Chapter 20: I Don’t Hit Girls, You Guys Do It

Opening the shop door, the bell hanging above chimed lightly. The dessert shop was decorated in a warm, cozy style, with a small teddy bear placed on every table, and a faint aroma of coffee lingering in the modest space.

At the sound of the chime, a handsome middle-aged man emerged from the back. Dressed plainly in an apron, he offered a subtle smile to the incoming guests.

"Welcome! What would you like to have?"

Shang Ying found a seat near the wall and sat down. The shop owner placed an exquisite menu on the table. It contained hand-drawn illustrations, with each dessert description accompanied by a photo, looking quite nice.

"I'll have this strawberry parfait, please."

"Sure thing." The owner nodded with a smile, then turned to Xia Zhi. "And for this guest?"

Xia Zhi was terrified of making eye contact with people, let alone right now when her heart was in her throat. Averting her gaze, she randomly picked a daifuku and immediately lowered her head to look at her phone.

The owner offered a smiling nod of understanding and returned to the back. Before long, the two desserts were brought out, looking identical to the photos… no "pictures for reference only" nonsense here.

This provided Shang Ying with sheer visual bliss. She picked up her small spoon, took a bite, and was instantly stunned by how delicious it was. The taste was remarkably refreshing, packed with generous, high-quality ingredients, perfectly balancing sweet and sour with a rich fruity aroma.

An exceptionally outstanding dessert.

This was the highest-rated dish Shang Ying had tasted since transmigrating into the novel, second only to Aunt Zhao's home cooking. She hadn't expected a tiny shop tucked away in an alley to possess such incredible skill.

She ordered more.

"A matcha mille-feuille and a brownie, packed to go, please."

Seeing how much Shang Ying enjoyed the food made the owner genuinely happy. No pastry chef could refuse seeing a customer relish their creations.

Just as he was about to head to the back, Shang Ying called out to him again.

Shang Ying set her spoon down, her expression serious.

"Do you offer membership cards here?"

"Huh?"

It was the first time the owner had ever been asked such a question. After thinking for two seconds, he pulled out a beautifully hand-painted card from the counter and handed it to Shang Ying.

"We can set one up. How about deposit 500, get 100 free? Just bring this card whenever you come."

Looking at this obviously informal card, and ignoring Xia Zhi's hesitant, wanting-to-speak expression, Shang Ying accepted it without hesitation and scanned the QR code on the table to transfer 1,000 yuan over.

A major client!

The owner's smile grew even more radiant as he immediately retreated to the back room to meticulously prepare the desserts for Shang Ying. After they finished eating and left, Xia Zhi suddenly clutched her stomach, her face turning pale as she stopped in her tracks.

Noticing her discomfort, Shang Ying supported her arm.

"Stomachache? Do you need to use the restroom?"

Xia Zhi forced an apologetic smile on her pale face, holding her stomach nervously.

"It hurts a bit. Yingying, can you wait for me here for a moment? I'll find a restroom and be right back."

"Okay."

Turning a corner down the alley, Xia Zhi immediately sent a message to a phone number. She poked her head out slightly to peek at Shang Ying, who was standing by the curb playing on her phone, a look of unhidden pleasure in her eyes.

If things reached this point, Shang Ying only had herself to blame for insisting on staying close to Shang Yi. How could the two of them be together? They couldn't, it was absolutely unacceptable!

Dressed in her Capital No. 1 High School uniform, with her long hair draped loosely over her chest, Shang Ying stood out as a striking splash of white in the alley as she casually scrolled through short videos to kill time.

The background music from her videos drifted through the quiet alley, flowing between rustic doorways, aged trees, and weathered stone pillars, making time seem to slow down.

The glare on her screen was blocked, making the video image clear. Shang Ying looked up in confusion, only to find several street hoodlums standing in front of her at some unknown moment.

They were genuine street thugs. Classic archetypes dressed in tattered, sloppy clothes, looking like they belonged to a beggar's guild.

"Why is it a girl?"

The guy leading them puffed on a cigarette and frowned, looking thoroughly displeased that Shang Ying was female. ‘Hello? Did he have some issue with her gender?’

‘If he really didn't like it, there was a male version who looked almost identical available for him to pick from.’

Shang Ying's phone was snatched right out of her hand. She let out a short sigh and wanted to reach out to take it back, but stopped when a stun baton was brandished at her.

‘Fine, snatch it if you want, but don't pull out a stun baton to talk. It ruins the city's image.’

She could tell from their posture that these guys were eighty to ninety percent likely here to pick a fight with her.

The guy leading them let out a scoff, took two steps back, and said, "I don't hit girls."

‘Well, look at him having principles and all.’

He gestured with his chin toward the other guys.

"You guys do it."

Shang Ying: …

The others: …

Amused by his words, Shang Ying looked over at an old lady sitting on a rocking chair nearby and handed her the desserts in her hand. The old lady could barely keep her eyes open, but Shang Ying could still sense the confusion deep within them.

"Grandma, please hold onto this for me for a bit. I'll grab it from you in a moment."

Hearing her words, the old lady tried hard to open her eyes and caught a glimpse of the characters on her school uniform. Ah, a child from Capital No. 1 High School, a good kid. So she nodded and agreed.

After carefully storing her desserts, Shang Ying turned back to look at the group looking for trouble.

"Although this is pretty formulaic, I still want to ask: who sent you guys here?"

The guys wore fierce expressions, glaring at Shang Ying while letting out cold scoffs, showing no intention of answering. As hired thugs in this area, they certainly wouldn't reveal the buyer's information.

"Oh, that person... a girl, seems to be named Lin Yuan."

The guy who had stepped back casually spilled the buyer's info that the others were refusing to divulge, the cigarette dangling from his mouth almost falling off.

One of the guys with a scar on his face quickly turned his head to look at him, sounding anxious.

"Hey! You can't say that! They paid for this. How are we supposed to work in this line of business if we leak client information?!"

The guy scoffed indifferently, leaning against the wall with his cigarette.

"How do you know she didn't just guess it herself because she's smart? Idiot."

Scarface: ... ‘Fine, I won't argue with you.’

Shang Ying searched her memory for the name "Lin Yuan," but couldn't find anything. Who was she again? As a villain herself, why was she constantly getting targeted by others? Shouldn't she be the one going around picking fights?

Irritated, she scratched her chin and tried to negotiate with the thugs.

"I'll give you money. Can we skip the beating?"

"No can do, sister! Rules of the underworld. How could we be turned so easily? How would we stay in business in the future?!"

Speaking was another guy who looked fairly decent, but opened his mouth to reveal a heavy smoker's rasp. He probably smoked more cigarettes than he ate meals.

"What does your underworld business have to do with me?" Shang Ying uttered those few words expressionlessly.

The street thugs: …

The guy leaning against the wall burst out laughing, enjoying the drama in peace.

‘Alright, looks like reasoning with them is useless.’ She looked behind her. The alley was far too deep, and running straight down would likely lead to a dead end. These thugs clearly frequented this area, so running away wasn't going to work.

Shang Ying let out a sigh, set her backpack down, and walked into the middle of the alley, feeling a bit helpless as she looked at the five vicious thugs in front of her.

Who on earth thought so highly of her to send six people to corner her?!

‘Hahaha, damn! Did they think she was a martial artist with three heads and six arms?!’

Her eyes carried a slight trace of bitterness.

"Alright then, hit me softly, okay?"

The street thugs: …

‘When you put it like that, how are we supposed to strike?’

While they hesitated, a cold gleam flashed in Shang Ying's eyes. With swift precision, she closed in on the guy standing by the wall, grabbed him by the collar, and slammed him straight onto the ground.

"Holy crap?!”