Chapter 127

The bed in the hotel room was too soft, and with his mind a bit muddled, Tang Huaijin didn’t sleep well all night. By the time he woke up, breakfast hours were long over.

Half-awake, he vaguely remembered someone knocking on his door, but he was too sleepy to respond.

After washing up, he saw Shen Yiqiu’s message: I’ve packed breakfast for you. Come get it when you wake up.

Tang Huaijin changed his clothes and knocked on Shen Yiqiu’s door.

He waited for quite a while before Shen Yiqiu came to open the door. She glanced at him lightly and said, “Why are you up so late?”

Hearing this, Tang Huaijin looked a bit embarrassed. His gaze unconsciously swept over her chest, and he said awkwardly, “I overslept…”

“Do you know what time it is now? The breakfast I packed is already cold.” Shen Yiqiu was originally a bit angry-skipping breakfast is really bad for your health-but when she saw the conspicuous red string around his neck, her tone softened, and she said gently, “Forget it, let’s just go have lunch together.”

“Wait for me outside, I’ll get ready.” With that, she turned and went back into her room.

Of course, Tang Huaijin wouldn’t barge into her room. He waited outside, and when she came out carrying her small bag, he obediently followed behind her.

They didn’t walk far before finding a nice restaurant nearby to eat. To accommodate Tang Huaijin, Shen Yiqiu ordered mostly meat dishes.

Teacher Shen’s table manners were by far the most elegant Tang Huaijin had ever seen. She only picked up a little food at a time, chewed quietly, and never made any noise. She was extremely dignified, and every movement seemed so natural that only the best upbringing could have produced it.

But the only flaw was that her five slender, fair fingers seemed to be injured-two of them were wrapped in band-aids.

It seemed they weren’t there yesterday… Tang Huaijin felt a strange pang of concern as he watched. When he saw her use the bandaged fingers to pick up another bite, he couldn’t help but ask, “Teacher Shen, your fingers?”

Shen Yiqiu’s hand paused slightly, but she quickly returned to normal. She glanced at him and said softly, “It’s nothing.”

Sensing the faint trace of pity in his eyes, Shen Yiqiu’s lips curved slightly. She picked up some food for him and said gently, “Eat more, you didn’t have breakfast this morning.”

“Mm, thank you, Teacher Shen.” Tang Huaijin smiled.

After lunch, Shen Yiqiu took Tang Huaijin to the lobby to sign something, reminded him not to wander off, and then returned to her room.

Tang Huaijin stayed in his room for a while, chatted with his sister, wrote a few calligraphy pieces, and then felt a bit bored. After telling Shen Yiqiu, he took a taxi and left the hotel.

After telling the driver the destination, Tang Huaijin arrived at a café that had been open for quite some time.

Every time he and his sister came to Jingdu, the siblings would always come here for a sit.

Taking a sip of the coffee the boss brought over, Tang Huaijin looked toward an old, narrow alley across from the shop, his eyes gradually turning wistful.

Eighteen years ago, it was here that his parents found him as an infant in swaddling clothes. Tang Huaijin liked to believe his birth parents must have had their reasons for giving him up. He didn’t resent them, but he would never accept them, so he’d never thought about looking for his biological parents.

That said, Tang Huaijin still felt a bit curious about his origins.

Would there ever be billionaire parents coming to claim him?

Imagining such a melodramatic scene, Tang Huaijin almost wanted to laugh. He gradually snapped out of it, only then realizing he was unconsciously rubbing Teacher Shen’s jade pendant in his hand.

After finishing his coffee, Tang Huaijin paid the bill, quietly walked to the entrance of the alley, took out his phone, and snapped a photo to send to his sister.

“Come with uncle, okay? Whatever you want, uncle can buy it for you.”

These grating words made Tang Huaijin frown. He instinctively looked to the side.

It was a scruffy, unshaven uncle with a lecherous grin, saying something to a young-looking girl.

When he saw the girl’s face clearly, Tang Huaijin was slightly stunned.

His first reaction was, this girl… doesn’t actually look that young.

His second reaction was, this girl… looks a lot like his sister?

The girl’s hair wasn’t long, just reaching her shoulders, with a braid on each side. She wasn’t tall, her delicate little face was palm-sized and her features were exquisitely refined. Her outfit leaned toward the cute style: under a light brown pleated skirt were two slender legs in white stockings. The most eye-catching thing was her upper body-under a fluffy jacket, the chest of her light pink sweater bulged exaggeratedly, forming a stark contrast with her petite, adorable figure.

Wow, after seeing a “hip queen,” this time Tang Huaijin had witnessed what it meant to be a “chest queen.”

What on earth did she eat growing up to be so… formidable?

Hearing the uncle’s obviously ill-intentioned words, the girl pouted her rosy lips and blinked her moist, peach blossom eyes at him, as if she was really considering it.

Tang Huaijin’s expression froze. He couldn’t help but say, “Hey, what are you two doing?”

With that, he strode toward them.

The man, eyes gleaming, was already a bit guilty. Hearing Tang Huaijin’s strong voice startled him even more. Seeing Tang Huaijin approaching, tall and imposing, he immediately panicked, knowing he was up to no good. He didn’t even dare to say a word and slunk away.

Tang Huaijin walked up to the girl, looked at her helplessly, and asked, “Seriously, were you really considering it just now?”

The girl stared blankly at his face, didn’t speak, just nodded.

Seeing her silly look, Tang Huaijin frowned slightly. Was this kid not right in the head?

He tentatively asked, “You… how old are you this year?”

The girl snapped out of her daze, seeming to realize what he was thinking. She pouted, looking a bit aggrieved, and said, “I’m not stupid.”

“Oh, that’s good then…” Tang Huaijin looked a bit embarrassed, waved his hand, and added, “No, I didn’t mean you’re stupid, I was just afraid you’d be tricked.”

“I’m hungry, and I didn’t bring any money.” The girl lowered her head and shuffled her feet closer to Tang Huaijin.

“…” Tang Huaijin hesitated for a moment, then said, “Let me treat you to a meal, then. Let’s go to that café over there-they have cake and stuff.”

He couldn’t really explain why, but looking at this girl, he felt a surge of pity. Not only that, he also felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity. Anyway, it was just one meal, wouldn’t cost much, and he might as well do a good deed.

After he finished speaking, he realized that his current behavior wasn’t much different from that uncle just now, so he hurriedly explained, “I can lend you my phone so you can call your parents…”

Halfway through, he was interrupted by the girl, who simply nodded, looked into his eyes, and softly said, “Okay, thank you.”

Tang Huaijin glanced at her speechlessly. This kid was really carefree. He didn’t say anything more, just led the girl back into the café they’d just left, ordered her a few pieces of bread, and a cup of hot milk.

Watching the girl nibble at the bread, Tang Huaijin found it a bit funny and couldn’t help but lecture her, “Do you know that the person just now wasn’t a good guy? He wouldn’t give you this to eat.”

The girl glanced at him, pouted her lips, then silently took something out of her jacket pocket. After flipping a switch, she pressed a button, and electric sparks crackled out instantly.

Seeing Tang Huaijin’s slightly dazed face, the girl looked a bit proud, snorted lightly, and said, “I was thinking about how to find a place without cameras to zap him.”

Tang Huaijin looked at the stun gun, which was much bigger than the girl’s hand, and his mouth twitched. This wasn’t an ordinary self-defense stun gun, was it?

Damn, this was a police-grade one-a single zap could take half a life.

He quickly looked around, saw that no one was paying attention for now, and hurriedly said, “Put it away, quick.”

“Oh…” The girl was quite obedient to Tang Huaijin, nodding sweetly, turning off the switch, and putting away the highly lethal weapon, then continued eating her bread as if nothing had happened.

For some reason, Tang Huaijin’s face darkened as he asked, “…You weren’t thinking of zapping me just now too, were you?”

But the girl shook her head decisively, as if eager to explain. She hurriedly swallowed the bread in her mouth and said softly, “No, I don’t want to zap you. You’re not a bad person.”

“Hm?” Tang Huaijin actually liked kids. Hearing the girl’s childish words, he found it funny and asked, “Why can’t I be a bad person?”

The question seemed to stump her. The girl bit her finger and thought for a while, then shook her head and softly said, “I don’t know either, just feel like you definitely wouldn’t hurt me.”

Tang Huaijin couldn’t help but laugh, his tone softening a lot as he said, “Alright, what’s your name?”

“My name is Ning Wangshu.” The girl blinked her big watery eyes and cautiously asked, “You, what’s your name?”

“My name is Tang Huaijin.” Tang Huaijin smiled and said, “Go ahead and eat. When you’re done, I’ll lend you my phone so you can call your parents. By the way, how come you went out without your phone?”

The girl named Ning Wangshu nodded first, then shook her head, and continued to nibble on her bread.

So she agreed to borrow his phone, but didn’t want to explain why she went out without hers? Tang Huaijin smiled helplessly and said nothing more, silently watching the girl eat her bread.

He’d already thought this girl looked a bit like his older sister, but couldn’t quite say where. Maybe it was just the pair of peach blossom eyes that resembled his sister’s, but there were so many people with peach blossom eyes in the world, and Tang Huaijin never thought anyone else looked like his sister.

Maybe all good-looking people are similar.

Very soon, Tang Huaijin roughly understood how Ning Wangshu had grown up so well.

Although she was eating in small bites, Ning Wangshu’s speed was not slow. She quickly finished several pieces of bread, and Tang Huaijin figured he couldn’t eat that much himself.

The girl seemed a bit tired of sitting, so she put her two heavy things on the table, then squinted her eyes contentedly, holding the warm milk in her little hands and sipping it slowly, her gaze unconsciously falling on the jade pendant at Tang Huaijin’s chest.

Noticing Ning Wangshu’s gaze, Tang Huaijin stroked the jade pendant and asked, “What is it?”

“Nothing.” Ning Wangshu shook her head and said softly, “The pattern on it looks familiar. My mom often draws this.”

A dragon and phoenix jade pendant, huh? That was pretty common. Tang Huaijin didn’t think much of it, smiled, took out his phone, unlocked it, and handed it to the girl, saying, “Alright, call your mom first. She’s probably worried.”

Although Ning Wangshu didn’t say why, Tang Huaijin could more or less guess. Judging by her look, she was probably another rebellious girl who had a fight with her parents and ran away from home.

But Ning Wangshu didn’t take the phone. She gently played with her braid, her tone a bit downcast as she said, “No need. They might be here soon.”

“What?” Tang Huaijin didn’t understand and was about to ask a few more questions when he saw several female bodyguards in suits rush in at the café entrance.

The leading female bodyguard walked up to Ning Wangshu, bowed respectfully, and said, “Miss, please come with us.”

Ning Wangshu sighed, finished the last sip of milk in her cup, stood up, looked at Tang Huaijin, and said softly, “Thank you for the meal. I have to go now.”

“Oh… alright.” Tang Huaijin looked at the group a bit hesitantly. Judging by their posture, they were probably bodyguards sent by Ning Wangshu’s family. Just from that stun gun, which ordinary people couldn’t get, it was clear this girl’s background wasn’t simple.

Ning Wangshu nodded, said nothing, and followed the bodyguards to the door. She turned back to glance at Tang Huaijin, whispered a few words to the bodyguard beside her, and then left the café.

The female bodyguard nodded, walked over to Tang Huaijin, took a bank card from her small bag, placed it on his table, and said softly, “Thank you for treating our miss to a meal. This one hundred thousand is your reward.”

“One hundred thousand?” Tang Huaijin was stunned and asked uncertainly. Seeing the female bodyguard nod, he quickly waved his hand to refuse, “That’s not necessary, really. I just bought her a meal.”

He understood not to accept rewards for no reason. He never intended to take Ning Wangshu’s money.

“This is the miss’s instruction.” The female bodyguard didn’t react, just explained, then turned and left.

Tang Huaijin watched her quickly leave the café, then turned his gaze to the bank card on the table.

What kind of family gives a hundred thousand for a meal? Even the Xia Family probably isn’t this extravagant.

Tang Huaijin recalled Ning Wangshu’s dazed and cute look, smiled helplessly, and picked up the card on the table.

Just take it as good karma for a good deed. He figured he’d never see that girl again.