Chapter 41: Trouble Arrives
After a week, the moment that would decide her fate finally arrived. She was about to participate in Director Zhang’s screen test. This was an opportunity she had fought hard for. Whether she could turn her life around and soar to the heavens depended on this one time.
On this day, Yu Linna secretly packed her bag, put on a plain T-shirt and jeans, wore a hat, quietly locked the door, and slipped out of the building. The corridor was very quiet, probably because it was only six o’clock and not many people were around. The girl had a smooth journey, not encountering anyone at the corners. She went down the stairs smoothly and then out the main entrance. Breathing in the outside air, she stretched. The morning air was fresh and very quiet.
The subsequent journey was as expected. She bought a train ticket, rushed to the train station, and boarded the train to Shenzhen. This trip for the final screen test, she didn’t know if it would be successful, but just the cost of staying there was high enough. She should be thankful that the final screen test location was in Shenzhen and not outside the province. If it were outside the province, the cost would be even higher.
After a bumpy journey, the girl embarked on her dream trip. She looked at the scenery outside the train window. Flowers, grass, and trees transformed into towering buildings, then into forest paths, and finally back to towering buildings. The perspective switched many times, but the fiery passion in her heart remained.
Since childhood, she had been constantly on the move, moving frequently due to having no fixed residence. She was used to the life of relocation. This time, embarking on a long journey wasn’t her first, but this time she wasn’t moving house; she was going to realize her dream.
She wanted to become rich, become very rich, very famous, as outstanding as Nangong Ying. Then she could move out of the poor and backward neighborhood. She wanted to move to a better place and enjoy a better life. She didn’t want to be poor anymore.
After arriving in Shenzhen, the girl had no mood to wander around this big city. She had spent a lot of time traveling by train and arrived here already at noon. By this time, she was already hungry. Rubbing her belly, she expressed that if she didn’t eat, she would definitely die.
Looking at her WeChat and Alipay balances, they were also low. But she didn’t want to eat instant noodles today. Anyway, it wasn’t many times a month, so why not eat something good? Thinking this, she set her sights on the dai pai dong (street food stalls) by the roadside. As a poor person, the most suitable place for her was a dai pai dong. No matter how many times you ate here, the food wouldn’t be too expensive.
“Boss, give me a bowl of rice noodles!”
“Okay.”
Yu Linna found a seat and waited happily for her rice noodles. The food at dai pai dongs was cheap. A bowl of noodles was only 4 yuan, probably the cheapest noodles she could find nearby. She loved this kind of cheap stuff the most. Unlike eating instant noodles, the taste of blanched rice noodles was different, and there was meat, which Yu Linna liked the most.
However, in such an unclean and poor place, a blonde girl eating here was too conspicuous. After all, no matter how you looked at her, she didn’t look like a local. Usually, people like her should go to high-end places to eat. Why would she come to such an unhygienic place to eat noodles?
But how could Yu Linna care about those things? She only cared about eating cheap food. When the rice noodles arrived, she slurped them down (hūlū hūlū). Hmm, this bowl of noodles tastes pretty good, cheap and delicious. She could consider coming here to eat these few days. The happiest thing in life was to eat good food, especially cheap good food. When she, Yu Linna, becomes rich, she must eat delicious food to her heart’s content.
“Hello, beautiful. Beauty, are you free?”
Suddenly, a large hand slammed onto the small table where she was eating. The girl looked up. A delinquent with dyed yellow hair and his few followers were staring at her with ill intentions. This yellow-haired guy’s eyes kept staring at the girl’s body, his gaze seemingly lingering on her chest. Yu Linna subconsciously covered her chest. Is this guy a pervert? He even likes flat chests!
This yellow-haired guy had earrings, dressed like a gangster, with two or three buttons undone on his shirt, revealing his chest. And his face looked lewd. Yu Linna immediately felt very uncomfortable.
“Hmm, is my English not good? Let me try again…”
“No, no need. I can speak Chinese. You don’t need to speak English to me.”
Yu Linna put down her bowl and chopsticks, her face filled with disgust. This punk probably thought she was a foreigner, actually hitting on her in English. And his English pronunciation was very non-standard, the accent too heavy.
But for these punks living at the bottom, being able to learn English to this level was already quite good. Although that was said, Yu Linna was not a foreigner; she was 100% Chinese.
“Oh, you speak Chinese? That saves a lot of trouble. Foreign little sister, seeing you all alone is quite lonely. Want to go to the bar with us brothers? It’s really fun there.”
“No, no need. I… I have things to do.”
“Hey, hey, don’t be so heartless. Aren’t you Westerners quite open? Just going to play, not doing anything else. Relax, you’ll be back by ten o’clock.”
“Where did you hear that saying…”
Yu Linna felt helpless towards these punks. What do you mean Westerners are very open? That’s impossible, okay! No matter what, you can’t just casually agree to go to a bar with punks, right? Are you stupid!
And Yu Linna was very scared!
She was targeted by punks!
If she had known it would turn out like this, she wouldn’t have come here to eat even if it killed her. This dai pai dong was too chaotic; even gangsters came here.
“It doesn’t matter, right? Let’s go, little sister. In our country, drinking is the best way to make friends.”
“I, I’m busy. I have to go back…”
“What, looking down on us Chinese? I’m just inviting you for a drink. You won’t even give me this little face?”
“No, it’s not… I’m underage…”
“It doesn’t matter. Drinking doesn’t distinguish age, hahaha!”
What to do.
What should I do.
What to do.
Yu Linna’s shoulders trembled. Facing this situation, she didn’t know what to do. Although she had survived alone all these years, she rarely encountered this kind of situation. Now being targeted by punks, and they wouldn’t let her go, she didn’t know what to do.
These people didn’t have good intentions towards her either. Looking at their lewd expressions, she could somewhat guess what they wanted to do.
“Don’t say, this foreign chick is quite good-looking, although a bit small…”
“Our boss wants to try something new too. Damn it, I also want to try what it tastes like…”
“It doesn’t matter. Once she falls into our hands, she can’t run away.”
She could vaguely hear the followers whispering. Just hearing this content made Yu Linna’s face turn pale.
What should she do?
She looked around at the several strong young men nearby with pleading eyes, hoping for help. But as soon as these young men saw her gaze, they immediately lowered their heads and said nothing. No one wanted to cause trouble, pretending not to see.
Yu Linna was really close to despair.
“Little sister, don’t refuse brother anymore. It’s just drinking; you’ll get used to it quickly.”
Saying this, the yellow-haired guy’s hand reached out to put on her shoulder. Yu Linna subconsciously dodged.
“Aiya, so cute. I like it.”
Yu Linna swallowed. She was like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered; it was only a matter of time before she was caught and stewed. Since no one would help her, she had to rely on herself.
When the yellow-haired guy’s hand reached out again, Yu Linna flipped the bowl on the table onto his face, noodle soup covering his entire face. Then she overturned the table, and the glass cup fell near his feet. Without saying a word, the girl turned and ran, as far as she could. She didn’t want to be taken away by these punks.
“Hey, you haven’t paid yet! You smashed my shop, you have to compensate!”
“Damn it! Catch that bitch! Later I’ll f*** her hard!”
Yu Linna ran like crazy towards the crowded area. If she was caught at this time, she would be finished. She had to run, run far away.
“Hehe, run, little lamb!”
Suddenly, her hair was grabbed. The yellow-haired guy caught her on the main road, fiercely threw her into a small alley. Yu Linna’s back hit the wall, and a piercing pain shot through her. She saw the several furious punks in front of her, especially the yellow-haired guy whose face was still stained with drying noodle soup. She felt panicked and kept retreating.
“Run, keep running. You’re quite capable.”
Yu Linna’s shoulders trembled. Intense fear made her teeth chatter, and liquid welled up in the corners of her eyes. Her hands desperately groped behind her, hoping to grab something for security. She fumbled around and found a brick. She swallowed, picked up the brick, and stood up.
“Hey, no way, missy. Who are you going to hit with that brick? Hahaha!”
“Don’t, don’t underestimate me! I’ve fought before!”
Yu Linna desperately tried to muster courage, but those words had already used up all her strength. After speaking, her whole body went limp.
Asking her to fight these people? She felt she had no chance at all. She might just die here today.
She was really scared, didn’t know what would happen next, and didn’t want to know. She really wanted to go back half an hour before this happened. She definitely wouldn’t have stepped into this dai pai dong, absolutely not. She really regretted it.
Watching the yellow-haired guy approach step by step, Yu Linna closed her eyes, preparing to fight to the end.
“Who dares touch her!”
Suddenly, a sharp shout, and a nimble figure rushed into the small alley. With just a few small movements, the followers were knocked down. The yellow-haired guy had just turned around to curse “trash” when he was lifted up by this woman and slammed onto the ground. The force was terrifyingly strong, almost breaking his bones.
Black hair fell with the wind, a pair of long legs came into view. This girl clapped her hands, her face filled with indifference.
“If you still want to come, I welcome you anytime. I’ve practiced Taekwondo. If you want to die, I won’t stop you.”
She protected the blonde girl holding a brick behind her, not letting anyone take a step forward. That figure became tall in Yu Linna’s eyes.
“Ye… Zhiyun?”
She murmured this familiar yet strange name.
“You, why are you always so troublesome? Nothing good ever happens when I meet you. Do I have a grudge against you?”
This girl complained fiercely, but her complaints at this moment actually brought Yu Linna a sense of security. Perhaps because of the familiar safety, her grip on the brick loosened, and her whole body stopped trembling.
After that, of course, it was Ye Zhiyun’s personal show.
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