Heading for the Plains - Chapter 27

Of course, before the accident happened, life looked exactly like any other day.

Xia Chao remembered it was a weekend. Because of a large event order, the milk tea shop had been exceptionally busy since morning. As usual, Xia Chao was in the back boiling pearls and slicing tea jelly, while Xiao Zhen was at the front, counting receipts and packing boxes of finished drinks.

A strange man walked into the shop, attracting no particular attention. He swayed unsteadily to the counter, leaning his elbow on it. “How much?”

Xiao Zhen looked up and answered professionally, “Sir, we open at nine. Right now, we can only take pre-orders via the QR code.”

The man didn’t respond. He just swept an ominous, dark gaze over her. “How much?”

The counter fell into a sudden silence. One staff member looked up, caught the faint scent of alcohol on the man, and decided to put their head back down.

The standoff continued. The man leaned against the bar, his tone malicious yet his expression a mocking grin. His eyes traveled up and down Xiao Zhen as if appraising a piece of merchandise. Xiao Zhen stared back at him, her hand unconsciously tightening around her cleaning rag.

Suddenly, a hand rested on her shoulder.

Xia Chao appeared with a radiant smile. “Hello, sir! We start serving at nine, but you can pre-order through the code.”

She glanced at the man’s eyes. They were red from a hangover and subtly nudged Xiao Zhen aside. “We’re still prepping. If you need something to sober up, you can order pure milk or plain tea from me.”

She met his gaze with a beaming smile.

The man scanned her, his tone turning sour. “I’m talking to Fang Pandi. Why are you butting in?”

He knows Xiao Zhen. Xia Chao noticed the way Xiao Zhen’s posture had stiffened. Her own smile faded slightly.

She wasn’t originally worried about Xiao Zhen; as the most senior employee, Xiao Zhen was a “spicy little pepper.” Customers who tried to get fresh usually left with their tails between their legs. But today was different. The usually quick-tongued pepper was silent, her expression taut with a fear Xia Chao hadn’t seen before.

Xia Chao’s heart sank. She sensed something was very wrong.

Shielded behind Xia Chao’s shoulder, Xiao Zhen looked worried and reached out to tug at Xia Chao’s apron. Xia Chao patted her hand in return. It was icy cold.

“Don’t worry,” Xia Chao whispered. Dealing with thugs like this? She had more experience than anyone.

“Xiao Zhen needs to boil the tea base. It’s the same if I serve you,” she replied calmly, not yielding an inch. “Or is there a message you’d like me to pass on to her?”

“Oh, look at you, ‘Xiao Zhen’ this and ‘Xiao Zhen’ that,” the man drawled in a mocking sing-song. “Did you know the name Fang Pandi is still the one on her household register? My family paid thirty thousand yuan in betrothal money for her. I suggest you mind your own business and let her out!”

He had dropped all pretense. He was a pure scoundrel. He looked at Xia Chao—a young, slender girl—and his arrogance grew.

“Fang Pandi! Fang Pandi! Do you hear me?” he hollered. When no one answered, he grew louder. “Your old man cheated my sister out of thirty thousand yuan! My family needs that money to build a wedding house! If you know what’s good for you, you’ll either come with me or pay back every cent!”

“I’ll f*cking… can’t you hear me?!”

The man suddenly exploded, hurlng a plastic bin at Xia Chao. White straws scattered through the air like shrapnel. As Xia Chao raised her arm to block, she saw him turn and lunge toward the back counter.

The shop was small. Xiao Zhen couldn’t dodge in time; he grabbed her, and she began to scream and struggle. As the straws clattered across the floor, Xia Chao’s heart spiked. Her reflexes kicked in—she grabbed the stainless steel shaker next to her and hurled it straight at the man’s face.

Thump! The shaker hit its mark. The hot chocolate inside exploded, splashing like dark blood across the wall and floor. The man screamed in pain from the heat, now completely enraged. He swung a heavy fist at Xia Chao.

That was exactly what she was waiting for.

It had been a while since she had been in a real fight, not since her mother got sick but her muscle memory was intact. The moment he swung, she slipped to the side, seized his wrist, and used his own momentum to twist.

Crack.

The sound of the joint dislocating was sickeningly crisp. The man let out a howl of agony, his face contorted. But he was a street fighter with experience; as Xia Chao twisted his right arm, he slammed his weight into her, knocking her to the ground. They became a tangled mess of limbs on the floor.

“Xia Chao!” Xiao Zhen screamed. She looked panicked, wanting to help but not knowing how. Another staff member had vanished.

As a fist whistled past her face, Xia Chao saw out of the corner of her eye that Xiao Zhen was lifting a heavy blender, looking ready to charge into the fray with a suicidal expression. Xia Chao nearly died of frustration.

She bellowed the classic line: “Call the police! What are you standing there for?!”

This isn’t a martial arts movie! Don’t expect me to 1v1 an adult man forever!

Rule of law! Win and you go to jail, lose and you go to the hospital!

In this situation, they needed one person to pin him and one to call for help. Xiao Zhen finally snapped out of her trance and lunged for her phone.

The man, hearing the word “police,” became frantic. He wanted to flee. His veins popped as he swung another desperate fist. Xia Chao didn’t mind if he ran, but she couldn’t risk letting go—she didn’t know if he would bolt or double back for a final, violent strike.

For a split second, she thought of how she used to fear her parents being called after a fight. She never imagined a day where she’d be praying for the police to arrive.

Suddenly, Xiao Zhen screamed: “He has a knife!!”

It was a switchblade. Xia Chao felt a cold draft brush her ear as the steel hissed past her head. The man, missing his target, turned the blade toward Xiao Zhen. Xiao Zhen grabbed his arm, but they were too close; the point of the knife crept closer and closer to her chest.

Puchi.

The sound of metal piercing flesh is actually quite silent. A muffled grunt echoed. Xiao Zhen’s eyes went wide as she smelled the metallic tang of blood, but she felt no cold steel.

She only saw Xia Chao’s face, suddenly large in her vision.

Blood sprayed—a blossoming red flower. Xiao Zhen stared in shock. The cheerful, smiling Xia Chao was gone; in her place was a young white wolf, her gaze sharp, fierce, and captivatingly cold.

Drip, drip. Blood ran down Xia Chao’s face and splashed onto the floor.

“Police! Don’t move!” a roar came from the door.

A police officer wielding a baton rushed in. Everything followed in slow motion. The man, who had been stabbed in the shoulder during the struggle, cursed and tried to pull the knife out to strike again, but the officer disarmed him with a practiced move. The switchblade clattered onto the floor.

The man’s bravado lasted only as long as his adrenaline. Seeing his own blood pooling on the ground, the “tough guy” turned pale. “Save me!” he wailed, before his eyes rolled back and he fainted.

“Coward,” the officer muttered, pressing a rag to the wound. “Handcuff him! Call an ambulance! Fast!”

Two more officers rushed in to secure the scene. A third officer pulled Xia Chao and Xiao Zhen away. Both girls were covered in blood. The officer looked at them and sighed. “Alright, who started it?”

Xia Chao and Xiao Zhen looked at each other, then simultaneously pointed at the man on the floor.

The officer looked at the half-dead scoundrel. “…Fine.”

She didn’t want to give these girls a hard time; she’d seen enough to know the score. “You two, come with me to the station for a statement.” She turned to the door. “Are you with them?”

Xia Chao followed the officer’s voice and saw someone standing at the entrance.

She was wearing a crisp white shirt and a pale yellow skirt. She looked slender, cool, and ethereal, like a solitary narcissist flower standing amidst the filth and blood.

It was Ping Yuan.

She had arrived with the police. Xia Chao felt Ping Yuan’s gaze sweep over her and Xiao Zhen, lingering for a moment on their tightly interlocked hands.

Perhaps because of that strange dream about kissing a woman, Xia Chao suddenly felt a wave of inexplicable guilt. Facing a thug, she hadn’t been nervous. Facing a knife, she hadn’t been nervous. But facing Ping Yuan?

She suddenly felt… “wimpy.”

She wanted to explain, but didn’t know what to say. She wanted to apologize, but didn’t know what for. Xia Chao stared at her, her mouth opening and closing soundlessly. The tension crawled up her spine, making her head swim and her knees go weak.

Oh no, she thought. I think I’m going to faint.

From Ping Yuan’s perspective, she saw the fierce girl who had just handled a criminal suddenly offer a faint, ghostly smile, turn pale, and collapse softly into a heap.

Ping Yuan: “…?” What is happening?

She rushed forward, catching Xia Chao with Xiao Zhen’s help. “Is she okay?” the officer asked.

“She’s likely fainted from the sight of blood or low blood sugar,” Ping Yuan whispered, patting the girl’s cheek. When there was no response, she let out a deep sigh. “Wait for the ambulance. I’m her sister. I’ll go with her to the station.”

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