From humble beginnings to the pinnacle of life

The phone beeped with a notification that the payment had been received, and Luo Ge's brows furrowed instantly: "Ye Zi, you're doing this again! How many times have I told you not to overpay? If you do this again, I won't charge you next time!"

"Who told you to keep lowering the price for me? You're running a business to support your family and pay for medical treatment, not a charity. You should charge the price you're supposed to."

I spoke firmly, not letting him refuse.

Luo Ge looked troubled, so I changed the subject: "Is Tuan Tuan asleep?"

"Yeah, I went to sleep after taking a shower."

I nodded and reminded you, "Then don't stay up too late. You have to go to the logistics station to unload goods early tomorrow morning. Don't ruin your health."

"I know, please ride your bikes slowly on the road and be careful."

Just as she was about to turn and leave, Su Qing suddenly stopped and looked at Brother Luo, saying:

"Boss, Lin Ye told me about Tuantuan's situation. Don't be too anxious or hard on yourself. Everything will get better slowly. Keep going."

Brother Luo smiled gently at her: "Thank you, young lady."

After saying that, he inexplicably added, looking at me with sincere eyes: "Girl, Yezi is a reliable person. I've been dealing with him for a year, and I know his character very well."

Su Qing didn't quite understand what Brother Luo meant by that, but I got it.

I was afraid she would keep asking questions and cause an awkward situation, so I quickly pulled her away and walked out.

As they went downstairs, Su Qing belatedly scratched her head and whispered to me:

"What did the barbecue restaurant owner mean by that? He wouldn't have misunderstood, would he? Were there some kind of special relationship between us?"

I looked at Su Qing, a playful smile playing on my lips, and deliberately asked, "What do you think?"

Su Qing immediately showed a disgusted expression, curled her lip forcefully, and said with utter disdain:

"You're kidding! Someone like you, there's no way I'd even look at you!"

I wasn't angry at all when she said that, because it was the truth.

Of course, it would be different if these words came from my ex-girlfriend Li Meng.

Li Meng and Su Qing are not the same kind of people at all. Their backgrounds are completely different. Li Meng is at most good-looking and comes from an ordinary family. In the end, she is in the same social class as me.

I know I'm not good enough for a young lady like Su Qing, so what I said wasn't unpleasant.

But I wanted to tease her, so I stopped in my tracks, a mischievous smile on my face, and slowly took two steps closer to her.

The hallway was dimly lit, with only a few motion-activated lights flickering on and off, creating a rather eerie and somewhat frightening atmosphere.

Su Qing subconsciously took two steps back, her back pressed firmly against the wall, with nowhere left to retreat.

She tried to remain calm, her voice trembling slightly: "Why...why are you staring at me? Don't come any closer, stop!"

"Hehehe..."

I lowered my voice, deliberately letting out a sinister laugh, and slowly approached her.

"Look, there's not a soul in this entire hallway. Even if I did something to you, no one would hear me."

Su Qing screamed in fright, "Ah! Don't come any closer! I'm going to call for help!"

"Go ahead and shout, even if you shout until your throat is hoarse, no one will come out to help you in the dead of night."

As I spoke, I raised my hands, making a show of reaching out to grab her.

To my surprise, she reacted very quickly, raising her hand and delivering a crisp slap to my face.

The hallway fell silent instantly; the sound was particularly jarring, even causing the motion-activated lights in the opposite apartment building to turn on.

I stood frozen in place, half of my cheek burning hot, my mind completely blank.

While I was distracted, Su Qing ducked down and dashed downstairs.

I stood there stunned for a long time before I came to my senses. I raised my hand to touch my burning cheeks and gave a self-deprecating bitter laugh.

He brought this on himself; he had to scare her for no reason and ended up getting slapped for nothing.

I shook my head and quickly went downstairs.

Su Qing stood by the alleyway, her eyes still fixed on me warily.

This urban village is eerily deserted late at night. She looked at it with a mixture of fear and wariness towards me.

I walked up to her, smiled, and spread my hands, saying, "I was just joking with you. Did you have to hit me so hard, slapping me across the face?"

She raised her chin and gave a haughty snort: "You deserve it! Who told you to scare me on purpose? Anyone would have hit you in that situation."

"Yes, yes, I deserve it. Let's go and take a taxi home."

Su Qing stared at the electric scooter parked by the roadside and asked, "Don't you want your scooter anymore?"

"How can I ride a bike after drinking? If I get caught by the traffic police again, it won't just be a ticket."

After saying that, I turned and walked towards the main road outside.

Su Qing quickly caught up, softening her voice and asking cautiously in a low voice, "That slap just now... did it hurt?"

"Of course I was stunned on the spot, do you think it hurt?"

Su Qing snorted: "You can't blame me for being heavy-handed. You were the one who deliberately scared me first. How was I supposed to know if you were joking or if you really had bad intentions?"

"I'm speechless. What else could I possibly do to you?"

"That's hard to say."

Seeing that I remained silent, she secretly glanced at me, her tone softening slightly:

"How about... I give you a massage to make amends?"

I was immediately surprised and raised an eyebrow at her: "Really? Miss Su is willing to swallow her pride and apologize to me?"

Su Qing immediately rolled her eyes and said coldly, "Fine, don't do it. I'm too lazy to do it anyway."

"Yes, yes, I said no!"

I quickly moved closer and offered half of my face to her.

Seeing my shameless expression, Su Qing couldn't help but burst out laughing: "How can you be so shameless?"

"If you don't have a thick skin, how can you survive in this society? Hurry up, stop dawdling."

"Aren't you afraid I'll slap you back?"

I tensed up instantly, staring at her warily, not daring to get any closer.

Su Qing suppressed a laugh, looking charming and adorable.

But then, an unexpected change occurred.

Four or five young men with dyed hair of various colors strolled over from the end of the alley. They wore loose short-sleeved shirts, walked unsteadily, and exuded a carefree and roguish air.

The group blocked the middle of the alley we were passing through, with the blond-haired leader staring intently at Su Qing.

My heart sank instantly, and I knew something was wrong.

This urban village is a melting pot of people, with migrant workers from all over the country living together, and the security situation at night is already poor.

It's late at night and the streets are deserted. Running into this group of idle thugs is not a good thing.

The leader, a blond-haired man, started joking around in a nonchalant manner:

"Wow, we have such a beautiful young lady around here. How come I've never seen her like this before?"

A skinny man standing nearby joined in the commotion, his gaze sweeping over Su Qing.

"Hey beautiful, come out for a drive with us guys, we guarantee you'll have a blast."

Su Qing's face instantly darkened, and she subconsciously shrank back half a step behind me, then coldly rebuked:

"Watch your mouth, stop acting like a scoundrel, and get out of the way."

Su Qing was unaware of the danger; these thugs were nothing like the three hooligans she had encountered before!

Because these are all teenagers who are eighteen or nineteen years old, or even underage.

Young people of this age are the most reckless, acting without considering the consequences, and capable of doing anything extreme.