Chapter 7 Why does she cry every time she meets him?
The Conservatory of Music is not far from the old campus of Jiangnan University, and there is a well-known night market along the street.
At six o'clock in the evening, the lights in the stalls were already on, and there was a constant stream of people, just as lively as she remembered.
The car drove slowly on the one-way street. When it was almost at the end of the night market, it saw a group of people gathered at the corner of the road ahead.
Su Xia opened the car window a crack.
The evening breeze was warm, carrying the fresh aroma of snacks and the gossip of passers-by as I slid into the car.
"...The camera being right in my face is really a bit too much. I tried to stop it in a nice way at first, but there's no need to embarrass a child like that."
"I think he's just pretending. Aren't these handsome guys from lower-class backgrounds popular now? The more miserable they are, the more heartbroken those girls will be. If they post it online and it goes viral, they'll make a lot of money."
"Are you afraid that your classmates will recognize you and embarrass you by setting up a stall? See, he's not wearing the No. 1 Middle School uniform. It's such a difficult provincial key school to get into. My son spent tens of thousands of dollars on tutoring and still couldn't get in..."
The two words "One China" are pleasing to the ear.
Su Xia was stunned.
Su Lijun also heard it, but he was obviously more concerned about the blogger's name that quickly passed by, his face full of envy.
He glanced back and said, "My uncle used to work in the catering industry. Many good-looking small business owners are just hype. They may not really be your classmates."
"School uniforms are readily available, so which No. 1 Middle School parent would let their son do such dirty and tiring work?"
No wonder they say that “good people” come from wealthy families.
Su Lijun was a social figure. When he saw his niece frowning, he sneered at the girl's innocence in his heart.
He drove an expensive car for a few days thanks to his sister's influence, but once he put on the fake gold, he had already drawn a clear line between himself and these small vendors in his heart.
"There are many scammers like this, so don't bother with them."
The further the car moved forward, the louder the quarrel became.
Short videos were not as popular as they are now, and there were few serious bloggers who explored night markets. Most of them were local tyrants who were used to being flattered by merchants and were extremely arrogant.
In front of the fried noodle stall, a fat man with a drunken flush on his face said in a gruff voice, "How old are you? A fried noodle vendor is so arrogant in front of me?"
"Do you know how many followers I have on my account? Two hundred thousand! One spit from each of them can make it impossible for you to survive in Jiangcheng."
"So many internet celebrity stores are begging me to take photos, who the hell do you think you are? Do you know how much this equipment costs? Even if you sold your whole family, you still couldn't afford it! I'm being merciful by not asking you to kneel down and thank me for taking photos, and you dare to steal my phone?"
Without waiting for a response, he violently kicked over the nearby trash can, sending eggshells and vegetable leaves tumbling onto the floor. "Come on, try to challenge me again? Believe it or not, I'll have the entire internet hunt you down!"
The crowd watching the excitement were afraid of being injured by mistake, so they dispersed to the side while talking about it.
Su Xia stuck out half of her face and looked over there.
She never expected to meet Xu Jiqing here.
The light bulb was dim and the fire from the gas stove made the air jump.
Under the stall, the little girl with a mushroom head was already scared and crying, but she didn't dare to make a sound. She just hugged her brother's legs tightly and sobbed softly.
Xu Jiqing's forehead was covered with sweat, and his pale eyes were emotionless. He was still wearing the same white school uniform he wore after school, with long sleeves covering his wrists. It was clean and cold, and it didn't fit in with the surroundings.
"Scan the code, fifteen yuan."
His voice was low, but clear. He tapped the QR code hanging in front of the lightbulb with his fingertips, not raising his eyelids, as if the drunken man before him, shouting loudly, was less worthy of attention than the rice noodles almost out of the pot.
The fat man grinned in disbelief and asked, "You're asking me for money?"
"Tenderloin and egg, fifteen."
Xu Jiqing repeated it again, shaking the pot so hard that the gas stove hummed, "Pay."
"Fuck!" The man pushed the food cart hard, causing the plastic roof to sway. "Fuck you..."
He walked around the stove in two steps and reached out to grab the boy's collar, but missed.
The man breathed heavily, and when Xu Jiqing lowered his head, he deliberately raised his elbow and hit the iron pot.
My sister is still hiding behind me.
The little girl was slow to react and was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, so her tender arms were exposed. Xu Jiqing could only support her and could not hide.
The boiling oil that was burning over a fierce fire was emitting green smoke, and the sizzling fried noodles splashed out along the edge of the pot and all poured onto his right hand.
Under the greasy soup, the burned skin on the back of the hand became red and swollen at a terrifying speed, and blisters bulged out.
The onlookers couldn't help but gasp, but Xu Jiqing didn't even frown. He covered the little girl's eyes with his other hand.
"Can I pay now?"
His tone was steady, his light eyes hidden by the shadow of his eyelashes, and he had an almost inhuman calmness.
"you……"
The fat man just wanted to scare him, but he didn't expect things to develop like this. He was dumbfounded. "Everyone can testify for me that it was your own fault that your hand was shaking. Don't try to scam me."
As the commotion here grew louder, diners from the surrounding stalls also began to gather here.
People gathered around chattering and asking questions, and squeezed through the crowd to watch the show.
Everyone wanted to get closer to take a look, but just to join in the fun and not to get into any trouble.
Su Xia was sitting in the back seat of the car, her throat tightening as she watched.
In her previous life's memory, Xu Jiqing transferred from another place to Jiangcheng. He had excellent grades but his family was not well off. He had a younger sister named Xu Jiaojiao who was much younger than him.
As for what he experienced in his youth and how his family made a living, he never mentioned it.
These past few years have been like a piece of rotten flesh that Xu Jiqing has been trying hard to remove.
Humiliation, lowliness, poverty.
Allowed to be trampled upon by others.
Completely different from the Xu Jiqing when he grew up.
Su Xia's heart was in turmoil, and the impulse she felt when they first met surged up uncontrollably.
Seeing that the man who was causing trouble wanted to take advantage of the chaos to leave, she didn't bother to explain to Su Lijun. She picked up the milk tea on the passenger seat, got out of the car regardless of anything, rushed to the stall, and splashed it in the face of the man who was causing trouble.
The ice rolled into the man's collar, making him sober up. "Who the hell is that..."
He wiped the pearls off his face, glared, and turned his head along with the crowd.
A young girl in a pleated skirt, her long hair disheveled by the evening breeze, her rosy lips tightly bitten, the empty plastic cup in her hand making a crackling sound, her knuckles turning white.
Su Xia was protected too well by her family in her previous life and had never dealt with such gangsters, let alone a face-to-face fight.
It's not that she isn't afraid.
But since she was here, how could she just watch Xu Jiqing being bullied?
The man's attention quickly shifted to her.
Su Xia's calves were trembling, but she took another step closer and pulled down the QR code that was stuck high up. Her trembling eyelashes stared back, "...Give him five hundred for his medical expenses. Transfer it now."
The crowd fell silent.
Xu Jiqing's hands were covered in oil and blood, and he looked over with cold eyes.
It was the new classmate who stretched out his legs to stop him.
This innocent daughter was clearly involved in this kind of thing for the first time. In the dim light, the girl's beautiful almond-shaped eyes were moist and bright, her eyelashes trembling with fear, and she stood there like a kitten with its fur standing on end.
No tears yet, but almost there.
Why does she cry every time she meets him?
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