A Young Woman's Heart

"Is that you? What's your name?"

"...Chen Cheng."

"Oh, Chen Cheng." Tiger suddenly widened his eyes and roared, "What, is it fun to slander others behind their backs and be a villain? Hmm? You're not only harming yourself, but also your friends. We've been brothers for a long time, is this how you treat your brothers?"

"Brother Tiger, Brother Tiger... uh, Chen Cheng didn't mean it... he didn't mean to say anything to you, he was just complaining..." The skinny boy behind Chen Cheng was a bit more loyal and came up to mediate, but he was suddenly pushed aside.

"Tell me, what do you mean? How are you going to resolve this? Shouldn't you apologize?" Tiger grabbed Chen Cheng by the collar and questioned him.

Chen Cheng took a deep breath, seemingly trying to calm himself down.

Because he saw the nunchucks tucked into the belts of the thugs behind him, the crowbars they were holding, and the bulging scabbards of their small knives...

"Tiger is also very tired. He has to protect you guys. What's wrong with him borrowing some money from you? It's not like he won't pay it back. You can't slander him like this." Tiger's henchman spoke up for him.

"Yeah, Tiger is really loyal. If you're not happy about it, then you guys can protect this area, okay?"

Chen Cheng had a thousand things to say in rebuttal, but he couldn't bring himself to say them.

Twisting the truth and using tactics like winning people over or suppressing them are things that people in society are good at, even petty thugs.

"I think only Chen Cheng said that, did anyone else say it?"

Everyone else remained silent, and the thin boy trembled with fear, no longer daring to speak up for Chen Cheng.

They instinctively took a few steps back, like uninvolved bystanders.

"How about this, you apologize, and give Tiger Brother a hundred yuan. That'll show you sincerity." The henchman behind him offered Chen Cheng a way out. "What do you think?"

"Fuck your mother!" Chen Cheng finally couldn't take it anymore and spat out a mouthful of saliva, which splashed hard on Tiger Brother's face.

Everyone was stunned.

Including Tiger's underlings.

They didn't expect Chen Cheng to dare to resist.

Even without weapons, he alone is no match for them.

“Well said, a man should keep his word. If he says he’ll fuck you, he’ll fuck you.” Li Hongran, who was a head taller than Tiger, slowly walked out, as if she had been observing for a while.

He should have arrived when Tiger returned.

"Li Hongran?" Chen Cheng took a few steps back and looked at Li Hongran, who had walked up to him. "What are you doing here? You don't even smoke."

"Haha," Li Hongran laughed, "I just love going to places like this."

"Where did you come from, you punk? Don't be stupid!" Tiger's face turned ferocious and terrifying. He pulled out nunchucks from his pocket and twirled them in what appeared to be a beautiful display. "When I get angry, I won't hold back!"

"Hehe." Li Hongran chuckled. "I'm just a righteous passerby."

As he laughed, Li Wanyan and Mo Xueyao peeked out from behind the wall, and several other boys came panting from a distance.

Chen Cheng's thoughts raced, and he seemed to understand what was going on.

"Come on, beat the hell up." Li Hongran pulled a stick made of rolled-up cardboard from the side pocket of the water bottle in her backpack. It was as hard as a wooden stick.

……

Chapter 155 Li Wanyan, the 'Meddler'

"Wanyan, do you want some spicy strips?" Mo Xueyao took out five cents, bought a pack of Yinlong small spicy gluten strips, and turned to ask Li Wanyan.

"I'm not eating." Li Wanyan shook her head, smiled and sighed, "I've got pimples, I need to go to bed earlier these days."

"I go to bed at 10 pm every day now, or maybe 9 pm if I go earlier?"

“In junior high, I always went to bed at 8:30.” Li Wanyan took out a small mirror and looked at her face. On her forehead, there was a not-so-obvious pimple. She wanted to pop it, but she didn’t dare to actually do it. She could only glance at it from time to time to see if it had faded. “Should I let my bangs down?”

"Hmm... whatever? But if I let my bangs down and cover the pimples, won't they be harder to clear up?" Mo Xueyao opened the spicy snack packaging, squeezed the small gluten pieces inside upwards, poured a small bite into her mouth, and slowly chewed.

She had absolutely no worries about this, because she had never had acne since she was a child...

That's why my face doesn't have any minor blemishes left by acne.

"Eat less spicy snacks, they'll make you feel hot and bothered."

"It's okay to eat a pack once in a while!" Mo Xueyao stuck out her soft tongue and licked the chili oil from her lips. "I always feel like something's missing if I don't eat something on my way home."

Of course, this is because she's not so short of money lately, and spending five cents occasionally isn't a problem, which is why she's being so 'extravagant'.

In the past, I probably wouldn't buy snacks even once a month.

Mo Xueyao squeezed the remaining five-cent coins in her pocket, hesitated for a moment, and still didn't buy another pack.

"Wanyan, what's wrong?" She turned around and found Li Wanyan staring intently in a certain direction.

“These people are all going to smoke.” Li Wanyan narrowed her eyes. “Let’s follow them and see where they usually smoke.”

"Hey? Forget it, we're not at school anymore, so smoking has nothing to do with us." Mo Xueyao shrugged. "Let's not do something that's thankless... people will think we're meddling."

“The school has a rule that students are not allowed to smoke, whether on or off campus,” Li Wanyan said earnestly. “Banning students from smoking is itself a way of protecting them.”

"But the harmful effects of smoking are clearly stated on cigarette packs, yet a huge number of people still smoke, don't they?" Mo Xueyao looked at the adult men walking by with cigarettes in their mouths and thought of her father, who also smoked. "Anyway, everyone just turns a blind eye..."

Li Wanyan shook her head and followed Chen Cheng and his smoking buddies as they walked deeper into the alley.

"Hey! Wait..." Mo Xueyao could only helplessly follow Li Wanyan. The two of them distanced themselves from the group of boys and followed them cautiously, like stalkers.

However, they were completely unaware of the two people following behind them.

In the urban village outside the alley, there was a general store. Chen Cheng and his friends went to the store and each bought cigarettes.

The other boys bought them one by one, which clearly indicates that this method of sales is specifically targeted at minors.

Chen Cheng, on the other hand, was very generous and bought a whole bag of Liqun cigarettes before walking into the alley.

Mo Xueyao quickly pulled Li Wanyan to the corner and secretly watched them smoking and chatting.

“It’s illegal for the grocery store here to sell cigarettes to minors,” Li Wanyan said softly. “You can inform the school and then report him.”

"There's no need to take it so seriously..." Mo Xueyao rubbed her cheek. "There will always be many gray areas in the world, such as illegal internet cafes, illegal game arcades, and illegal shops..."

“But we can’t all turn a blind eye.” Li Wanyan glanced at Mo Xueyao, her expression serious and earnest. “Wrong things shouldn’t be excused as ‘existence is justification’.”

"Okay... So what are you planning to do now? Go and stop them directly? They won't listen even if you tell them, and if you report them, they'll definitely know it was you who did it."

After hearing Mo Xueyao's words, Li Wanyan remained silent for a few seconds, but still straightened up, intending to stop the group of boys from smoking.

Just then, several thugs who looked menacing approached the group of boys.

"Brother!" One of the thugs, the leader, patted Chen Cheng on the shoulder. "Lend me some money to buy cigarettes!"

"Huh—" Mo Xueyao moved as if to rush out to help, but was quickly grabbed by Li Wanyan.

"What are you going to do now?"

“I’ll help.” Mo Xueyao said without hesitation, “A classmate from the same school is in trouble, of course I should help. These thugs are here to rob me, I’ve seen it before!”

"But would it make a difference if you went up there? Do you think that if those boys can't beat them, adding you would make it easier?"

"So we're just going to stand here and watch?" Mo Xueyao asked, dissatisfied. "Isn't it our duty to help those in need?"

“…Yaoyao, you’re more impulsive than I thought.” Li Wanyan sighed.

"Tch, didn't you just go up and stop them from smoking?" Mo Xueyao muttered in rebuttal. Fortunately, she hadn't let her emotions cloud her judgment. After thinking about Li Wanyan's words carefully, she realized they were actually quite right. "Then what should we do?"

"Go find other people to help."

Are you looking for the security guards?

"Ah."

"No, no, that would be betraying my classmates, like reporting them for smoking." Mo Xueyao shook her head vigorously.

"The original intention was to tell the teachers about their situation."

Mo Xueyao scratched her cheek: "Eh... um... let's give them a chance, shall we? I'll go get some people right now!"

Having said that, she didn't give Li Wanyan a chance to refute her, and turned to run out of the alley.

Li Wanyan glanced at her, then looked back at the group of thugs, and followed Mo Xueyao out.

At the school gate, Li Hongran walked out, sweating profusely, carrying a basketball. Beside him were several boys who often played basketball with him after school. These boys were either tall, strong, or both.

When she saw them, Mo Xueyao's eyes lit up.

When she jogged over, she was still worried about whether she could find someone to help her. Luckily, the boys who played basketball had just finished playing basketball as well.

"Hey—Li Hongran!" Mo Xueyao called out the name of the physical education class representative.

"Hey, Mo Xueyao, why haven't you gone back yet? Is the class monitor here too?"

"Huff..." Mo Xueyao, who hadn't done any strenuous exercise in a long time, was already panting heavily after only two minutes of running. She supported herself with her hands on her knees and said breathlessly, "Quick... quick, go help..."

"What's wrong?" Li Hongran asked, puzzled.

“Go help.” Li Wanyan was in much better condition than Mo Xueyao; she was only slightly out of breath. “Chen Cheng and the others were robbed by thugs in an alley.”

"What?! Is that so?!" Li Hongran immediately tensed her muscles. "Where is it? Take us there!"

"Come with us..." Mo Xueyao said, panting heavily as she turned and led the way.

Li Wanyan nodded and did not ask the teacher for help again.

"How many of them are there?" Jia Qixue, the second tallest boy in the class after Li Hongran, asked.

Like Li Hongran, he was also a member of the basketball club. However, although they were both over 1.8 meters tall, Li Hongran was close to 1.9 meters tall, while he was only a little over 1.8 meters tall. If they stood together, the height difference was quite obvious.

If she wore shoes, Li Hongran would be a standard 1.9 meters tall. You have to understand that in this era, 1.9 meters was a height that most people could look up to, like a 'giant'.

“About five or six,” Li Wanyan replied.

Jia Qixue, whose face was covered with acne and acne scars, nodded: "Then there's no problem. There are five of us here, plus Chen Cheng and the others, that's enough."

This statement implies that everyone will help out.

In fact, no one backed down.

Boys who like playing basketball are often very passionate.

They are straightforward and don't overthink things, but they also don't run away from such situations.