Chapter 35: Sister Yuan, save me!

“Good evening, Miss Lu Ming. We meet again. Could I get a latte, please?”

“O…Okay, please wait a moment.”

I looked at Li Xinyao before me with a wry smile, suppressing the urge to punch him as I turned and skillfully retrieved the coffee beans.

‘Can you please just not come back? You’re a young master from a rich family, why are you giving a regular little maid like me, who works part-time at a café, such a hard time?’

‘You always want what you can’t have, is that it? You won’t even let a guy off the hook, right?’

“Have you considered it, Miss Lu Ming? Would you do me the honor of having dinner with me?”

“I’m sorry, I’ve already had dinner.”

I waved my hand, using an excuse to refuse his invitation.

Li Xinyao’s expression changed, looking a little displeased.

But he quickly switched back to the smile he thought was so charming and continued to pester me.

“That’s fine. The meal isn’t the point. I mainly want to get to know you better, Miss Lu Ming…”

“I have said this many times, sir. I do not like revealing too much personal information to strangers, I have no interest in you whatsoever, and I especially hate it when people repeatedly try to interfere in my life. If you have nothing better to do, you could visit the elderly at a nursing home; that would surely be more meaningful than disturbing my work here. If there is nothing else, please finish your latte and leave. I have other things to do and don’t want to waste any more time with you.”

This was the first time I had said so much to him in one go.

His repeated attempts to talk to me with that sanctimonious, scumbag face were something I just couldn’t tolerate anymore, and I couldn’t be bothered to care about my image as a server.

Li Xinyao gave an awkward smile, his face clearly turning much sourer, but he still didn’t lash out.

“Alright, if Miss Lu Ming is truly unwilling, then forget it.”

After speaking, he turned and left.

I glanced at the latte I had just served, sighed, and poured it out.

‘I hope he’s really given up this time. Please don’t come back to harass me again.’

I looked at the clock on the wall. It was now 8:50 PM.

My shift usually ended a little after nine.

In another ten or twenty minutes, I could go home and eat. I wonder what delicious food Sister Yuan made tonight.

“It’s about time. Xiao Lu, go to the supermarket next door and buy some sugar cubes, then you can get off work.”

Sister Yan had returned at some point. She glanced at the time and spoke to me.

“Okay, I’ll go right away.”

I replied to Sister Yan and walked out without changing my clothes.

There weren’t many pedestrians on the street, and the passing cars were also scarce.

I walked quickly towards the supermarket, not paying attention, and bumped headfirst into a passerby.

“Sorry, I’m sorry.”

I quickly apologized, not looking to see who I had run into, and prepared to walk past them.

But the person grabbed my arm, clearly not intending to let me leave just like that.

I turned my head and got a clear look at the person I had bumped into.

Li Xinyao’s face no longer wore that pretentious, gentle and refined look; his eyes were filled with greed.

Being stared at so predatorily by him, I felt a chill run down my spine.

I struggled to pull my hand back and looked at him with disdain.

“Is there something else, Mr. Li? I thought I made myself very clear earlier.”

“I think we can still talk, Miss Lu Ming. This time, I’m afraid you won’t be able to refuse my invitation.”

Two burly, muscular men stood beside Li Xinyao.

The three of them gradually closed in on me, surrounding me in the middle.

I scanned my surroundings, simultaneously thinking of a way to deal with him and choosing a direction to escape.

This spot was quite a distance from both the café and the supermarket.

There was a small alley to my side, and the three of them were pushing me, trying to shove me into it.

‘No time to think. I just have to run.’

I pushed two of them away with all my might and was about to run through the gap between them when my arm was grabbed again.

The burly man holding my hand swung me into the alley with a dissatisfied click of his tongue.

“I’d advise you not to struggle, Miss Lu Ming. Come with me, and I guarantee you’ll never have to work in a café again.”

Li Xinyao walked forward with a malicious smile, reaching out to touch my face.

I let out a cold laugh, slapped his hand away, and said coldly.

“Oh? Is that so? Even if I…”

I paused mid-sentence, adjusted my vocal cords, switched back to my original male voice, tilted my head up, and pointed to my Adam’s apple as I continued.

“Even if I’m a man, you wouldn’t mind? Young Master Li has such a peculiar taste?”

Li Xinyao looked at me, his face first showing surprise, then twisting in anger.

His features became as ferocious as a demon’s, as if he wanted to eat me alive.

“A man? You fcking… You bstard, how dare you lie to me! If I don’t teach you a lesson today, my surname isn’t Li!”

Li Xinyao clenched his fist, raised his hand, and was about to punch me.

I quickly brought my hands up to protect myself, looking straight at him, not preparing to fight back.

‘He has two brawny men with him. It’s impossible for me to escape now, and I definitely can’t beat them. It’s better to give up resisting. They’ll just beat me up and leave.’

‘The more I resist, the harder they might hit.’

Just as I had braced myself for the blow, Li Xinyao suddenly dropped to his knees as if he had taken a heavy blow to them.

He let out a miserable cry, his face instantly contorting in extreme pain.

He angrily turned his head, about to curse at the person who had attacked him from behind.

But the moment he saw their face, his expression instantly changed from anger to fear, as if he had just witnessed the most terrifying sight in the world.

Li Xinyao swallowed hard, his eyes filled with dread, all of his earlier arrogance gone.

He looked up at Sister Yuan helplessly, his speech becoming stuttered and slurred.

“Mo… Mo… Mo Yuan? You… how could… he… could it be… he is…”

Sister Yuan looked down at him with ice-cold eyes, as if she were looking at a corpse that had already gone cold.

“Scram.”

A single word escaped Sister Yuan’s lips, her tone as devoid of warmth as her gaze.

However, Li Xinyao’s legs seemed unable to get up.

He propped himself up with his hands and tried several times to stand, but ended up falling back down each time.

The two burly men beside him, at some point, had become bruised and swollen.

Their legs also seemed to be severely injured, and they couldn’t even stand steadily.

They staggered forward, lifted Li Xinyao from the ground, and then staggered out of the alley with him.

“Sister Yuan, how did you get here? I thought I wouldn’t be able to escape this beating.”

“Are you okay? Does it hurt? Are you injured? Did they touch you?”

Sister Yuan’s expression became one of extreme distress as she touched and checked all over my body, looking for injuries.

“No, no, no, you arrived just as they were about to start. I didn’t let them hit me even once.”

“Let’s go. Go quit your job. From now on, you must be home before eight o’clock every day.”

“That… that’s not good, is it, Sister Yuan? My job is almost over in a few days. This was just an accident, I’m fine.”

“Be good and go quit your job. Don’t make your big sister forcefully tie you up at home.”

Sister Yuan’s tone was exceptionally firm.

Without waiting for me to argue further, she pulled me towards the café.

“Alright, Xiao Lu, I respect your decision. Go inside and change your clothes. Your salary for these past few days has already been sent to your account.”

After I submitted my resignation to Sister Yan, she didn’t hesitate much and settled my wages immediately.

“Mhm, okay. Thank you, Sister Yan.”

I replied and walked towards the inner door of the café.

“Wait a moment. This outfit, can you sell it to us?”

Sister Yuan suddenly stopped me and asked Sister Yan.

‘??? What are you trying to do?’

‘The size of this outfit clearly doesn’t fit Sister Yuan. She’s not planning to buy it for me to wear, is she?’

“Of course. This outfit is very well-made and cost me quite a bit back then. But now that it’s just sitting here, no one will wear it. It’s better to sell it to you at a discount.”

“Thank you.”

Without asking for the price, Sister Yuan directly took out her phone, scanned the QR code on the table, and sent a sum of money.

Sister Yan looked at the amount received on her phone in surprise and was about to say something when Sister Yuan had already pulled me away.