Chapter 2

Rachel stared in disbelief, and the spatula slipped from her hand and clattered into the pot, splashing a few drops of hot broth onto her skin.

Her face twitched a few times, and she came out from behind the stall to grab my hand, asking sweetly, "Why are you off work so early today? It's so hot out. If you want noodles, just say the word and I'll make them ahead and bring them up to your place."

I took two steps back and said coldly, "Good thing I was out on fieldwork and got off early today, or I never would've caught such a great show."

I spread my hands impatiently. "Cut the crap. Give me my money back!"

Rachel packed up the noodles, playing it like she had everything under control and just wanted to smooth things over. "Why be so cold with me? It only hurts feelings. I'll pretend I didn't hear that. This one's on the house, and I'll give you a discount every time you come from now on, all right?"

Still trying to muddle her way out of it, betting on the idea that I'm an easy mark, that a few words will smooth me over!

I did a good deed and got treated like a punching bag, a sucker to be fleeced all this time. Even a saint would come down and give her a couple of punches.

I was so angry I laughed, and then I actually calmed down. "Fine. If you want to pretend nothing happened, then let's tally up this account properly. Once it's clear, I'll pretend nothing happened too."

I pulled out my phone, opened the calculator, and punched in the numbers one at a time. "Ever since I helped you set up your stall three years ago, I've come to buy a bowl of noodles for dinner on basically every workday.

"There are 250 workdays in a year. I'll count it as 230 days to give you a break. You have to refund the full markup on everything above eight dollars, which comes to 11,730 dollars."

Rachel's voice shook as she shouted, "There's no way it's that much! This is robbery!"

I kept typing on my phone. "So you do know it's robbery? Back in '23 I ran around for you picking out the cart, having the sign made, getting advice on running the stall—I spent 510 dollars treating people to meals.

"In '24, when you got sick in the spring and again in the fall, I took you to the clinic, asked around for directions, found you a doctor. I covered the medical bills right there and you never once mentioned paying me back—1,300 total.

"Last year your car broke down, and I found the shop that fixed it—220 total.

"I've rounded everything down for you. Altogether it comes to 13,760 dollars. Alipay or WeChat, either works for me."

Rachel's face flushed crimson. "Th-those were all gifts from you! And now you want them back? That's low!"

I sneered. "Who said they were gifts? This is unjust enrichment. Pay it back if you can. If you can't, that's fine too."

Rachel's calculating eyes suddenly flashed with greed, and she slapped her own cheeks a few times and forced a smile. "See, I always said it—such a kind girl, she'd never have the heart to bully anyone. From now on I'll only charge you 13 for the duck-leg noodles, lower than anyone in the neighborhood!"

I said unhurriedly, "If you can't pay it back, then I'll see you in court. I've got all the evidence saved right here on my phone."

Rachel's expression changed, and she lunged to snatch my phone. I twisted aside, and she couldn't stop in time and fell hard to the ground.

"Ow! Ow—"

The woman shrieked, "A young punk's bullying an old woman! A young girl's beating people in the street! Where's the justice in this world?!"

Several old men and women who'd been sitting nearby cooling off immediately came over, fanning themselves with palm-leaf fans. "What's going on? What happened? Take it slow, tell us!"

Rachel's face brightened. She sat on the ground and pointed. "It's her! I saw she was a regular, so I gave her a discount a few times, and then she got a taste of it and started forcing me to refund all her money at the discount rate!"

Rachel slapped her thigh and pretended to cry. "We're a small business—how are we supposed to survive this kind of thing? A refund, and she wants ten or twenty thousand!"

Then she pointed at the few hot spots that had just splashed onto her hand. "I said no, and look—she scalded my hand! This is deliberate assault!"

An old man immediately flew into a rage. "Young people these days have no drive, always scheming crooked little tricks—next thing you know they're committing crimes!"

This old man was from the next community over. The year before last, his wife had just passed away when he started chasing after Rachel for a twilight romance, and it had made quite a stir for a while.

Now he was strutting like a peacock spreading its tail. "You'd better publicly apologize to Rachel today and pay her something for emotional distress. Only then will we call this even!"