19. You little kid, you have even learned to lie.

Qin Zhaoyi had been somewhat afraid of dogs since she was a child. She was scared once by the neighbor’s shepherd dog when she was young, although it didn’t actually bite her, it had given her nightmares for several nights.

People in their line of work often kept a small cat or dog to pass the time or add some fun to their lives. Sometimes, Zhou Xi’s friends had litters of puppies or kittens, and they would ask if she wanted to adopt one. Qin Zhaoyi had always declined. Compared to dogs, she liked cats a bit more. After all, small dogs didn’t tend to hurt people.

Now, seeing this dog with a collar that read “Luo Yue,” she had mixed feelings. She stared at the dog for a long moment and only turned her face away when her thoughts began to wander.

This dog… was actually quite cute. Perhaps it had taken after its owner.

Before she could let her mind wander any further, a sudden, rough voice disrupted the calm of the coffee shop: “Who are you? Why are you meddling?”

The voice was directed at Qin Zhaoyi, who casually glanced in that direction. Her naturally beautiful face, which was already quite sharp, now had a lazy look, but her expression was extremely cold, as if the people opposite her were nothing but trash.

In fact, they were quite trashy.

“What’s it to you?” Qin Zhaoyi replied indifferently.

The person was momentarily taken aback and then added, “So, does this matter concern you? Or maybe…”

During the prolonged pause and hesitation, the smirking expressions in their eyes grew, making their intentions quite clear: “Would you like to join us for a little fun? We don’t mind.”

“What fun?” Qin Zhaoyi asked.

The few individuals chuckled, and their already unpleasant faces took on an even more lecherous look. “What else could it be? We’re talking about adult games, of course.”

Qin Zhaoyi replied, “I’m not interested.”

“Play once and you’ll be interested,” the leader among them said. After speaking, he waved his hand toward his cronies, and one person immediately rushed to grab Qin Zhaoyi’s shoulder. However, before they could get hold of her, Qin Zhaoyi had already evaded the grasp and stood up.

The dog had been standing in front of Qin Zhaoyi the whole time, as if it were afraid that she might be bullied.

However, Qin Zhaoyi didn’t hesitate to step out gracefully. She glanced around the cafe, which had a somewhat cozy interior, and slightly furrowed her brows. She said in a calm voice, “Let’s go outside.”

The group of men immediately rejoiced when they heard this. They probably thought it was amusing that she had acted like a fierce woman just moments ago but now had readily agreed.

Qin Zhaoyi, however, didn’t care about the lecherous expressions on their faces. She walked out with a sense of nonchalance. She even left her phone on the table.

She had just taken a step when someone grabbed her wrist.

The cafe’s owner shook her head at Qin Zhaoyi and said, “Don’t go.”

“It’s okay,” Qin Zhaoyi responded, prying the owner’s hand away. She nodded slightly to reassure her.

As Qin Zhaoyi walked out, the dog followed closely, taking each step with her.

Its eyes were teary.

…

Qin Zhaoyi couldn’t help but reach down to pat its head.

She briefly wished that Luo Yue could be like her dog; it would be so endearing.

But this thought was fleeting.

After all, she was already quite lovable now.

Once outside the cafe, Qin Zhaoyi stopped and stood casually as she said, “Here will do.”

It was as if she were challenging them to a duel.

The men were puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“Just here,” Qin Zhaoyi replied. “We’ll play here.”

“Little sister,” a short man smirked, “do you still not know what kind of game we want to play? We’re going to play an adult… hehe, game.”

He seemed to be envisioning something that made him uncontrollably excited, laughing as he spoke.

In the process, he extended his hand toward Qin Zhaoyi’s waist, but before he could make contact, she twisted his arm.

With a single hand, Qin Zhaoyi spun his arm and then lifted her knee, pushing it into his abdomen.

The short guy screamed in pain.

Seeing the situation, their companions rushed to help, cursing as they came forward.

Qin Zhaoyi remained calm throughout, paying no attention to their insults. She continued to focus on the short man’s arm with precision, knocking him down before moving on to deal with the other two.

Her previous training was put to good use at this moment.

Qin Zhaoyi didn’t hold back, using knee strikes to the abdomen, elbow strikes to the back, and even using her slender fingers to target pressure points and chokeholds.

Before long, all three men were on the ground.

Qin Zhaoyi coldly asked, “Still want to play?”

“No… no,” the men replied, trying to escape. However, when they turned around, they saw Police Officer Cheng Shiyu, and her colleague approaching.

Cheng Shiyu stood with her hands on her hips, pulling out handcuffs, “You guys seriously? What have you been up to all the time? Were you bullying this little girl?”

“Officer… you have to help us! We’re the ones who got bullied,” one of them complained.

“Yeah, we got bullied,” another added.

Cheng Shiyu glanced at Qin Zhaoyi, expressionless, and said, “Cut it out. She’s just a polite young lady; can she bully you?”

The three men were baffled. “Polite young lady? Do you have a misconception about polite young ladies?”

“Officer, you can’t have gender stereotypes,” someone said. “It’s not like all women are weak.”

“Then can you have stereotypes about women?” Cheng Shiyu put handcuffs on one of them while smacking his arm, saying, “Your hands have become filthy. You’ve been causing trouble at this café for a while now, bullying Miss Yan Ci here. I warned you last time, and you still dare to come?”

With that, she smacked him again.

The men were finally silenced.

But Cheng Shiyu also handcuffed Qin Zhaoyi, taking her to the police station to give a statement about what had happened.

Also brought to the station was the café owner, Yan Ci.

Several hectic hours later, Qin Zhaoyi, Yan Ci, the café owner left the police station together.

Accompanying them was Luo Yue.

Cheng Shiyu had called Luo Yue and told her that her people had been involved in an incident.

Luo Yue rushed over, only to find that it was Qin Zhaoyi.

Cheng Shiyu whispered something to Luo Yue, who then gave her a somewhat annoyed look, while Cheng Shiyu just smiled.

After Luo Yue arrived, she realized that everyone on this island knew each other and had good relationships. Even those three men, upon seeing Luo Yue, cheerfully greeted her as “Teacher Luo.”

This greatly annoyed Qin Zhaoyi, who shot them a fierce glare. The three men fell silent instantly.

Once they left the police station, Luo Yue and Yan Ci stood chatting, and their conversation mainly revolved around the dog.

Indeed, the dog belonged to Luo Yue.

A while ago, Luo Yue had to go out of town, so she entrusted Yan Ci to look after the dog for a few days. Little did she know that it would cause trouble for Yan Ci, leaving Luo Yue feeling guilty.

However, Yan Ci didn’t seem to mind and said, “Those people were just looking for trouble; even if it wasn’t about Zao Zao, they would have found another reason.”

Coincidentally, Zao Zao was the name of the dog from Luo Yue’s family.

Luo Yue and Yan Ci had agreed on a time to pick up the dog, and Yan Ci, glancing at Qin Zhaoyi standing nearby, asked in a low voice, “Is she your friend?”

Luo Yue was taken aback for a moment, and Qin Zhaoyi, upon hearing the question, looked directly at her with a stern, unmasked gaze.

Luo Yue nodded, “Sort of.”

Qin Zhaoyi, “?”

Qin Zhaoyi’s face soured further.

Yan Ci had to return to take care of her shop, so she bid farewell to them.

After Yan Ci left, Luo Yue walked up to Qin Zhaoyi.

Their eyes met, and neither of them spoke for a moment.

Qin Zhaoyi felt like a child who had done something wrong and was waiting for their parent to pick them up.

Qin Zhaoyi didn’t understand why Cheng Shiyu had told Luo Yue about the situation.

She felt depressed.

After the standoff, Luo Yue finally spoke, “Are you hurt? Tell me.”

“No,” Qin Zhaoyi replied gruffly.

After the confrontation, Luo Yue finally spoke, “Are you injured?”

“No,” Qin Zhaoyi responded with a grumpy tone.

Luo Yue noticed that Qin Zhaoyi had been keeping one hand in her pocket in an attempt to appear cool. Her gaze went to Qin Zhaoyi’s hand, and she said, “Take your hand out. Let me see.”

“I’m not injured,” Qin Zhaoyi replied but reluctantly extended her hand for inspection.

However, she quickly pulled it back, only to have it caught by Luo Yue. With a furrowed brow, Luo Yue used her fingertips to examine Qin Zhaoyi’s palm, discovering a roughly five-centimeter scratch.

It was probably a result of their fight, an accidental injury.

Qin Zhaoyi didn’t feel any pain, but being discovered like this made her feel like she had been caught in a lie.

She pursed her lips and tried to withdraw her hand, but Luo Yue held it firmly.

Qin Zhaoyi said, “It doesn’t hurt.”

As she spoke, Luo Yue pressed the wound quite hard, and the sharp pain caused Qin Zhaoyi’s eyes to fog up. She frowned and looked at Luo Yue. Before she could question why she had done that, Luo Yue said, “You little kid, you have even learned to lie..”

Qin Zhaoyi, “…It’s not.”