Chapter 4: Superhuman Strength?

Leaving the government compound, Shen Hongxing arrived at an abandoned train station. 

Although she had signed up for the army, she wasn’t guaranteed to pass the rigorous selection process.

Even if she did, there were still two or three months before she’d officially enlist.

She needed to live. She needed money. Otherwise, after leaving the Shen family, she wouldn’t even have a place to stay.

“Help! Someone, help me…” A man’s cry for help echoed from ahead.

Shen Hongxing followed the sound and saw a flatbed cart overturned on the riverbank. A man was trapped beneath it, several sacks of something piled on top.  He was unable to get up.

Shen Hongxing immediately called for help, “Help! Someone’s fallen down the riverbank! Help!”

But this place had been abandoned for many years; nobody ever passed by.  She had no choice but to try and save him herself.

She initially thought the sacks would be heavy, but upon touching them, she realized she could lift them with one hand.

The man trapped under the cart was dumbfounded.  “Little girl, you’re amazing! You single-handedly moved all the sacks off me.  Each one weighs 150 jin (approximately 150 pounds)!”

Shen Hongxing finally realized she had just moved those sacks with her bare hands.  She looked at her hands in disbelief.

What was going on? When did she become so strong?  Able to lift sacks of that weight?

Shen Hongxing recalled several rebirth dramas she’d watched in her past life, where the protagonists gained different superpowers after being reborn.

Could she have gained superhuman strength?

Thinking this, she squatted down and tried lifting a sack.  It was effortless.  She tried two together – still easy.  Then three, four, until eight.

My god! She could lift thousands of jin (thousands of pounds) worth of sacks with her bare hands.

The man was shocked. By the time he recovered, Shen Hongxing was gone.

As she walked, Shen Hongxing questioned herself.  Was she dreaming?  No way.  She had superhuman strength?  This was incredible.

Unknowingly, she arrived in front of a hair salon.  The window displayed posters of the latest hairstyles.  She stopped.

In her previous life, because Lu Ping’an had once said he liked girls with long hair, she… She had kept her long hair her entire life.

Now, she wanted to sever all ties with Lu Ping’an.

Just as she sat down, a dozen or so girls, looking like thugs, entered. Three of them, the leaders, wore tank tops and bell-bottom pants.  They swaggered in, exuding the air of gang leaders.

Shen Hongxing remembered them. They were notorious local female thugs. The leader was named Xu Shuangshuang; the other two were Chen Jiayi and Cao Hongxia.

In her previous life, she didn’t know how she’d offended them, but they frequently blocked her way home.  She didn’t dare resist. Once, she mustered the courage to tell her mother, Shen’s mother, who not only ignored her but sarcastically remarked, “Why do they only bully you and not Jiaojiao? It must be your own fault!”

Luckily, Lu Ping’an’s uncle had once witnessed it and scared them off. After that, they never bullied her again.

Years later, she unexpectedly discovered they were working for Shen Jiaojiao.  She also knew none of them had a good ending.

Chen Jiayi would be raped by a homeless man a few years later, go insane, and become a madwoman for the rest of her life. Cao Hongxia died the earliest – around this time, according to the timeline.

Seeing them heading straight for her, the man sitting next to Shen Hongxing ran away. Xu Shuangshuang plopped down next to Shen Hongxing, putting her feet on Shen Hongxing’s chair.  “Oh, isn’t this the Shen factory manager’s precious daughter? Still hanging around here?”

A few days earlier, they had warned her to go back to the countryside, threatening to beat her every time they saw her.

Shen Hongxing clenched her fists.  Having just discovered her newfound superhuman strength, she decided to test it on them.

Chen Jiayi said arrogantly, “Boss, she completely ignored your warning! I think she needs a lesson! Let’s teach her a lesson today and see if she dares stay here again!”

“Yeah, boss, what’s the point of talking? Let’s just do it!”

Thus, Shen Hongxing was dragged from the salon into a secluded alley.  The salon owner and the other customers didn’t dare intervene.

In the alley, Xu Shuangshuang pulled out a knife from her sleeve, playing with it.  She viciously warned…

“Wild girl, if I see you haven’t left Zhaoyang Town tomorrow, I’ll…” Xu Shuangshuang’s threat was cut short by Shen Hongxing, who executed a perfect over-the-shoulder throw, sending her crashing to the ground. Xu Shuangshuang winced in pain.

“Shen Hongxing, you dare hit our boss!” The other two girls charged at her.

Shen Hongxing grabbed one arm each, twisting gently. Both girls cried out in pain, their struggles only intensifying their agony.

The rest of the girls attacked.  Shen Hongxing, mimicking a movie scene, kicked each one away with swift, powerful kicks.

It felt incredibly satisfying!

Xu Shuangshuang and the others begged for mercy.  “Miss Shen, please let us go! We promise we’ll never bother you again…”

“Miss Shen, we were wrong! Please forgive us this once!”

They wondered how Shen Hongxing had become so strong in just a few days.

“Tell me, what did Shen Jiaojiao give you?” Shen Hongxing still held Chen Jiayi and Cao Hongxia’s arms, twisting them until they confessed.  “She gave us money to cause trouble for you!”

Excellent.

Just when they thought Shen Hongxing would let them go, she unleashed another round of punches and kicks, making them howl in pain.

Minutes later, Xu Shuangshuang and the others knelt before Shen Hongxing.

Shen Hongxing, satisfied, brushed off dust from her hands.  “You need money. I can tell you how to earn it, but from now on, you’re forbidden from bullying anyone or engaging in illegal activities! If I find out otherwise, I’ll cripple you!”

“Yes, Boss! From now on, you’re our boss. Whatever you say, we’ll obey!” Xu Shuangshuang was completely submissive.

“Boss!”  “Boss!” Her underlings pledged their allegiance.

“In that case, you’ll be working for me from now on!” Shen Hongxing picked up the knife from the ground, examining it.  A sarcastic smile played on her lips.  “Shen Jiaojiao, your good days are over!”