The man in black cursed, “You motherf—…”
“You’re the ones who put the bug in there, and you still have the nerve to act like this?”
Zhu Zhixi shot to her feet, her fair face flushed with anger. “If you’re poor and have no one, people might look down on you, but if you’re shameless, even the dogs on the street will despise you.”
Xie Jin: “…”
Wu Liang: “…”
The young lady’s tongue… is sharp.
Zhu Zhixi was just wondering whether she should go buy some fruit tea when she noticed the two men across from her exchange glances. They nonchalantly dropped something into their plates and stirred it with their chopsticks.
Bold-faced extortion.
This move left Zhu Zhixi stunned. What kind of people are these?
The man with the buzz cut pointed at her and snapped, “Mind your own business. If you’re not eating, get lost!”
As soon as the words left his mouth, someone kicked him hard in the waist. The buzz-cut man tumbled to the ground in a clumsy heap, limbs splayed.
Xie Jin looked down at him from above, his lazy tone laced with coldness. “Who are you pointing at?”
“Fuck!”
The man in black swore, reaching out to pull his partner up from the ground.
Xie Jin tilted his head, his jaw sharp and his profile haughty. Zhu Zhixi looked up just in time to meet his gaze.
“This has nothing to do with you. Don’t go looking for trouble here. Go home early, young lady,” he said gently, as if coaxing a child not to meddle in adult affairs.
Zhu Zhixi grew anxious. “I can testify for you!”
Her delicate brows furrowed slightly, and her beautiful, round eyes filled with urgency.
Xie Jin let out a low chuckle, the vibrations resonating deep in his chest. His handsome face took on a more roguish charm as he smiled. He glanced at her briefly, his eyes lifting faintly at the corners. “No need.”
He tossed out those three words.
He didn’t need a little girl to protect him.
Grabbing a stool, Xie Jin ducked slightly as he stepped out of the red tent. Veins bulged on his arms, muscles taut. Dressed in black from head to toe, his back straight and imposing, he radiated an aura of menace.
The stool smashed hard into the two men.
Zhu Zhixi took a step forward, only to be pulled back by Wu Liang. “This kind of thing happens often. It’s fine. A good beating will keep them quiet for a few days.”
“Often?” Zhu Zhixi asked, puzzled.
Wu Liang sighed. “Business is good, he’s young, and people are jealous.”
“Our Jinjin can flip a wok, fix a car, throw a punch, and hold a conversation—he’s the All-Round NPC King. He can handle this. Let’s not get in his way.”
Zhu Zhixi’s gaze lingered on Xie Jin. But he’s only in his teens too.
Zhu Huaiqian only worries about games and limited-edition sneakers, while Xie Jin is being weighed down by life itself.
Wu Liang turned to reassure the other customers. “It’s fine, it’s fine. Keep eating. These two are just scammers. Our place is absolutely safe and clean. I washed every single leaf of these vegetables myself—spotless.”
The two men were no match for Xie Jin.
In the time it took Zhu Zhixi and Wu Liang to exchange a few words, the two men lay on the ground, each looking more pathetic than the other.
Xie Jin stood over them, cold and sharp-eyed. “Which do you prefer: the police station or the hospital?”
This kid’s kicks were brutal.
The two men cursed under their breath.
Xie Jin paid them no mind. He snorted coldly, turned, and walked back to his stall. Picking up the plates the two men had been eating from, he turned around again and flung one plate in front of each of them.
Crash! The plates shattered into pieces.
“Lick it clean,” Xie Jin said, lowering his eyelids. “Seems like you enjoy eating dirty things.”
Lick.
The two men glared up at him defiantly, only to be kicked hard in the stomach by Xie Jin. They cried out in pain.
He licked his lips, his voice growing even colder. “Lick it.”
Zhu Zhixi's gaze fell on Xie Jin's handsome and well-defined face. He lowered his eyelids, calm and unruffled, watching the two men crawl on the ground like dogs, actually licking the plates.
In her memory, Xie Jin was refined, steady, and dignified.
Not this wild and coldly fierce.
No wonder Zhu Huaiqian and Gu Qishen said he was ruthless and bad.
But if he weren't ruthless, others would only bully him even more relentlessly.
An uncomfortable emotion sprouted in Zhu Zhixi's chest.
The two men left, though they didn't seem entirely willing. Xie Jin didn't care at all, tucking one hand into his pocket as he turned and walked back.
Xie Jin was tall, and the hostility around him hadn't yet dissipated. When Zhu Zhixi met his gaze, she felt a sense of oppression looming over her.
His pupils were very dark, and the contours of his face were sharp, though a touch of youthfulness softened the sense of aggression and hostility.
Zhu Zhixi felt as if he was looking at her like prey.
Her footsteps instinctively took a step back.
Xie Jin stopped walking and didn't move forward.
The corners of his lips curved slightly, a faint, somewhat mocking tone: "What, just now you said you'd help me, and now you're afraid of me?"
Zhu Zhixi's heart began to pound.
Her clear, dark eyes looked at Xie Jin as she shook her head: "No, they were in the wrong from the start."
The curve of Xie Jin's lips deepened a little, though it still wasn't very obvious.
He raised an eyebrow, his tone casual: "Thanks, young miss."
That "young miss"—why did it sound like he was teasing her?
Zhu Zhixi's face warmed slightly.
Letting out a sigh of relief, she sat back down, having already forgotten her plan to go buy fruit tea.
A pale wrist appeared in her line of sight, and Xie Jin's uniquely lazy voice drifted down from above: "For you."
Xie Jin now held several bottles of cola in his hand, their glass exteriors coated with a layer of frost. He placed one in front of her.
"Thank you."
Zhu Zhixi's voice was soft, with a sticky sweetness to it.
She was indeed quite thirsty, rubbing her fingertips against the frost on the bottle, which melted into streaks of moisture under her touch.
Her eyelashes lowered slightly as she took small sips through the straw, gentle and well-behaved—a stark contrast to her earlier confrontation with the two troublemakers.
Xie Jin had bought her a drink—did that mean he didn't dislike her anymore?
Wu Liang wiped down the area where the two troublemakers had eaten with a rag, then boldly swung his leg over to sit opposite Zhu Zhixi. Tipping his chin up, he asked, "Hey, young miss, do you have relatives or friends around here?"
Confusion flickered in Zhu Zhixi's eyes: "What relatives?"
"Aren't you carrying all this stuff to visit relatives or friends?"
Wu Liang pointed to the nutritional supplements on the ground—strong tonics, for someone whose health wasn't great, who was weak and frail.
Zhu Zhixi looked utterly sincere: "I brought them for Xie Jin."
"His health isn't good, so I brought these to help him recover."
Wu Liang: "…"
"I can guarantee his health is just fine. Your eyesight isn't too great."
Xie Jin's health isn't good?
He could probably take down five, six, seven, or eight people in one go…