The night Li Yixun encountered the urban management officers, Chen Nian happened to be buying a new issue of comics at the bookstore next door.
Experienced vendors, the moment the light blue uniform appeared, quickly packed up their most important items and fled. The inexperienced Li Yixun, however, hadn’t been paying attention to her surroundings and was busy introducing the latest GD card stickers to a customer.
It wasn’t until an uncle in a light blue uniform stood in front of her that she belatedly realized she’d encountered urban management officers.
But obviously, running away was futile now.
Li Yixun had always been afraid of these uniformed uncles and aunties, so she could only awkwardly smile at the urban management officer, hoping he would take pity on her and let her go.
“How old are you, little girl? Setting up a stall like this?”
The urban management officer squinted, looking her up and down, and realized she was clearly a minor, dressed in an ordinary T-shirt and trousers.
“Is this your stall? Or are you working for someone else?”
“Employing child labor is illegal, you know that?”
“Setting up a stall here is obstructing traffic.”
Seeing Li Yixun remain silent, the city management officer clearly remembered something and, influenced by personal emotions, became increasingly offensive.
“What kind of rubbish are you selling? Obsessed with these male celebrities all day, thinking only about love and romance, how will you ever get into university?”
“You don’t study hard yourself, and you’re misleading other children?”
“It’s people like you who mislead and corrupt children. What good can come of dating at this age? Premarital sex, abortion, dropping out of school—a whole chain, right?”
“You’re like this yourself, and you want to drag others down with you?”
…
Li Yixun was almost brought to tears by the city management officer’s barrage of personal attacks. She was just earning a little living expenses; how did she suddenly become a delinquent girl, misleading children, and dating?
Just as she was about to retort, a cool, large hand pulled her behind her.
Chen Nian, wearing a high school uniform, stood in front of her, his tall figure completely obscuring her view, while his other hand held up a phone, recording.
“Speak, keep talking, I’m recording everything.”
Chen Nian practically shoved his phone into the city management officer’s face.
The officer, clearly unprepared for this, quickly took a step back, trying to avoid the camera. “Don’t…don’t film me…you…filming public officials is illegal!”
Chen Nian was no pushover; he had never failed to live up to his mother’s reputation for being “sharp-tongued.”
He held up his phone, sneering, and questioned the urban management officer almost word by word, “You think it’s not illegal to personally attack and defame a little girl?”
“It’s wrong of her to operate a stall on the street, and you can follow the rules. Confiscating it or imposing a fine, she’ll accept it.”
“But you’re resorting to defamation right off the bat; that’s a different matter. I’m going to take this video to your superiors and ask if this is in accordance with regulations?”
A larger crowd gathered, and the urban management officer was clearly afraid of escalating the situation, but his adult pride wouldn’t allow him to be manipulated by a high school student in a school uniform.
He was also clearly lacking confidence; his face flushed as he tried to retort, “It was…it was wrong of you to operate a stall on the street, affecting the city’s appearance, is that something to be ashamed of?”
Several other urban management officers noticed the situation due to the gathering crowd, and after understanding the situation, one of them stepped forward to act as a peacemaker.
“Occupying the street illegally is punishable by a 50 yuan fine, according to regulations. As for you, Lao Ye… apologize to the child.”
“Let’s all compromise and pretend the conflict never happened. Is that alright?”
The city management officer surnamed Ye was still unconvinced, his face flushing and paling alternately, clearly not really willing to apologize.
His colleague, seeing his stubbornness, roared at him angrily, “Are you determined to lose your job? Don’t you want to support your family? Your daughter is only in her final year of junior high! How will you pay for her schooling if you lose your job?”
Mentioning his daughter seemed to touch a nerve with the city management officer surnamed Ye, and he instantly stopped resisting, stammering,g and reluctantly agreeing.
With the other side agreeing to apologize, everyone’s attention turned to Chen Nian and Li Yixun.
Chen Nian turned to Li Yixun.
Only then did he realize his other hand was still holding her wrist. He quickly apologized and released her, then earnestly asked for her opinion, “Is it okay if he apologizes?”
Li Yixun stared at the handsome face, now somewhat serious with anger, and nodded slightly.
The conflict ultimately ended with both sides sharing the blame.
Li Yixun looked up at the distant lights of countless homes, realizing that after all the commotion, dinner time was almost over.
Chen Nian, meanwhile, remembered that the comics in the bookstore were sold out. He pouted in annoyance, “Li Yixun, you made me miss out on buying comics, you’re really guilty!”
Chen Nian’s expression really resembled that of a puppy that hadn’t gotten its beloved bone; Li Yixun really wanted to reach out and pat his head.
She suppressed her pounding heart and forced a smile. “Chen Nian, thank you so much for earlier… um… and I’m sorry for taking up your time. How about I treat you to dinner?”
Chen Nian couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “Come on, you got fined fifty yuan earlier. Besides, how much can your little stall make?”
“We’ve known each other for ages. When have I ever let a girl have you treat me?”
The extravagant young master Chen lived up to his name, constantly flaunting his wealth.
“So, what do you want to eat?”
Li Yixun couldn’t help but chuckle. Even when the handsome guy rolled his eyes, he was still good-looking.
“Then I won’t stand on ceremony! Um… I want a Spicy Chicken Burger!”
“Okay, I’ll order you a set meal.”
…
Under the bright moonlight, two figures, one tall and one short, walked further and further away. The shorter figure couldn’t help but stay a little closer to the other, maintaining a normal social distance.
The moon was bright, and the stars were few; only two intertwined shadows on the ground betrayed the unspoken thoughts of a young girl.
*
Thirty-year-old Li Yixun was undoubtedly still a devout McDonald’s follower.
Regardless of her bank account balance, she always loved the fragrant, hot, and spicy junk food. Aside from lunch at the cafeteria, her dinner was always McDonald’s at least once a week.
However, this week, due to numerous year-end deadlines and excessive work pressure, she channeled her frustration into two extra McDonald’s meals. Combined with the added effect of working overtime late into the night, she successfully developed a pimple on her face before the New Year.
“Aaaaaah, I’m going crazy!”
“Why did I have to eat those two extra McDonald’s meals?!”
“I’m thirty years old, and I still have to suffer from acne? Is this reasonable?!”
Li Yixun appeared expressionless as she typed on her keyboard, but in reality, she was unleashing a torrent of frustration on WeChat.
Sending it to Yuan Yi wasn’t enough; she also forwarded it to other friends, hoping for comfort.
Ideally, they’d share her struggles, which would ease Li Yixun’s fragile heart.
Ten minutes later, Yuan Yi replied with a “This is so lame” emoji.
Teasing her through the screen, “Sorry, we dry-skinned folks can’t understand this pain, we can’t empathize with you.”
“…”
“Then remember to take care of your skin, don’t go into the new year with this pimple. Otherwise, you’ll be thirty-two and still have pimples.”
“…”
A moment later, Li Yixun reacted, “Thirty!!! Don’t hit me in the face!!! It doesn’t count as my age!!!”
“Whatever, this princess is forever eighteen.”
“…”