Kneeling Down

"Hey, Yuyou."

"Thank you." At the lemon tea stall, Bai Yuyou reached out and took the pancake handed to her by Tang Keke, then began nibbling on it.

The crispy texture made her lower her gaze slightly. "Delicious..."

"Right? This pancake is made by our school’s security guard. I heard he’s from Shandong, and he calls this thing... 'nia ning'." Tang Keke said, also taking small bites of her pancake—she had bought quite a few and shared some with Zhixia and the others.

However, Bai Yuyou stopped halfway and neatly folded the greasy paper bag.

"What’s wrong? Not to your taste?" Keke asked curiously.

Bai Yuyou shook her head. "It’s good. Saving half for Ye Shuang..."

"Silly girl, it’ll get soggy if you leave it. Why not just buy him a fresh one later?" Tang Keke said.

"But... the stall’s closing soon." Bai Yuyou replied. There was no evening event tonight, so the food street would shut down early.

"You can eat it tomorrow when they reopen! If you don’t finish it now, it’ll just go soft and lose its crunch." Tang Keke gave a thumbs-up. "This stuff is best when it’s hard—the harder, the better. Crispy and satisfying."

"Oh..."

As Bai Yuyou continued nibbling on her pancake, a customer approached the stall with a cutesy voice, "Excuse me~~~"

"Coming!" Zhixia walked over, only to find the customer dressed rather peculiarly—a pink trench coat paired with black lipstick, a slender frame with prominent cheekbones, and even pink eyeshadow.

Zhixia blinked but still asked, "What would you like?"

"Oh~ I just wanted to see if our little treasure is here." Aunt Li glanced around the stall and soon spotted Bai Yuyou eating her pancake. "Over here."

"Aunt Li..." Bai Yuyou noticed her and quickly walked over.

"That looks delicious. Is this your dinner?" Aunt Li asked with a smile.

Bai Yuyou shook her head and extended her hand. "Aunt Li, want some?"

"You enjoy it, dear. I’m on a diet... feeling a bit chubby again." Aunt Li sighed, pressing her cheeks, then asked, "Where’s little Shuang?"

"Out shopping with Chen Qin." Bai Yuyou answered.

"I see..." Aunt Li studied Bai Yuyou for a moment before leaning in with a grin. "Does that make you unhappy?"

Bai Yuyou shook her head in response.

"Alright, you’ll understand someday." Aunt Li tapped the girl’s nose playfully, straightened up, and turned to Zhixia. "Hey there, cute little bean sprout~"

"Huh?" Zhixia pointed at herself, confused. "Are you talking to me?"

"Indeed! Get me an iced lemon tea, no sugar."

"Without sugar, it’ll taste really bitter, ma’am." Zhixia explained. Hand-squeezed lemon tea without sweetener would be unpleasantly sour.

"No worries, just make it."

"Alright."

Two minutes later, the lemon tea was served. Aunt Li took a sip after paying. "Mmm... truly awful."

"Ahaha, I did warn you." Zhixia chuckled awkwardly. "Let me make you a fresh one, no charge."

"No need~" Aunt Li waved a dainty finger in the air and kept drinking. "You know, drinking more lemon water helps whiten your skin."

Then she paused, as if troubled. "Well, I suppose telling you youngsters this is pointless. At my age, sigh..."

"Aunt Li, you’re pretty." Bai Yuyou chimed in.

Aunt Li burst into laughter. "Flatterer! You’re just saying that to humor me."

Bai Yuyou wasn’t actually trying to flatter her. She wasn’t particularly sensitive to appearances—just as she didn’t realize how strikingly beautiful she herself was. To her, kindness equated to beauty, and those she felt close to were "good-looking."

To outsiders, Li Fugui might seem like an eccentric oddball, but Bai Yuyou didn’t see him that way. She held no prejudices and never judged based on superficial traits.

As Aunt Li sipped her tea, she suddenly noticed a commotion nearby, where a crowd of students had gathered.

"What’s going on over there?" Zhixia asked.

"I’ll check it out." Linlin volunteered and headed over.

Half a minute later, Linlin returned. "Seems like an oyster stall had a charcoal fire flare-up, and some juice splashed onto a customer’s hair."

"Why’s there such a big crowd, then?" Keke found it odd—wasn’t this a minor issue?

"Did the guy’s head catch fire or something?"

Linlin explained, "The customer’s furious, demanding the stall owner pay him 100,000 yuan."

"100,000?!" Keke was stunned. "Good grief, a tiny splash of oyster juice on his hair? Just wash it off! Even if compensation’s needed, 100,000 is insane!"

"100,000... The oyster seller’s a student too. Should we go take a look?" Zhixia suggested.

"Let’s go." Aunt Li set down her tea, stood up, and strode over with her arms crossed.

......

"Do you know how much my hair treatment costs?! And you got oyster juice all over it!" At the oyster stall, a large crowd had formed.

The shouting man was tall with curly hair, his face flushed with rage as he berated the two apron-clad girls running the stall.

Intimidated by his aggressive demeanor, the girls’ eyes welled up with tears.

A student council member stepped in to mediate. "Sir, this was an accident—they didn’t mean it. They’ve already apologized sincerely. How about I take you to a nearby salon for a wash?"

"No way!" the man snapped. "100,000! If I don’t get it, I’ll smash your stall!"

The student council members exchanged glances and called for security. But when the guards arrived, the man only grew more agitated. "Oh, so you wanna play tough, huh?!"

He pulled out a switchblade and grabbed one of the girls by the wrist. "Try touching me, I dare you!"

The girl burst into tears.

"Calm down!" the security guard urged. "Let the student go first."

Even the guard was baffled—why was this guy so worked up?

"Then back the hell off! And the rest of you!" The man glared at the onlookers, who nervously retreated.

"You too—wanna die or something?" He brandished the gleaming blade at Aunt Li’s group.

"Ohohoho, and how exactly would I die, darling?" Aunt Li covered her mouth, giggling.

Enraged, the man shoved the girl aside and marched toward Aunt Li, knife in hand!

"Hey hey, bro—er, sis! Be careful!" Tang Keke panicked.

But then—the man froze in front of Aunt Li, dropped to his knees with a thud, and stayed there!

"?" Everyone was speechless.