Chapter 30: Something Happened!

When Mr. Sun saw the two floral shirts blocking the road, his face immediately showed a look of panic. He suddenly turned around, trying to run away. However, after turning, he froze in place, his body stiffening.

Li Huanhua followed his gaze and looked back. She saw that the alleyway entrance was also blocked by two men in flashy outfits.

“Sun Chao, where do you think you’re going?” the man in the blue floral shirt spoke.

The man in the yellow floral shirt added:

“You owe us brothers money. When are you going to pay it back? Give us a clear answer! Otherwise, don’t even think about leaving here today!”

Thud!

With a sound of bones hitting the ground, Li Huanhua watched as Mr. Sun, a tall and muscular man with a scarred face, who looked like a typical “gangster,” knelt down on the ground.

“Wang Ge, Zhou Ge, I was wrong, I was wrong. Please spare me, I really don’t have any money…” Mr. Sun began to pound the ground and cry.

Li Huanhua, holding her purse and standing nearby, was confused.

“What’s going on?”

Wasn’t she on a blind date with the male guest? How did this situation suddenly unfold? And it seemed to be quite dangerous.

“You lie as easily as you breathe. I don’t believe you don’t have any money. Search him!” The blue floral shirt man ordered.

Soon, they started searching Mr. Sun.

Li Huanhua backed away, still holding her purse, unsure whether to call the police or make a run for it. Both sides didn’t seem to be good people.

While hesitating, the search was quickly completed.

As expected, nothing was found except for an old phone and a worn-out wallet. The phone had no money in its account, and the wallet only contained a pile of business cards and two ten-yuan bills.

“Aren’t you here for a date? Why only bring 20 yuan?” The man in the blue floral shirt slapped Mr. Sun’s face mockingly.

Mr. Sun, desperate, quickly grabbed the man’s wrist, looking at him with a bruised face and pleading, “Wang Ge, I don’t have any money, but she does! You can ask her for it!”

Wang Ge and Zhou Ge looked over at Li Huanhua.

Li Huanhua, still holding her purse, took a step back. “I have nothing to do with him.”

Hiss!

What kind of people were these? Asking her for money?

“But he told us to ask you!” The man in the blue floral shirt released Mr. Sun, stood up, and crossed his arms, eyeing her coldly. “You say you don’t have anything to do with him, but then why are you here together? Why are you on a date?”

“It’s not a date, we just met.” Li Huanhua felt awkward and quickly clarified. “It was arranged by a family elder. This is our first time meeting, and we’ve known each other for less than half an hour.”

“A blind date? So, you know his family?” The man in the blue floral shirt pressed on.

Li Huanhua started to sweat nervously.

She didn’t believe these people would do anything to her in broad daylight in the city center, especially in front of the sports arena. But as an ordinary bystander, she really didn’t want to get tangled up in this mess.

“No, I don’t know them. My mother doesn’t either.”

Li Huanhua took a deep breath and tried to stay calm. “Think about it, who would introduce a person like this to a relative’s daughter, unless they had no conscience?”

Just then, from the basketball court, Hu Xun called out, “Qin Shi, aren’t you changing your jersey?”

Ever since seeing Li Huanhua outside, Qin Shi had been quieter, almost as if he had something on his mind.

Qin Shi tightened his jaw and didn’t respond.

“Qin Shi…”

Before Hu Xun could say more, a bag of clothes was stuffed into his arms.

“Hold this for me, I need to step out for a bit,” Qin Shi said before walking toward the exit of the court.

“Hey, Qin Shi, where are you going…”

“Enough, stop asking.”

Zhou Jianyu came over, patted Hu Xun on the shoulder, and said, “Don’t you get it?”

“Huh?” Hu Xun looked confused.

Akun, adjusting his glasses, chimed in, “It’s obvious.”

Sasa, giving a slight pout and adjusting the bracelet on her wrist, was preparing to get in the game. “Brother, you’re the kindest among us.”

Back in the alley, Li Huanhua tried to explain herself, hoping to detach herself from the situation.

Just as she was about to convince the men, Mr. Sun, still restrained, took advantage of their distraction and tried to escape.

“Grab him!”

“Stop being polite with him!”

…

The men, enraged, turned to grab Mr. Sun. Meanwhile, the man in the blue floral shirt, fearing Li Huanhua would escape, instructed the man in the yellow shirt to catch her. But Li Huanhua wasn’t going to just stand there waiting to be caught. She grabbed her purse and ran toward the end of the alley.

Unfortunately, she was wearing round-toed shoes, not suitable for running, and as someone who rarely exercised, she wasn’t exactly a runner. In her panic, she tripped and fell, landing on the ground with a thud.

“Ouch.”

Her palms and knees stung from the fall.

The man in the yellow floral shirt caught up.

“Still running?” he sneered.

Li Huanhua gasped for breath and pulled out her phone from her bag. “Not running. But if you guys keep bothering me, I’ll call the police!”

Surely, they couldn’t be above the law. Li Huanhua believed they’d at least hesitate to involve the police.

Sure enough, when she said that, the man in the yellow floral shirt hesitated.

They were here to collect a debt, not to kidnap anyone, and they hadn’t planned on getting the police involved.

“You…” The man hesitated.

Just then, a familiar voice called her name from behind.

“Li Huanhua!”

She turned around, and before she could fully process what was happening, someone pulled her into an embrace.

A strange scent filled her nose, and Li Huanhua froze in place.

“Li Huanhua, are you alright? What did they do to you?” Qin Shi’s voice sounded frantic and angry.

“I, I…” Li Huanhua blinked and dazedly looked at him. “I’m fine.”

How was Qin Shi here?

“Miss Li, I’m sorry. We didn’t ask the right questions and were deceived by Sun Chao.” Ten minutes later, the man in the blue floral shirt apologized along with the other three men, who were now all in disarray. “We are really sorry about what happened earlier. Please forgive us.”

Li Huanhua stood in front of them.

Qin Shi stood with his arms crossed, glaring at them.

“I’m fine. Since the misunderstanding is cleared up, I’ll be on my way now. You guys do what you need to,” Li Huanhua waved awkwardly.

The group of floral shirt men left, taking the bruised Sun Chao with them.

Li Huanhua didn’t ask where they were taking him. Ever since he tried to push her out and make her exchange money for him, she had grown disgusted with him.

It was only their first time meeting, and he already tried to take advantage of her? Such a morally corrupt person!

She planned to talk to her mother about this when she got home. At least, she’d make sure to limit any future contact. What kind of person introduces someone like this to their daughter?

Her mother had mentioned that it was a relative she knew through work. Surely, it couldn’t have anything to do with loan sharking, right?

Li Huanhua quietly complained in her mind.

Behind her, Qin Shi quietly observed her profile.

For Li Huanhua to be introduced to someone like this for a blind date made Qin Shi angry too. He also wanted to know who would introduce such an unreliable person.

But given that Li Huanhua seemed to care about her reputation, Qin Shi decided to swallow the words he was about to say.

“Thank you.”

Li Huanhua turned to look at him.

After the floral shirt men left, the alley was quiet, with only the distant sounds of the basketball court.

Qin Shi looked down at her, seeming a bit uncomfortable. “I think you handled things pretty well. Even without me, you probably would have managed to get out of it.”

Li Huanhua didn’t deny it. “But, because of you, things ended up going smoothly.”

If it hadn’t been for one of the floral shirt men recognizing Qin Shi and fearing things would escalate, it probably wouldn’t have been resolved so quickly.

Li Huanhua suddenly smiled.

“What’s so funny?” Qin Shi asked.

“You finally spoke to me,” Li Huanhua said instinctively.

Since the milk tea shop incident, it felt like she had disappeared from his eyes. Every time they met, it was as if he didn’t see her at all.

But after saying that, Li Huanhua realized something felt off.

As expected, Qin Shi’s face turned stiff again. The atmosphere in the alley became a bit awkward. Li Huanhua raised her hand to touch her nose, unsure of what to say next.

Qin Shi, staring at her hand, suddenly said, “Wait for me.”

Then, he turned and walked toward the exit of the alley.

“Huh?” Li Huanhua was puzzled.

When he returned, he was holding a bottle of water.

“Come here.” Qin Shi motioned for her to sit on a bench.

Li Huanhua didn’t understand what was going on.

Without explaining further, Qin Shi pulled her over, pressed her down on the bench, unscrewed the water bottle cap, and gently took her hand. He noticed her palm was red and scraped from the fall.

Kneeling down on one knee, he cleaned the dirt from her palm with the water.

Once finished, he pulled out a waterproof bandage from his pocket and applied it to her hand.

“Is there anywhere else?”

After doing this, Qin Shi looked up at her.

Li Huanhua gazed into his deep eyes, seeing her reflection in them. She felt a sudden flutter in her chest and quickly withdrew her hand from his grip, averting her gaze as if ants were crawling on her skin. After a moment, she recovered and slowly rolled up her dark green skirt to reveal her knee.

Her knee had also been scraped.

Qin Shi watched her.

Li Huanhua awkwardly smiled and then looked down at the ground, feeling like she had been belittled by this “younger brother” who was two years younger than her.

It wasn’t that she didn’t know how to take care of herself. She just hadn’t reacted in time because of her panic.

The same cleaning procedure repeated again.

When the bandage was applied, Qin Shi finally relaxed his furrowed brow.

“Is there anywhere else?” he asked.

“No, that’s it.” Li Huanhua quickly shook her head.

Seeing Qin Shi staring at her, she hesitated before speaking again, “About what happened at the milk tea shop last time, I really…”

“It doesn’t matter what the reason was. You let go of my hand, right?” Qin Shi interrupted her.

“Yes,” Li Huanhua hesitated before finally nodding.

“Then there’s nothing to explain.”

Qin Shi pursed his lips, holding the water bottle in his hand and standing up. He tossed the bottle into a nearby trash can.

The bottle made a clattering sound as it hit the bottom.

A breeze blew, rustling the leaves and carrying the scent of flowers.

Qin Shi shoved his hands into his pockets, looking up at the pink flowers stretching out from the wall.

Li Huanhua sat on the bench, the wind lifting the hem of her skirt, making it flutter gently. She placed her hands on her knees, staring at the ground without looking up. Even though Qin Shi hadn’t said anything or shown anger, Li Huanhua could still feel an invisible bitterness spreading inside her.

She wanted to say something.

But then, she realized, wasn’t this exactly the result she wanted? So, she kept silent.

In the end, it was Qin Shi, who usually wasn’t easy to approach, who spoke first.

“Where are you going next? I can drop you off on the way…” Qin Shi offered.

“No need.”

Li Huanhua waved her hand and jumped up from the bench. “I have something else to do later.”

Qin Shi’s lips tightened, then curled into a smirk, his face showing a mocking expression. “Oh, so our Huanjie has other blind date plans? You’re really ‘busy.'”

With that, another sarcastic “Huanjie.”

“You don’t have to say it like that. I’m going to…”

“Buzz, buzz, buzz—”

Li Huanhua was about to explain when her phone in her bag rang. She paused, took it out, and saw it was a call from her stepfather, Uncle Liu. It was rare for him to call, and Li Huanhua’s face showed confusion.

After she hung up, her face turned pale, and she immediately started running toward the exit of the alley.

“Li Huanhua, what happened?” Qin Shi grabbed her forcefully.

“I… my mom suddenly fainted and was taken to the emergency room.”