"Hello."
Scarlett almost couldn't help but cry as soon as she heard the voice on the other end. She bit her lip, holding back the tears in her eyes, and said, "Hello, can you lend me some money... I'll pay you back as soon as I have money."
"How much do you need?"
"Three hundred thousand."
Scarlett had barely finished speaking when she heard a text message alert.
[Your card ending in xxxx received 300,000 yuan on September 9th at 17:15, balance 301,230.07 yuan [Swiss Bank]]
Xu Yanyu asked, "How have you been recently?"
Scarlett's tone was laced with a sob: "Not good, not good at all. Logan cheated, and he took Ashley away. I have nothing left, and my mom is still pressuring me to send her money."
Xu Yanyu's grip on his cup was so tight it was about to shatter. He was silent for a moment, then said, "Where are you? I'll pick you up."
"At the place where I used to live."
...
On weekends, Ellie's favorite place to go was the bookstore, where she would sit and read for a whole day.
Since it was Friday, the bookstore was quite busy with people reading—some leaning against the bookshelves, others by the windows, everywhere.
Ellie walked up to a bookshelf and was attracted to a book. As she tried to pull it out, someone else's hand reached for the same book.
She softly said "sorry," and then picked up another book from the side.
Landon looked at Ellie, stunned for a moment. She was wearing a blue and white school uniform, looking very well-behaved, very thin and fair, with a pair of beautiful apricot eyes clear as a deer in the forest, a small and straight nose, and rosy lips, a very pure and clean appearance, capturing one's attention at a glance.
Before he could react, the girl was gone. He looked down at the book in his hand and thought of the girl again.
Ellie leaned against the bookshelf, reading until the bookstore was about to close. She then closed the book in her hand and looked outside at the gradually darkening sky.
She quite liked the book "Summer Fireworks and My Corpse" and decided to buy it.
A stray kitten was wandering around a sausage vendor, meowing.
Ellie bought a few and squatted down to feed the kitten.
It was a little black cat with injuries, a bit afraid of people. Seeing the sausage offered by Ellie, it fearfully hid in the nearby greenery.
Ellie, afraid it wouldn't dare to eat, placed the sausage by the roadside and stepped back a bit, watching as the kitten cautiously came out and took the sausage, then smiled.
She stood up, preparing to go home.
----------------------------
The teenager was dressed in a black short-sleeved shirt and black pants, with a cold look in his eyes. His jawline was sharply defined, with short black hair, a straight nose, and thin lips pressed tightly together.
The thug said, "I'm not afraid of you, William. Last time I was alone, but not this time."
After speaking, he turned to the boy next to him and said, "Blade, he's the one who beat me up last time, and I'm still hurting."
Blade, wearing a floral shirt with curly bangs, spat out the cigarette in his mouth, looked at William in front of him, and said, "Kid, I advise you to know your place. You dare to mess with Blade's people?"
He was about to pat William's shoulder when William grabbed his arm.
Blade winced in pain and cursed, "You're looking for trouble."
William didn't bother to waste words with these people. He kneed the man in front of him in the stomach, then grabbed his hair and kicked him to the ground.
The other man with yellow hair was holding a steel pipe and was about to swing at William. William grabbed his hand, snatched the pipe, and hit him on the arm.
William's fighting style was reckless, and the more than ten people in front of him didn't get the upper hand.
William took a solid hit from a steel pipe, then kicked away the yellow-haired man in front of him. He lifted the yellow-haired man and slammed him into the wall behind him, saying, "You're looking for death."
The people around were intimidated by William's desperate fighting style.
Daniel and Hao Ming quickly arrived with others.
"William!" Daniel looked at the crowd around and couldn't help but speak.
"I'm fine," he glanced at Daniel and said, "They didn't get the better of me."
Daniel couldn't help but curse, "Damn it, Yellow Hair, William shouldn't have spared you last time. You actually brought people to ambush William without honor. Are you looking for death?"
With the additional people, William quickly gained the upper hand.
William played with the steel pipe in his hand, stepping on the man in front of him, and said, "Aren't you good at fighting?"
Ellie saw this scene as she passed by.
She stood there with her book in hand, unsure whether to leave directly or what to do.
William kicked away the person in front of him and looked up to see Ellie.
The girl had a school bag on her back, was wearing a blue and white school uniform, and was holding a book in her hand. Her apricot eyes were extremely clear, looking out of place amidst everything around her.
William walked up to her, looked at her calm expression, and smiled inexplicably, saying, "Aren't you scared this time?"
"Scared," Ellie looked at his fierce face, swallowed, and said.
William handed her his phone and said, "Wait here."
Ellie stood there, holding his phone in her hand, watching him go back.
William, holding the steel pipe, swung it at the yellow-haired man.
Ellie was so scared she closed her eyes.
"Get out of here."
The yellow-haired man and his group fled in a panic.
William walked up to Ellie, seeing her indeed standing there obediently holding his phone for him.
Seeing him approach, Ellie handed him the phone and said, "Your phone." She stared at the wound on William's neck for a moment and said, "Your neck is bleeding."
William nonchalantly wiped it and said, "I know."
Daniel looked at the two of them, feeling like the couple he was shipping seemed to be back on track.
"Don't walk alone on the back roads so late," Ellie nodded and said, "I know, I'm leaving now."
William walked beside her and said, "I'll walk you for a while; it's on my way."
"Thank you."
Daniel said, "William, we'll go ahead then."
"Mm."
Ellie saw a supermarket that was open and said, "I'll go to the supermarket for a bit."
William agreed, "Okay."
When Ellie was about to pay for the band-aid in her hand, she saw William come in. He took a bottle of milk from the shelf and said to the owner, "How much in total?"
"Eight yuan."
After William paid, he took the band-aid from her and handed her the milk.
Ellie looked blankly at the milk in her hand, watching as he tore open the band-aid wrapper and applied it to his neck, a bit carelessly.
"Add Instagram, little classmate."
"Ah?"