I am a dragon

"Is there anything else?"

My cold attitude froze me, but Ning Meng was unaffected. She placed a box on the table and said, "I heard you opened a massage parlor. I didn't have much to give you, so I bought you a set of silver needles that you might need."

I don't want Ning Meng's things. Ning Meng said, "If you don't accept them, I'll send them to your shop."

Hearing her say that, I accepted the box of silver needles and said, "Ningmeng, perhaps this world is already broken and ruined, but we should still live towards the sun."

A look of indifference or numbness that transcended life and death suddenly appeared in Ning Meng's eyes.

"There is no sun in my sky, it is always night, but it is not dark, because something has replaced the sun. Although it is not as dazzling as the sun, it is enough for me."

With this light, I can treat night as day. I have never had the sun, so I am not afraid of losing it.

I looked at Ning Meng in surprise. I recognized the passage as being from Keigo Higashino's "Journey Under the Midnight Sun," but I didn't understand why she was reciting it at this moment.

Ning Meng continued to stare at me, a hint of sadness on her face, and said, "She still has things in her life that can replace sunshine, but what about me?"

I paused for a moment, then left the restaurant without looking back.

I'm afraid that if I turn around, I'll see Ning Meng's tears.

In the afternoon, Shi Hui was not in the store, but unexpectedly Zhou Mingyuan casually walked in.

Tao Xiaotao was the first to see him and said irritably, "You are not welcome here. Please leave."

Zhou Mingyuan chuckled: "Xiao Tao's here too. Where's Lu Feng?"

He doesn't want to see you.

"You've opened your doors to do business, how can you turn your customers away?" Zhou Mingyuan, unable to afford to offend Tao Xiaotao, raised his voice, "Lu Feng, Lu Feng!"

I had actually seen him, but I didn't want to see him. However, Zhou Mingyuan started shouting, so I had no choice but to come down the stairs from the second floor.

Zhou Mingyuan looked me up and down: "You've transformed yourself from a hen into a duck, now you're a boss?"

I scoffed, "Manager Zhou, what are you doing here?"

Zhou Mingyuan sarcastically said, "Wow, being handsome really can put food on the table. You've already hooked up with a rich woman so quickly. I heard the boss even gave you 40% of Lu Feng's shares."

"Did he please his female boss?"

"Watch your mouth!" I snapped, annoyed.

Zhou Mingyuan curled his lip and said, "A real man should be willing to admit what he's done. Let me remind you, the owner of this shop, Shi Hui, has a husband. Be careful, or you might get your third leg broken."

Tao Xiaotao shoved Zhou Mingyuan and said, "Zhou Mingyuan, are you ever going to shut up? If you have something to say, just say it. Otherwise, you're just being a jerk and spouting all this nonsense."

Zhou Mingyuan said, "Xiao Tao, what's the deal with you hanging out with him all the time?"

He already knew Tao Xiaotao's true identity, so of course he dared not disrespect her.

Tao Xiaotao said irritably, "You jerk, didn't you hear me?"

Zhou Mingyuan had no choice but to leave. After he left, I saw Zhou Mingyuan whispering with a man. Upon closer inspection, I realized that the man was Shi Hui's husband, Li Tong.

Li Tong glanced in my direction, looking very angry, as if he wanted to cause trouble, but Zhou Mingyuan pulled him away.

Tao Xiaotao saw it too, and said helplessly, "Sister Hui is such a good person, how come she had to marry Li Tong?"

I then remembered that Tao Xiaotao and Shi Hui were neighbors before, so it's normal that she knew Li Tong.

"What does this Li Tong do? He even came to the store the other day asking Shi Hui for money."

Tao Xiaotao was furious at the mention of Li Tong.

"How dare he! Li Tong was originally in the fire brigade, but he was lazy, cunning, and indulged in drinking, gambling, and whoring. He was later fired from the fire brigade."

"Now things are really messed up. At first, his workplace kept him in check, but later he completely let loose. He didn't care about his family or earn money. When he ran out of money, he would ask Sister Hui for it, and if she didn't give it to him, he would beat her, causing chaos and unrest."

I began to sympathize with Shi Hui. Everyone says that marriage is a person's second life, and who you marry really makes a difference.

Of course, I didn't have this experience at the time; I only heard it from Ghost Hand Li.

"Why not get a divorce?" I asked.

Tao Xiaotao sighed and said, "But we have children. Sister Hui's child has excellent grades and attends the city's No. 1 High School. She's worried that it might interfere with the child's studies."

A mother's love makes her strong; this reminds me of my own mother, and my eyes welled up with tears.

Tao Xiaotao reminded me, "Zhou Mingyuan and Li Tong were acting suspiciously just now. They were obviously up to no good. Be careful these next few days. People like that are capable of anything."

I secretly wrote it down.

As we were talking, Shi Hui returned, and Tao Xiaotao and I changed the subject.

After closing the door in the evening, Shi Hui decided to invite me and Tao Xiaotao out for dinner. Tao Xiaotao was very happy and suggested going for hot pot.

I didn't care what I ate, so I followed the two women to a well-known hot pot restaurant nearby.

The restaurant was very busy; if Shi Hui hadn't booked a private room in advance, we wouldn't have had a table at all.

In the private room, the three of us sat down around the table and ordered a hot pot with two broths. Tao Xiaotao received a phone call and said she had something to do and would be right back.

After she left, it was just Shi Hui and me left.

I'm not good at chatting; sometimes I'm more like a homebody. Not knowing what to say to Shi Hui, I thought for a moment and asked, "Sister Hui, isn't your child out of school yet?"

Shi Hui smiled at me and said, "I arranged accommodation for him. At home..."

She stopped abruptly, and I immediately realized that having a father who was often drunk and abusive was severely impacting a child's growth and studies.

"I heard from Xiaotao that her maternal grandfather taught you everything he knew in his life?"

I don't know if it's all I've ever learned, but it has taught me a lot.

"Old Li is highly respected and very famous in our area, it's just a pity... what kind of world is this?" Shi Hui said, looking at me. "Xiao Tao is a good girl, you mustn't let her down."

I realized Shi Hui had misunderstood, so I quickly explained, "Xiao Tao and I don't have that kind of relationship."

Shi Hui smiled and did not continue the topic.

At this moment, the waiters began serving the dishes. As soon as they finished serving and left, someone violently kicked open the door and barged in.

Shi Hui, facing the door, tensed up upon seeing the intruder.

"Li Tong, what are you doing here?"

I turned around and recognized Shi Hui's husband, Li Tong. Li Tong had been drinking a lot of alcohol; he reeked of it, his eyes were wide, and he grabbed my collar, spraying the alcohol fumes all over my face.

"You pretty boy, how dare you seduce my wife! I'll beat you to death!"

Li Tong raised his fist and struck, but his stance was unsteady. I nudged Li Tong with my hand, using a clever trick, and Li Tong spun around and landed on the ground.

Shi Hui got up from her seat and tried to pull Li Tong up, but Li Tong slapped her across the face and cursed, "You bitch, you cheated on me with a cuckold's horns! I'll beat you to death!"