Chapter 17: Hero To The Rescue
Chen Fan looked toward the entrance, and he saw a slender boy carrying a shoulder bag standing on the threshold. His long hair band fell loosely over his forehead, covering one of his eyes. However, the hair was not able to conceal his elegant and well-defined face.
“Come on in.”
Xue Hanzhi said with a smile; a rare sight on her hard face.
The boy was the best student and had earned many prizes during the national math competition. He was already guaranteed to be admitted to the Qing Hua University. Therefore, although he was late for class, Xue Hanzhi did not mind the minor faux pas at all.
The handsome teenager walked across the classroom, soaking in the adoring gazes from girls.
The sight of the boy also heightened the spirit of the class leader, Chang Wen. She glued her eyes on the beautiful boy, and infatuation was written all over her face.
“This guy is not only handsome but was also extremely smart! He achieved the best score in every single exam. What’s even more infuriating was that he never studies! Like, NEVER! He could spend the night before the exam in the web-cafe playing Dota and still get an A+ on the exam. ” Jiang Tanqiu said bitterly.
“He also plays the vanguard on the school basketball team. Most of the girl who joined the cheerleaders did so because of him and Yang Chao.”
After he had finished his rant, Jiang Tanqiu heaved a sigh and then said, “Fortunately, he likes Miss Xu, and all the girls knew it. Otherwise, we would never get a chance at any of the girls.”
Chen Fan’s lips curled into a smile.
Seeing that Chen Fan didn’t take his words seriously, Jiang Tanqiu shot him a hot glance and asked: “You don’t seem to care that much about Si Yinxia, don’t you?”
Chen Fan said faintly: “Why should I?”
In Chen Fan’s past life, Si Ying Xia was the most popular boy in the entire twelfth grade. Just like Jiang Tanqiu, Chen Fan had also envied him greatly. However, he was a different person now, and in his eyes, Si Yingxia was no different than anyone else. His old friend Jiang Tanqiu, on the other hand, was much closer to his heart than Si Yinxia.
“Buzz off. Are you always so pretentious and cocky?” Jiang Tanqiu complained. “I don’t like him either, but at least I admit that he is talented in his own right.”
Chen Fan cracked a smile and did not respond.
Jiang Tanqiu furrowed his brow as he felt this new boy was arrogant. However, he kept his opinion to himself.
Therefore, Chen Fan’s high school life had finally begun.
Since he was a transfer student and was very quiet, most of his classmates didn’t pay much attention to him. Chang Wen had taken the new boy’s reticence as shyness and thought that he was a push-over; therefore she had assigned Chen Fan cleaning duties that no one wanted to take on, such as sweeping the floor and so on.
Unlike the twelfth grade in the public schools, The Ivy League High School let the students off school very early. Academic achievement was not the only method for success for these privileged teenagers from rich families. Many had already decided to study abroad as soon as the high school was over. They had many more options and much less pressure compared to normal high school students.
On one evening—like many evenings before it—Chen Fan walked along the lakeside path toward home after he had finished the cleaning duty. Suddenly, he heard a faint cry for help.
Chen Fan furrowed his brows and dashed toward the patch of cattails where the distress cry came from.
When he was close enough, he saw a man in his thirties, wearing a patched camouflage coat and he had pressed a woman under his chest. One of his hands covered the woman’s mouth, trying to suppress her cries. The woman’s clothes were in tatters; she waved two naked arms helplessly in the air, struggling to break free from the man’s hold.
“Stop!” Chen Fan shouted.
The man was startled. With only the slightest hesitation, he let go of the woman and ran away.
Chen Fan snorted; Using his toes, he flicked a piece of stone off the ground and kicked it. The stone shot toward the man like a bullet and landed squarely on his back.
“OUCH!” The man screamed and fell to the ground. With great pain and difficulty, he managed to get back on his feet and ran away.
Chen Fan let him escape and didn’t chase after him.
The kick he had delivered was packed with True Essence. The man had already sustained major internal trauma. His life was at stake if he didn’t go to the hospital right away.
“Are you alright?” Chen Fan asked the women on the ground.
Upon closer look, he found out that the woman was around twenty-seven or so and was extraordinarily beautiful. She was wearing dark and heavy makeup and a flaming red short skirt. She made Chen Fan think of the girls who work at nightclubs.
“Why would she dress up like this and walk by herself in the middle of nowhere?” Chen Fan lamented.
Having realized that she was saved, the woman finally was able to gather herself. It wasn’t until Chen Fan had helped her to her feet that the woman noticed that her savior was a high school student. She said gratefully: “Thank you so much! If not for you, I would have been…”
Tears pour out from her eyes, and she couldn’t even finish her words.
“It’s okay now. You are unharmed.” Chen Fan said.
The two then started talking as the women slowly recover from the trauma.
Through the conversation, Chen Fan learned that this woman’s name was Chen Ying, and she was the owner of a night club. She usually drove home after work, but tonight she had been drinking with friends. Since her bar was not very far from her home, she decided to brave the walking path.
Chen Ying seemed calm, but her voice was still trembling.
If not for the boy from the Ivy League High School, she would have been raped or even worse. Although she owned a bar, she was not as promiscuous as some of her customers.
The more she talked to Chen Fan, the more appreciative she became for his rescue. She was slightly surprised when she heard that he, too, lived in the Lakeside Community.
“I live here too; what are the odds!” Chen Ying batted her lashes as she was convinced that it was fate that had brought the two of them here.
The two walked along the highway together toward the lakeside community. Having finally recovered from the traumatic experience, Chen Ying’s sharp sense in people came back to her.
“Xiao Fan said he was an Ivy League student, but which one of those spoiled brats would choose to walk home? Judging by the clothes he wore, he is not rich by any stretch of the imagination.”
When she saw Chen Fan, not only did she see a boy trying to fit in, but also her former-self when she left her hometown in the countryside to work in the city alone. She suddenly felt sorry for the boy.
When they reached the community gate and was about to bid farewell, Chen Ying said: “Xiao Fan, have you ever thought about working part-time?”
“Working part-time?” Chen Fan was caught off guard by the question.
“Yes, you can work for me. I own a bar called Coco near the university-town. It’s very close to your school so you can walk to work every day. I can offer you the normal monthly salary of the waiter plus 3000-yuan commission.” Chen Ying said carefully. She didn’t want to hurt the fragile self-esteem of a millennial.
“Um…” Chen Fan was amused by the offer: A Celestial Lord working in a bar as a waiter.
Nonetheless, Chen Ying’s intentions were good. The money she offered was generous considering it was 2007.
Seeing the boy hesitated, Chen Ying added: “You can rest assured that there is no funny business in my bar. My customers are mostly students. Plus, I am still scared after what had happened. I need your protection.”
Seeing the sincerity in Chen Ying’s eyes, Chen Fan nodded and said: “Okay, thank you, Sister Ying.”
“Remember to come to work tomorrow. The bar is called Coco. Ask for me when you get there.” Chen Ying said with a broad smile on her face.
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