Ruby Grant thought about her current situation.
She’d been reduced to sweeping streets, and now her pay had been docked.
The once-famous “Lawyer Grant,” a legal prodigy who had taken Kincaid by storm, was now being bullied by some low-level street supervisor to the point where she could no longer support her six-month-old daughter…
As the saying goes, to deal with a local tyrant, you need to rely on a greater power.
Looking at the old woman before her, who was clearly no ordinary person, an idea formed in Ruby Grant’s mind.
“Come here tomorrow at 9:30 in the morning.
When you arrive, accuse me of stealing your ring.
I have a way to help you get it back.”
The old woman was exhausted from her search.
Hearing this, a flicker of hope reignited in her disheartened spirit.
“Do you really have a way?”
She eyed the young woman before her.
She was holding a baby, yet dressed in a janitor’s uniform.
Sweeping the streets with a baby in her arms meant she was poor.
But her bearing…
there was nothing about her that resembled a janitor.
The old woman grew suspicious.
‘Did she find it and hide it away?’
“So you’re saying if I come tomorrow, you’ll give it to me?”
“Yes,” Ruby Grant answered with certainty.
“What’s your name, young lady?”
“Grant.”
“Miss Grant, seeing as you’re a poor single mother, I’ll trust you this once,” the old woman said as her bodyguards helped her to her feet.
“But if the ring isn’t found, I won’t let you off easy, either.”
After the old woman left, Ruby Grant’s gaze swept over the other street sweeper.
He was a young man, the classic type who had no family and lived off relatives’ charity.
His tool cart was tossed aside as he lazily stretched out on a bench by the greenbelt, covering his head to take a nap!
She’d heard he was Fiona Halloway’s nephew, David Goodman.
She thought of Fiona Halloway, who had framed her, and of the three thousand yuan that had been inexplicably docked from her pay.
‘This time, I have no choice but to take this gamble.’
As evening fell and the sky darkened, streetlights flickered on one after another, stretching to the horizon.
Beneath the lights, a slender figure was busy at work.
Ruby Grant had already swept most of the street.
Just a few more minutes, and she could take Ceci home.
Just as she finished her final sweep, a bossy voice sounded from above her.
“Hey, you!
The one with the baby!
Get over here and sweep my section too, you hear me?”
Along with his words came a handful of sunflower seed shells, scattering across the ground.
Across the greenbelt that divided the street, Ruby Grant saw the young man with the limp.
His clothes were spotless.
He was slouched lazily on a lounge chair meant for pedestrians, the bag of green-tea-flavored roasted sunflower seeds beside him already empty.
Ruby Grant blinked, feigning ignorance.
“And you are?”
The man furrowed his brow and shot her a contemptuous look.
“My aunt’s name is Fiona Halloway.
Ring a bell now?”
He kicked the broom at his feet.
“Go on, clean this area for me, too.
Call me when you’re done.
If I catch you slacking off, I’ll have my aunt fire you!”
With that, he leisurely picked up his phone and started scrolling through short videos.
A lewd grin spread across his face as he watched a pretty young woman on a livestream.
Ruby Grant had sharp eyes; she saw he was the top donor in the livestream’s chat.
…
Ruby Grant picked up her broom and started to sweep.
Her time in prison had taught her that the only way to survive was to submit and obey.
So, the moment David Goodman gave the order, she buried her head and began to sweep, not daring to hesitate for a second, terrified that a storm of fists would rain down on her at any moment.
But after a few sweeps, a wave of sadness washed over Ruby Grant.
‘What am I doing?’
She was out of prison now, yet people like David Goodman and Fiona Halloway could still so easily trample all over her.
She swallowed, her dry throat aching.
Ruby Grant turned, pulled a bottle of water from her bag, and twisted the cap, ready to soothe her parched throat.
Out of nowhere, a hand snatched the water from her grasp.
He put it to his lips and GULP, GULP, GULP, drank half the bottle.
“What are you drinking for?
And what are you looking at?
Finish up so I can clock out, you hear me?
You’re keeping me from watching the pretty girls.
Now get back to work!”
David Goodman contentedly snacked on sunflower seeds and drank her water as dusk settled.
Ruby Grant’s eyes, fixed on him, were filled with suppressed hatred.
But she didn’t dare fight back.
He was big and strong, and she was carrying a six-month-old baby.
If a fight broke out, she’d be nothing more than a punching bag for him.
After finishing the water, David Goodman crumpled the empty bottle and threw it at Ruby Grant’s feet.
He went back to watching the women on his phone, occasionally muttering some vulgarity.
Ruby Grant’s eyes were clear and cold.
Cradling Ceci, she was furious but dared not speak.
Her only hope was for tomorrow, when she could borrow the old woman’s power to punish this vile man before her.
“Ugh, damn it, why’s my stomach acting up now!
Did you do something?”
The next second, for some unknown reason, the man started squirming.
A rumbling churned in his stomach, forcing him to clench his buttocks, as if that was the only thing preventing an immediate explosion.
Ruby Grant was stunned.
She hadn’t done a thing!
He snorted coldly.
“Not like you’d have the guts.
Must have been something I ate for lunch.
I knew there was something fishy about that noodle shop.
No wonder I always want to eat there.”
“You’d better work hard.
If I come back and you’re gone, you’ll see how I’ll beat you!” he ordered, not forgetting to issue a threat before waddling away with his legs pressed together.
Ruby Grant lowered her face and nodded, putting on a show of obedience.
Only then did the man leave, reassured.
Ruby Grant slowly raised her head, watching his pathetic figure scurry toward the restrooms, her face a mask of confusion.
In the glow of the lamplight, on the bottle that Ruby Grant had swept into her dustpan, the expiration date was clearly visible: yesterday!
Ruby Grant was almost finished sweeping.
She was drenched in sweat, so tired she had to drag her feet to take a single step forward.
She periodically stopped to massage the spot where her calf met her thigh.
Her leg had been broken there once, and now a sharp, needle-like pain was flaring up.
In her arms, Ceci suddenly started to cry restlessly, as if asking, ‘Mama, where’s my bottle?’
Ruby Grant felt helpless.
She looked at the small section of street that remained, gritted her teeth, and turned to leave.
Nothing was more important than her Ceci.
A long time later, the man emerged slowly from the public restroom on the side of the road, his legs weak.
“Time to go home and get some sleep!” he muttered, a wicked smile playing on his lips.
But when he returned to his spot!
“Where’d she go?”
The street was mostly swept, but a hundred-meter stretch remained, covered in dead leaves and trash.
The shells from the sunflower seeds he’d been eating were still there, a glaring reminder of something.
“That woman just left?”
A cold wind blew, and the desolate street was empty save for him.
David Goodman’s expression changed.
Resigned to his fate, he picked up the broom and swept haphazardly for a bit.
Separated only by the greenbelt, the street he was responsible for was a world apart from the one Ruby Grant had just cleaned.
As he dumped out the rest of his sunflower seed shells, he ground his teeth.
“You damn bitch.
Just wait and see how I deal with you tomorrow!”
The moment Ruby Grant got back, Ms.
Pound rushed over to greet her.
She took Ceci from her and asked in a low voice, “Did Fiona Halloway’s nephew give you a hard time?”
Ruby Grant paused for a moment, then simply said, “No.”
But a flash of pain still crossed her face.
She sat on the edge of the bed and lifted her pant leg.
Sure enough, the spot was swollen.
“Still trying to fool me?” Ms.
Pound’s face was full of anger.
“I knew he bullied the other sweepers, but I never thought he’d even pick on a widow and her child!
Why doesn’t heaven just take that monster away?”
Ruby Grant lowered her pant leg, placed Ceci on the bed to change her diaper, and felt a ripple of emotion at Ms.
Pound’s words.
‘Whether or not tomorrow’s plan succeeds will all depend on how powerful that old woman really is.’
Ruby Grant lowered her head, brushing her delicate nose against her daughter’s tender pink cheek as she prayed silently.