A Quiet, Beautiful Moment

Seeing that things were about to go wrong, even without the [Phoenix]'s vision, Jiang Xueming could still see the [Charm] buff appearing above the two girls' heads.

He decided to go with the flow and went to a large bone rice noodle shop on the Yuming River with his two sisters for a meal and a casual meeting.

The whole process was very chaotic and not very interesting.

The two sisters attended the Eighteenth Middle School and even repeated a grade. The younger sister made money through Douyin (TikTok) and took her older sister out of the house to rent a hotel-style apartment, where the rent was 1,200 yuan a month.

Both of them had the surname Qian; the older one was named Qian Qianqian, and the younger one was named Qian Zhenxiang.

Jiang Xueming couldn't hold back his emotions even during the registration process.

The parents of these two kids are really obsessed with money; they've used all their naming skills to ruin their daughter's life.

To avoid awkwardness, Jiang Xueming called them by their nicknames: Qianqian and A Xiang.

I learned from the two sisters that the older sister is five years older than the younger sister, is twenty-one years old this year, is studying at Health School, and plans to become a nurse in the future.

My younger sister works while attending school, which is very tough for her.

The two sisters each have their own stories and their own lives, but Jiang Xueming would occasionally talk about family matters.

When they heard about Bailu, they were filled with fear again.

--Because of spending too much time on Mi Meng and Weibo, people start to feel anxious and develop a fear of some inexplicable thing, such as society being in bad shape again, or injustices happening in some faraway place in the world. They are afraid that this kind of human flesh trade will fall on their own heads.

So the younger sister A Xiang, said, "I only ran away because I saw the news on Weibo. I was afraid my dad would force me to go on blind dates."

Qianqian immediately comforted her sister, "You're overthinking it. He didn't even pressure me—why would he pressure you?"

A Xiang pouted. "That's called prevention."

Hearing the sisters' accented Mandarin, Jiang Xueming simply switched to their dialect and stopped them from putting on airs.

The dialect of Xiangnan is very interesting. It has many onomatopoeic words to express emotions, very few adjectives to discuss specific things, and its pronouns for transitioning to or linking actions or going somewhere are clean and concise, without any unnecessary words.

This linguistic habit has shaped the boldness and ruthlessness of the people of Xiangnan, giving them a primitive and wild beauty, a blend of crudeness and competence.

"Your sister is right." Jiang Xueming picked up the large bowl of soup and gulped it down in one go, like a cow. "Take better care of yourself and don't overthink things."

A Xiang hadn't even taken two bites when she saw this older brother finish the rice noodles and bones in one go, his eyes wide with amazement.

"You eat so fast?"

Jiang Xueming: "Eating can be quick, because life should be lived slowly. The less time spent at the dinner table, the more time we have to work and create valuable things."

Qianqian scratched her head, acting all familiar, and simply changed seats, running to Xue Ming's side, and scolding her like an older brother or sister.

"Did you hear that? He's an intellectual. If he says I'm right, then I'm right!"

Xue Ming stood up, ready to leave.

"I've finished eating, I should go now."

A Xiang immediately called out, "Hey! Hey hey hey!"

The girl kept saying "sigh" for a long time, but ultimately couldn't come up with a coherent explanation.

After paying the bill at the front desk, Xue Ming returned to the table and saw A Xiang pulling her suitcase, motionless, like a koala who had found a big tree, looking pitiful.

"Can you give me back my luggage?"

A Xiang shouted rudely and wildly, "No! No, no, no, no! I just won't!"

Xue Ming pursed her lips and asked tentatively.

"You still want me to do things? We've eaten, we've talked, what else is there?"

A Xiang's eyes lit up. "Is that okay? I want to go on the Ferris wheel, and I want to drink tea! The popular spot near Pingyang Agricultural University, Worry-forgetting Tea!"

Xue Ming thought for a moment and immediately shook her head.

"No."

A Xiang immediately became unhappy, "Why! Didn't you say you used to deliver food here? You know the owner! We can go and take photos, I can shoot so many videos! It's all money!"

Xue Ming frowned, and an indescribable sense of crisis immediately enveloped A Xiang.

--That was the look in her eyes, locked on to her prey, making her feel uneasy, as if a cold knife was cutting into her skin.

Jiang Xueming grabbed the handle of the suitcase and pulled it and himself out. He switched to Mandarin, his tone suddenly becoming cold and distant.

"I'm leaving. Don't whine or try to bargain with me—I hate this kind of unrestrained demanding."

Right now, at this very moment--

--A customer who came to the late-night food stall to eat and drink in the early hours of the morning happened to witness this scene.

A young man of similar age immediately teased, "Hey! Bro! You've got someone hanging on your luggage! How much have you been drinking? This girl is gorgeous and has a great figure, you're so lucky!"

The friends around him cheered along with the young man who had started the conversation.

"Two of them? Sisters? That must have cost a lot of money!"

"Which club is this from? This outfit is really nice! It shows off her butt."

A Xiang couldn't stand this humiliation. She immediately straightened her denim shorts, got out of her suitcase, and started yelling and cursing at the patrons at the next table.

I won't go into the details here because the wording is too sensational.

However, there's a general consensus—almost 90% of her cursing involved her mother, 51% involved organs, and 20% involved excrement and urine.

It's clear she's very restrained.

Xue Ming hadn't gone far when he could hear a cacophony of shouts and curses behind him.

It was A Xiang's strong, unrestrained voice, completely different from the strained tone of her Douyin posts, shouting out vulgarities in a rough, gruff voice.

Later, it became Qianqian went up to reason with people.

Then the situation took a sharp turn for the worse, and the young man who was leading the group seemed to have lost face.

"I said you're a prostitute! And you are! You don't want to do it? You'll get used to it after doing it a few more times!!"

The others started laughing.

The atmosphere became unusually lively.

The young man continued with a grin, glancing at A Xiang and Qianqian's clothes.

"One's wearing hot pants, the other's in a tight leather jacket, you guys really know your stuff! Teaming up as 'sisters' is a surefire way to sell! It really sells! You can make five or eight thousand a night, wow! Wow! You women make money way faster than men, don't you all agree?"

A Xiang was trembling with anger.

--While her older sister Qianqian simply opened her phone and spoke to someone with a blank expression.

"We earn money by making videos, not like what he said. Look at our backend, this is today's earnings! We are legitimate people."

I don't know which direction it was, but someone shouted again.

Can I download you online?

Hahahaha!

"You really earn a lot! I work hard all day, how come I can't compare to you guys just twirling your waist and laughing a few times?"

"I hate rich people the most!"

Just as the troublemaking young man was chatting happily, even the smell of alcohol on his face turned from blue to red, and he began to burp drunkenly.

"Your top fan? It can't be that guy from earlier, right? Is he any good? It's only 1 AM! The battles later tonight are going to be tough!"

With a "snap,"

"Don't you dare speak ill of him! He's a very nice person!" A Xiang wanted to slap someone.

--But someone grabbed her hand, as if she had been prepared and on guard. This allowed the young man to retaliate and slap A Xiang's buttocks beforehand.

"What do you mean? You want to hit me? How strong are you? Your blows are so light, you think you can even touch my face? You're not worthy! I wouldn't even want to slap you, you're too dirty."

Qianqian was stunned; she never expected her sister to make a move.

This face is my sister's livelihood. She usually pays great attention to skincare. If her face gets smudged, it might directly affect her rent, utilities, food, and other necessities next month.

Forget about physical violence, Qianqian wouldn't let her younger sister touch any sharp tools in the house, not even the needles used for sewing.

But this girl actually got so angry over a single sentence that she started a physical fight with someone.

Just as the eldest sister was stunned with fright--

--The younger sister was in so much pain that tears streamed down her face. She felt a ringing in her ears, a burning pain on her face, and her brain had been impacted, causing her motor nerves to become sluggish.

Forget about resisting; all she wanted now was to beg for mercy. She snapped back to reality, terrified that her face would suffer further torment.

"I... I'm not saying anything more. You're right. You're right in every way. Can you please let me go? I want to go home."

The young man in charge seized the opportunity, determined to bully others; otherwise, how could he possibly make the most of his drunken state and every moment of pure pleasure?

"Oh? Oh, you admit it?"

He was laughing so hard his mouth was watering, as if he couldn't control his tongue.

"Then say it out loud: I'm a roast chicken! McDonald's's roast chicken! Cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck!~"

Little Sister A Xiang glanced at the people present. There were sixteen tables in total, plus the shop's employees, totaling nearly a hundred people—and more than thirty mobile phones were pointed at her.

Sometimes, doing evil doesn't require much cost or ability.

This is where Jiang Xueming grew up, a place where people constantly test the limits of the law, trying to take a bite out of the weak.

Perhaps these thirty-odd phones will receive new advertising revenue sharing tomorrow. Underneath those white hot pants, thighs aren't thighs, and buttocks aren't buttocks, but rather human blood buns.

Seeing that A Xiang remained silent, the young man leading the group raised the price again.

"You earn so much money every day? That's amazing! Why don't you open your video channel right now and tell your viewers—'I'm Roast Chicken!' Make sure to use a high-pitched voice! Use your cutest look! Yes!"

A large, cold hand grabbed the young man's hair.

Immediately, a classmate stood up and saw the strange man subdue the hostage.

What are you doing?

"You're not convinced?"

"So what if you're rich?"

"Let go of my brother! We have knives! Are you looking to die?"

Before he could finish speaking, the young man whose hair had been pulled immediately started laughing strangely.

"Hehehe! No, no, no! No! Don't threaten him! Let him hit me! Quickly, hit me a few more times! I can't let go of such a good opportunity to make money! I want to eat lots of meat and drink lots of wine!"

With a "bang--",

His angry fist flew like a cannonball.

It nearly broke that despicable scum's jaw.

Xue Ming didn't say anything; that's just his style. He just buries himself in his work and rarely speaks.

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" The young man, dazed from the beating, still tried to act tough. "Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! That punch must have cost at least five thousand yuan, right? My mouth is bleeding. I saw it! I saw you had over four hundred thousand yuan in the balance when you paid!"

Seeing that things were going badly, the younger brother ran to the kitchen and got a cleaver. Just as he raised his hand, two round-headed iron chopsticks pierced through his palm and embedded themselves firmly in the pork bones in the inner kitchen.

Jiang Xueming grabbed the young man by the hair and dragged him away, followed by five or six wolves who were there to retrieve their companion's body or take photos to examine the injuries and extort a large sum of money.

Yes, they looked exactly like a pack of wolves.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to describe them as hyenas or a pride of lions.

It just doesn't look like a human.

--The dim streetlights in the early morning illuminated Jiang Xueming's profile.

The scumbag in my hand is still shouting.

"Oh my! Your face looks beautiful! Which plastic surgery clinic did you go to? snort"

Before he could finish speaking, he felt a sharp cracking sound from his stomach, and the lobster mixed with alcohol in his intestines was vomited out like a fountain.

Jiang Xueming's shoes were stained with blood; after this kick, he still had surgery to perform.

He wasn't bothered by the dirt at all. He cupped the young man's mouth and started pulling out his molars, which were covered in betel nut residue and tobacco stains.

I really envy you guys.

Jiang Xueming would occasionally talk to patients about their conditions while performing surgery.

"There are so many things in the world that can bring happiness, yet you choose to squander your life, heading down a path of bloodshed and no return."

The pain from having his index finger and Thumb pulled made this scumbag's heart pound wildly, and his heart-wrenching screams alerted the people in the row of houses in the night market, and all the lights came on.

"It's a pity you're so stubborn, but your teeth are so soft."

The two girls at the night market stall had just started crying, their tears streaming down their faces, crying hysterically. A drunkard next to them tried to get closer, hoping to take advantage of the chaos to grope them.

Jiang Xueming merely glanced back, like an invisible fan sweeping away mosquitoes.

In just thirty-two seconds, he pulled out thirty-two teeth, took out thread from his backpack, made them into a bracelet, and looked like a serial killer. He then took out a small electric grinder to clean the yellow stains off the teeth and washed away the blood with alcohol.

The scumbag in my hands has already fainted from the pain.

He pulled a pack of cigarettes into Qianqian's fanny pack.

The two sisters were both surprised and frightened, knowing only that the person in front of them resembled a professional killer returning home for the New Year, and dared not utter a word.

Jiang Xueming: "I said, those two are out selling their bodies. What do you think?"

Immediately, people burst out laughing. From table number four to table number thirteen, seven people were laughing.

Jiang Xueming: "What's so funny? What's so funny?"

No one answered.

--It seems no answer is needed.

Jiang Xueming shouted, "What's so funny! What's so funny?"

He yelled at us like a broken record, his angry voice like a series of resounding slaps. "What's so funny? What's so funny?"

When no one makes fun of him anymore, when no one makes fun of the two sisters anymore.

The ambulance Teacher San San to take the injured person away.

It is usually very difficult for a person to remain conscious after being attacked.

A Xiang was the same; she almost cried her eyes out.

Qianqian was too frightened to speak after just one glance at Jiang Xueming.

That look of fear in his eyes was genuine and couldn't be faked.

Jiang Xueming tossed the tooth bracelet into A Xiang, and A Xiang trembled with fear, trying to shake off the strange jewelry.

But Xue Ming wouldn't give up; whenever A Xiang threw it out, he would send it back in.

"Keep it safe!"

A Xiang covered her face. "No. I don't want to. No, no, no, I don't know you anymore, I don't like you. I don't want to see you."

Xue Ming squeezed past the medical staff, switching to a fake, business-like smile.

"Keep it safe."

But when A Xiang saw that gentle smile, her inner world almost collapsed. It was as if she had seen an ancient god in human form, and her SAN value plummeted.

She stood frozen, only hearing Jiang Xueming's whispers in her ear, like thunder in spring.

"Thank you for the words you said on my behalf, and for the slap you gave me."

"It's just that you're not strong enough, and your mind isn't strong enough."

"I believe that everything in the world can be turned into gold."

"One should be as steadfast as a rock, and not follow the crowd."

As the ambulance left, A Xiang still couldn't understand why this older brother had said those things to her.

She couldn't understand, couldn't comprehend, and was completely baffled.

This kind of inspirational quote, similar to those on Weibo, might earn you fifty yuan.

Occasionally, younger students around twelve or thirteen years old would randomly copy and paste this information into their QQ space, as if it were a lottery. Many years later, when they got their first girlfriend, they would immediately delete it to avoid having their past exposed. In the end, they would be blushing and trying to argue and explain, which would make them look extremely clumsy and awkward.

These are all lies, and perhaps the people who wrote them wouldn't even believe them.

It's a fake, a forgery, as childish as parents telling their children "don't lie."

But what she didn't expect was...

For Xue Ming--

These thoughts are all real.

It influences his life every moment.

Several kind-looking men got out of the police car.

Among them was an old acquaintance wearing a peaked cap, nearly 180 centimeters tall, with a broken eyebrow scar on his face; he was Xue Ming's older brother, Ye Bei.

Bei Zi sidled up to Xue Ming and showed him the rose gold handcuffs.

"Would you like to cooperate?"

Xue Ming raised her hands, becoming timid, and explained.

"I'm sorry, brother, I couldn't help it. I really couldn't resist. So I skipped the proper procedure."

Ye Bei asked in confusion, "Which process?"

Xue Ming sat in the passenger seat of the police car. "I didn't say—that there was truly no room for negotiation. The only thing I didn't say was that; I went straight for the blows."

Ye Bei suddenly realized.

"Oh! Don't be superstitious about rituals!"