"Hey beautiful, here's your beef soup," said the owner of the diner, as he brought a steaming bowl of soup over to the girl. Alex was surprised as he thought, the girl didn't even give her order. How did the waiter know what she wanted to eat?
The owner smiled as he put the bowl down in front of her, and then he turned to go back to his work. The girl picked up her spoon and took a sip of the broth. Her eyebrows knitted together, and she emitted a loud "yuk" and pushed the bowl of soup off the table.
"What kind of soup is this? It's terrible. Get me another bowl," she ordered aggressively.
"Why did you have to do that?" the owner said when he saw the mess of beef soup and the broken pieces of the bowl all over the floor. "You need to control your temper. You can't come into my diner, tell everyone that my soup is bad, and then smash my bowl. You'll ruin my business."
The teenager raised her gaze to look at the man as she said, "Are you talking to me?" The coldness of her gaze made him shudder. Her hand gripped her fork, seeming to want to stab the man with it.
Alex, who was sitting nearby, watched the scene and felt his heart tighten. He had already witnessed this girl's terrifying strength. If she were to use this fork on the man in some way, he would, at the very least, be severely injured.
At that moment, a young man stood up and walked over to the owner of the diner saying, "Why are you talking to a customer like that? If she says your food is bad, then it's bad." He looked at the girl with a smile and asked, "Beautiful lady, their beef soup is bad. I advise you not to have another one, but I'll treat you to whatever else you want from the menu."
He was blown away by the girl's beauty and wanted to take the opportunity to strike up a conversation.
"You're going to treat me?" Seeing that the young man was trying to please her, the girl smiled playfully. "Then get me a Caesar salad."
"Did you hear that? Caesar salad. Quickly." The man went and sat down at her table. Close up, she looked even more beautiful. He was elated.
When the salad was served, the young woman ate slowly, one forkful at a time. Everyone in the restaurant glanced at her. As she was eating, her every movement was pleasing to the eye.
"What do you think of the salad?" the man asked, feeling bold. He felt sure that he could woo this beautiful young woman. Paying for her salad was the first step in his plan to win her over. He did not doubt that in less than three days, he would be able to coax her into bed.
As he spoke, he slid his hand along the table toward hers. He just couldn't resist the sight of her tender white fingers. He felt that if she let him hold her hand, he knew that he would win.
The girl merely glanced at his hand reaching for hers and didn't react at all. She calmly continued to eat her salad.
Just as the young man's hand was about to touch hers, the corner of her mouth curled up into a cold smile. She scooped up a nut from the salad and, with a flick of her wrist, it flew like a bullet straight into the young man's eye.
"Ahh—" he screamed as he fell to the ground. He was clutching his eye as blood flowed out from between his fingers. "My eye, my eye—" he cried.
Now the young man understood how dangerous this woman was. But he had no time to be frightened, he just wanted to get to the hospital as quickly as possible to see if his eye could be saved. As he staggered out of the restaurant, he was watched by the incredulous crowd.
"What's going on?" one man asked.
"Why is his eye bleeding? Do you know?" asked his friend.
The first man replied, "I don't know. I didn't see anything."
No one else could understand what had happened. Only Alex, who had been sitting in the corner watching, had seen everything and was shocked. He knew what the girl had done.
The teenager leisurely finished her salad, stood up, and was about to leave when the owner stepped in front of her. "You haven't paid for your food yet. A bowl of beef soup and a Caesar salad. That's eighteen dollars," he said.
"Having me eating in your diner should be payment enough, yet you still dare to ask me for money. Just get out of my way," she replied with a scowl. She was about to push him aside and leave.
But the man wouldn't give in. He remained standing in front of her and said, "Hey, girl, where are your manners? What makes you so special that you don't have to pay for what you've eaten?"
One of the other customers piped up, "Yeah, why aren't you paying for your meal? Which high school are you from? Didn't your teachers teach you any manners?"
Another said, "She's so beautiful, but she doesn't have the slightest bit of class."
"This is a small business, and you need to pay for your food. If you don't want to pay, we will make you," said another man.
The other customers in the diner also supported the owner. Although they found the woman attractive, they were still thinking rationally and felt that she should pay her bill.
The girl's eyes swept across the crowd as she asked them, "And who exactly is going to make me do it?" There wasn't a single shred of cowardice or panic in her voice. She seemed calm and determined.
What the customers didn't know was that the girl already had dozens of razor blades hidden in her hands. Somehow, she managed to hold them all without getting a single cut.
Alex spotted the flash of the blades in her hands and had a terrible premonition that everyone in the shop was about to die. "Let me help her pay," he said without any hesitation, as he squeezed through the crowd and rushed in front of her.
"It's only eighteen dollars. I'll pay her bill and mine as well," he said to the diner owner with a smile. He transferred the money to him using his cell phone.
"Is that settled now? Great, then we'll go," he said as he looked at the girl. She was observing him playfully. He smiled awkwardly and said, "Ma'am, I've paid the bill. Let's go."
Alex had seen her as an old woman, so, without thinking, he called her "Ma'am."
With a "humph" sound, the girl put the blades back into her sleeve and walked out with him.
One of the customers muttered behind her as she left, "I can't believe that girl was so obnoxious. I blame her upbringing."
With a "puhk" sound, something hit his chest, and the man immediately fell to the ground. The pain felt like a nail had been hammered into him. With the other customers watching in fascination, the man pulled the thing from his chest and saw that it was a bead.
"It's hers," he said, remembering that the woman was wearing a string of beads around her wrist and that this bead matched the others on her bracelet. Everyone in the diner was astounded and, as they watched the girl leaving with Alex, they couldn't help but feel a lingering fear.
"Well, that was generous of you," the girl said to Alex chirpily.
"Yes," he agreed, worried that she was still planning some sort of revenge on him. The more he looked at the adolescent walking beside him, who now resembled a high school student, the more astonished he became. How could she have turned from an old woman into a young girl?
Standing next to her, he felt deeply uncomfortable.
"They'll all die," she said casually. That sentence from the mouth of a schoolgirl should have been funny, but Alex inhaled sharply.
"Ma'am, how did you become like this?" Alex asked cautiously. Seeing that she was looking at him with curiosity, his heart tightened. He said quickly, "It's fine if you don't want to tell me."
"Ha. There's no need to be so afraid of me. Perhaps I'll ask for your help at some point. It's very simple. I've become young again because when you first saw me, I'd been injured, but then I drank the blood of that bastard, Granger."
"You were injured and then drank blood? Do you practice martial cultivation?" Alex asked in surprise. As a well-educated descendant of a good family, he had heard of this mystical art of obtaining immortality, but he had never met someone who practised it.
"Martial cultivation? Hmm." The girl smiled mysteriously as she listened to him. She didn't deny it, and he didn't dare to ask more.
"What did you say you needed my help for?" he asked, puzzled. He couldn't think how he could be of any help to her.
"You're clearly from a powerful family." Seeing Alex's slightly surprised expression, she continued, "It seems that the unlucky bastard who I killed three days ago was someone quite important in the Flag Sect. It's been three days and no one seems to have reported his death."
"What do you need my help with?" Alex felt increasingly confused.
The girl stared at Alex and said, "I want you to let me stay at your place for a while. Don't let anyone disturb me, and you need to bring me live chicken every day."
Alex was stunned. The woman was a dangerous person, and he didn't want her to stay in his home.
She was unperturbed by his hesitation. She guessed, "You're afraid that I'll kill you? It's true that I've killed countless people over the last few decades, and human life is worthless to me. But I'll make you a promise. As long as you do as I say, I promise I won't hurt you."
"Okay, Ma'am. I'll do as you say," he replied. He didn't see how he could object. If he didn't agree, she could take his life in a second.
"Smart boy, Alex. Now take me to your house," she said with a smile.
"So, you know that my name is Alex. What should I call you?" Alex asked.
"Okay, since you want to call me something, you can call me Grandma," she answered calmly.
Alex couldn't help but be embarrassed. It seemed that he had landed a teenage grandmother. Undoubtedly, this young woman was the elderly lady he had seen before.
He had no choice but to find a cab and take Grandma back to his villa in Green Island Garden. On the way, they stopped to buy a live chicken, as she had demanded.
Once he had dropped her off, he wanted to go to the hotel to check on Vivian and Monica, but as he was leaving the villa, Carl Cooper called him. "Where have you been?" he asked. "I haven't seen you in the dorm for a few days. Listen, Ben's sister's coming to visit him. Why don't you come over and meet her?"