Chapter 973 — Feng Xiaoxiao's Idea

"Not broken? The paint's chipped off and you expect me to use it? I'm a man of class, moving in high society—how could I carry a lighter with its paint chipped?" The man gave a cold snort and slapped the lighter down on the table beside Chen Xi and her mother. "If you can use it, it's yours. Just give me the five thousand and save the chatter!"

There were not many diners in the shop at this hour. By the time Wei Zhao saw Feng Xiaoxiao come into the noodle house again, it was already one in the afternoon—just past the lunch rush.

But even with the few customers present, who would trouble himself over another's business?

The waiter at the beef noodle shop might have found the man somewhat distasteful and felt great sympathy for Chen Xi and her mother, but he knew as well that disputes between customers were no concern of the establishment, and that the wisest course at such a moment was not to interfere.

Feng Xiaoxiao frowned. This man really was detestable. Sympathy for Chen Xi already lived in her heart—she herself had lost her mother young, and now Chen Xi was about to lose hers. It gave her a sense of shared fate, and she could not help taking a liking to Chen Xi. Seeing the man bully Chen Xi and her mother this way, she was instantly furious.

So Feng Xiaoxiao sprang to her feet, and before the man could react, she snatched the lighter up from the table. "Let me see what kind of lighter is worth five thousand yuan?"

"Who are you? Mind your own business!" The man had not expected a Cheng Yaojin to come charging out of nowhere and frowned at once. But seeing that Feng Xiaoxiao's clothes and bearing were all fashionable, he was a little reluctant to provoke her—he was, after all, the sort who only bullied easy targets.

"From what I know, Zippo is an international brand, but its prices range from high to low, and the cheapest cost only a few dozen yuan—while this one of yours..." Feng Xiaoxiao picked up the man's lighter, glanced at it, and said mildly, "This one is Zippc, not Zippo. It's a counterfeit, not even worth a few dozen yuan—a few yuan, straight off a street stall!"

"You're talking nonsense!" The man flushed crimson at her words and, in a fit of rage, reached out to snatch the lighter from Feng Xiaoxiao's hand.

But who was Feng Xiaoxiao? She was the last of the four great campus terrors, the one who dared set off firecrackers on Wei Zhao's backside—would she be afraid of the man before her? She casually flicked the lighter alight, and as the man grabbed for it, the flame caught his hand and set his sleeve on fire.

"Ah! Motherf—!" The man flailed about wildly, and at last managed to beat out the flames on his sleeve. His eyes were already full of fury; he had lost all reason, and swinging his palm wide, he lunged to slap Feng Xiaoxiao!

In that instant Feng Xiaoxiao was startled as well. But what she was thinking was whether Wei Zhao would come to her rescue.

Wei Zhao was certainly not about to stand by and watch Feng Xiaoxiao be bullied. In the next moment, the man's hand was caught fast in his grip.

"You—let go of me!" The man, caught by Wei Zhao, was instantly all bluster over a swelling cowardice; the pain in his hand told him Wei Zhao was not to be trifled with. He was the sort who rode roughshod over the weak and feared the strong—he had only conceived the scheme to extort Chen Xi after seeing how plainly she was dressed and taking her for an easy mark.

But now Wei Zhao was clearly not someone he could provoke, and he grew a little afraid. "Do you know who I am? In this part of the north of the city, I'm well acquainted with Brother Guang. You'd better not meddle..."

"Who's Brother Guang?" Wei Zhao blinked.

"Zou Ruoguang. Brother Guang!" The man supposed Wei Zhao did not know, and added, "The boss of the north of the city!"

"Zou Ruoguang—why does that name sound so familiar?" Feng Xiaoxiao broke in suddenly.

In the instant Wei Zhao moved, a faint sweetness welled up in Feng Xiaoxiao's heart. Wei Zhao still looked after her—he still cared about her! Though his manner toward her was a bit cool, if she were truly in trouble, he would never stand idly by.

"Oh, just some thug," Wei Zhao said. "He has a brain-dead younger brother named Zou Ruoming—you know him."

"Oh, Zou Ruoming. I thought he knew someone formidable!" At hearing he was Zou Ruoming's brother, Feng Xiaoxiao breathed a sigh of relief.

"Uh..." The man was rather at a loss. He had thought that naming a rather formidable thug would make Wei Zhao back down, but he never expected that Wei Zhao actually knew the man.

"Who else do you know? If that's all, you can get lost." Wei Zhao released the man's hand, not regarding him in the least.

The man hesitated a moment, then slipped dejectedly out of the beef noodle house—apparently judging that he was no match for Wei Zhao and deciding that of the thirty-six stratagems, flight was best.

"Thank you both so much!" Chen Xi's mother had thought that before she died she would leave behind a mountain of debt; in the depths of despair, she had never expected someone to stand up for her and her daughter. Thank goodness these two were worldly and knowledgeable, had seen through the man's fraud, and had managed to scare him off—otherwise, mother and daughter would truly not have known what to do.

"Thank you, brother, thank you, sister..." Chen Xi dried her tears, bowed politely to Wei Zhao and Feng Xiaoxiao, and said solemnly.

"It was nothing," Feng Xiaoxiao said. "Just be more careful from now on."

"Mm!" Chen Xi nodded gratefully, but at the sight of the broken bowl of beef noodles on the floor, she could not help feeling a pang of distress. She turned to her mother. "Mom, shall we order another bowl?"

"No need. We have already tasted it, so we know what it is like. Let us not waste money!" Chen Xi's mother naturally did not want her daughter to spend any more.

"This bowl of mine is untouched. I cannot finish it anyway, so here, take it!" A gleam came into Feng Xiaoxiao's eyes, and she carried the bowl of beef noodles from her table over to Chen Xi and her mother.

"This... how could we?" Chen Xi's mother was taken aback and hurriedly declined.

"I want to share a bowl with him, auntie. You heard me say so just now, did you not?" Feng Xiaoxiao leaned close to Chen Xi's mother's ear and whispered, "Just do me this favor, would you?"

"This..." Chen Xi's mother had indeed heard Feng Xiaoxiao say she wanted to share a bowl of noodles with Wei Zhao, so she did not doubt her words now. It was only that... she could neither agree nor refuse!

If she agreed, she would be taking something from someone for nothing; if she refused, the girl had already asked her for a favor, and she had just done her a great service besides. How could she bring herself to say no?

Before Chen Xi's mother could say anything, Feng Xiaoxiao had already turned and gone back to her seat, where she said to Wei Zhao cheerfully, "Now the two of us have no choice but to share one bowl of noodles!"