li Huamei's fleet returned to Hangzhou with the two armed merchant ships, more than two months had passed.
The voyage from Hangzhou to Seoul, then to Yizhou, and finally back to Hangzhou had taken over two months. At least they'd made a decent profit, and they'd managed to intimidate the Japanese pirates a little, so they'd gained quite a lot.
But for some reason, after returning to Hangzhou, Li Huamei had been frowning all day, her face clouded with gloom. She hadn't smiled even when she'd gone shopping with a certain little girl, and no one knew what troubles were weighing on her mind.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, as they walked along, Li Huamei stopped. She saw a little boy of about three or four, from some unknown family, running toward her with a pinwheel in his hand. He rushed right up and threw himself at her feet.
"Huh?"
"Big Sister! Big Sister!"
"Will you play with me?"
Carefully protecting the paper pinwheel in his hands, the boy looked up and saw the pretty big sister standing before him. Still sniffling, he suddenly grinned and invited Li Huamei to play.
"Well..."
"Sure!"
It was rare, but a faint smile appeared on Li Huamei's face. She reached out, intending to help the little boy up from the ground.
"Xiaomao?"
"Come back here!"
But before Li Huamei could touch the boy or say anything, a woman suddenly dashed out of the gate of a house beside the street. She grabbed the little boy's hand before Li Huamei could and pulled him behind her.
"I-I'm sorry for the trouble, miss. We'll leave right away!"
"Get back inside!"
"But..."
"I said, get inside!"
"Wah..."
Before Li Huamei could speak, the woman dragged the reluctant little boy away. As if fleeing from a snake