Chapter 34 

After leaving the department store, the two were already empty-handed.

Su Xi, with both hands behind her, tilted her head and looked at the man with a smile. She walked back playfully and said, “You rarely see your comrade, why not stay and chat? It’s okay for me, anyway, we’re both on the island, we can meet anytime.”

Xie Zhen smiled, far from the coldness he used to display. “Today is our first date, I don’t want to be disturbed by anyone.”

Upon hearing this, Su Xi suppressed her smile, looked at the man in astonishment, then suddenly reached out and held the man’s large hand. A bright smile appeared once again on her delicate face, clean and pure, truly more beautiful than a flower.

Later, Xie Zhen intentionally led Su Xi through the alley. Whenever there was no one around, the two of them would hold hands, and when they met someone, they would tacitly let go.

This action was repeated several times without feeling tired from it, but instead, they enjoyed it.

“Where are we going now?” Su Xi, supported by a man’s arm, jumped onto a high step and walked awkwardly.

Xie Zhen, with an indulgent smile on his lips, glanced at his watch. It was only 10:45 in the morning, too early for lunch, and going to the movies would take too long.

After a moment of thought, he stretched out his long arm, wrapped it around the girl’s waist, and amidst Su Xi’s little exclamation, he easily lifted her up with one hand. He didn’t let go of the hand placed on the girl’s slender waist, just bent down and said, “Let’s go buy some cake.”

At that moment, Su Xi felt a warm sensation rising in her waist and abdomen, and her ears also felt hot.

She didn’t dare to raise her head, but gently placed her fair hand on top of the man’s tanned hand around her waist, her voice soft and tender: “Who’s celebrating their birthday?”

Seeing that she didn’t reject his advances, Xie Zhen’s eyes burst with intoxicating affection. He took the opportunity to draw her closer into his arms: “No one’s celebrating their birthday; I’m buying it for my little woman to eat.”

Su Xi was taken aback, only then realizing that “little woman” referred to herself. She murmured, “I’m not that greedy.”

Xie Zhen chuckled softly and spoke in a low, magnetic voice: “Hmm, but I want to buy it.”

“Ahem, then… let’s go.” Su Xi withdrew from the man’s embrace, feeling a bit embarrassed as she looked in the other direction.

Xie Zhen took the girl’s hand and led her towards the place his comrade mentioned.

After a while, from deep within the alley came the girl’s belated inquiry: “Can you actually buy cake now?”

Xie Zhen: “Shh!”

Su Xi… understood, it wasn’t the kind that could be openly bought.

It would take two hours to get the cake. Xie Zhen paid a deposit and then took Su Xi to a state-owned restaurant for lunch.

“You’re a pervert!” As Su Xi and Xie Zhen walked hand in hand, strolling towards the state-owned restaurant, a sharp cry for help came from afar.

Su Xi and Xie Zhen’s expressions turned serious. They exchanged a glance, said nothing, and instinctively ran in the direction of the sound.

The place where the sound came from was not far from where Su Xi and Xie Zhen had just been, so the two of them quickly arrived at the scene.

The person turned out to be Mei Li, who had been on the same boat with Su Xi when she arrived on the island over a month ago.

Grandma Chen had mentioned Mei Li a few times later, and she had become somewhat famous in the residential area.

It is said that Mei Li, on her own, caused a lot of trouble for Deputy Captain Mei and his wife, all by herself.

Mei Li would sit in front of their door with tears streaming down her face, crying about how hard it was for her, how she served food and clothing, how his brother didn’t care, and so on. She was like a white lotus.

At first, some people believed her, but later, it was her sister-in-law, who had a good relationship with Deputy Captain Mei’s family, who revealed the truth, and everyone found out.

This girl (Mei Li) actually didn’t take care of her pregnant sister-in-law, and worst of all, she’s even snatching the foods that her sister-in-law needs to replenish her body.

There are still many other rumors circling around the residential area, and Su Xi doesn’t quite remember them all, but based on their brief encounter on the boat, Su Xi’s impression of this girl was not favorable.

So at this moment, while Mei Li was pulling a young man dressed in refined attire on the street, Su Xi did not immediately step forward but instead pulled Xie Zhen to the side to watch.

Although Xie Zhen didn’t know why her partner acted like this, he unconditionally trusted Su Xi. He cooperatively moved back into the crowd. Just as he was about to ask a few questions, Mei Li started wailing.

“Everyone, please help me! Wuu… I’m a pure and innocent girl, walking on the road peacefully, and this man just came out and touched me… he touched me… Wuu… I can’t live anymore… Wuu…”

As if unable to continue, Mei Li covered her face and cried bitterly, still tightly clutching the clothes of the well-dressed young man beside her.

The man who was being held back couldn’t care about the bicycle lying on the side, and his gentle face was now filled with anger.

He pushed his glasses, which had slid down in the struggle, back up and, with an air of disdain on his fair face, began to speak clearly, “Madam, do you think I’m blind? With your appearance? You’re so ugly that I can’t bear to look at you, and now, you think I would touch you? I saw you in the department store earlier. You were sneaking around, obviously, you’re trying to latch onto a well-off man. And what now? Am I that unlucky man you chose?”

Once these words were spoken, the onlookers who were originally accusing him started to falter. They looked at Mei Li with suspicious eyes.

Actually, such people did exist. It happened two years ago, right on their street. Didn’t someone forcibly marry into a well-off family? Now, they were either fighting or arguing every day.

Seeing that Mei Li had bad intentions. The onlookers began to gossip:

“Is what this young man said true?”

“Hey, this young man looks handsome and well-dressed, he even has a bicycle. With such good conditions, what kind of girl can’t he marry?”

“Tsk tsk… I believe this young man too. This girl doesn’t look good. If it were me, I wouldn’t be interested.”

“Is she really that ugly?”

“Yeah, she’s quite ugly. She’s covering her face now, look, even her big hands can’t cover half of her face. How big is her face?”

“……”

The crowd’s attitude changed after the young man’s few words. Mei Li trembled with anger, tears streaming down her face. She was only 22 years old, and she was called “Madam”? And how could she be ugly? Were these people blind?

To prove that she wasn’t ugly, she lowered her hands from her face and looked at the young man with a pitiful and lingering gaze.

But she forgot that at this moment, she should be a victim and shouldn’t have such an expression, and worst of all, no tears were shed.

Now, who was right and who was wrong was now clear.

A middle-aged woman in the crowd pointed at Mei Li with disdain, “So shameless! Are you so desperate to get married? Just catching any man on the street? Oh, isn’t this a habitual offender?”

Another aunt patted her mouth and agreed, “This girl is not good-looking, I guess she knows she’s ugly and can’t get married, so she’s so indiscriminate.”

“Wow, Auntie Hua, what you said is so accurate. You even know how to use idioms.”

“Haha… Miss, if you can’t find a husband, marry me! I don’t mind whether you’re an old maid or ugly. We can have our wedding night today…” A skinny, wrinkled old man in his fifties or sixties, with a face full of freckles, revealed a mouthful of yellow teeth and grinned lewdly. ^[1] “Old maid” is a term that historically referred to an unmarried woman, typically one who is considered to be beyond the usual age for marriage.

As soon as these words were spoken, the scene was filled with laughter.

Mei Li’s face turned red with embarrassment. Knowing that she had made a mistake today, she let out a loud cry and covered her face, burying her head and wanting to leave first.

But this time, it was the handsome young man who grabbed Mei Li’s bag. He disdainfully said, “What? You’ve falsely accused me, and you think you can just walk away?”

Mei Li ground her teeth, “What do you want?” Was this man blind? She, such a beautiful woman, had delivered herself to his door, and he still treated her with such an attitude. Shouldn’t he be delighted to marry her? After I marry into a wealthy family, I will come back and take my revenge. 

The man didn’t hesitate, “Pay me 20 yuan.”

“What? Are you trying to steal money from me? No!” Mei Li screamed, like a chicken. ‘Why should I give him money?’

The handsome man was a ruthless person and said, “Fine, let’s go to the police station now. My brother is the director. Let him charge you with a crime of harassment, and you can just directly go to jail.” 

Mei Li was like a trapped beast, scared stiff at the mention of the police station. She cried again, crying harder than ever, claiming it was all a misunderstanding and she didn’t want to go to the police station or pay the 20 yuan.

The handsome man didn’t hesitate and directly shouted: “Folks, help me send this female pervert to the police station.”

Mei Li screamed and desperately waved her hands, trying to break free, trembling as she said, “I’ll give it, I’ll give it, don’t send me to the police station… Wuu… It’s all a misunderstanding…”

After speaking, she sobbed and took out the money given to her by her mother. After spending almost all her pocket money on shopping, she had only 18 yuan left.

The man didn’t show any mercy, snatching it away and handing it to the woman who had first spoken for him. The man smiled and said: “Auntie, thank you for your help just now. Take this money and buy some candy to share with your family. If it wasn’t for your help just now, I wouldn’t know what to do.”

The woman didn’t expect such kindness. She took the money, and laughed, “Oh, what a world we live in. But young man, you’re really good. You’re handsome and upright. Don’t worry, this lady won’t take it all for herself. We’ll all share it. But young man, are you really the Director’s brother? Do you have a partner? If not, let this old woman introduce someone to you.”

The young man smiled and replied, “Yes, I didn’t expect there to be such a woman in the world. Auntie, you are so kind-hearted. We must spread the word about your kindness. Otherwise, if someone encountered such a situation and didn’t meet kind people like Auntie, what would I or even other people do?”

The woman laughed heartily, wearing the selfless expression of a great public servant.

“Ouch!” 

Mei Li took the opportunity to run away, but in her panic, she suddenly exclaimed, then fell to the ground in a heap, unable to get up for a long time.

The onlookers burst into laughter again.

Su Xi, who had watched the farce, felt that Mei Li was not very smart. She turned to Xie Zhen and said, “Shall we go?”

Xie Zhen nodded and said, “En.”

“Did you know the woman just now?” Xie Zhen remembered Su Xi’s reaction when she saw Mei Li.

Su Xi looked awkward. “Well, she’s the sister of Deputy Captain Mei on our island. According to… well, she knows all the excellent officers on the island.”

Xie Zhen frowned, his already stern face becoming even more difficult to approach. However, it was only for a moment. When he met the girl’s smiling face, he softened his expression but said seriously, “When we return to the unit, I will mention it to Deputy Captain Mei. Keeping such a person in the unit is irresponsible to our comrades.”

Su Xi couldn’t help but chuckle. “Do you think boys should also learn to protect themselves outside, or else there will be ‘bad aunties?’”

Xie Zhen chuckled lightly. “Mischievous!”