Meanwhile, Xiao Zhiyuan was roaming around aimlessly near the Imperial Grand Hotel when he came across a rectangular ground. It appeared to be a football field with goalposts and crossbars.
He was going to pass through when a figure standing on the green field caught his attention. He sat down at the stairs to watch that tall figure play.
The tall figure with arms out and bend knees was juggling with the football as if getting a hang of it. It was basic juggling at first with dropping the ball on the ground kicking it with his one knee then moving to his other knee. After juggling with thighs, he shifted to juggling with his feet. The player was accurate with the timing of kicking the soccer ball.
After juggling a little bit, the figure on the field placed one leg beside the ball, leaned back a little and kicked the football with his other leg. The ball went straight to the net. Xiao Zhiyuan noticed the balance and precision with which the ball was kicked and he was quite impressed by the player.
Before he could continue to watch, he heard some noises around and turned to look. The group of people walking towards him looked to be some street thugs with piercings and tattoos on their bodies.
"Hey kiddo, don’t you know that kids are not supposed to roam around at night," the one who spoke was a bit masculine and Xiao Zhiyuan looked like a matchstick standing before him with his rangy build.
Xiao Zhiyuan wanted to ignore them and leave but one of them blocked his way saying, "Since you already are here, you should leave something behind for us bros."
Xiao Zhiyuan frown. "I don’t have anything." He replied straightforwardly.
"Aye, kiddo! You’re dressed in such expensive clothes. You must have some cash on you. And if you don’t we can just call your family to drop some money for us." A bulky man spoke with a mocking laugh.
"Let me leave!" Xiao Zhiyuan was getting annoyed by their useless laughing and cheers.
"Oh, our young rich kid wants to leave? Sorry, but that’s not possible for now," The masculine guy spoke again.
Xiao Zhiyuan was a teenager in his rebellious phase, hearing all the sneers, he was furious. In his rage, he pushed the masculine man making stagger back a bit.
"You! How dare you push me?" The masculine man glared indignantly towards Xiao Zhiyuan and raised his clenched fist to punch Xiao Zhiyuan.
Xiao Zhiyuan managed to dodge it with his nimble body. The man got more furious and raised his fist again but Xiao Zhiyuan again managed to dodge it. The third time, his group of people came up and held Xiao Zhiyuan’s arms not letting him escape or dodge.
On the other hand, Xie Rong was quietly enjoying her solitude with her football when she heard some commotion around her and turned her face to see some people fighting. She was going to ignore the commotion since it had nothing to do with her but then she saw how two people held a single rangy boy’s arms and the third one was punching him.
She frowned unpleasantly at the scene unfolding before her. She looked at her football at the ground and looked up at the masculine man landing a punch on the boy’s face.
With a smirk, Xie Rong raised the ball off the ground with her feet in a Touzani Pick-up style and kicked the ball in mid-air straight towards the masculine man.
Before the masculine thug’s punch could land on Xiao Zhiyuan’s face again, the football made contact with his face or rather with his nose. "Argh!" The man screamed in pain as he felt blood gushing out of his nose.
Everyone was stunned for a moment before turning to see who threw the ball. But all they found was an empty field with dim lights illuminating it.
"Are you looking for me?" They heard a strong and deep voice from behind and when they turned, Xie Rong delivered a punch straight to the jaw making the one who was holding Xiao Zhiyuan wail in pain.
She looked at the other guy who was trembling with fear. Xie Rong looked at his hand on Xiao Zhiyuan’s arm and arched her brow. The man instantly left Xiao Zhiyuan and dropped to his knees begging, "Please let me go!" He pleaded. He could see the way both his partners were bleeding with single hits and he didn’t want to be like them.
Although he could see that the person who beat his partners was rather young, he had an imposing aura.
Xie Rong snorted and said, "I don’t do forgiveness. It’s not my nature. But as the Confucius says, ’A man who has committed a mistake and doesn’t correct it, is committing another mistake.’ So, apologize to the boy, not me."
The man promptly turned to Xiao Zhiyuan who was staring blankly at Xie Rong. Xiao Zhiyuan wasn’t focused on the man groveling at his feet and said, "Just leave. I forgive you."
The group of thugs ran at lightning speed. Xie Rong walked to her football at the side and with her heel, she did sweep to lift the ball and caught it in her hands.
"You didn’t have to save me," Xie Rong frowned when she heard Xiao Zhiyuan’s aloof and indifferent voice. She wasn’t the kind of person to expect a ’thank you’ or anything for that matter. For her expectation were just another name of disappointment and she didn’t like it.
But she sure didn’t think that the young boy will say something like that. She did a 180-degree turn to look at the young boy’s face. He was tall, and slim with ink-black eyes and shiny smooth hair falling to his shoulders. He looked poised, confident, and had a bit of haughty air to him.
"I didn’t do it for you in the first place," Xie Rong replied in her usual deep voice which took Xiao Zhiyuan by surprise.
Xiao Zhiyuan could barely see the face of the person beside him ’cause of the black cap and an oversized hoodie over his head. But when Xie Rong lifted her face, Xiao Zhiyuan was stunned. Those stark green eyes were like an enchantment that shackled him within them. And he forgot what he wanted to say.
It took him a moment to compose himself. "Then why did you beat them?" He inquired with a bit of curiosity while trying to look into Xie Rong’s eyes again. But she had already turned to look away from him.
"I did it because those guys were too loud for me. I like silence and they were being noisy." Xiao Zhiyuan couldn’t believe that the green-eyed person before him actually beat someone up just because they were loud for him? What kind of reason was that?
"Whatever!" Xiao Zhiyuan grumbled and rummaged out a cigarette pack from his pocket. He placed a cigarette between his thin lips and was about to light it up when a slap at the back of his head make him spit the cigarette out.
Xiao Zhiyuan furiously turned his face and glared at Xie Rong but the latter was unfazed. While snatching the pack of cigarettes from his hand, she said, "Don’t you know that smoking is injurious for health?"
"What does that have to do with y-" Xiao Zhiyuan’s words were stuck in his throat when he saw Xie Rong biting a cigarette stick between her slightly red lips and lighting it up. He couldn’t believe that person at all. "You just said that smoking is injurious for health. Why are you smoking then?" He questioned with an icy glare.
Xie Rong puffed out the rings of smoke in an elegant manner and replied, "It’s injurious for you, not for me. I’m a strong person. Besides, I’m more injurious than this small cigarette."
Xiao Zhiyuan couldn’t help but snort at her reply. "Strong but hypocrite. What injurious? Humph?" He remarked.
Xie Rong’s lips curved upward slightly in amusement. "Kiddo! I’m an honest sinner. Not a lying or a judgemental hypocrite."