Stop Chasing the School Belle, My Shy Deskmate is Sweet and Soft - Chapter 51

“Anyone who dares to make a move, I guarantee you’ll spend the rest of your life behind bars!”

The commanding voice cut through the chaotic scene, instantly drawing everyone’s attention.

An elderly man with a hunched back stood there, holding a large fertilizer bag in his hand, looking like a scavenger.

When Xia Tian recognized his face, he was taken aback.

It was the same mysterious old man he had encountered at the intersection when he was walking Ye Ningyu home!

Zhang Dong, on the other hand, relaxed when he saw that it was just an old man speaking up.

“Old man, I suggest you stay out of this. You’re old, and if you keep meddling, you might find your bones scattered all over the place!” Zhang Dong sneered.

The old man smiled calmly and said, “Young man, didn’t your parents teach you to respect your elders?”

“Don’t you dare talk about my parents!” Zhang Dong’s face contorted in anger, veins bulging on his forehead as if the comment had struck a nerve. He lunged forward, ready to grab the old man by the collar.

Xia Tian’s eyes narrowed, and he quickly stepped forward, trying to intercept Zhang Dong before he could touch the old man.

But before Xia Tian could reach them, a large figure moved even faster, stepping in front of the old man and grabbing Zhang Dong’s arm.

The man was tall and burly, with a scar across his face and a cold, deep gaze.

“Take one more step, and I guarantee you’ll regret it,” the man said, his voice low and menacing.

With one swift motion, he twisted Zhang Dong’s arm, holding it like a vice grip.

“Aargh!” Zhang Dong winced, unable to fight back against the man’s strength. It felt as if his arm had been caught in a steel trap.

“Let go! Stop it! You’re going to break my arm!” Zhang Dong yelled, his face twisted in pain. Seeing this, his lackeys hesitated, unsure whether to rush in.

The burly man released Zhang Dong, who immediately stumbled back, rubbing his arm and glaring in frustration.

“Young man, these two kids are just running a stall. They haven’t done anything to provoke you, have they?” the elderly man, Qin Jianghe, asked with a smile, his hands behind his back.

Zhang Dong, still nursing his sore arm, barked back, “Old man, I’m warning you! Don’t think just because your son looks tough, I won’t touch you both. There are eight of us here—do you really think we can’t take him down?”

Ignoring the threat entirely, Qin Jianghe walked over to Xia Tian with a grin. “Ah, young man, we meet again… It’s getting late. You and your friend should pack up and head home.”

Xia Tian stood there for a moment, processing the situation.

The old man was clearly helping them out of a potentially dangerous situation.

He quickly nodded and signaled to Fang Yu, “Let’s pack up and get out of here.”

“Oh, oh, right!” Fang Yu responded, still a bit dazed but immediately started gathering their things, moving quickly.

Seeing himself completely ignored, Zhang Dong’s face twisted in humiliation. His ego couldn’t take it anymore.

“Screw this! This old man is ignoring me! Boys, get them—all of them! Take out the old man and his son too!”

With that, Zhang Dong picked up an empty beer bottle and charged forward.

But the burly man wasn’t about to let that happen. Before Zhang Dong could even swing the bottle, the man swatted it out of his hand and swiftly spun him around, locking him in a painful arm hold.

“Owww! Stop it! Stop! I give up! I give up! You’re going to break my arm!” Zhang Dong screamed in agony, signaling to his lackeys to stop their advance.

The burly man finally spoke, his voice cold and unyielding. “This is your last chance. Leave.”

“Alright, alright, we’re leaving! Just let me go!” Zhang Dong begged, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

The man scoffed and released Zhang Dong, who stumbled back, rubbing his arm with a mix of anger and fear.

Zhang Dong’s face flushed red with rage, and in a fit of frustration, he reached into his pocket, pulling out a switchblade.

“I’m gonna kill y—” Ring ring ring!

Just as he was about to charge again, his phone rang.

Zhang Dong glanced at the caller ID and quickly answered.

He hadn’t even had a chance to speak when the voice on the other end said something that drained the color from his face.

His entire body began trembling, and his voice quivered as he stammered, “What? You… You said it’s… Deputy… Deputy Qin?!”

Zhang Dong’s eyes widened as he stared at the old man standing beside Xia Tian. He swallowed hard, his earlier bravado completely gone.

“Go! Go! Let’s get out of here—now!” Zhang Dong yelled, immediately turning to flee without even hanging up the phone.

The rest of the gang exchanged confused glances but, seeing their boss run off, they quickly followed, scattering in all directions.

Xia Tian and Fang Yu finished packing up their stall, still perplexed by how quickly Zhang Dong and his gang had fled.

“Young man, now that you’re done, you should head home soon,” Qin Jianghe said, patting Xia Tian on the shoulder. “Thanks for helping me cross the street the other day.”

Xia Tian stared at the old man, then glanced at the burly figure standing beside him, who had easily handled Zhang Dong. He realized that this old man’s identity was far more significant than he had originally thought.

The phone call Zhang Dong received must have revealed something about the old man’s true status, which was why he and his crew had fled in such a panic.

Xia Tian couldn’t help but feel grateful. If Ye Ningyu hadn’t tried to help this old man cross the street that day, they wouldn’t have developed this unexpected connection.

Little Ye really was his good luck charm!

“Thank you so much, sir. May I ask how I should address you?” Xia Tian asked respectfully.

“Don’t mention it. I’m just an old man who picks up trash. No need for formalities. I understand you’re trying to make some money, but it’s probably not a good idea to run a business like this on Bar Street. You two are still young.”

“Understood,” Xia Tian replied, recognizing that the old man didn’t want to reveal too much about himself.

He and Fang Yu hopped onto their tricycle, ready to leave.

But just as they were about to pedal off, the old man called out again.

“Oh, by the way, you don’t need those empty beer bottles, right?”

—

After returning the tricycle and the remaining beer to the shop owner, Fang Yu couldn’t shake his curiosity.

“Little Tian, who do you think that old man really is? Not only did he scare off those thugs, but he also picked up trash in a BMW 5 Series. That’s just… too strange.”

“I have no idea,” Xia Tian replied, still a bit unsure himself.

Earlier, after they had handed the beer bottles to the old man, they had offered to help him carry them back.

But the old man simply had his bodyguard—the burly man—pull up in a BMW 5 Series to load the bottles, leaving Xia Tian and Fang Yu standing there in stunned silence.

“Rich people… they sure have some weird ways of entertaining themselves,” Fang Yu sighed.

“If it weren’t for that old man, we would have not only lost all the money we made tonight but probably ended up getting beaten up too. I still don’t understand what we did to offend those guys.”

Xia Tian shook his head. “Don’t think about it too much. At least we still made our money.”

Hearing this, Fang Yu’s mood brightened again. “That’s true! I counted—it looks like we made 5,850 yuan tonight. That’s more than my parents make combined in a month!”

Xia Tian smiled and nodded. “Alright, let’s grab some late-night snacks and head home.”

Despite the success of the night, Xia Tian couldn’t help but feel conflicted.

Those thugs had clearly been sent by a bar owner who was upset that their business had affected his bar’s revenue.

Xia Tian had considered this possibility beforehand but had underestimated just how serious things could get. He had believed that, in such a public setting, no one would dare cross any major lines.

But when the thugs showed up, Xia Tian realized he had completely overlooked the realities of 2013’s public security situation.

Without the old man’s intervention, things could have ended badly tonight.

Reflecting on this, Xia Tian couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh.

In his previous life, his success had come from legitimate businesses and entrepreneurship.

Now, after his rebirth, trying to earn his first pot of gold through these shady hustles was proving more troublesome than he expected—especially given the time period.

“If I had a system like in those novels, none of this would have happened.”

Why hadn’t there been a “ding” yet? Where was the system when he needed it?

“At least we’ve made enough now to start building my first real stepping stone. I won’t need to take on such risky ventures anymore,” Xia Tian thought as he sat at a night market stall, eating dumplings.

His mind was already spinning with ideas for his next move.

As he chewed, Xia Tian glanced at Fang Yu and said, “Fang Yu, I remember you have some friends at the High School Affiliated with the Normal University, right? Can you help me ask about three people?”

“Sure, who are they?”

“Duang Yingying, Bai He, and Yang Yue.”