I won't get married easily

Chapter3 What he saw

Sitong had no clue about any of this. She was all in on her studies, hitting the milk tea shop on weekends to earn some cash for living expenses. After two weeks of grinding, she’d saved up a little chunk of money. She set aside enough for daily needs and emergencies, then took the rest to the trade center near the university town to wholesale some small trinkets. Her shift at the milk tea shop ended at 6 PM, so she headed to the night alley to set up her stall.

She had a good eye for stuff, and her prices were fair, so business was pretty decent. As night fell, she placed a little rechargeable lamp in front of her stall. When there were no customers, she buried herself in her textbooks. Having lost four years, she didn’t dare waste a single second.

Right next to the night alley was a teahouse built along the river. From the window, you could see the whole alley spread out below. Yu Hanshen sat in a rattan chair by the window, his gaze fixed on a familiar figure down there. All evening, that little girl was either chatting up customers or hunched over her books, buzzing around like a busy little bee.

“What’re you staring at?” Mo Xubei noticed Yu Hanshen kept looking downstairs and leaned over curiously. Besides a crowd of people, there wasn’t much to see.

Yu Hanshen pulled his eyes back, took a sip from his teacup, and said casually, “Nothing much.”

“Then did you even hear what I said?”

“I heard you.”

“Oh yeah? What’d I say then?”

“…”

Mo Xubei felt a lump in his chest. Every time he brought up Mo Zhanyi, Yu Hanshen acted like he couldn’t care less. But thinking of his little sister crying her eyes out and begging him, Mo Xubei forced himself to repeat, “I said, my sister’s been into you for years, and Grandma Yu’s been nagging you to get married like crazy. So, how about you think about my—”

Before he could finish, Yu Hanshen suddenly stood up and walked off.

“…” Mo Xubei stared at his back, stunned. Yu Hanshen was always cool and collected—seeing him rush off like this was a first.

“Where you going?” Mo Xubei got up and followed.

…

Sitong frowned slightly, eyeing the two shady-looking punks in front of her. Both were around twenty, with yellow hair and big, tacky arm tattoos, leering at her like creeps. “Hey, little sis, hustling at a stall’s tough work. Come drink with us—big bros will hook you up with some easy cash.”

One of them reached for her arm as he spoke.

Sitong dodged back, glaring at them warily. She quietly grabbed her phone and wallet from the ground, ready to ditch the unimportant stuff and bolt. There were plenty of people around—if she could slip into the crowd, losing these two wouldn’t be hard.

With that thought, she flipped her stall over hard. As the two punks stumbled back, she took off running.

Next thing she knew, she slammed right into a solid wall of a guy.

Caught off guard, Yu Hanshen staggered back a step but quickly steadied himself. Almost instinctively, he wrapped an arm around the girl who’d crashed into him. Holding Sitong, he shot an icy glare at the two punks across from them, saying nothing but radiating a quiet, intimidating vibe.

The punks froze under his stare, exchanged a quick look, and scrammed. They’d been around the block long enough to know who they could mess with and who they couldn’t.

“You okay?” Yu Hanshen looked down at the girl in his arms, a little exasperated. Why was it that every time he saw her, she was in some kind of mess?

Sitong rubbed her sore nose and shook her head. “Thanks.”

…

Mo Xubei couldn’t believe his eyes. What the hell was this? Yu Hanshen, the ice-cold jerk, playing the hero?

“Who’s she?” Mo Xubei sidled up to Yu Hanshen, nodding toward Sitong.

Sitong was busy picking up the trinkets she’d knocked over. Now that the danger was gone, she could still sell what she salvaged.

“Just a kid,” Yu Hanshen said offhandedly. His black suit jacket hung open, one hand in his pocket, the other resting by his side.

Mo Xubei smirked knowingly. “A kid, huh? Or a little crush? No wonder my sister’s been chasing you for years and you don’t even glance her way. So this is your type.”

Sitong was in a loose T-shirt and casual pants. A gust of night wind hinted at her killer figure underneath. Her skin was pale as snow, her features delicate and pure, with slim brows and a soft, innocent vibe that could easily stir up a guy’s darker urges.

Yu Hanshen shot Mo Xubei a look, his tone turning sharp. “She’s just a girl. Watch your mouth.”

“…” Yu Hanshen was intimidating enough as it was—when he got serious, it was downright scary. Even Mo Xubei felt a chill.

…

Sitong finished tidying up and turned to see Yu Hanshen still standing there, which threw her off a bit. Noticing the girl staring at him blankly, Yu Hanshen couldn’t help but quirk a small smile. “Where you headed? I’ll give you a lift.”

Sitong hefted her storage bag and looked up at him steadily. The guy was decked out in a sharp suit, tall and imposing, his hair perfectly styled like he’d just stepped out of some fancy event. A deep blue pocket square peeked out from his suit jacket, and he oozed this air of power and class—totally out of place in the noisy, grimy night alley.

Someone like him didn’t belong here. Maybe it was a fluke at first, but now? “Coincidence” didn’t cut it anymore.

Sitong wasn’t keen on taking favors from strangers for no reason, especially not from a guy like this. “No need to trouble you. I can take the bus back.” There was a route nearby that went straight to No. 10 High School.

“Thanks again for earlier,” she added, grateful for his help. Even if she could’ve gotten away on her own, he’d stepped in all the same.

With that, she brushed past him and kept walking.

Yu Hanshen shifted slightly to let her by, watching her cold, distant figure retreat. His eyes darkened a bit.

…

The teahouse had its own parking lot. Mo Xubei saw Yu Hanshen come back alone and grinned. “Didn’t you say you’d drive the girl home? Where’d she go?”

He craned his neck behind Yu Hanshen, gloating. “Oh man, she turned you down, didn’t she?”

Yu Hanshen gave him a cool glance. “You still here? Planning to crash for the night?”

With that, he got into his car.

Mo Xubei watched the Maybach pull away, lit a cigarette, and grinned wider. Seeing Yu Hanshen get shot down was rare as hell—he had to share the good news with the boys. He whipped out his phone and opened their WeChat group.

[“Yo, brothers, our Third Uncle just got rejected by a girl. Let’s celebrate!”]

Yu Hanshen was the youngest son of Old Man Yu, high up in the family pecking order, so the guys jokingly called him “Third Uncle” behind his back.

Right after sending it, Mo Xubei remembered his sister was in the group too and yanked the message back. Too late—Mo Zhanyi’s call came through instantly. “Bro, what’d you mean in the group?”

“Nothing, I messed up. Don’t overthink it,” Mo Xubei groaned, rubbing his temple. His sister was great and all, but she was obsessed with Yu Hanshen to a crazy degree. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have tricked Yu Hanshen into coming to the teahouse to talk about her.

“For real?”

“For real!”