Chapter 658 - Why Did He Come To Provoke Her (1/2)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The faint smell of food wafted in the air. Shi Mengwan was wearing the clothes that Qiao Ze had bought back. In the kitchen, she placed the food on the plate and carried it out.

Qiao Ze sat at the small table like a master.

Yes. Qiao Ze found this table later from God knows where. Previously, Shi Mengwan and Qiao Ze ate on the coffee table.

This morning, she cooked porridge. When she brought it to the coffee table, she felt that it was very inconvenient to sit on the sofa and eat, so she had to bend over.

“We should get a table,” she said, “At least it’s more comfortable to sit and eat, right?”

When she said this, Qiao Ze moved this table over at noon.

Square tables like this were very common in the countryside in the past. Two chairs were also moved over here.

Shi Mengwan didn’t even know where Qiao Ze got it from. She watched Qiao Ze pick up his bowl and eat in big mouthfuls.

The young man was growing, so his appetite was astonishing. She basically ate the same amount of food that she did when she lived with her parents at home.

But apart from her portion, the rest went into the young man’s stomach.

The young man ate so much, but he didn’t look fat. He was extremely thin. He was rather robust. When the table was moved in, he moved it in alone. She said she wanted to help, but he didn’t let her.

After two days of recuperation, the injury on his face was much better. Only the corners of his mouth was still bruised. She could already see the young man’s original appearance.

He had an extremely good-looking face, and his eyes were long and narrow. The people in Shi Mengwan’s previous school, the town she lived in, and the people she met after coming to Lin City, weren’t as good-looking as Zhan Haoze.

He didn’t pale in comparison to those celebrities on TV at all.

It was just that his image was a little bad. His hand was injured, so he couldn’t hold the bowl. He just clutched it feebly while eating like that. His posture inevitably became a little ugly.

If this was in her house and her grandmother saw it, she would definitely scold him. She would say that he had no sense of propriety because he couldn’t even hold the bowl properly.

The youth noticed that Shi Mengwan was staring at him, so he stopped eating and stared at Shi Mengwan.

“What are you looking at?”

The moment the young man opened his mouth, his good-looking face was instantly ruined. His voice really wasn’t that pleasant to hear during the changing stage of his voice.

After Shi Mengwan was caught peeking at the young man, her face appeared a little uncomfortable. No matter what, she was only twelve years old this year. It was really too unreserved to stare at a boy like that.

“I just want to ask, where did you get that table?”

The youth didn’t say anything. He finished the rice in his bowl in a few bites. When he went to fill the next bowl of rice, he glanced at Shi Mengwan.

“Why? Are you afraid that my table was stolen? When the time comes, people will come looking for you and implicate you?”

She didn’t. Without waiting for Shi Mengwan to explain, the youth snorted, “Don’t worry. It’s not stolen. No one will come to arrest you.”

“Dear Brother.” Shi Mengwan bit her lip. She was a little hurt by the youth’s hostile and impatient attitude. “I was just curious.”

“I picked it up.” The youth answered casually, “If I were to steal it, I wouldn’t steal such a shabby table.”

It was indeed a little shabby. Looking at the corners of the table, she saw that even the paint had fallen off.

Shi Mengwan didn’t ask any further and just ate quietly. However, when she saw the youth put down the bowl, she had a new question.

“Where did you get the money to buy vegetables?”

The ones bought yesterday, plus today’s, wasn’t enough with the money she gave the young man.

The young man even bought pork ribs and meat today. Not only that, but the young man also replenished some rice noodles for the family.

She was really curious.

The young man relaxed his body on the chair. After he finished eating and drinking, the unruly and malicious aura on his body receded a little.

“Don’t worry. I didn’t steal or rob. They came legally.”

Her eyes filled with doubt, Shi Mengwan looked at him. “I can’t ask?”

“You can’t.” The youth was very arrogant, so Shi Mengwan didn’t ask anymore. She lowered her head and continued eating, but she muttered softly.

That sentence was heard by the youth. The youth tapped on the table. “What do you mean? Tell me clearly.”

Shi Mengwan didn’t say anything further, but the youth suddenly moved his face closer. The table was old, and it wasn’t that big. When the youth suddenly moved closer, the bowl that Shi Mengwan was holding almost fell off.

“Let me tell you, I’ll worry about the money. It’s not up to you.”

After saying that, as if afraid that Shi Mengwan wouldn’t listen to him, he pointed his index finger at her face. “Remember my words.”

“Got it.”

“If you dare to pick up trash, I’ll cripple you.”

Shi Mengwan didn’t say anything. She looked at the youth and for the first time, she asked what she was wondering, “Dear Brother, where are your parents? Why are you living here alone?”

Moreover, other than the simplest furniture, there wasn’t a single photograph in the house. There wasn’t even a trace of any adult.

“My parents are dead.” The youth glanced at her, then sneered, “How about you, where are your parents? Why did you come here alone? I heard you talk, and your accent isn’t that of a Lin City native. You aren’t a native of this city, right? Then what about your parents? Why don’t they care about you?”

“I…” Shi Mengwan bit her lip and thought of her grandmother, who valued sons over daughters, and her mother, who had just given birth to a little sister who was despised by her grandmother. “It’s not that they don’t care about me, it’s just that I ran away from home.”

“You have quite the guts.” The youth stared at Shi Mengwan and clicked his tongue. “With your looks, you dare to run away from home?”

Nothing happened. She was really lucky. She had brought it upon herself when she met the two hooligans that day.

“What’s wrong with my looks?”

Shi Mengwan’s mother was a beauty. Shi Mengwan really didn’t think that she was good-looking.

His eyes staring straight at her, the youth suddenly moved his face closer. Shi Mengwan felt uncomfortable under his stare.

“What are you doing?”

“Do you really not know or are you pretending not to know?”

When the youth moved closer, she could see the fine hairs on his skin. She was a little girl after all, so she felt embarrassed.

Shi Mengwan moved her body back a little. “You…”

“Forget it, I won’t tease you anymore.”

She wasn’t like himself, who grew up in the city slums, so she didn’t know about these things very clearly.

She was just a child. The youth felt bored, so he stood up and walked out.

“Where are you going?”

“Let’s go, let’s go.” Perhaps he felt that his tone was a little unpleasant, but the youth added in a croaky voice, “I’m going to earn money. Aren’t you always worried that I don’t have money? I’ll go earn it now.”

Who was worried that he didn’t have money? Shi Mengwan wasn’t worried at all.

“You still have an injury on your hand. What do you want to do?” Shi Mengwan thought of the table that he had moved back earlier. “Did you forget that the doctor told you not to carry heavy objects?”

“Don’t worry. This little injury won’t kill me.”

The young man left after saying that.

The young man left, and he didn’t come back for a long time. When night fell, Shi Mengwan didn’t wait for him anymore.

It was just that she didn’t feel safe at home alone.

This bungalow only had one door. There wasn’t even an extra security lock outside.

It wasn’t like when she was in town, where her neighbors were all close. Nothing big could’ve happened.

She hadn’t seen anyone living next door in the past few days. What she didn’t know was that this place was very close to a development area in Lin City.

In this old city area, most of the locals were already unwilling to live here. They were all rented to migrant workers.

The people who lived here all worked during the day. The migrant workers each had their own things to do. It had been a tiring day back home. Who was happy to care about other people’s affairs?

This was also the reason why no one came to help Shi Mengwan when she was chased by two people last time.

Shi Mengwan curled up on the small sofa and stared at the door. She didn’t dare to sleep.

She didn’t know where Qiao Ze had gone and why he hadn’t come back so late. She got up and looked at the time again.

The old alarm clock was already pointing to 11:30. It seemed that the weather wasn’t good today either. She heard the sound of rain hitting the window.

That sound came and went. It made her more and more anxious.

After all, she was only 12 years old. She had left home alone and walked to Lin City. Even though she clearly wasn’t familiar with that youth, and even though the youth looked fierce.

But he was here, so at least it wouldn’t be so empty.

She turned over again, but still couldn’t fall asleep. The rain outside seemed to be getting heavier.

She couldn’t fall asleep even more, so she simply got up, wrapped herself in a blanket, and sat on the sofa.

The door opened at this time. She was shocked by the sound of the door opening, and almost jumped up.

It was at this time that the young man pushed the door open and entered. The clothes on the youth’s body were all wet, and his hair was also wet.

The soles of his shoes were stained with mud, and he looked a little disheveled. Seeing that Shi Mengwan was still awake, the youth froze for a moment.

“You’re still awake?”

“I –” Shi Mengwan was too embarrassed to say that she was timid and was afraid so she wasn’t be able to sleep. “Where did you go? Why did you come back so late?”

“Stop nagging.” The youth shook the water off his hair and went to his room.

Shi Mengwan stood up and followed behind him. “You, why are you all wet?”

“En.” The youth answered casually. He was going to take off his wet clothes. Suddenly, he turned around and glanced at Shi Mengwan.

“There should be more ingredients in the kitchen, right?”

“Yes. Are you hungry?”

“En, cook a bowl of noodles for me.” The youth looked at Shi Mengwan. “Cook more. I’m going to take a shower.”

His commanding tone didn’t cause Shi Mengwan to feel displeased or defiant in the slightest.

He was back, and there was one more person here, so she didn’t have to be so afraid.

She turned around and went to the kitchen. Cooking noodles couldn’t be any simpler for her.

The instant she took out the noodles, she thought of the youth’s overly skinny body.

After thinking about it for a moment, she took out another egg and the remaining tomatoes that the youth had bought.

She spent 20 minutes to cook the tomato and egg noodles. She took them out and placed them on the small table outside. The young man had just showered.

He smelled the aroma of the noodles the moment he came out. He glanced at Shi Mengwan.

He didn’t say a word. He sat down and picked up the noodles to eat. He picked up his chopsticks and realized something, then glanced at Shi Mengwan.

“You’re not eating?”

“No need. You can eat.”

Shi Mengwan shook her head. She had already brushed her teeth. She was a little O.C.D. After brushing her teeth, she wouldn’t eat again.

Hearing that, the youth ignored her.