Mentioning Chen Yiyang, Yun Mi remembered Xu Zhiyu. She frowned, scanned the crowd, and said softly, "I'll go find Xu Zhiyu."
The cash register was in the kitchen. Xu Zhiyu had been gone for ten minutes but hadn't returned.
Yun Mi looked around the kitchen. The boss lady and the assistant were busy. Yun Mi asked, "Auntie, where's the girl who came to pay just now?"
The boss lady glanced up and said, "Oh, you mean little Xu? She was called away by that person next door..."
The boss lady thought for a while but couldn't remember. After asking someone, she pointed in a direction, and Yun Mi quickly ran out.
Around the corner was an alley. Yun Mi heard voices and froze.
"Little Xu, I treated you well back then, didn't I?"
In the shadows of the alley, several men surrounded Xu Zhiyu, pressing her against the wall. Their tone was rough, carrying undisguised threats.
The lead man spat out his cigarette butt, stepped forward, and with a sinister gaze, said, "I saw through your little scheme when you worked at my restaurant. Trying to con me? I was being merciful not killing you. And now you dare to show up on Xiaogui Street? Are you pretending I'm dead?"
Behind Xu Zhiyu was a wall plastered with messy advertisements for infertility treatments. In the chaotic setting, the girl's face was pale. She frowned and said in a low voice, "Uncle Hu, I'm not here to work. I'm here to treat my classmates to a meal."
"You? Treating others to a meal?"
The man called Uncle Hu sneered and asked the two men beside him, "Did you hear that? Her family is so poor they're dying, and she's treating others to a meal?"
The men around laughed derisively.
Uncle Hu reached out to grab her arm, snarling, "I was kind enough to let you work, but you try to screw me over? If you don't come back with me today and explain yourself, you're not going anywhere."
Xu Zhiyu flinched back in fear, her eyes reddening.
Yun Mi stood not far away, frozen solid, her blood seemingly turning to ice. She instinctively looked around, only seeing a pile of clutter from the Scholar Restaurant.
Xu Zhiyu pressed her lips together, staring at the three fierce men, her hands clenched tightly in front of her, her voice trembling as she said, "I was wrong, but you didn't suffer any loss, did you?"
Uncle Hu reached for her. She tried to back away, retreating until her back hit the cold, dirty wall.
His hand had already touched her arm when Xu Zhiyu let out a cry of anguish: "Don't touch me! I'm not going with you!"
Xu Zhiyu shook with fear.
At that moment, a slender but resolute figure suddenly charged over.
Xu Zhiyu heard a cracking sound in the air as a "smack" hit Uncle Hu's arm, making him withdraw his hand in pain.
Xu Zhiyu's eyes, which she had been about to close, flew open wide.
Yun Mi gripped a broomstick tightly in both hands, aiming it at the three men ready to approach. She stood firmly between Xu Zhiyu and the trio.
The girl stood straight, not tall but strong enough.
Her fingertips whitened from effort, but her voice carried an undeniable stubbornness, cutting through the tense air: "Don't touch her!"
The three men, probably thugs from the streets, were initially startled to see a young girl, then burst into laughter. The one with a scar on the left said, "Little girl, do you know what she did? And you're protecting her? Besides..." He paused, "Can you even protect her?"
At that, the other man laughed.
Yun Mi didn't ask questions. She simply shielded Xu Zhiyu completely behind her.
The girl's eyes were sharp, a stark contrast to her usual demeanor, both hands gripping the broomstick.
Xu Zhiyu's eyes widened as she heard Yun Mi say, "Why don't you ask Uncle Hu here?"
Yun Mi hadn't used full force.
But Uncle Hu was already in too much pain to speak.
He rolled up two layers of sleeves, revealing a fierce, bloody wound extending from his wrist to his elbow, with blood seeping out.
"Blood—"
"Brother, does it hurt?"
Screams erupted from the alley.
Xu Zhiyu stared at Yun Mi's back, her nose suddenly stinging, eyes instantly reddening.
It had been so long since she had held such a "sword." Her fencing skills were rusty, but her aura remained.
Yun Mi said, "I don't care what she did, but today I saw three grown men bullying a young girl. I won't stand by and do nothing."
Her arm holding the broomstick was taut. Despite her slender figure, under the delicate sweater, there seemed to be smooth, defined muscles.
Yun Mi raised the broomstick, pointing it directly at Uncle Hu's neck. The rough wooden pole exuded a chill as cold as iron.
The girl's amber eyes seemed to freeze over, making people tremble.
Yun Mi said, "I've already called for help. Do you still want to continue?"
Yun Mi's presence was overwhelming.
The three men were intimidated by her and, after uttering a few harsh words, left.
Only then did Yun Mi turn to look at Xu Zhiyu.
The nearly perfect cold goddess of the school now had black hair covering her face, sitting disheveled on the ground, trembling all over.
Xu Zhiyu bit her lower lip in fear.
Yun Mi slowly crouched down. Her first words were, "What happened just now, I won't tell anyone except you and me, not even Ding Yuan."