Chapter 224: “I’m off work now”

Fifteen minutes later, Xia Yu and Feng Yumo were sitting inside a cake shop together.

Watching Feng Yumo happily eating cake, Xia Yu hadn’t forgotten his original purpose: “Remember not to run off alone into secluded alleys in the future. It was lucky this time that you met me. If you had met someone with ill intentions, you’d have been done for.”

“Other than you, no one else would do such a thing!” the girl muttered in protest.

“How do you know others wouldn’t do that? Those criminals specifically target cute pseudo-lolitas like you.” Xia Yu took a bite of cake. It was actually quite decent, worth the price that exceeded market rates.

“I won’t forgive you even if you’re trying to flatter me!” Feng Yumo huffed and continued eating.

She had been starving these days, so she relished this rare tasty food. Soon, she had devoured more than half of the cake.

Xia Yu called the waiter and ordered another cake.

He continued the previous topic: “This isn’t flattery. You and your sister need to be fully aware of your appearances and realize that you might attract trouble.”

Feng Yumo’s hand abruptly froze midair: “How do you know I have an older sister?”

“Don’t you also know that I have a younger sister?” Xia Yu looked into Feng Yumo’s eyes. Seeing no surprise reflected there, he confirmed his suspicions.

Feng Yujia and Feng Yumo had probably already learned about him from Youxue. This stalking was likely motivated by that information.

“I saw your photos at Youxue’s place. I recognized your sister the moment I saw her. She thought I didn’t notice,” Xia Yu smiled.

“You didn’t tell Youxue, right?” Feng Yumo grew tense. She and Feng Yujia didn’t want to ruin their cool and elegant image in Youxue’s eyes.

“If you don’t tell others about this, I won’t tell Youxue,” Xia Yu proposed a deal.

“You’re dreaming!” Thinking about how scared she had been and even cried, Feng Yumo snapped fiercely.

Xia Yu felt a bit of a headache. He definitely didn’t want Youxue and An Siyao to find out that he had frightened a minor.

“Didn’t I already apologize by treating you to cake?” Xia Yu said.

“This isn’t something that can be resolved with just one cake!” Feng Yumo’s gaze was resolute.

“How about two cakes then?”

Her determined expression immediately wavered.

“Tomorrow afternoon at four, meet me at your sister’s convenience store. I’ll treat you to cake again, or maybe barbecue,” Xia Yu offered.

“Deal.” Feng Yumo agreed. She hadn’t eaten anything delicious for days. Good food wasn’t just a temptation for her taste buds; it was also a call of hunger.

“Now can we talk about why you followed me?” Xia Yu asked after taking a sip of milk tea.

Feng Yumo had already finished her cake. She picked up the other piece: “I just wanted to see what you looked like. I didn’t expect you to walk so fast as soon as you left the convenience store, so I followed you unconsciously.”

“First of all, you need to pay attention to your safety,” Xia Yu reminded again.

“Why do you always tell me to be careful?” Feng Yumo got angry. She felt she was being underestimated.

“Because you’re cute,” Xia Yu replied.

Feng Yumo’s face immediately turned red.

“If you looked like some ugly creature, I wouldn’t remind you to be careful.”

“Don’t say things like that.” Having studied in an all-girls school and rarely interacting with boys, Feng Yumo’s heart raced from Xia Yu’s words. She didn’t know where to look.

She lowered her head and “focused” on eating cake.

While eating his own piece of cake, Xia Yu watched Feng Yumo. When he was using An Siyao’s body, he often ate with Feng Yumo. This scene felt familiar and natural.

“I’m done. I’m going back!” Feng Yumo put the last bite of cake into her mouth, set down her fork, and stood up, but Xia Yu pressed her head down.

“Eh?”

Feng Yumo blinked, puzzled as she looked at Xia Yu:

Why did you press my head?

Xia Yu pulled out a napkin, wiped the remaining cream from the corner of her mouth.

He was immersed in the familiar feeling of having dinner with Feng Yumo. It wasn’t until he extended his hand that he realized something was off.

But he didn’t withdraw his hand. After all, she was just a sixteen-year-old kid. He didn’t need to be as cautious as he was with Yan Wei.

After throwing the napkin into the trash bin, Xia Yu patted Feng Yumo’s head again: “Let’s go.”

“How could you!” Feng Yumo protested, angrily following Xia Yu from behind.

Xia Yu first sent the girl back to the hotel, then returned to his home.

After being excitedly shown many photos by Youxue again, he went to his bedroom to study.

In the next five days, Xia Yu immersed himself in studying, Youxue indulged in taking photos, Feng Yujia got absorbed in slacking off at work, and Feng Yumo kept hanging around for free meals.

After the agreed second meal, Feng Yumo still kept appearing near the convenience store, naturally following Xia Yu whenever she saw him passing by.

Xia Yu didn’t chase her away. He took her around Zilang to eat.

First, he would say a few words to her sister at the convenience store where she worked, and then, without telling her sister, he would go to have dinner with her younger sister. Just thinking about it felt exciting.

That day, Xia Yu, as usual, came to the convenience store and saw a boy next to Feng Yujia.

He was also Xia Yu’s old colleague, a twenty-year-old youth who treated his convenience store part-time job as his formal career.

What was his name again? Something like Feng Lin?

Well, the name wasn’t important.

The young man was talking to Feng Yujia, who acted as if she hadn’t heard anything. Even when the young man asked for her opinion, she remained silent.

The young man didn’t give up and continued talking.

Xia Yu knew that the young man must have seen Feng Yujia’s real face without the mask, which was why he kept pursuing her.

Even with the mask on, Feng Yujia couldn’t completely hide her exceptional beauty. When she took off the mask, some people inevitably saw her true appearance.

Two days ago, Xia Yu had even seen a post on a local forum while browsing for food topics, where someone referred to Feng Yujia as the convenience store beauty.

Many of the customers who came to the convenience store were actually there for Feng Yujia. The hostile looks they cast toward the young man confirmed their identities.

However, there was also a middle-aged woman mixed in, which puzzled Xia Yu a little.

Putting aside his confusion, Xia Yu approached the checkout counter, leaned on the counter, and smiled at Feng Yujia: “Beautiful, give me that pack of gum.”

“The gum is right beside your hand.” At first, the young man was somewhat pleased to see Xia Yu, but his expression immediately turned hostile when he saw Xia Yu flirting with Feng Yujia.

Still inside the convenience store, his tone remained somewhat polite.

“I just don’t want to get it myself.” Xia Yu raised an eyebrow, looking at the young man.

Feng Yujia chuckled and took a pack of gum from the nearby shelf, handing it to Xia Yu.

After paying, Xia Yu asked Feng Yujia again: “Want to go out for dinner tonight?”

Knowing that Xia Yu was showing off in front of the young man, Feng Yujia cooperated and agreed.

“What do you mean!” Seeing Xia Yu flirt with the girl he liked right in front of him and succeeding, the young man got angry. He approached Xia Yu.

Before the young man’s hand could grab his collar, Xia Yu grabbed his hand first, twisted his wrist, and pressed him face-down onto the counter.

“What do you mean?” Xia Yu started intimidating.

The young man recalled the scene from a year ago when Xia Yu walked with several obviously tough individuals.

He had been scared stiff back then, but since Xia Yu showed no signs of trouble afterward, he had forgotten about it.

Now, he remembered it again.

He was just an ordinary young man, unable to stand up against those tough people.

Seeing the young man’s eyes darting away, Xia Yu let go of him: “Behave yourself, or I’ll tell your wife!”

The young man immediately stepped aside to organize the goods on the shelves.

“He already has a wife?” Feng Yujia asked curiously.

“His mother in the countryside arranged a marriage for him long ago. Last year, she forced him to go back to the village to get married. His wife is quite fierce. Once, she caught him hanging out with another woman and directly tied him up with a rope and dragged him back to the countryside for ‘education.'”

After chatting with Feng Yujia for a while, Xia Yu left the convenience store. At the corner ahead, he saw Feng Yumo waiting.

Feng Yumo happily followed behind him, and the two went to a restaurant together.

Xia Yu felt that now he could easily use the excuse of going out to eat delicious food in other cities to kidnap the girl.

Even if he was the older brother of a good friend, one should still maintain some caution towards friends.

Xia Yu thought about whether he should really kidnap Feng Yumo a bit to cultivate her safety awareness, but he eventually gave up.

It would be troublesome if she cried and made a fuss on the way.

After dinner, Xia Yu returned home and continued studying.

At five in the afternoon, he received a message from Feng Yujia. They had exchanged QQ numbers three days ago.

The message sent by the girl was:

“I’m off work.”

Xia Yu pondered, what did Feng Yujia mean by that?