Living Only For Myself: Make Those Who Hate Me Regret It-Chapter 58 - 57: "So Bold, He Actually Just Hugged Her...
Pushing her way through the crowd, Xu Su hurried over to the middle-aged man wailing in the middle of the street. Not at all repulsed by his filthy appearance, she took his arm and asked anxiously, "Uncle, what’s wrong?"
Her uncle, Xu Jianbang, was mute and hard of hearing. He normally earned a small income by collecting scraps from the streets and alleys. In this life, Xu Su had only seen him once, on her grandfather’s sixtieth birthday.
At the time, her mute uncle had even given her a red envelope with fifty yuan inside. Though Chen Shulan later took it, that was still the hard-earned money of a childless, single, disabled man, saved up bit by bit from the bottles and cans he had collected.
Across two lifetimes, Xu Su had received far too little familial affection. She cherished every little bit she was given.
This was a kindness Xu Su had to honor.
But now, her uncle stood on the street corner, completely at a loss and wailing his heart out, surrounded by a crowd of passersby who pointed and whispered.
There was nothing wrong with Xu Jianbang’s intelligence. He recognized Xu Su despite only having met her once. He cried out, "Ah... ah..." a couple of times, but Xu Su couldn’t understand him.
Perhaps feeling it was too pathetic to cry in front of his niece, Xu Jianbang raised an arm to wipe away his tears, regaining some of his composure.
Some people in the crowd who knew what had happened started talking over each other to explain the situation to Xu Su.
"Young lady, do you know him? The poor man... He had a whole sack full of cans he’d collected. He just left it here for a moment, and some goddamn thief stole it. It’s just wicked..."
"And from a mute, no less. Stealing from a disabled person... They have no morals. That scum deserves to die a horrible death."
A middle-aged woman came out of the adjacent snack shop. She seemed to know Xu Jianbang and hurried over, carrying a small bag half-full of empty soda cans. She handed it to him. "Brother, please don’t cry. It hurts my heart to see you like this. Whoever stole from you won’t have a good New Year, I guarantee it... Here, take these. Please, don’t cry anymore..."
Although the weather was cold, many of the shoppers in the crowd were holding water or soda bottles. Spurred on by the shop owner’s example, they began to hand their empty bottles over one by one.
The more considerate people bent down to politely place their bottles at the feet of Xu Su and Xu Jianbang. But most were less refined; they simply finished their drinks and tossed the empty bottles in their direction. While they may have meant well, the gesture was utterly disrespectful.
When Xu Jianbang saw so many people giving him empty bottles, his tear-streaked face broke into a grateful, ingratiating smile. Using the bag the shop owner had given him, he started bending over to pick up the scraps people had tossed on the ground, one by one.
Xu Su watched from the side, her brow furrowed. She wanted to tell him to stop, but she knew this was how her uncle survived. She couldn’t stop him, and more importantly, she couldn’t show the slightest hint of disgust.
In the end, Xu Su even started helping him. An empty can had landed in a shallow puddle of grimy water. Just as Xu Su reached for it, a familiar hand darted into view and got there first.
Xu Su straightened up and saw Xi Zirong crushing a soda can with his long fingers. His face was expressionless as he stood beside his bicycle, watching her.
’Only now do I remember... It’s not just my grandparents’ house that’s on Xia Sheng Road; I think Xi Zirong lives around here too,’ Xu Su thought. ’Looks like he was on his way home and saw me picking up trash?’
Worse still... Xu Su spotted a few familiar faces that had appeared in the crowd at some point. Some were from her class, others weren’t, but they were likely all First High School students who lived on Xia Sheng Road.
And they all clearly recognized her, witnessing with their own eyes none other than the school beauty of First High School picking up trash on the street after school, accompanied by a disabled relative.
The expressions on their faces were a wild medley: some were filled with shock, some were enjoying the drama, and a few were even laughing.
...But Xu Su wasn’t a true sixteen-year-old. She didn’t find the situation the least bit embarrassing. Her expression remained calm as she held her hand out to Xi Zirong. "Give it to me."
Xi Zirong didn’t. He took two steps, tossed the can into the nearby sack, and turned back to her. His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but instead, he closed the distance between them in one silent step and pulled her into an embrace.
His right hand pressed against the back of her head while his other arm circled her waist, holding her in a grip that was difficult to escape.
...The world went dark for a moment as he pulled her against him.
Xi Zirong was very tall, and her face was pressed right against his chest. His clean, pleasant scent filled her senses, but her first thought was, ’Zhou Mochen should be back any second.’
’If he sees me being held by another guy... this will never end...’
’All my hard work from the past few days will go down the drain...’
Sensing her trying to push him away, Xi Zirong took a deep breath, his voice trembling slightly. "Don’t move... Just let me hold you for a moment..."
With her face pressed into his chest, Xu Su pushed against him a few times to no avail. She could barely breathe. "Let... Let go first, Xi Zirong!" she yelled, her voice muffled by his shirt. "My uncle is standing right there!"
The moment she spoke, the arm around her waist loosened, and Xu Su wrenched herself free. "Xi Zirong, are you insane?! Who gave you permission to hug me?!"
’He nearly suffocated me!’
Xu Su glared at him, fuming, only to see that Xi Zirong’s face was bright red, as if he were the one who had been accosted.
Xi Zirong finally seemed to register what he’d done. A blush crept up to his ears as he stammered, "I... I’m sorry, Xu Su. I just..."
’His heart had just ached for her,’ he thought. ’Seeing the girl he liked bending over to pick up scraps, surrounded by a crowd while she collected garbage people had thrown away... It... it was just too much to bear...’
Having picked up the last bottle, Xu Jianbang walked over, gesturing frantically with his hands and crying out, "Ah, ah!"
"Whoa, is that Xu Su from the honors class? Is her dad a mute? No way, does her family have some kind of ’disability gene’?"
"Is that her dad? They don’t look alike. Xu Su is gorgeous—she’s the school beauty, after all..."
"Duh! If he’s not her dad, why would she be helping a stranger collect junk? That’s not how you do charity work."
"And what’s Xi Zirong doing? She’s pretty, but her family has that disabled gene. Isn’t he afraid they’d have a little mute kid?"
"Damn, that’s bold. He just went right in and hugged her..."
Xu Su’s hearing was quite good, and she caught snippets of the students’ conversation from a short distance away. They must have arrived late and missed her calling the man "Uncle."
’Besides, my head was buried in Xi Zirong’s chest just now, and I wasn’t speaking very loudly,’ she realized. ’Xi Zirong was probably the only one who heard me say that Xu Jianbang is my uncle...’
Xi Zirong’s brow furrowed, and he started toward the gossiping students, but Xu Su grabbed his arm. "You should go now, Xi Zirong. I don’t want my uncle to get the wrong idea..."
Xu Su had no desire to bicker with her chattering classmates. All she wanted was for this entire incident to be over, preferably by getting back to the car before Zhou Mochen returned.
