ALL NOVEL
Chapter 7
It was hard to endure the leg injury until the end of school.
"It's really dirty," Yan Xi wrinkled her nose in disgust as she reluctantly stepped into the small west alley.
The not-so-pleasant smell filled the place. The winding alley led to a small shop at the back that had changed owners countless times yet its customer base remained unchanged. The signboard was so faded that one could barely make out the shop name "Doulaile". The environment was so terrible that it made people not want to set foot in it. The residents living around habitually poured their domestic wastewater in the alley, leaving the ground full of sewage water. Her white shoes were ruined.
According to Qi Shi and Zhou Zhou, this was where the fight took place yesterday.
The wall was full of scratches and some unknown yellowish stains.
[What are you doing coming here? Do you not care about your feet anymore?] Pandora asked curiously. It didn't think Yan Xi liked this kind of place with such a "nice environment".
[Buying spicy sticks! Dong Yaya said there are tasty spicy sticks sold in the small west alley. Eating more spicy sticks helps heal wounds.] Yan Xi told a white lie with her eyes wide open.
Dong Yaya: Did I say that???
"Boss, give me a pack of spicy sticks." Yan Xi walked past piles of sewage water in a few quick steps and shouted at the middle-aged man with a beard who was lazily lying in a rocking chair inside.
"Pick whichever you like. One pack costs one yuan. Add one more yuan for strips," the man said without even opening his eyes and went back to napping after scratching his back.
[It seems my beauty doesn't work. Pandora, you're useless!]
[???!] What a vicious thing to say!
[The body you gave me doesn't seem to have any effect on the boss. See, he didn't even look at me extra, not to mention giving me a discount. And he still charges me one yuan for a pack of spicy sticks when he knows I only eat the 50 cents ones.]
[Well... maybe a small shop by the key provincial school is confident enough to charge that price.]
Yan Xi looked through the wide selection of spicy sticks, overwhelmed with the options that all looked appetizing yet cost her an extra 50 cents per pack.
Oh well, she went by the proximity principle and grabbed a pack of Weilong that was placed in front of her, and then picked a small pudding cup from the freezer cabinet.
Right after she finished choosing, the boss suddenly spoke up, "That will be two yuan in total."
So he wasn't really sleeping just now!
Yan Xi slapped a bill onto the boss's counter and said, "Please give me back the change."
The boss hazily woke up for a bit and stumbled to the cash register.
"You gave 100 yuan to buy something worth 2 yuan. Your change is 98 yuan..."
"You have 100 yuan on you and still come here to eat spicy sticks!" The boss's eyes shot wide open as he looked at the large denomination bill in shock.
"This better not be counterfeit! Young lady, although you look very pretty, I must tell you that you can't do things like this. I have surveillance here you know. Don't think you can fool me!" The boss suddenly became suspicious.
[I got complimented on my beauty but still don't feel happy. What should I do, Pandora?]
[As if I'd know.] Pandora was also dumbfounded.
"You can check to see if it's real." Yan Xi was a little unhappy but didn't get angry.
Still feeling doubtful, the boss looked at the young girl's lack of panic or intention to run away when being potentially exposed.
He rubbed the bill, held it against the sunlight and felt it between his fingers.
While doing so, he rambled on, "Don't get me wrong little miss. It's just that a lot of unruly youngsters have been coming around recently with no moral baseline. Like yesterday, a group of them got into a fight in front of my shop and wrecked the two sunshades. Pissed me off big time! If it wasn't for me grabbing one of them and whipping out my ancestral blade, there was no telling if they would compensate me for the damage!"
As the boss talked more and more agitatedly, the flying specks of saliva forced Yan Xi to retreat several steps back holding her spicy sticks. "Seems real... Sorry miss, my bad accusing you," the boss stroked the bill once more and felt the familiar texture of Grandpa Mao. Feeling embarrassed, he gave his nose an awkward scratch and apologized.
"Oh wait up young lady... Let me get your change..." Wracked with guilt, the boss's attitude took a 180 degree turn as he busied himself searching for money in the greasy cash register.
Yan Xi fell silent for a bit before suddenly calling out to stop the boss.
"It's okay, no need to give back change. Boss, what you said about yesterday's incident piqued my interest. Tell me more about it, consider it making a new friend."
"Are you for real?" The boss made a black guy's incredulous face. He had never seen a trade that earned the seller 98 yuan profit off a 2-yuan sale.
"How about giving me 50% off next time I come then," Yan Xi said indicating she just wanted to buy 50-cent spicy sticks despite looking loaded.
"Forget next time. From now on, every time you come, it'll be 50% off for you. Young girls these days sure are generous!" Money settled the issue. The boss beamed like a flower.
"Take a seat, missy. Let me gab to you about it," the boss pulled up a somewhat chipped little stool for Yan Xi.
Without standing on ceremony, Yan Xi ripped open the pack of spicy sticks and sat down to listen attentively while taking bites.
Junk food lived up to being junk food: still tasted pretty damn good.
"There's not much to it actually. Fights are common occurrences around here. As long as no one dies, we'll beat the crap out of each other. It's pretty normal to see bloodshed here. That's why I always keep a knife in the shop, you see." The boss pointed to the worn knife hanging above the snack racks, its blade looking especially sharp, clearly capable of injuring multiple people.
"You seem unfamiliar around here: a new student at neighboring Qingteng High? But it's not even the school season yet. And your accent doesn't sound local either, you from out of town?"
"Yes." Yan Xi smiled.
"No wonder... Back to main topic. The fight yesterday was a bit... odd."
"Oh?" Now Yan Xi was all ears as she took another bite of spicy sticks.
"Haven't seen such a scene in 800 years. Two heads standing upright on each side watching the brawl while their underlings fought like their lives depended on it. When it ended, total silence, like a funeral: so quiet it freaked you out. No shouting or cursing at each other? Damn freaky..."
"Oh right. When leaving, the paler head gave the darker one a punch out of the blue then dashed off without the other fighting back or giving chase. What a wuss!"
"Also felt kind of creepy after the fight last night. Something seemed off about the alley. Damn! When I went to pick up the wrecked sunshades, I swear something scurried by - must've been a stray cat from god knows where. Scared the hell outta me!"
"My poor sunshades... so expensive..." The boss grumbled on and on.
[Stray cat?] Yan Xi's eyes flickered for a second.
"Where did they fight yesterday?" She interrupted the boss, looking curiously eager.
"That stretch of lane out there that reeks the most, where the sewage smell is strongest," the boss lazily pointed to a small open area about 100 meters away outside.
Wow... wow.
The spicy sticks instantly lost their appeal to Yan Xi.
[Pandora, why don't you go take a look.]
[No need.] Pandora outright rejected without a second thought.
[I'll buy you as much chocolate as you want.] Yan Xi bargained without even blinking.
[No.] Pandora refused firmly.
Yan Xi blinked and hesitated briefly before asking the boss to lend her two masks which she put on to completely cover her nose. She then made her way over there.
About 20 meters out, she abruptly stopped in her tracks and maintained her distance to avoid choking from the stench.
Yan Xi's brows knotted in irritation, feeling somewhat agitated.
There were only traces of the brawl left. The wall gashes looked to be from repetitive slicing of blades. On the ground were some darkened blood stains turned murky over the years. Tiny pieces of glass were mixed together with the sewage water in areas not touched by light, making it quite hard to spot unless looking closely.
Just an ordinary fight?
After observing for a bit, Yan Xi still couldn't stand the smell here so she went back under the sunshade by the small shop.
[It doesn't seem there's anything you want here in this small west alley.] Pandora gloated smugly, vaguely sensing that Yan Xi had come hoping to discover something.
Yan Xi looked rather repulsed at her shoes which had bottoms covered in sewage water. She felt a strong urge to head home, take a bath, and wash her shoes.
Suddenly, the reflection of the large marble under the canopy at the small shop's door fluttered Yan Xi's eyes.
No, that's not right.
Yan Xi's fair fingers pinched the dirty edge of a campus card with some dirty water on it. There was even a strawberry badge pinned to the lanyard of the campus card. The front of the campus card showed a girl with her hair in a ponytail, smiling very sweetly and cleanly.
Yan Xi's clear and crisp voice carried a hint of delight.
"Ji Yao."