He leaned back and casually said, "You used to come here often to eat spicy hot pot? I see you are very familiar with the boss."
Qiao Nian was in a good mood as she ate the noodles she had been craving for. She answered him without looking up while eating, "Not often. I'll come here to eat a bowl when I have time. Aunt Chen used to work for the Qiao family, but later she quit and opened this small stall."
"The vegetables and meat in her restaurant are all freshly picked from the market every morning, washed and skewered. They are much more hygienic than those in nearby restaurants."
This was the first time Ye Wangchuan heard her talk about her adoptive parents' home. His eyes turned deep and he was about to speak.
Suddenly, the girl sitting opposite him frowned, put down her chopsticks, and said with her jaw tensed, "You eat first, I'll go over there!"
As she spoke, she stood up and walked towards the tricycle.
Ye Wangchuan turned around and saw a few young men wearing ripped jeans and looking unruly, gathered in front of the tricycle, picking and choosing the vegetables neatly stacked in the vegetable racks...
"Didn't I give you 200 yuan just the day before yesterday? Did you spend it all again?" Even from a distance, Qiao Nian could hear Aunt Chen's sad and helpless voice.
A boy who was obviously in the voice change period mixed in with a group of ruffians, he replied impatiently in a hoarse voice: "I have already used up that little money, Mom, give me some more."
"No!" Aunt Chen slapped his hand that was about to grab the wallet, and protected the wallet, saying, "This money is for your father's hospital bills, you can't use it!"
The duck-voiced boy retracted his hand, gritted his teeth, and a look of hesitation flashed across his eyes.
His companions immediately started to make a noise, "Hey, Chen Yuan, you are still breastfeeding at such an old age, and you're still asking your mother for money. You don't dare to take it unless your mother gives it to you."
"Shut up!"
The group of bad youths were not afraid of him at all and continued to laugh at him: "If it were me, I wouldn't care whether that old woman gave it to me or not, I would just take it directly. Anyway, it's our own money. Your stall business is so good, why do you need this little money? Your father has been in the hospital for more than a year, why waste money? In my opinion, just let him die. It will save money and he will be relieved... Fuck... What are you doing!"
The young man with the hoarse voice suddenly pounced over and punched the man who was speaking twice in the face as if he was furious.
"I told you to shut up! Shut up!"
When the other people saw that the little gangster following behind them dared to attack them, they spat at him and were ready to surround him.
The middle-aged woman had never seen such a scene before. She had been honest all her life. When she saw her son fighting with the young men, she didn't care about the damaged stall and rushed over with tears in her eyes.
"Stop fighting, stop fighting."
"Get out of here, old woman!"
Before she could get close to him, a young man viciously shook off her hand and pretended to hit her.
Aunt Chen was terrified. Seeing the fist as big as a bowl was about to fall on her face, a slender hand reached out, grabbed the man's fist, and supported her.
"The garbage doesn't stay in the garbage dump properly, so it escapes and becomes a spirit?"
She was stunned. She turned her head and stared at Qiao Nian's clean, porcelain-white face. She was so frightened that she called out with her lips trembling, "Nian, Nian Nian?"
"Fuck! Where did you come from, little girl! Get out of here quickly, or I'll beat you up too!" the man whose hand was grabbed by Qiao Nian shouted.
She came back to her senses, and anxiously pushed Qiao Nian away, saying hurriedly, "Niannian, leave me alone, go away, they are all hooligans, don't mess with them."
(End of this chapter)