Chapter 58: Looking for Trouble
“No way!”
The girl’s cold response angered the thug. Not caring where they were, he forcefully pushed the girl forward. The little girl twisted her small body, unable to break free, and immediately burst into loud tears.
Bai Xi could not hold back anymore. She got out of the car and quickly walked over.
“I’ll give you one warning. Let her go right now. Human trafficking starts with at least five years in prison and can even end with the death penalty. And if you’re thinking about doing anything worse, the punishment will be even heavier.”
The thug looked Bai Xi up and down. His eyes paused for less than a second on the parts of her body that stood out the most, then he let out a mocking laugh.
Bai Xi frowned and asked coldly,
“What are you laughing at?”
“Nothing. I’m laughing at you for sticking your nose into other people’s business. I’m disciplining my daughter. It’s not your place to point fingers.”
“He’s not my dad!” the girl cried out.
“She already denied it, so why are you still acting smart?”
The thug still looked completely calm.
“Even if I’m not her father, I’m basically the same thing! I’m taking her to find her mother, so stop blocking me, alright? Stephen Hawking’s babysitter!”
Crack—crack!
It felt like something inside Bai Xi’s head snapped apart.
The veins on her forehead bulged harder than ever before. The same was true for the veins on the back of her hands, along with the anger in her chest that she had already forced down twice.
Once was enough.
Twice had already crossed her limit.
The fact that he used a famous scientist to mock her meant he was not completely uneducated. But people who knew only a little and loved showing off were often the most annoying.
“Nicely said! Your ancestors probably thought they were smarter than Einstein too.”
“Hah!”
The thug wanted to teach this woman, whom he had zero interest in, a lesson. But before his hand could land, Bai Xi’s slap hit his face first.
The thug took the slap head-on and was clearly stunned.
After standing there blankly for a moment, he touched his burning cheek. Furious, he released the girl.
“You wanna die, you flat-chested woman?!”
His mouth cursed while his hand struck at the same time.
Seeing the huge palm swinging toward her face, Bai Xi could only raise her arm to block it. She knew very well how much stronger men usually were. Even if she blocked it, the slap would probably still hit her face, and her hand would get hurt too.
She had already prepared herself mentally.
But unexpectedly, someone suddenly appeared halfway like a hero jumping into battle. A fist came flying from nowhere and smashed directly into the thug’s face.
The thug staggered backward more than two meters before stopping.
Actually, he did not stop well at all. The edge of the grass caught his heel, and he flipped backward onto the ground.
“Tha—”
Bai Xi looked carefully.
It really was Ye Dong.
The thanks she was about to say got stuck in her throat again.
“No need to thank me. I’m not doing this only for you.”
Ye Dong bent down and gently wiped the tears from the little girl’s face.
“Little friend, are you okay?”
The girl pouted and shook her head. At the same time, the thug climbed back up.
“Damn it! You wanna stick your nose into this too?!”
“So what if I do? And so what if I don’t?”
After taking that punch, how could he not understand the difference in strength?
Even in a one-on-one fight, he would probably lose. And there was still a woman helping on the other side.
But if he ran now, how could he save face?
Even if he had to pretend to be tougher than he really was, he still had to keep acting strong.
“If you’re not interfering, then kneel down and kowtow. I’m not an unreasonable man. I’ll hit you once exactly the same way, and maybe I’ll let you go.”
Ye Dong could not help laughing. The man’s attempt to save face was way too obvious.
“I want to ask something. If I am interfering, then what?”
“Hmph!” The thug sneered.
“You should first go ask around who ‘Old Cat of North City’ is before talking big in front of me.”
“Heh.”
Ye Dong casually put both hands in his pockets.
The thug laughed too, then suddenly shouted,
“What the hell are you laughing at? Stop pretending to be somebody important!”
Ye Dong calmly took out his phone, opened Shuohua Company’s executive page, and held it beside his head.
“This is me.”
The thug glanced at it and curled his lips in disdain.
“So what if you work for a game company? Trying to scare me with connections?”
Looks like this guy had at least heard a little about them. That made things easier. Ye Dong clapped his hands lightly.
“Correct. Then do you know how big Shuohua really is? If not, go look it up.”
The thug wanted to say he did not believe him, but he could not ignore the uneasy feeling in his heart.
These days, plenty of powerful people kept a low profile.
What if…
Not daring to take chances, the thug immediately pulled out his phone and searched.
“See that? From the day the company changed direction until now, it’s been exactly five years. Do you really think a company could grow this smoothly without strong backing? My grandmother’s surname is Lin. Based on family relations, even Madam Lin Xuezhen has to call my grandmother ‘Second Aunt.’”
“Lin Xuezhen…”
That name hit like thunder.
The thug suddenly looked much less confident.
Ye Dong immediately pressed the advantage.
“Still don’t believe me? Fine. I’ll call someone to come deal with this right now.”
“Tch! Then let’s just wait and see.”
Seeing Ye Dong make the phone call, the way he talked sounded as casual as chatting with a friend. The thug still acted tough, but there was no real confidence left. He was all bark and no bite now.
Bai Xi held the little girl and more or less understood what Ye Dong was trying to do.
Him having such a huge background? Impossible.
Since he showed up so quickly, he probably had not gone far. He must have seen her call the police and used that as a bluff to scare the troublesome thug away.
But she still did not understand one thing. Earlier, he punched the guy without hesitation, so why was he acting like this now?
Without thinking, Bai Xi looked toward his fist. What she saw was a hand shaking badly like a leaf in the wind.
So that was it...
Right then, the sound of police sirens suddenly reached them. Red and blue lights flashed across the trees and grass.
Ye Dong raised his hand high and waved toward the two officers walking over after getting out of the car.
The thug instantly felt his scalp go numb and turned to run.
"Stop!"
The moment he ran, it already proved something was wrong. The two officers shouted and rushed after him like arrows leaving a bow. In just a few steps, they pinned him to the ground.
At the police station, after the situation was explained clearly, the thug was detained for causing trouble and disturbing public order.
The girl's situation also caught the attention of the station leaders, so she was kept there for now.
"Thank you, uncle and auntie."
"No need to thank us. It's what we should do."
"Little girl, you've seen bad people outside today. Don't run around alone again, okay?"
"Okay!" the girl nodded again and again.
They waved goodbye and walked a short distance away. Then the middle-aged police chief squatted down and gently wiped the dirt off the girl's face.
"Little girl, can you tell us your name now?"
The girl softly replied, "My name is Wanting."
"Hehe, that's a very beautiful name."
Behind him, the female police officer could not help praising it, and the two people who had not walked far away felt the same.
In this world, sadness and happiness are always mixed together on the stage of life.
The two of them did not know that a few days later, in a parking lot at sunset, one shout of "Mom!" would bring happiness back to this child again.
But that was a story for later.
At this moment, there was still something awkward between the two of them that stopped things from feeling natural.
Bai Xi was stubborn and not the type to easily let things go. Ye Dong had already realized that when he returned her phone. He never expected to hear a thank-you from her.
Besides, just like he said, he had not done it only for Bai Xi. Hearing the little girl's smile was already enough for him.
Still, first he helped recover her phone and wallet, then he stepped in to help at the critical moment. No matter how unhappy she felt before, she could not ignore these two favors.
"Do you have time?"
When they arrived outside the water park and Ye Dong was about to get in his car to leave, Bai Xi, who had been following behind him, finally spoke.
"Are you talking to me?" Ye Dong turned around and asked.
Bai Xi awkwardly pressed her lips together and brushed back her hair.
"Is there anyone else here right now?"
"Hehe."
"What are you laughing at?"
"It's really not easy for you to put down your pride."
"......"
The suburbs had become much quieter at this hour. In sharp contrast, the downtown nightlife was just beginning.
The small car moved slowly like a boat on water, drifting through the traffic until it finally stopped at their destination.
Three cold side dishes and two bowls of beef noodles were placed on the table. Bai Xi came back carrying two bottles of ice-cold cola still covered in white mist from the cold.
She filled the paper cups without saying much and directly raised hers.
"We should have had alcohol for this, but since we're both driving, let's use this instead. About today... thank you."
"Some people do good things for fame or money. I just want peace of mind."
There was a saying, kind people cannot lead armies, and righteous people cannot make fortunes.
Did he make too much money and start feeling guilty, so now he wanted comfort for his conscience?
Bai Xi quietly thought that in her heart, but after a moment she felt she was being unfair. Bai Xi smiled with a bit of apology and finished the whole cup in just a few gulps.
Bold and straightforward. It was hard to imagine that the cold and elegant Bai Xi usually had this side to her.
To show respect, Ye Dong drank his the same way.
"I'm really glad we're driving today. If this were alcohol, you probably wouldn't last five minutes."
"Hmph, at least ten minutes!" Bai Xi stubbornly refused to be looked down on.
For a while, neither of them had anything to say. They lowered their heads and quietly ate their noodles, treating the other person like air.
However...
People, cars, and fresh paint could hide the surface, but the wounds underneath were still there.
And once again, it was a similar night.
What happened before was still fresh in their minds. The reason it felt unforgettable was because the problem had never truly been solved.
The reason they had not brought it up again before was because of other things. But now, the key people were not around, and today's problems had been temporarily settled. The things covering up their emotions were gone, so naturally those feelings surfaced again.
"Actually, alcohol doesn't numb the brain immediately. At first, drinking makes people feel unusually excited."
Bai Xi suddenly looked up at him. With a snap, she laid her chopsticks across the bowl, quickly chewed the noodles in her mouth, swallowed them, then gracefully wiped her lips with a tissue.
The anger deep in her eyes was like two fire snakes bursting out.
"I already explained this when the accident was handled. The traffic police checked everything too. I'll say it again, I was not drunk."
Bai Xi spoke softly, and not as quickly as when she was angry, but the sharpness in her words was obvious.
"As for you... yes, right turns are allowed at that intersection. But at the very least, you should check whether people or cars are passing normally first. That's basic driving knowledge. Understand?"
Ye Dong let out a mocking laugh.
"There's no point saying so much. If you had driven slower that day, none of this would've happened."
Bai Xi was so angry her glasses nearly slipped off. She quickly adjusted them, crossed her arms, and let out a heavy breath.