Zhou Chenyu broke off the last piece and gave it to him, then propped her chin up and looked him over. The smile that had been on her lips faded, her eyes stung, and she said in a low voice, "Even though I'm not doing so well myself, I still can't bear to see all this suffering in the world. Sigh."
She murmured, and seeing the old man eating with satisfaction, her smile returned. "Slow down, don't choke. Nobody's going to take it from you."
"Delicious, so delicious." The old man was eating with great joy, but suddenly stopped and stared at the person behind Zhou Chenyu, his eyes shining: "Hehe, you're here, that's great, you've finally come to see me!"
Who's here?
Zhou Chenyu turned her head and saw Yang Xi standing with his hands behind his back in the alley, dressed in a smart navy blue narrow-sleeved official robe under a tree, his elegant figure standing out.
Zhou Chenyu stood there, stunned.
When did he get there?
Yang Xi walked over slowly, knelt down past her, looked at the old man, and said in a gentle tone with a hint of reproach, "Didn't I tell you not to wander around? Why are you running around?"
The old man patted his shriveled belly, not afraid of him at all, and laughed: "Hungry... I'm hungry, I'll eat some pancakes, the little girl gave them to me, the pancakes are delicious, delicious."
The old man pointed at Zhou Chenyu. Yang Xi looked over, and Zhou Chenyu met his eyes. She wondered if it was just her imagination, but his gaze seemed less cold and unapproachable than before.
He said, "The old man is a little confused, so I thank Miss Zhou on his behalf."
He actually took the initiative to talk to her.
Unexpectedly, a casual act led to her good fortune.
Zhou Chenyu beamed with joy, "No need to thank me, helping others is what I should do."
Taking this opportunity, she leaned forward and asked him, "Squad Leader Yang, is this old man your relative?"
“No.” Yang Xi shook his head and wiped the food residue from the old man’s mouth. “He is a relative of an old friend of mine, and I am just taking care of him for him.”
An old friend?
I heard from Li Xiuju that the old man only had one dead son. Are she friends with the old man's son?
As Zhou Chenyu was thinking, she saw Yang Xi stand up and walk towards her: "Miss Zhou, consider the cakes you gave the old man as something I bought from you. Is this enough? If not, I'll give you more another day."
Zhou Chenyu looked at the silver and saw that it was worth about twenty copper coins, enough for her to make a lot of red bean pastries.
How can you talk about money when doing good deeds?
How mercenary!
She smiled slightly, "Chief Yang, I don't want your money. I just passed by and felt sorry for this old man, so I gave him the food. I did this not for any other reason than to do a good deed and accumulate some merit."
Yang Xi looked at her smile, his gaze calm and still, and thought to himself, "I will take care of the old man in my place, so this money is rightfully yours."
After speaking, Yang Xi placed the silver coins directly into the wooden box.
Does he mean he wants her to accept the money and settle the matter once and for all?
How can that be allowed?
Zhou Chenyu's smile faded, and she picked up the wooden box, walking towards him with a slightly spoiled air. "Officer Yang, I gave the red bean pastry to the old man to do a good deed. If you insist on giving me money, I, Zhou Chenyu, am not the kind of person who takes advantage of small things. A box of red bean pastries in our dessert shop sells for a maximum of five copper coins, but you have a full twenty copper coins here. I'll give you the rest of the money."
Yang Xi helped the old man up as he was about to leave, and said to her, "I know that your Zhou family has been humiliated by Qian Rushan several times, and you are in dire need of money right now. This little bit of silver is nothing to worry about, so there's no need for it."
"No, I can't take your money for nothing." Zhou Chenyu stopped him and said seriously, "If you don't want to accept the money, I'll send you the rest of the red bean pastries in a few days. Don't blame me then."
Seeing the old man eating happily, Yang Xi thought for a moment and nodded, "In that case, please have Miss Zhou deliver it to the entrance of the government office. Thank you for your trouble."
“No problem, I guarantee delivery!” Zhou Chenyu’s almond-shaped eyes, sparkling with moisture, deliberately held a cunning look. Yang Xi lowered his eyes, his expression humble and indifferent. “Farewell.”
Zhou Chenyu smiled gently at his overly calm demeanor, saying casually, "Little fish, you'd better take the bait quickly."
Seeing them walk away, she also picked up the wooden box and walked out of the city in the opposite direction.
However, before he could even enjoy his happiness for long, trouble struck Baoyu.
From afar, Zhou Chenyu saw Baoyu being pinned down on a table by two men, who appeared to be the two sons of the old woman from the tea stall across the street.
"You brat, you dare to steal our business? You're tired of living?!" Baoyu's hands were held down by his youngest son, while his eldest son sat on his lap.
Baoyu started fighting with them, shouting, "Let me go! If you're so tough, let's fight one-on-one!"
“We won’t, so what?” The eldest son grabbed his ear with one hand and slapped him hard across the face five times with the other.
The younger son chuckled, then spat in his face, "Ptooey!"
"Go!" Zhou Chenyu looked around, filled a box with mud and sand, and ran over. But just as he was about to get there, Chen Tongsheng came over with a carrying pole and angrily shouted, "You two little brats, do you want to die?"
Chen Tong was tall and strong, with a fierce face, which made the two henchmen who bullied Bao Yu look like weak chickens. Moreover, his roar was like the roar of a tiger in the mountains, which instantly drove the two men away.
Chen Tongsheng threw down the carrying pole and helped Baoyu, asking, "Baoyu, are you alright?"
"Brother Chen, I'm alright, thanks to your timely arrival." Baoyu covered his face and got up, which made Chen Tongsheng frown.
Zhou Chenyu approached and saw that one side of Baoyu's face was swollen from being slapped, with a clear handprint. Her anger flared up immediately: "What happened?"
When Baoyu saw his sister, a wave of grievance washed over him. "It was them! They saw that our business was doing well and stole their customers, so they came to cause trouble! Those two men pinned me to the table and I couldn't move, so they slapped me several times, and my face is all swollen!"
Seeing his frustrated tears, Zhou Chenyu picked up the carrying pole and stormed over, shouting, "Who hit Baoyu? Get out here!"
Chen Tongsheng also felt annoyed and followed after them with a dark face.
The female shop owner saw three men approaching with a menacing air. The woman had a fierce look on her face, the man was tall and strong, and even the boy who had been bullied earlier looked hateful.
She quickly shielded her two beloved sons behind her, shouting, "You madwoman, what are you trying to do?"
Zhou Chenyu yanked the woman away and grabbed the weakling's eldest son, shouting, "What do you think you're doing?!"
Zhou Chenyu grabbed his neck, said nothing, and slapped him hard across the face.
The man had never seen such a fierce woman before. He was stunned, covered his face, and began to sob, "Mother..."
The mother, seeing her son being beaten, ran over crying to protect him. Knowing she was in the wrong and couldn't fight back, she played the victim: "Boys often fight and roughhouse, why are you taking it so seriously?"
"You're talking nonsense!" Zhou Chenyu pointed at her face and cursed, "Old woman, I warned you long ago that I'm not someone you can bully! Zhou Baoyu is my brother. No matter how bad he is, I, as his older sister, will handle him. It's not your place to hit him! Consider this slap as me returning the favor to you. If you ever dare to touch a hair on his head again, or cause trouble at our stall again, I'll make sure you come in upright and leave horizontally! Let's go!"
"Bullshit!!" Baoyu snorted with a pout, then kicked over several tables to vent his anger.
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