Chapter 34: What I’m Good At ④
As soon as Nie Qiu left, the entire classroom erupted. The English teacher looked at Nie Qiu’s back view and sighed. This Nie Qiu had actually caught his attention when she returned to school to study. A gloomy and introverted person suddenly styled her hair, her temperament changed, and she became much more dazzling.
Yesterday, on his way home from school, he encountered this girl. She was squatting in front of a book stall, engrossed in reading an original book. Today, he wanted to test her, was this girl’s English really that good? Could she really understand original books? Or was she just doing it for show?
That’s why he asked her to come to the lectern to do the problems. He looked up at the English on the blackboard, and she answered word for word, neatly and correctly, with no errors in tense or grammar.
Yes! Who would be so foolish as to steal someone else’s things and not hide them? Who would be so foolish as to steal someone else’s things and then let others search them? He coughed, and after stopping the students’ animated discussions, he said, “In any case, this matter will be handled after the police arrive.”
Zhang Haiyang tugged at Li Kai’s school uniform, “A Kai, what should we do?”
Li Kai snapped out of his shock and knew that his friend was framing Nie Qiu. He frowned and said to the English teacher, “Since my mobile phone has been found, let’s just forget about it!”
The English teacher looked at Li Kai for a moment and sighed, “Li Kai, this matter is not up to me. You need to give Nie Qiu a clean slate.” He could also tell that these people were behind it.
“Don’t worry, teacher, we know what to do.” With that, Li Kai looked at Zhang Haiyang and Wang Chao Lei, “You two should think carefully about how to apologize to Nie Qiu!”
Wang Chao Lei and Zhang Haiyang exchanged glances, nodded, and ran out of the classroom to chase after Nie Qiu. Li Kai put his mobile phone into his purse and looked at the surrounding classmates, “This matter has nothing to do with Nie Qiu.”
Under Li Kai’s sharp gaze, the surrounding classmates couldn’t help but nod, indicating they understood.
Wang Chao Lei and Zhang Haiyang ran out of the school and saw Nie Qiu by the roadside, about to use a public telephone. Wang Chao Lei, in a hurry, snatched the phone from Nie Qiu’s hand and hung it up on the booth, “Nie Qiu, I’m sorry, we framed you, please don’t call the police.”
Nie Qiu looked at Wang Chao Lei and Zhang Haiyang and couldn’t help but frown. It was too stifling; the atmosphere in this class was suffocating.
After hearing Wang Chao Lei’s words, Zhang Haiyang also chimed in, “Yes! Nie Qiu, it was our fault. Hit us, vent your anger, and don’t call the police.” They weren’t afraid of calling the police; they didn’t care about such a small amount of money. They were still minors and wouldn’t be imprisoned for long, and their parents would definitely find a way to get them back home and ensure their education. However, they didn’t want to go to the police station. They knew that even if they paid back the money, they would still be scolded and beaten by their parents when they got home, which was certain.
Nie Qiu didn’t even look at the two of them, hugged her schoolbag, and turned to leave. Wang Chao Lei quickly ran in front of Nie Qiu and blocked Zhang Zhou Yi’s path, “Nie Qiu, shall I buy you a schoolbag? A limited edition one?”
“Yes, yes! Nie Qiu, we’ll buy you a new schoolbag,” Zhang Haiyang added.
Nie Qiu hugged her schoolbag and looked at Zhang Haiyang and Wang Chao Lei, “You two go back! I won’t call the police, and I don’t need your schoolbags.” Her gaze swept over the two of them, not lingering, and she turned to leave.
Wang Chao Lei and Zhang Haiyang stood frozen in place. This person… this person really doesn’t know what’s good for her!
Honestly, Nie Qiu didn’t expect the person who robbed them to reappear at their barbecue stall, bringing a few more people with him. After knocking over a few stools, he approached Nie Qiu and the others.
Nie Qiu watched the customers run away, wanting to say that these people hadn’t paid yet.
But she couldn’t help it. She had to put on gloves, take the newly bought iron plate off the charcoal grill rack, shield Nie Aifang behind her, and look at that person, sneering, “What? You think it’s easy to bully us, a mother and daughter alone?”
“We just think you’re easy to bully, so what?” The person kicked over another chair and was about to approach Nie Qiu and the others.
Nie Qiu smiled and swung the iron plate, about to hit the person. The person instinctively raised his hand to block, but was burned by the charcoal-grilled iron plate and hopped around, “So what? That’s what!”
The man grabbed a stool, broke the seat, and rushed at Nie Qiu with the stool legs. The people he brought with him were constantly vandalizing the tricycle and tables and chairs.
Nie Aifang went to stop them but was knocked to the ground. Seeing this, Nie Qiu became furious and rushed forward, wielding a pot shovel and striking the person who had pushed Nie Aifang down. The pot shovel, fresh from the oil pot, was indeed extraordinary. The person who had pushed Nie Aifang down screamed, clutching his back, and rolled on the ground.
Hearing the screams, those people finally stopped their destruction. Nie Qiu saw the police arriving in the distance and put down the pot shovel in her hand. It seemed that some kind-hearted person had called the police.
Nie Qiu and Nie Aifang were considered to have acted in self-defense and did not need to pay compensation for medical expenses. On the other hand, those who came to cause trouble were not only fined but also compensated Nie Qiu and the others with five hundred yuan for their losses.
Nie Aifang, holding the money, came out of the police station with Nie Qiu. Looking at the tricycle parked outside, Nie Aifang almost shed tears. The wheel was broken, the chain was snapped, and the place where ingredients were originally piled high was scattered with some vegetable leaves. The place where tables and chairs were originally placed was now littered with broken wooden legs.
Could five hundred yuan repair the tricycle and buy so many vegetables? And the folding tables and chairs? Moreover, they hadn’t done any business tonight. By any measure, they were at a disadvantage, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it.
Nie Qiu looked at the tricycle in front of her and knew it was impossible to ride it home, so she had to push it. The tricycle also carried the honeycomb briquette stove and the charcoal grill rack, as well as the aluminum plate for displaying ingredients. Pushing the tricycle was not easy, and going uphill and downhill was even harder. Moreover… their home was quite far from the police station.
Nie Aifang smiled at Nie Qiu, and together they pushed the tricycle home. The streetlights at night cast layers of loneliness upon the two of them and their vehicle.
“Did you have people do this?” Li Kai looked at the mess where Nie Qiu’s family’s stall used to be in the night market and asked the two behind him with a frown.
Wang Chao Lei and Zhang Haiyang quickly shook their heads. Wang Chao Lei said, “How could that be? A Kai, how could we have people do something like this?”
Li Kai looked at Zhang Haiyang. Zhang Haiyang shrugged and said nothing. Luo Xu placed his hand on Li Kai’s shoulder and teased, “A Kai, you’re acting strange! Why have you been speaking up for Nie Qiu lately? I say, you’re not falling for some ugly monster, are you?”
Li Kai lowered his head and glanced at Luo Xu, “Do you think that’s possible?”
