Chapter 89: Night Road
“Hello, here’s your change.”
Xia Qian Ge handed the customer their change, and after asking if they needed a plastic bag, she packed the drinks and food into a white plastic bag. She smiled politely at the customer and said, “Please come again,” watching them leave.
There were fewer customers at this time than during the evening rush hour. Xia Qian Ge glanced at the computer she used for payments. She would be getting off work soon.
She looked up and met the gaze of the girl who was stocking the shelves in the middle of the aisle. This girl, named Zhang Lin, hadn’t chosen to leave after their little conflict last time, but her two male friends had not appeared again.
Xia Qian Ge smiled faintly at Zhang Lin, but the girl turned her head and ignored her. This faint hostility had never dissipated. She didn’t care about such meaningless animosity. Xia Qian Ge also wouldn’t bother with the work Zhang Lin had deliberately thrown at her. She only did what was required of her.
Zhang Lin’s shift ended half an hour earlier than Xia Qian Ge’s. Usually, Zhang Lin would leave on time or even early, but today she was still lingering in the aisles, tidying up the scattered goods, as if waiting for something, perhaps… for her to get off work.
She had never doubted the existence of great malice in this world. Even if the cause was just a baseless and meaningless dispute, it was not surprising for someone to retaliate a hundred or a thousand times over.
But she was a villain. She would never beg for anyone’s mercy.
The time finally reached ten-thirty. Her replacement came, and she smiled as she handed over her work. She went to the locker room, changed out of her work uniform and into her casual clothes. Just as she was about to leave, Zhang Lin, who had been delayed for half an hour, also walked into the locker room.
“Leaving already?”
Zhang Lin stood at the door, blocking the way. She glanced at Xia Qian Ge. The heavy makeup on her face was not natural, as if it would be washed away in the next second. She rolled her eyes, which were painted with a light pink eyeshadow, her tone indifferent. “Shouldn’t a good girl work a little longer to make the manager happy?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s time for me to get off work. Can you please move?”
Xia Qian Ge held her old shoulder bag, which was so worn that the leather edges were starting to crack, giving it a cheap feel.
“I’m saying, there’s no need to show off such a shabby bag. I know a boss. If you’re really poor, you can…”
Zhang Lin smiled, her gaze sweeping over Xia Qian Ge’s graceful and shapely body, lingering on her face, which was beautiful even without makeup. Her eyes were filled with a clear provocation. “Go and serve him well. Just one night, and you’ll get more than just a good bag. If he’s happy, you might not have to worry about money for the rest of your life.”
“Thank you, but I’m not interested.” Xia Qian Ge smiled and replied, her tone calm. “And I hope you can stop soon too. If your parents knew their daughter was doing this, they would be sad.”
“You! I would never do such a thing!” Zhang Lin glared at Xia Qian Ge, gritting her teeth and emphasizing her words, the malice in her eyes undisguised. “Fine… but thank you too.”
“Then… goodbye.”
Xia Qian Ge nodded and brushed past Zhang Lin, who had moved aside, disappearing into the vast night outside the convenience store.
…
The night grew deeper. Because it was a university town, many shops on the commercial street were still open at ten-thirty. The streetlights illuminated the dark road, the deep yellow light giving the road a metallic sheen. Looking ahead, one could only see a faint orange-yellow and dark light flickering.
The dormitory curfew was at eleven o’clock. Fortunately, it wasn’t far from Qingchuan University. As long as she could catch the bus around ten-forty, she could just make it back to school before curfew. It didn’t matter if she was a little late. On Fridays, students often returned late. As long as it wasn’t a special period, the auntie would just turn a blind eye.
The late autumn wind was biting. Xia Qian Ge breathed out a faint mist. Even with her clothes pulled tight, the tip of her nose was still red from the cold.
Besides a few couples who were still lingering in the cold night, there seemed to be no other pedestrians on the street. A few empty taxis sped past Xia Qian Ge, stirring up another gust of cold wind. She looked up with her dark eyes, a hint of stubbornness in her gentle expression.
The sound of scattered footsteps was particularly harsh in the quiet night. Xia Qian Ge slightly turned her body as she put her phone in her bag and saw a man in black with a mask behind her. She turned her head back as if she hadn’t noticed and continued to walk forward.
The shortcut to the bus stop required passing through the residential buildings at the intersection. The dim lights in the alley seemed to be a perfect spot. The best way was to hail a taxi and leave directly, but… Xia Qian Ge slightly quickened her pace, and the footsteps behind her immediately followed.
The other person’s pace was unhurried. The distance to the intersection ahead was getting shorter and shorter. The man seemed to know that she was going to turn into the intersection, and his footsteps also began to become urgent. It seemed that the other party had already figured out her daily route and had been waiting for her near the convenience store.
Xia Qian Ge stood at the traffic light for a moment, as if she were going to turn into the dense residential buildings and take a shortcut to the bus station as usual.
The red light paused for a moment, then turned green. Xia Qian Ge glanced at the traffic camera at the intersection and suddenly started running the moment the light turned green, rushing into the dark alley between the residential buildings.
The man seemed to be startled by the target’s sudden burst of action and was caught off guard. By the time he reacted, the target had already run a considerable distance. But when he saw that the target had panicked and chosen that alley, he felt a sense of relief and immediately quickened his pace to chase after her.
The short sprint quickly exhausted Xia Qian Ge’s stamina. An adult man’s stamina was much better than hers. The alley was dark and quiet. A few old streetlights flickered with unstable light. For a moment, she could only hear her own rapid breathing.
She turned her head in panic and saw the man’s running shadow getting closer and closer behind her. But looking back would consume more stamina. She screamed a few times, but at the third streetlight, she tripped over a brick that had been left on the road. Her slender body pitched forward and fell heavily to the ground, letting out a groan of pain.
Seeing the girl fall, the man breathed a sigh of relief. Although the target’s sudden escape was unexpected, her panicked actions had also saved him a lot of effort.
The man quickened his pace and approached the girl who was struggling to get up on the ground. He was worried that her screams had attracted the attention of the nearby residents.
“You… you don’t come over here. Who are you?”
The girl turned over on the ground, her hands supporting her back as she continuously retreated. Her face was full of fear. Her face was pale, and her lips were bitten to the point of bleeding from nervousness.
The man didn’t speak, just sneered twice and rushed up, grabbing Xia Qian Ge’s slender wrist. Looking at her eyebrows and eyes exposed outside the mask, he secretly thought that she was a good catch.
He reached out to take off Xia Qian Ge’s mask. The girl’s frightened appearance made him relax his nerves. But just as he tore off the mask, the girl, who had been trembling, suddenly stopped. She suddenly bit the man’s thumb, and blood gushed out.
The man cried out in pain and cursed a few times, flinging Xia Qian Ge away. He had just looked down at the wound when a dark stick was thrust into his abdomen. The switch was flipped, and a strong electric current instantly shot through his body.
The man’s body went limp, and he collapsed to the ground, his limbs twitching uncontrollably. He watched as the girl who had just been so frightened silently stood up from the ground, patting the dust off her knees. Her dark eyes, under the dim, cloudy light, stared at him. A wave of indescribable coldness suddenly rose in his heart.
The girl’s cold and indifferent eyes were like a hunter observing its prey through a scope. She held a stun gun and slowly approached the man, whose body was beginning to recover.
“Don’t… don’t…”
Before the man could finish his stuttering words, Xia Qian Ge pressed the stun gun against him again. She watched as the man gradually lost consciousness, his pupils beginning to turn white. There was no hesitation in her eyes. Instead, she pressed even harder, until the man completely collapsed to the ground.
Xia Qian Ge took out her phone. The white screen light shone on her face, her expression terrifyingly indifferent, as if everything in front of her couldn’t shake her in the slightest.
“Hello, I… I want to report a crime. There’s a pervert here. He’s been following me.”
“Hello, a pervert? Don’t panic. Take it easy. Are you safe right now? Can you give us your address first?”
“I stunned him with a stun gun, but I’m so scared. I’m afraid he’ll wake up.” The girl’s voice was clearly crying, as if she had been greatly frightened. She stammered out the location.
“Okay, find a safe place to hide first. Don’t be afraid. We’ll be there to save you soon, okay?”
The other party comforted Xia Qian Ge and promised to send someone to find her right away.
While keeping in contact with the other party on the phone, Xia Qian Ge searched the man’s body. She found his phone in his coat pocket. After unlocking it with the man’s finger, she roughly scanned the recent chat history. The other party was clearly using a secondary account, but the tone of the conversation was very familiar to Xia Qian Ge.
She looked at the few messages filled with malice and smiled.
“Forget it, forget it. Just teach her a lesson. Don’t go too far…”
“Otherwise, I’m not responsible if something happens. I won’t give you a single penny then. I was just kidding before.”
“Do you hear me? Remember to give me a message after you’re done.”
…
The phone in her hand vibrated a few times. Xia Qian Ge silently looked at the few new messages, a soul-devouring black mist rolling in her dark eyes. She finished reading the messages and then deleted the chat history.
She had said, she would never beg for anyone’s mercy…
