The next day the weather was quite nice and bright. Dylan spent some time during the red light to look at the scenery around him until something or should he say someone caught his eyes. Wasn’t that…why was she even here?? Where’s she going??

Suddenly the light turned green, and the cars behind him kept honking for him to go. He came back to his sense and stepped on his gear. He should mind his own business. However, his mind kept wandering to the small girl he just saw. Honks kept coming. He was so annoyed, but he ended up parking his car near the curb and followed her. When he got near her, he couldn’t believe what he saw. Shen Yue protectively pulled a young girl who seemed to be in junior high protectively to stand behind her. She was firmly saying something to two boys. By the time he was close enough to hear what they’re talking about, the boys already ran away, and she was holding the young girl who was shaking out of fear.

“Don’t be afraid. Everything’s okay now. They’re gone.” Shen Yue hugged the shaking young girl. Shen Yue was walking on the way to the bus when she saw the young girl being dragged by two boys into the quiet park. Luckily, she saw her on-time and managed to chase them away.

The young girl nodded and hugged her tighter.

“Are you taking the bus to school?” Shen Yue asked. The girl nodded.

“I’m walking you there. Next time don’t walk through the park this early morning. Choose the path that people on the road could see you, or try not to walk alone.” Shen Yue told the girl.

“Thank you.”

“It’s okay. Now let’s go.” Shen Yue smiled warmly. She picked up what looks like a heavy box before telling the young girl to walk by her. When she turned back, she finally saw Dylan who was still awed by what he saw. Dylan sighed and walked to her.

“What happened?” Dylan looked between Shen Yue and the girl.

“Oh, some boys were trying to do something to her, but I chased them away. Everything’s okay now.” Shen Yue replied with a smile.

“What were you thinking? You are also a woman. What if instead of running away, those boys also do something bad to you?” Dylan almost shouted. He couldn’t understand why he was so annoyed.

“Then what should I do? If I didn’t do anything, those boys would harm her!” Shen Yue raised her voice a little. She just wanted to help the poor girl.

Dylan just looked at her. “Forget it,” he sighed. He briefly looked at the young girl before turning back to Shen Yue, “Let’s just walk her to the bus stop first.”

Shen Yue nodded, but before she could take any step, Dylan stopped her again.

The young girl thanked them and bid them goodbye before getting on the bus. Shen Yue kept waving at her until the bus left. Dylan just quietly observed her. What’s with this girl? How come she could bravely protect others, but when it comes to herself, she’s like an idiot?

Shen Yue was about the pick up the box when Dylan stopped her.

“What’s inside that box?”

“Oh, it’s pineapple.”

Dylan raised his brow, “Why are you carrying a box of pineapples?”

“Actually, our co-workers asked me to help buy for them. They heard that my family sells produces, so they said I could help them choose good ones.” Shen Yue explained.

‘Does this girl even realize that they’re using her?’ Dylan thought, “How many did you get?”

“20.”

“20?? And you carry all of those from the market by yourself?” Dylan asked out of disbelief. No wonder the box was so heavy.

“Don’t worry! It’s not that heavy. I’m stronger than I look- Hey! Where are you going? Why are you taking the box?” Shen Yue chased after Dylan who walked away with the box.

“YueYue! You’re finally here! What about the pineapples? Oh, here they are.”

As soon as she arrived, her co-workers rushed to her, or specifically the box of pineapples.

“Woah, they look so good! I’ll take 2!”

“I’ll take 3!”

“I’ll also take 5!”

Her co-workers came to take all of the pineapples. The box was almost torn into pieces from the push and pull.

“Wait, what about the money…” Shen Yue asked with a small voice.

“Oh, we’ll pay you back later. We’re all co-workers, so don’t worry! We won’t run away!” other co-workers agreed.

Shen Yue thought about it. They were kinda right, so she nodded with a smile. However, Dylan who was observing everything felt the heat coming out of him. He didn’t help her carrying it and driving her and the box for her to be exploited like this. There’s no such thing as free lunch in this world, at least not for those disgusting co-workers who didn’t deserve it.

“Excuse me, everyone!” Dylan shouted. All of the girls stopped on their track and turned to look at him.

“Yes? What’s the matter, Dylan?”

“I was the one who paid for the pineapples. If you don’t mind, please help pay it back to me now,” Dylan said with a fake smile.

“Eh?” Shen Yue turned to look at him with a confused look. Why was he lying?

“What? Dylan went to buy pineapples with YueYue?” Her co-workers showed their jealousy towards Yue.

“How much is it?” Some girls turned to ask Dylan with a sweet smile.

Dylan signaled Shen Yue to answer that.

“This good type is $10 each.”

“Ok! I took 2, so that should be $20.”

“No, that’s not right,” Dylan interrupted.

“Eh, how come it’s not right? It’s $10 each, and I took 2, so the total is clearly $20.”

“You forgot to take into account the gasoline and the service fee. Since we’re co-workers, I’ll charge only 5 liters of gasoline for my car, and a liter costs $2, so the total is $10. Besides Yue and I had to get up early to go to the market and carry all of these back, so I’ll only charge each of you $20 for the service fee. There are 5 of you, so please help pay us the extra $22 each.”

“Extra….22…22 dollars??”

Shen Yue was also surprised. That fee was even more expensive than 2 pineapples. It would be a lot cheaper if they just ordered in bulk and had them delivered to the office.

“Oh… $22 should be nothing much for people with good jobs like you all. Such beautiful women like you here wouldn’t mind it, would you?” Dylan asked with an evil grin.

“Yeah…. Of course not!” Now that Dylan called them beautiful, they all willingly gave him the money.

“Here, take it. Don’t help buy for them again next time. They clearly try to exploit you,” Dylan scolded Shen Yue and gave the money to her.

“The thing is you didn’t drive me there, so why did you charge them with such a high service and gasoline fee?”

“I drove you and the box back to the office, didn’t I? And I charged them like this to teach them a lesson.”

“But-“Shen Yue was not happy with this money.

“No but! If you don’t want it, just donate it to a charity or something. It’s better than giving it back to those girls who spend on useless things.”

Seeing Dylan said with a mad tone, Shen Yue couldn’t refuse, so she just nodded.

“Okay, I’ll donate it in everyone’s names,” Shen Yue smiled.

‘In everyone’s names? Why would she even include those girls’ names?’ Dylan didn’t want to argue anymore, so he just told her to do whatever she wanted.

Even after work, Dylan was still mad. He’s mad at her and her stupidity, but he’s even madder at himself. He didn’t understand why. He was supposed to make her suffer, but why would he stand up for her when those girls bullied her?

“Damn it! Why did I help her?” Dylan swore that he would never help her again. There’s no way he would help her even if she got knocked out on the road.

As if it’s on cue, his phone rang. He looked at the caller and frowned.

‘Speaking of evil. But why does she call at this hour?’ He thought of ignoring the call but ended up answering it anyway. However, the other line already spoke before he could say anything.

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 “What happened?” Dylan sighed, looking at Shen Yue who was smiling awkwardly at him on the hospital bed. She was full of bruises. Her left elbow and her right index finger were tightly bandaged.       

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It's a new update! :D 'Dense and Annoyed,' I'd call them. Who's Dense; Who's annoyed? You decide. XD

Thank you very much for reading and commenting! :D it really motivates me to keep writing this story! Hope you enjoy this new update! Have a great Sunday!