"Boss, I've already told you the secret recipe, so you can let me off now right?"
Strong Rat was worried when he saw that Qin Fang was contemplating about something, and had no choice but to cautiously ask Qin Fang if he could go.
"Go, go…"
Qin Fang also didn't have the mind to make things difficult for the gangster trio, and immediately shooed them away while waving his hands.
"Thank you, thank you!"
Strong Rat's back already had the chills since a long time ago, and was waiting for Qin Fang's words all along. When he heard that he could go, he felt like his death sentence had just been revoked, and immediately struggled to get up. But the moment he moved his body, his face started throbbing with pain, causing him to grit his teeth. However, he didn't dare to show Qin Fang that he was in pain, fearing that it might annoy him, so he had no choice but to endure it silently.
The other lackeys also cautiously went over to Strong Rat to help him up, and the both of them then once again cautiously carried away the lackey who was beaten till he was half-dead.
"Why are you not going home yet?"
When the dust had settled, Qin Fang slapped off the dust on his hands, and was preparing to go home. However, he noticed that the girl called Little Xue was still standing at the alley entrance looking at him. Thus, he couldn't help but to ask her that question.
"I don't want to go home…"
The girl replied with an agonised face while shaking her head.
Fatty Chen was no matter what her uncle, but he almost single-handedly pushed her down the fire pits, while he himself escaped safely. Furthermore, from the time Fatty Chen escaped till now, one hour had already passed. Yet, nobody was sent to save her. She was really hurt by this fact.
"*sigh*… It's already quite late, I will guide you to a hotel for you to stay for one night then."
Qin Fang sighed. He had personally witnessed what happened just now, and knew what the girl was thinking about right now. But, he was just an outsider, and was not in a place to say anything.
"No, I won't go…"
The girl however shook her head resolutely and refused.
"Is there space for one more at your house? I will go home with you…"
Qin Fang was instantly flabbergasted, and both his eyes were staring the girl whose age was similar to his. He really could not accept her proposal.
"This… We are not close, and it's not convenient."
Undeniably, Qin Fang had the urge to accept the proposal. In the end, he was just a 18 years old male who was in the spring of his youth now, and had at least some fantasies about things. Furthermore, the girl was very pretty. If she dressed up properly, she definitely would not lose to Tang Feifei.
Only, the proposal came too suddenly, and the girl was excessively direct. He really could not accept it in such a short time.
The girl didn't say anything else afterwards, and only looked at Qin Fang silently. Her eyes flashed with an odd gleam, making Qin Fang once again scream in his heart 'you can't accept!'.
"She can't possibly be trying to repay her thanks by devoting herself to me, right?"
While showing a cold exterior, in Qin Fang's heart, delusions passionately popped out, and he couldn't help but to think of that possibility. However, if it was during the ancient times, heroic acts such as saving a damsel in distress could really win the heart of the beautiful damsel. But it was already the 21st century now! Who still believed in such things?
In society now, you can frequently see people standing up for others voluntarily out of kindness, but the victim would be gone without a trace. Instead, the kind person would be the one getting beaten up, without any words of thanks from the victim.
"It's really inconvenient there. I live in a small room, with the two of us… it's just not suitable."
Qin Fang had no choice but to lay out the facts. If his place was bigger, he really would have agreed. But with only a small room, with only a small bed, if one put a boy and a girl there, then there won't even be place to sleep.
"I don't mind…"
The girl's resolution made Qin Fang collapse a little. His words and intentions were already so direct and clear, but he did not expect he would get this type of answer.
"But…"
Qin Fang still wanted to continue rejecting the proposal, but was directly cut off by the girl.
"There are no 'buts'. I know that you are a good person."
Great, directly giving him the 'good person' label.
Qin Fang could only give a bitter smile.
"Fine, you can come home with me. But, let me say something first. If… Forget it. I won't scare you anymore."
Qin Fang had wanted to continue scaring the girl and let her give up. But looking at the girl's weird gaze, he swallowed his words in the end, eliciting a smile that was quite forced given what she just experienced.
Of course, even if the smile was forced, it was equally sweet, and further emphasised her beauty.
"I'm called Qin Fang. What about you?"
In the end, the girl still followed Qin Fang back to his small room. While walking, the two were very quiet, and looked as if they didn't like talking. Without a choice, Qin Fang had to start talking first.
"I know. I'm called Xiao Muxue" (T/N: Great, we finally know her name. Now I have to go back to all the past chapters to change it… I thought Xiao Xue was her name T.T…)
The girl lightly nodded and replied.
"Err… good name."
Qin Fang was slightly embarrassed. He seemed to have said his name, but he didn't have much impression of him doing that, causing an awkward situation to unfold. Thus, to alleviate the awkward mood, he changed the topic and complimented her name.
"Thank you, it was given by my father…"
The girl was gentle and quiet all the while, but when she talked about her father, her feelings suddenly became low, causing Qin Fang to be unable to make head or tails of the situation.
However, he could vaguely feel that the girl didn't like talking about her family. Qin Fang felt that it was probably due to Fatty Chen giving her too much of a shock, and didn't bring up that topic anymore.
"What do you plan to do from now on?"
Though she would be staying at his room tonight, it was obviously not possible forever.
"I don't know either…"
Xiao Muxue lowered her head. Qin Fang couldn't see her expression, but it must be a very perplexed one. After all, she was living in her relative Fatty Chen's house. Now that she couldn't return, she would naturally be at a loss about what to do.
"I heard that you run your own noodle stall?"
Xiao Muxue stayed silent for awhile before asking curiously.
"En, my family's situation is not that good. Luckily, I know how to make noodles, so I partnered with someone to run a stall to earn my school fees and cover my living expenses.
Qin Fang didn't hide anything. The exchange between Strong Rat and him just now was all seen by Xiao Mu Xue. If he said that he didn't run a noodle stall now, it would be too fake.
"Then…can I work for you?"
Xiao Mu Xue cautiously asked.
"I can do anything. I don't want to get paid, as long as you provide me with three meals and a place to stay… I don't want to go back."
Listening to Xiao Muxue's request, Qin Fang's expression got really weird.
Honestly, Xiao Muxue's request was not really unreasonable. His stall's business was quite good, so with just him and Tang Fei Fei working, even with the occasional help from Big Sis Pan who ate for free, manpower was still lacking.
Qin Fang did want to hire someone to help. But in his heart he clearly knew, that his stall won't be open for long. After school starts, he basically would have no time. Additionally, hiring another person would mean having to pay another person. He really did not have enough excess money to do that.
Xiao Muxue's request was really like sending hot charcoal to Qin Fang on a cold, snowy day. However… Qin Fang thought that her request was not easy to accomplish (morally), giving him a hard time deciding whether to accept or not.