Chapter 15 - 00: Ma Gangqiang and Xia Wei’er
"Fuck, I can’t stand this feeling until I let this out."
Chen Cang roared furiously.
The others were immediately a little afraid. Whenever Chen Cang lost his temper, he easily took it out on one of them. This had happened before, so the group was truly afraid of him.
Houzi, smart as a monkey, decided to divert the disaster and reminded, "Brother Cang, since it was the snack street’s cold drink shop that gave the brothers diarrhea, why don’t we find that shop and have them compensate us?"
"Yeah, make them compensate! That’ll let us vent!"
"Damn, my stomach’s been aching from all the shitting, and my legs are numb too, we must make that shop pay! No compensation, no deal!"
The younger brothers were all riled up, shouting and some even talked about smashing the shop.
These were kids from influential families who never took ordinary people seriously, and felt even more entitled because they believed they got diarrhea from the shop’s food—they were fearless.
"Let’s go get them!"
Chen Cang bellowed, and the group headed straight for the snack street.
The snack street, backed by Tianjiao High School and facing Lansong Ancient Town, thrives on tourism. The place was bustling and businesses were thriving.
Beyond just a street of delicacies, there was also a lane specializing in souvenirs and antiques. With various incentives from the government concentrated here, it had become another tourist attraction nestled within Songlan City.
As evening approached, it was the time when many office workers were off duty. Numerous couples came to the snack street to try various local snacks from all over the country.
The area boasted not only quaint retro architecture but also a myriad of facilities for leisure, eating, and drinking, naturally making it a spot where many young people lingered!
Moreover, the ancient town received many tour groups every day, which naturally meant bringing the tourists to stroll around the snack street.
A few minutes later, Chen Cang, the ringleader of the young ruffians, arrived at the snack street with his gang!
Lacking any sense of civility, they strutted arrogantly and looked for trouble, calling themselves students but acting more like hoodlums.
Many shop owners could tell at a glance that these were trouble-making rich kids, the kind of people they couldn’t afford to offend, so shop owners nearby all kept their distance.
"Brother Cang, it was that woman’s ice pops that made us sick. She even claimed they were homemade and tasted good, but who knew we’d get stomachache after eating them. Clearly, they weren’t made clean."
Houzi pointed at a cold drink shop front less than two meters wide.
"Oh, let’s go over and ask her how she’ll handle this."
At Chen Cang’s call, his lackeys crowded around.
The cold drink shop wasn’t big, but the snacks on display were colorful and tempting, attracting the attention of many youngsters.
At the moment, the shop was packed with young men and women waiting for their frozen treats. The lady boss, a woman in her thirties or forties, was dressed neatly, busy making ice cream and milk tea.
When Chen Cang and his group entered, the young men and women waiting to buy the cold treats obviously sensed hostility, and they quickly made way for them.
The lady boss also noticed the group, but since she had just sold them homemade ice pops at noon and thought they were coming back due to the good taste, she assumed the students were returning customers.
"Coming for more ice pops?"
Seeing familiar faces, the lady boss immediately greeted them with a smile.
"Buying my fucking ass! Your ice pops made my brothers shit their guts out, did you know that?"
Chen Cang slammed the countertop and yelled with a cold face.
"How could that be possible? I’ve been selling ice pops for a long time now, and not once has a customer complained about a problem. You kids had better not be making things up."
The lady owner’s face changed color; in the frozen treat business, taste is very important, but cleanliness and hygiene are even more crucial. She waved her hands in hurried denial.
"So what you’re saying is that all of us would slander your little frozen treat business?"
Chen Cang, already a head taller and significantly heavier than the lady owner, towered over her and said intimidatingly,
"I’m telling you, if you don’t pay up today, we’ll smash up your shop to save others from your unclean products causing harm."
...
"Wei’er, wait for me!"
𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦
At the entrance to the snack street, a voice called out.
The figure in front heard it and sped up even more, but the boy behind him was quick on his feet, closing the distance with a few large strides.
The figure was a pretty girl in unremarkable attire: a white dress with a small floral pattern and dainty, pristine flat shoes on her feet. Her milky-white skin, set against her white clothes, made her look like a blooming lily.
Her face was the perfect oval shape, her eyebrows arched like crescents, lips red, teeth white. Despite not wearing any makeup, her naturally pretty features were strikingly vivid.
She turned slightly, looking at the boy who was running towards her, and spoke with apparent reluctance,
"Gangqiang, you really don’t need to walk me home."
"Wei’er, it’s dangerous for a girl to go home alone. I’ll escort you to make sure no one dares to bother you on the way," the boy called Gangqiang answered.
Gangqiang, over six feet tall with a slightly tanned complexion—you could tell he was often outdoors and physically active—didn’t seem winded at all as he approached her, obviously in good shape from regular exercise.
Wei’er felt frustrated. Gangqiang often hassled her, which directly caused her usual girlfriends to stay away out of fear! And even some of her male classmates had been scared off by him. Walking home with such a guy didn’t give her a sense of security; it made her feel even more afraid.
Fortunately, they were at the snack street, and home was just a few minutes away, so Wei’er didn’t openly refuse his company.
The two walked side by side, Gangqiang feeling extremely satisfied, interpreting her silence as a sign that his persistent advances were having an effect, at least she hadn’t outright rejected him.
Gangqiang could already feel the envious gazes of all the other boys at Tianjiao High School; the thought of dating one of the school beauties was tantalizing to him.
"Mom!"
Wei’er let out a startled cry and hurried to the entrance of the frozen treat shop.
At that moment, the lady owner was clinging to the cash register, arguing with Chen Cang!
The difference was that Chen Cang had a high ground advantage and a ruffian’s menacing air about him.
Meanwhile, the lady owner’s face was drenched in tears, looking utterly distressed as she held tightly onto the cash register, as if fearing it would be snatched away.
Wei’er quickly ran to her mother’s side and, seeing her mom’s distraught expression, felt a mix of shock and anger.
She knew Chen Cang; he was a bully who strutted around with a pack of lackeys, harassing pretty girls wherever they went.
Chen Cang had taken a fancy to Wei’er as well, but since he was pursuing Liu Mengting at the time, it didn’t seem right to openly chase someone else, all the more so because Gangqiang was also pursuing Wei’er, so he steered clear of stepping in.
Moreover, Wei’er was one of the few students at Tianjiao High School who had earned her spot based on academic merit, exempt from the high tuition fees, after all, Tianjiao High School was also about producing results.