The world spun, and the granddaughter's figure in the grandmother's eyes blurred.
Her aged body, like a withered leaf drained of moisture, lay on the ground, her face and body covered in blood.
Jian Yiyi watched this scene, her eyes filled with terror and disbelief.
It all happened so suddenly. Just a moment ago, the grandmother and granddaughter were warmly chatting and laughing, and her grandmother was peeling chestnuts for her.
In an instant, tears burst from her eyes. Jian Yiyi cried like rain, her face soaked with tears.
"Grandma!"
"Grandma!"
"Ah— Grandma!"
Weeping, she threw herself to her grandmother's side, gathering her from the ground into her arms. Her white T-shirt was stained red with blood.
She had grown up without a mother and never knew what it felt like to be loved by one.
She only had her grandmother. To her, her grandmother was not just a grandmother, but also filled the role of a mother.
She loved her grandmother.
And now, her grandmother was covered in blood.
Large tears streamed from Jian Yiyi's eyes as she wept heartbrokenly.
Meanwhile, in the shadows not far away, Jin Ruizhi and Zhang Yingying were watching all of this unfold.
Seeing Jian Yiyi crying so sorrowfully, Jin Ruizhi's eyes filled with pity. He clenched his hands into tight fists and started to rush out.
Zhang Yingying grabbed him. "What are you doing? It's not your time to make an entrance yet."
Jin Ruizhi glared at Zhang Yingying furiously. "You've gone too far. I told you repeatedly not to hurt Jian Yiyi and her grandmother."
Zhang Yingying replied, "Don't falsely accuse me. I didn't do it; the people I hired did."
"Those three are thugs. They just gave a casual shove and her grandmother fell down. Who can you blame for that? You can only blame her grandmother for being too frail."
Jin Ruizhi said, "The plan is off. I don't want her to cry."
He turned and tried to rush out again.
Zhang Yingying held onto him tightly. "Don't act on impulse! We've come this far, don't let it all go to waste. If you want to win Jian Yiyi over, if you want her to like you, listen to me!"
Jin Ruizhi truly wanted Jian Yiyi to like him too much.
He had liked Jian Yiyi since the first grade. He only liked her, and having liked her for so many years, he really, really wanted her to like him back.
So, he listened to Zhang Yingying and stopped trying to rush out.
On the other side, next to the tricycle, Jian Yiyi sat on the ground, holding her bloodied grandmother.
She was panicked, anxious, terrified, and devastated, but she still forced herself to hold on and maintain her rationality.
"Grandma, I'm going to call 120 right now. You have to hold on."
Her trembling hands took out her phone. Her fingers pressed 1 and 2, but just as she was about to press 0, a Floral Shirt reached out and snatched her phone, smashing it heavily onto the ground. With a loud crash, the phone shattered into pieces.
"She just bumped her head, why call 120? Don't worry, the old thing won't die."
"Our goal today wasn't to kill anyone anyway, how could it result in death?"
"Jian Yiyi, play with us three brothers for a while, and we'll let you go."
Jian Yiyi froze abruptly. Looking at the three unfamiliar faces, she suddenly realized something. "How do you know my name?"
The three Floral Shirts were stunned for a moment, then said, "Your grandmother just called your name. We heard it."
Jian Yiyi said, "My grandmother never calls me by my full name. Who told you my full name?"
The three Floral Shirts were stunned again.
To avoid giving themselves away, the three Floral Shirts stopped answering her questions and surrounded Jian Yiyi.
"It's the middle of the night, why are you still wearing a mask on your face?"
"Why cover up so tightly? Are you too ugly to be seen, or are you so beautiful that you're worried about provoking malicious thoughts?"
"She must be too beautiful, otherwise why would a wealthy young master be so obsessed with her?"
One Floral Shirt reached out to pull the mask off Jian Yiyi's face.
Another Floral Shirt reached out to yank Jian Yiyi's ponytail.
The last Floral Shirt grabbed at Jian Yiyi's clothes.
She was only seventeen at the time; she had never seen such a scene before.
She was so scared.
She wanted to run, but her grandmother was injured and lying unconscious on the ground.
The night was very dark, but she felt her future was even darker.
She was being subjected to an indignity.
She hadn't done anything wrong, yet she encountered such a thing.
There were no streetlights in the alley. The entrance of the alley ahead was the only source of light, but it was completely blocked by the three hooligans.
Her world was pitch black.
Suddenly, a miserable scream rang in her ears: "Ah—"
The hair of the man grabbing her clothes was seized from behind!
Song Xinya grabbed the man's hair, dragged him backward forcefully, and smashed a fist into his face. Bang—!
Her posture was heroic, her punch carried the wind, and her striking movements were clean and decisive.
The man's mouth bled, and a tooth was knocked out!
