lcionline Chapter 5 Let go of that girl
Chapter 5 Let go of that girl
A morning passed in the blink of an eye, and for the first time, Lu Yuan felt that time was passing so quickly.
There are still many knowledge points in the textbook that I haven't had time to fully understand, and I feel like I haven't had enough time to learn more.
If Lu Yuan were to tell others right now that he was so engrossed in his studies that he didn't want to leave, everyone would probably think he was just trying to save face and was putting on a brave face.
After all, what kind of person is Lu Yuan in everyone's eyes?
Jiangcheng No. 1 High School's most affectionate student used to have his mind completely focused on Xu Lingjing, and he had no other important matters to attend to except for humbly trying to please her.
Just thinking about how he used to fawn over his girlfriend made Lu Yuan feel suffocated and resentful.
"Brother Yuan, let's go!"
Gao Zhe was eager to return home; as a day student, he didn't want to stay at school for even a moment longer.
Lu Yuan put down his books for the time being. There were still more than a hundred days until the college entrance examination. Knowledge should be acquired step by step, and there was no point in rushing it.
On the way home from school, Gao Zhe rubbed his empty stomach and turned to ask, "Brother Yuan, what are we having for lunch?"
Lu Yuan casually replied, "A quick bite will do."
"Let's go get hot dogs. The new cheese hot dogs at that shop on the corner are supposed to be amazing."
In 2010, Wuhan was in a period of rapid development, and all kinds of trendy snacks were flooding the streets. American hot dogs were a rare and fashionable item at the time.
Lu Yuan didn't care at all; if Gao Zhe wanted to eat it, he wouldn't mind going with him to try it.
When the two arrived at the corner shop, they found that the entrance was crowded with people and packed with people.
Upon closer inspection, it became clear that the bustling business wasn't actually there, but rather a large crowd of onlookers.
"Seriously? That's an exaggeration?"
Gao Zhe was astonished. He passed by this place every day and had never seen this little shabby shop so lively.
"You brat, you're so young and you're already learning to steal, aren't you!"
A sharp, sarcastic woman's voice came from inside the shop.
"I didn't steal it!"
A clear yet stubborn female voice rang out, and Lu Yuan's heart stirred, feeling that the voice was exceptionally familiar.
Lu Yuan and Gao Zhe squeezed their way to the front and immediately saw the obese proprietress gripping the wrist of a short-haired girl tightly, berating her with a ferocious expression.
Lu Yuan recognized the girl immediately; she was Ye Yixian.
Her dyed blonde bangs stood out in the crowd.
In those days, blond hair was a symbol of petty thugs. As a student, Ye Yixian dared not dye his entire head blond for fear of being investigated by the school, so he only dared to dye a small patch of hair, which was a small symbol of his rebellious nature.
At this moment, under the watchful eyes of everyone, she was grabbed tightly and accused of theft, while passersby pointed and gossiped.
A wave of grievances overwhelmed her, her eyes already slightly red, but the last vestiges of her pride made her grit her teeth and forcefully hold back her tears.
"Let me go! I didn't steal it!"
She struggled desperately, but her body, weakened by long-term malnutrition, was too frail to break free from the landlady, who was almost three times her size.
"Brother Yuan, it's Ye Yixian! Weren't you looking for her before?" Gao Zhe whispered, unaware that the two had already met.
Lu Yuan didn't respond, but strode quickly into the store, his clear and powerful voice directly drowning out the noise in the room:
"Let go of that girl."
In an instant, all eyes were focused on Lu Yuan, including Ye Yixian, whose eyes were red-rimmed.
Ye Yixian was completely taken aback. She never imagined that Lu Yuan would appear in her most vulnerable and helpless moment.
For some reason, my heart started racing, and the tears I had been holding back suddenly welled up and became even more uncontrollable than before, almost spilling out of my eyes.
"Who are you?"
The proprietress frowned and looked at Lu Yuan warily.
"I'm her friend. Boss, isn't there some kind of misunderstanding?"
Lu Yuan spoke calmly, yet his tone carried an undeniable aura. He wanted to protect Ye Yixian, but he was also unwilling to wrong an innocent person.
The proprietress glared at Lu Yuan several times, still relentless: "This little girl stole something, I wanted to search her, and she dared to resist!"
"I didn't steal! I didn't take anything!"
Ye Yixian instantly became like an enraged kitten, bristling and desperately retorting, her voice trembling.
"Your clothes are bulging inside, what else could it be but something you're hiding? And you dare to deny it!" The proprietress pointed firmly at the bulge under Ye Yixian's coat, speaking with absolute certainty.
At first glance, it does look like something is hidden.
In those days, street shops had no surveillance cameras, and if someone was suspected of theft, there seemed to be no other way to deal with them except by searching them.
"I told you I didn't take it! What right do you have to search me?" Ye Yixian was both angry and anxious, and her words were reckless. "You fat hag, if you don't let go, I'll burn this lousy shop down sooner or later!"
"You little bitch, you've got quite the temper! Believe me or not, I'll strip you naked, tie you to a tree, and parade you around!"
Lu Yuan frowned as he listened, finding the farce absurd and laughable.
Seeing the two arguing more and more fiercely, and the proprietress even about to tear each other apart, Lu Yuan stepped forward to stop them and said in a deep voice, "Proprietress, you say she stole something, so what exactly did she steal? Explain yourself."
"They stole bread! It must be one of the big loaves on the shelf!"
Without hesitation, the proprietress pointed to the bread shelf: "I remember clearly, it was just here a moment ago, and it's gone in the blink of an eye. Who else could it be but her! Hand it over right now!"
Before she could finish speaking, the proprietress reached out to pull at Ye Yixian's coat.
Driven to the brink, Ye Yixian suddenly lowered his head and bit down hard on the landlady's fat hand.
"what!"
The proprietress screamed in pain and instinctively released her grip.
Ye Yixian took the opportunity to retreat, but the store entrance was surrounded by a crowd, leaving him nowhere to escape. He could only instinctively hide behind Lu Yuan, which was a human shield.
Enraged, the proprietress grabbed a broom and charged at the person.
Lu Yuan raised his hand to stop him steadily, then turned his gaze to the chubby boy in the corner of the shop who was munching on bread and watching the commotion with an expression of amusement. He said in a calm tone:
"Boss lady, instead of wrongly accusing a student, why don't you ask your son if he took the bread and ate it while you were busy?"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's eyes instantly turned to the chubby little boy who looked exactly like the proprietress.
The chubby boy, with bread still stuffed in his mouth, scratched his head blankly and asked, "Huh? Is there something I need to do?"
……
After much questioning, the truth finally came to light.
It turned out that the proprietress's son had come home from school and, taking advantage of the crowd in the store, casually grabbed a loaf of bread from the shelf and started eating it. The proprietress was so busy that she didn't notice, but when she turned around, she only saw Ye Yixian standing next to the shelf, and without asking any questions, she accused her of stealing it.
The proprietress was so embarrassed she wanted to disappear. She scolded her son severely and then tried to appease him with a few lollipops as an apology.
But Ye Yixian couldn't stand such a perfunctory apology. She slapped the lollipop the proprietress offered her away, turned around, her eyes red, and squeezed through the crowd to run away.
Upon seeing this, Lu Yuan immediately hurried after them.
He knew in his heart that the landlady's seemingly casual misunderstanding had severely trampled on a young girl's most fragile self-esteem.
Turning the corner, Ye Yixian finally slowed down, head down, shoulders trembling slightly, a mixture of grievance and anger.
Lu Yuan quickly caught up with her and walked beside her, his voice gentle: "Don't take it to heart, it's just a misunderstanding."
"It's none of your business."
Ye Yixian kept her head down, not wanting Lu Yuan to see her reddened eyes.
"I just got you out of a tight spot, aren't you going to say thank you?"
Ye Yixian suddenly stopped and looked up directly at Lu Yuan.
Those eyes, which were originally stubborn and sharp like a young falcon, were now veiled with tears, yet they still stared intently at him, as if trying to see what this boy, who had repeatedly stood up for her in times of danger, was thinking.