Not long after sitting down, Yin Chi got up to head to the restroom.
Every exhibit at North City Zoo had its unique features. The rest area was on a small island smack in the middle of the crocodile exhibit, surrounded by water on all sides, with tall glass barriers along the edge—crocodiles swam by just a meter away.
The novel, thrilling design drew plenty of families with kids to rest here. So not just the dining area, but the paths were filled with people sitting around too.
There were too many annoying bratty kids squeezing through the crowd, and a few accidentally bumped into Yin Chi, only to end up falling flat on their butts and immediately bursting into loud wails on the ground.
“Sorry, are you okay?” Yin Chi crouched down, reaching out to help the child up.
The kid was too busy crying to respond. Yin Chi rubbed her temples in headache, consoling, “Don’t cry…”
At that moment, the light overhead was blocked. Before she could look up, she felt a shove.
Yin Chi stumbled and fell onto her butt too. Looking up at the other party, irritation already colored her eyes.
The child’s parents came charging over aggressively—the pusher was the kid’s mother. But instead of first comforting her wailing son, she yelled at Yin Chi: “What the hell’s your problem? How dare you bully a child?!”
She bullied a child?
Who was bullying whom here?
Yin Chi tsked, propping herself up to stand, unwilling to back down: “Don’t spout nonsense. Clearly, your kid ran wild and crashed into me. I was trying to pull him up.”
“Hmph! Such a wide open path, and he just had to hit you? I saw it all—you deliberately stuck your leg out and tripped my son!” Now it was the short, fat man’s turn to step forward, pointing accusingly at Yin Chi.
An unfounded accusation smashed into her like a ton of bricks, giving her a dull ache in the head. Not bothering to argue: “Don’t believe me? Check the surveillance.”
“Oh wow, what’s with that attitude? You won’t apologize and suggest checking surveillance? Is that necessary?” The boy’s mom skirted around the child to stand in front of Yin Chi.
She was a good few heads shorter, yet she stood on tiptoe to pick a fight: “Have you no shame? Zero accountability!”
Yin Chi couldn’t fathom who actually had no shame here.
She’d just gone to use the toilet, and this kind of crap happened midway.
The boy’s mom was flailing wildly, spittle flying as she spoke. Yin Chi wrinkled her nose in disgust.
This probably irked the boy’s mom; she grabbed Yin Chi’s wrist: “No apology? Then we’re not done!”
Yin Chi’s face instantly turned icy: “Let go.”
The commotion drew a crowd, and soon staff hurried over.
Some tried to mediate, others just watched the show.
“Miss, why don’t you apologize to the child’s parents and call it even?” The staffer smiled awkwardly. “We’re all here to have fun—happy times, right?”
“Why should I apologize? I did nothing wrong—I’m the one being wronged.” Yin Chi sneered. “They shoved me too. If anyone’s apologizing, it’s them.”
She’d never been taught that coming out to play meant taking a loss—at least, backing down wasn’t in her dictionary.
The argument escalated, and no one noticed that amid the chaos, the actual instigator—the kid—had long stopped crying, completely ignored.
Suddenly, a hand reached out from the crowd, grabbing the back of his collar from behind.
Then a woman pushed through the throng into the center of the mess.
The woman was tall, her glossy black hair simply tied up, wearing an army green vest with a claw-shaped necklace around her neck. One hand in her pocket, the arm holding the bratty kid by the scruff was covered in scary scars.
Her face was grim, looking like bad news.
The bratty kid was yanked to his feet, tears instantly welling up again as he sobbed toward his parents for help: “Mommy, Daddy… Waaah—”
“What are you doing?!” The boy’s mom saw her kid grabbed and lunged over with a roar.
The shout buzzed in everyone’s ears, souring Yin Chi’s mood even more.
She glanced at the woman, thinking what a weirdo.
“You’ve stepped on my foot so many times, not even a ‘sorry’? How do you raise your kid?” The woman glanced down at her shoe—once snow-white, now marred with dirty prints—and said casually, “You can’t raise him? Then I’ll toss him in to feed the crocs.”
With that, she actually dragged the bratty kid forward a few steps.
Of course the kid understood; he erupted into hysterical cries: “Nooo… I don’t wanna—Mommy, Daddy!”
“Hey! No, no!” The boy’s dad waved his hands frantically. “My bad, my bad! Put him down—we can talk this out.”
“Fine.” The woman nodded. “One, apologize to my shoe. Two, apologize to that lady over there. I saw it all—your kid ran wild and bumped into her.”
“And.” Her voice was cold as she lifted her gaze to the boy’s mom. “You shoved her too. Apologize.”
The two were still tangled up, refusing to let go.
“Okay, okay, we’re sorry!” The boy’s dad bowed slightly, then turned to Yin Chi. “Sorry about that.”
Only then did the woman release her grip. The bratty kid wailed and dove into his mom’s arms, only to get two solid smacks on the butt from his furious mother, silencing him completely.
Once the family of three slunk away in disgrace, the woman exhaled, rolling her wrist, then eyed the staffer who’d pushed for Yin Chi to apologize: “Don’t you think you owe an apology too?”
“This guest…” The staffer started to say.
“Kids under 1.3 meters get in free, but we paid full price—why aren’t we treated equally? First thing when trouble hits, you don’t solve it, just shove blame onto adults. Kids have privileges?” Danger flickered in the woman’s eyes. “Or is your staff training that bad? You only know how to play peacemaker?”
The staffer paled under her stare, quickly apologizing profusely to Yin Chi before handing over a sightseeing voucher as compensation.
Yin Chi’s wrist throbbed painfully from that shrew’s grip, already red.
She reluctantly took the sightseeing ticket, her mood at rock bottom. She never wanted to set foot in this godforsaken place again in her lifetime.
After a while, the onlookers gradually dispersed.
She glanced at the woman, who was still sorting out her backpack not far away.
Thinking that the other had helped her out, Yin Chi stepped forward. “Just now… thank you.”
“Hm?” The woman stood up, slung her bag over her shoulder, and looked at her. “No problem. It was mainly for my shoes—you were just along for the ride.”
Along for the ride…
How the hell was she being compared to a pair of shoes?!
Damn it! She wasn’t even as good as the woman’s little white sneakers?!
Yin Chi was already in a foul mood, and now the fire flared up again thanks to her. “No, I’m thanking you! Do you even know how to talk?”
“I already said no problem.” The woman didn’t bat an eyelid. “You’re unhappy I compared you to my shoes? But that’s the truth. If it weren’t for my shoes getting stepped on, I wouldn’t have bothered helping you.”
Shoes, shoes, shoes! Couldn’t she just drop it?!
At this moment, Yin Chi’s face was blacker than the bottom of a pot.
Her gaze roved over the woman, wishing she could bore a hole right through her. But then her eyes suddenly landed on the woman’s arm, covered in scars, and Yin Chi’s mind stung like it had been pricked by a needle.
Looking at the woman’s face again, it seemed familiar, like she’d seen it somewhere before…
As she pondered, her expression naturally softened, losing that earlier ferocious, man-eating look.
“Weird…” Seeing she wasn’t speaking, the woman muttered and walked off with her bag.
“Hey!” Yin Chi snapped back to reality and chased after her. “I can’t use this ticket anyway. Here, take it.”
With that, Yin Chi grabbed her hand and stuffed the sightseeing ticket into it.
She was the type who always settled scores, no matter how small. Since this woman had compared her to a pair of shoes, she’d equate the woman right back to a useless scrap of paper.
Thinking like that put her in a much better mood.
After handing over the ticket, she didn’t give the woman a chance to return it and bolted away immediately, running so fast it was like a wolf was chasing her.
The woman was only stunned for a second before she lost sight of her.
She stared blankly at the ticket in her hand.
Then she looked up at the direction Yin Chi had left in.
For some inexplicable reason, she felt: That woman just now… she was just like a serval…
—
When Yin Chi got back, she didn’t mention this mood-ruining encounter.
Deep down, she gritted her teeth at every stranger she’d met that day, including that woman who’d helped her but had such a sharp tongue.
But after hugging the adorably dumb red panda, her mood improved immensely, sweeping away all her troubles.
The three of them toured quickly and finished up an hour before closing time.
Yin Chi thanked them for spending the day with her and learned that Fang Nianchen actually hadn’t cleared the air with Yu Wan yet.
However, she’d already realized the mutual affection between them and was willing to make efforts to confess soon—Yin Chi was quite gratified.
To express her thanks, Yin Chi suggested they all go for dinner, with her treating, but Fang Nianchen refused.
Fang Nianchen’s reason was surprisingly, “The stuff we eat might not be to your taste.”
Heh…
Yin Chi just wanted to flip her the bird.
Wasn’t it just because she was afraid of Yin Chi ruining their alone time? So petty!
Yin Chi didn’t push it and drove off alone after bidding them farewell.
Yu Wan and Fang Nianchen had dinner, and by then it was late.
They’d eaten at the food street near the company. When they emerged from the restaurant, the bright moon hung high, roadside stalls and vendors lined up in a long row. Even though it was Sunday night and Monday loomed tomorrow, the street was still packed and lively.
The night market remained bustling as the two wove through the haze of food aromas toward the parking lot.
“Thanks.” Once the roadside crowd thinned, Yu Wan suddenly spoke up.
“For what?”
“For bringing me out to play, of course.”
“Were you happy?” Fang Nianchen asked with a beaming smile.
“Mm.” Yu Wan nodded, a faint smile on her lips. “Happy.”
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say this was one of the rare days in her life where she could control her own emotions.
She could express without hesitation that she was happy—and more importantly, spend it with someone she cherished.
This preciousness was enough for her to overlook all her unfulfilled wishes.
Wishes might not come true, but what was right in front of her was precious reality.
The streetlights stretched their shadows long, and Yu Wan asked again, “Earlier, Miss Yin wanted to join us for dinner. Why didn’t you agree?”
Yin Chi had been ditched earlier that day and looked all pitiful when they ran into Fang Nianchen—that was what stirred Yu Wan’s compassion into inviting her to the zoo.
So Yin Chi suggesting dinner before leaving probably hadn’t been malicious.
Yet Fang Nianchen had refused without a second thought, which puzzled her greatly.
Weren’t the two of them on good terms?
Fang Nianchen thought for a moment. “Wouldn’t it be weird if she came?”
Hearing that, Yu Wan shot her a puzzled look.
Fang Nianchen smiled, her tone half-joking. “I thought today counted as a date for just the two of us.”
