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Chapter 1 Helping Those in Injustice

"We have arrived at the final stop, Sakura Road. Please exit through the rear door."

As the station announcements remained unchanged, the vibrant street scene before my eyes gradually came to a standstill.

The bus stop was packed with people. At six o'clock in the morning, the fog had not yet lifted, and the bustling city was wrapped in a soft white veil, exuding the smell of soy milk and fried dough sticks and the hurried collision of people.

Shen Moyu always disliked crowds, so he put on his headphones in frustration and followed the crowd into the innermost alley, which was teeming with people.

The alleyway wasn't large, but it was bustling with activity. Because it was very close to No. 8 Middle School, most of the people coming and going were high school students around Shen Moyu's age.

Signboards of all sizes advertised a wide variety of snacks and groceries, and every shop was thriving.

He pulled his hat down and turned into a noodle shop. As he pushed open the door, a wave of heat mixed with the noisy atmosphere inside rushed towards Shen Moyu.

"Oh, Mo Yu is here? And so early."

The proprietress, dressed in her unchanging bright red dress, stood beside the dilapidated dining table, holding freshly chopped beef from that morning, and smiled at Shen Moyu.

The familiar aroma of noodles wafts through the air; this is the special blend of spices used in this beef noodle shop, and also the reason for its thriving business.

Shen Moyu politely returned the smile and said in his newly matured boyish voice, "Good morning, Auntie."

The proprietress patted him on the shoulder with satisfaction and straightened his work clothes amidst the swirling smoke: "Go on."

Shen Moyu was choked by the smoke rings exhaled by a boy next to her. She frowned slightly, cleared her throat, nodded, and went into the back kitchen.

Almost everyone who meets him says he arrived early, and he agrees with that.

Due to family circumstances, he had to work part-time to support himself from a young age, which meant he had to work harder than others.

He had worked at this shop for a long time, and the owner appreciated him. Even though he could only come on Saturdays and Sundays because of school, the owner was still willing to pay him more.

He'd been doing it for almost two years, and he'd long since gotten used to it.

I've gotten used to the environment here, the proprietress's red dress, doing my homework in my spare time under the dim yellow light of the noodle shop, the occasional disturbances caused by the local thugs, and the smoky, pungent smell of alcohol.

But this was the best job he could find.

He carried four neatly arranged bowls of noodles to table number three: "Four bowls of beef noodles, three bottles of cola, enjoy."

He glanced at the blond guy sitting on the far side and immediately recognized him.

He was indeed a regular customer, but also one that the entire street didn't welcome.

Every time they come here, they're either picking and choosing or trying to dine and dash. There are quite a few of these hooligans on this street. After all, it's next to the infamous No. 8 Middle School, so there are bound to be a lot of these kinds of people visiting every day.

The blond-haired man looked him up and down: "What, it's you again?"

He brought along several brothers who were dressed similarly to him.

The woman leaning against him was probably his girlfriend; her faded pink hair looked comical, and her cheap makeup made her face look like it was plastered with paint, making her appear frighteningly white. When Shen Moyu glanced at her, the girl immediately jumped up and shouted, "What are you looking at!"

Shen Moyu secretly rolled his eyes, not wanting to pay any more attention. He had seen plenty of these thugs, because every time they came to cause trouble, Shen Moyu would shut them down completely.

In the past, given his personality, he would have already taken action against someone who kept causing trouble. But he can't; for the sake of this job, he has to endure what he can.

The noodle shop was dimly lit. Shen Moyu put on her glasses, looked down, and pulled out two worksheets to do. She had to work on the weekend, but she couldn't fall behind in her studies.

The shop was noisy, while rain pattered outside.

Shen Moyu put down her pen, looked up at the crowd outside the glass door. They were holding colorful umbrellas and moving through this secluded alley. Their hurried pace and the rainy weather made it all seem mundane and tasteless.

"Click".

The shop door was pushed open.

Shen Moyu glanced at the door reflexively and saw a boy covered in rainwater walking towards the cashier, rubbing his damp hair.

On rainy days, when there is no sunshine, the dim yellow light emanating from the light bulbs that often swarm around flies in the shop falls on him, creating a vague yet impactful effect.

He stared blankly until the person approached him, carrying a damp, rainy scent.

He took off his mask, revealing a delicate face.

When she looked up, her bright, slightly watery phoenix eyes met Shen Moyu's.

He parted his thin lips slightly: "A bowl of beef noodles and a bottle of cola."

A clear, deep voice reached Shen Moyu's ears. He looked up at the face that always attracted girls wherever he went, and his breath hitched unintentionally.

Perhaps because he had just been caught in the rain, his hair was loose and disheveled, water dripping from the roots, making him look somewhat disheveled, yet giving him a more youthful air. His black Korean-style trench coat, paired with his dashing and sunny appearance, made him look refreshingly refined, exuding a cool and aloof vibe from head to toe.

"Okay, just a moment." Shen Moyu rubbed her nose, picked up the ticket on her left and handed it to him: "Seat number six."

The boy irritably patted the raindrops off his black trench coat, silently took the receipt from the cashier, and left the counter.

Perhaps it was because Shen Moyu felt that such a face was very rare, but as he turned to walk towards the back kitchen, he looked at the boy's tall and straight back again.

The rain was still falling outside the window, as if the heavens wanted to wash away the last trace of winter.

The relatively warm noodle shop finally calmed Su Jinning down a bit after escaping the torrential rain.

He opened WeChat and read again the message his father had sent ten minutes earlier: [Don't worry, your grandmother's surgery was a success.]

Su Jinning breathed a sigh of relief only after confirming that she hadn't misread it. The huge weight in her heart was finally lifted.

He put down his phone, leaned back in his chair in a deflated manner, rubbed his hands which were already red from the cold, and gently closed his eyes while staring at the ceiling where flies were swirling.