Agent Yi Leng

Chapter Vol. 1 Ch. 2

Chapter 2: The Struggling Yumei Restaurant

Before Yao Yao could wait for Yi Leng to take out his iron bar and smash the three bully girls into a pulp, a mountain bike screeched to a halt. A long leg planted firmly on the ground, and its owner—a handsome boy—raised his brow. "Are you bullying people again?"

The three girls, who had just been arrogant and domineering, immediately turned into obedient lambs. They jumped out of the car and helped Yi Nuan Nuan pick up her lunchbox. One of the girls with almond-shaped eyes even took the scattered rice and placed it back in the lunchbox, pretending to be concerned. "Oh, Yi Nuan Nuan, you’re so careless. Don’t you know it’s slippery on the snowy road?"

The other plump girl also spoke up, "Yes, why don’t we give you a ride?"

The third, a skinny girl, added, "By the way, how come your parents didn’t drive you today in this snow?"

Yi Nuan Nuan stiffened. "It’s not polite to hit someone’s face or expose their shortcomings," she thought. They were clearly targeting her weak points.

"No need, thanks," she replied politely, keeping her manners even though they were venomous.

She took her lunchbox, but the rice was mixed with dirty snow and could no longer be eaten.

The boy glanced at them, kicked the mountain bike and rode off.

The three girls no longer paid any attention to Yi Nuan Nuan and got back in their cars, leaving her behind. In front of the road, an uncle was shoveling snow with an iron bar, blocking half of the road. The other half was obstructed by snow piles, forcing them to pass through a narrow passage.

This passage was icy, and oil had been sprinkled on the ice. One by one, three electric bikes fell, and the three girls tumbled off, their backpacks scattering books everywhere. Luckily, they were bundled up for winter, and there were no serious injuries. The uncle seemed oblivious, as he turned and scooped a shovel of dirty snow toward them. The girls couldn’t help but curse in anger, "Are you blind?!"

"Whose child is this? Did you eat breakfast in the outhouse? Watch your filthy mouth!" The uncle wore an old military coat, looking unapproachable, the type of person who wasn’t easily messed with.

The three girls had been bullying classmates, but when faced with this kind of street tough, they could only shrink away.

Yi Nuan Nuan passed by them and felt a sense of satisfaction inside.

What she didn’t know was that the fierce-looking uncle, just moments ago, was now watching her back with a loving gaze.

Yi Leng was a man of strategy. He couldn’t directly intervene to help his daughter take revenge, but with a small scheme, he could still make them pay. Returning to the restaurant, he saw a fat man staring at him. Plastic bags filled with vegetables were scattered on the ground.

Without asking, Yi Leng knew this man was the head chef of Yumei Restaurant. It was a common rule for chefs to buy the ingredients; they earned extra money through this task.

"What are you doing?" the chef asked, his tone unfriendly.

"I’m the cousin of Yumei’s owner," Yi Leng replied, not needing to think twice when dealing with this kind of character.

"I didn’t know someone was coming," the fat man said. Although his words were dismissive, he had already believed him. He took out a cigarette, lit it, and didn’t offer Yi Leng one. "Take the vegetables inside. I’ve got things to do."

Yi Leng smiled faintly. He didn’t need to guess; the reason why Yumei Restaurant was on the verge of closing down was the fat man, and he suspected there was also a female staff member involved with him.

Sure enough, at around 9 o'clock, Wu Yumei came to the restaurant with a girl named Xiaohong. Xiaohong was Wu Yumei’s fellow townswoman, working as a waitress and part-time cashier at the restaurant.

Upon entering the restaurant, Wu Yumei could hardly believe her eyes. The place was spotless, shining like new. The kitchen, a place usually associated with mess and grease, was sparkling clean. The countertops were free of oil stains, spider webs were gone from the corners, and even the ventilation fan blades gleamed. The ground, once covered in years of grime, now revealed its original color.

Yi Leng stood by, watching Wu Yumei’s reaction with a smile.

"You’re too capable," Wu Yumei said, amazed. She had never met a man so willing to work, especially in a restaurant. He was a rare breed, an oddity.

"Can’t eat your noodles for free," Yi Leng replied.

"This is too much..." Wu Yumei took out 100 yuan and then added 200 more, handing it over to him.

She seemed to be preparing to settle the bill for the meal. In her view, this was a fair gesture for a meal.

"I’m not lacking in money," Yi Leng didn’t accept the money. He could tell she was an experienced woman, and he didn’t need to play games. Genuine sincerity was enough.

"You need a place to stay, right? You came down from the mountain?" Wu Yumei asked.

"This is Kang Peng, our head chef," Wu Yumei introduced. "Cousin, learn from him."

Yi Leng understood. As the conversation deepened, he realized Wu Yumei was sharp. Even if she didn’t see the little scheme between Kang Peng and Xiao Hong, she could feel the chef’s irresponsibility. The soul of a restaurant lies in the chef, and it seemed like Wu Yumei didn’t have any better options. Now that “cousin” was here, Yumei Restaurant was about to change.

At the same time, inside Zidi Middle School, after the last class in the morning, the gatekeeper personally delivered the insulated box to Class 2, Grade 5, and handed it to the bewildered Yi Nuannuan.

“Your grandfather sent this,” the gatekeeper said.

“Thank you,” Yi Nuannuan politely replied, though she didn’t believe it. Her grandfather was a quiet, retired technician who didn’t understand emotional expression, let alone caring for others. He would never be thoughtful enough to send her a lunch. But who else could have made it?

She couldn’t help but think of Feng Xiaoxiao, the boy who had helped her out earlier in the morning.

Though only in second year, and just fourteen or fifteen, the school’s social hierarchy was even more straightforward and cruel than society's. Students were not only judged by their grades and looks but also by their parents' administrative rank, social status, and wealth.

Jiangwei was a narrow, east-to-west city, and the shipyard area on the eastern coast was home to most of the population, so the status in the shipyard was an important reference.

Feng Xiaoxiao’s father, Ma Xiaowei, was the deputy chief engineer, with a high rank and a lot of power. Feng Xiaoxiao took his mother’s surname, and his mother, Feng Li, was the only daughter of the former factory director. As a result, Feng Xiaoxiao was the top “idol” in the school.

Yi Nuannuan, who was from Jinjiang, hadn’t yet adjusted to this system of social status. She simply thought Feng Xiaoxiao was handsome, righteous, and thus considered him her “idol.”

The three girls who often bullied Yi Nuannuan had parents who were either mid-level officials in the shipyard or private business owners reliant on the shipyard. Although young, they had an acute sense of the "smell of poverty" on their classmates.

Poverty was the original sin. If your parents were poor, you were bullied as a result. There were also children whose parents were so busy with work that they neglected them, creating a poor parent-child relationship, which made them vulnerable targets for bullying.

Yi Nuannuan was the perfect example of both. Her parents had passed away, her grandparents were elderly, and she lived in an old housing complex. She struggled in school, wore glasses and braces, and used a hearing aid. She was literally the perfect target for bullying.

Among the three girls, the leader was named Yin Weiran, said to be a distant relative of Gao Ming, the chief engineer. The chubby one was named Jian Shiyu, whose father worked in engineering. The slim one was Mei Xin. Together, they called themselves “Yijianmei” (One Cut Plum). Their greatest joy, besides idolizing their “best brother,” was bullying classmates.

When Yin Weiran casually glanced around, she noticed Yi Nuannuan’s desk now had an insulated box. Suspicious, she whispered something to her two friends.

“Yi Nuannuan changed her box, wonder what’s inside?”

“Nothing fancy, given her background, probably pickled vegetables instead of salty ones.”

“Still, how dare she bring it out.”

Yin Weiran glanced again and saw Yi Nuannuan leaving the classroom with the box. An idea popped into her head, and she whispered to Jian Shiyu, "She knows it's embarrassing. You go grab it and show it to the class so she can feel humiliated."

“Got it!” Jian Shiyu, a tall and hefty girl, blocked Yi Nuannuan’s path and grabbed the box.

“Give it back!” Yi Nuannuan stretched her hand out in vain.

Jian Shiyu tossed the box to Mei Xin, who ran over to hand it to Yin Weiran.

Yin Weiran held up the box, her expression filled with glee and unmasked contempt. “Come and see, Yi Nuannuan’s embarrassing lunch.”

“Maybe it’s a full-course banquet,” Jian Shiyu joked.

“More likely it’s just rice and pickled vegetables,” Mei Xin added.

Yi Nuannuan bit her lip, enduring the humiliation from the three girls.

Yin Weiran smirked as she opened the box, only to freeze in surprise.

Inside was a beautifully arranged Christmas-themed meal. The rice was shaped into a smiling face, with a red carrot peel making a Santa Claus hat, surrounded by lettuce and shiso leaves, and garnished with halved boiled eggs, heart-shaped tomatoes, bright green broccoli, thick slices of salmon with alternating orange and white colors, and crispy golden-fried pork chops.

“Damn...” Yin Weiran looked at her own lunch, which had pig’s head meat and braised intestines, and suddenly felt hers wasn’t so appetizing.

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/Flokixy