Chapter 397 - 345: I’ve Seen You
Chapter 397: Chapter 345: I’ve Seen You
(Just one Chapter today, three tomorrow.)
Xiao Man used her Divine Sense to see that the shop owners from next door and across the way had gathered all the water they could find and, using other methods as well, had worked together to extinguish the source of the fire.
She couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. She had just done a quick search and found that the nearest fire extinguisher was thirty meters away, with many shops and bustling crowds in between. By the time she could have run over and brought it back, it would have been too late. Thankfully, the young shop owners were united. It was a form of self-preservation, really—if they didn’t put out the fire, it would spread and burn everything to the ground, taking their own shops with it.
News that the fire had been extinguished spread quickly. The people who had been desperately pushing and shoving, creating a bottleneck, gradually calmed down. The danger was over. Just then, the mall’s management supervisor arrived with his staff. Xiao Man, along with the woman holding the child, followed the evacuating crowd outside.
Once outside the mall, Xiao Man gently pulled the little boy’s hand and smiled as she said goodbye to him. Then she turned to the woman. "The mall is too crowded on weekends. It might be better to bring a child here to play some other time. That way you can avoid situations like this. It was just too dangerous."
They were well-intentioned words, but upon hearing them, the woman’s willow-leaf brows shot up and she glared at Xiao Man with her almond-shaped eyes. "What nonsense are you talking about? Look closely. I’m still a young woman, not this kid’s mom!"
Xiao Man was taken aback for a moment. She looked the woman over again: shoulder-length hair with slightly curled bangs and ends—a very fashionable style—paired with a pretty face, a pink blouse, a white skirt, and white high-heeled sandals. She carried a small pink coin purse. She did indeed look very young, not like a mother. ’But I never said she was a mother,’ Xiao Man thought.
"I’m sorry, I’m not very good at judging people. I was just trying to give you a friendly reminder." They weren’t acquaintances, so Xiao Man didn’t want to drag it out. She waved her hand dismissively and started to walk away.
But the woman was relentless. She took two steps forward and grabbed her. "No, you can’t leave!"
Xiao Man turned back. "Is there something else?"
The woman set the child down from her arms and said, "I don’t know this child either! Since you helped me save him, you should see it through to the end. Let’s take him home together!"
Xiao Man stared at her, speechless. ’If he’s not your child, why did you carry him away? The fire alert on the second floor was canceled. Although it still needed to be cleared out and organized, it wasn’t chaotic anymore. You could have easily looked for his parents right then and there. But no, you just had to be different. I didn’t hear you shout ’Whose child is this?’ even once. Sneaking him away without a word... you know that looks a lot like kidnapping, right? By bringing him all the way out here, you’ve guaranteed his parents are still inside looking for him. Can you imagine how worried they must be right now?!’
The woman paid no mind to what Xiao Man was thinking about her. She stroked the little boy’s head, squatted down, and began to question him. "Little friend, what’s your name? Where do you live? Who did you come shopping with? What are your parents’ names?"
The little boy looked to be about three or four years old. He wore a watermelon-red crewneck sweater and overalls. With his round face, big eyes, and sturdy-looking head, he was quite cute. From the way he had let the woman hold him without making a sound, it was clear he had a quiet personality.
But the woman’s barrage of questions left him at a loss for how to answer. He opened his mouth, blinked a couple of times, and then closed it again.
Xiao Man pulled the little boy over to her side and asked with a gentle smile, "Little friend, can you tell us your name?"
"My name is Weiwei. Lu Jiawei."
"Oh, and who did you come to the mall with, Weiwei?"
"With Grandpa..."
Weiwei was articulate and answered every question. After about ten minutes, they had it all figured out: Weiwei’s aunt owned a shop in this mall, and his grandfather often came by to help out. Today, he had brought Weiwei along. Being a child who loved to play, Weiwei couldn’t just sit still in the shop, so he had run off on his own. That’s how he’d ended up in the middle of the chaos, but thankfully, he was shaken but unharmed.
As Weiwei earnestly answered Xiao Man’s questions, the woman kept her arm around him, her expression incredibly gentle as she smiled and watched his face. And Weiwei, perhaps because she had saved him, trusted and relied on her completely, leaning naturally into her embrace. To an outsider, they truly looked like family.
After finishing her questions, however, Xiao Man felt even more uneasy and insisted on going with the woman to take Weiwei back to his grandfather.
Each holding one of Weiwei’s hands, the two of them walked back into the mall. The woman said to Xiao Man, "My name is Yang Liu’er. Actually, I’d heard of you long before this, and I’ve... seen you."
She couldn’t very well admit that she had intentionally gone to the area near the Tang Mansion to wait and watch her several times.
Xiao Man was slightly taken aback. "Yang Liu’er? I don’t know you. I’m sure I’ve never seen you before!"
Yang Liu’er pursed her lips and shot Xiao Man a sidelong glance. "Of course you don’t know me, and you’ve never seen me. Because I’m not one of those rich, high-society girls. I don’t have a grandfather or father who’s a high-ranking official. I’m not worthy of being seen with you!"
Xiao Man had originally thought the woman was kind-hearted and had a decent impression of her, but she really disliked this sour and inexplicably hostile attitude. Her expression immediately turned cold. "Since you’re so self-aware, it’s better we stay strangers. Once we get Weiwei back, we’ll go our separate ways."
"As if I care!" Yang Liu’er huffed, turning her head to the side. Distracted as she was about to go up the stairs, she tripped and nearly fell. While she managed to steady herself against the wall, she dragged Weiwei down with her. Thankfully, Xiao Man was there to protect him, so he wasn’t hurt. Still, the scare was enough to drain the color from his little face, which had only just returned to a healthy pink.
Yang Liu’er was extremely apologetic, repeatedly trying to soothe and comfort Weiwei. She kept chattering as she climbed the stairs, panting from the effort. Xiao Man really couldn’t stand her. ’She looks sharp and clever, but she’s actually kind of an idiot, isn’t she?’
Aunt Weiwei had two adjoining shops on the third floor—one selling children’s clothes and the other adult apparel. Business was good; there were quite a few customers inside trying on clothes. Judging by the peaceful scene, it seemed the chaos on the second floor hadn’t affected this area at all.
When Grandpa Lu and Aunt Weiwei saw Weiwei being brought back by two unfamiliar young women, their mouths dropped open in astonishment. What was going on? Wasn’t the boy sleeping soundly in the back room?
Only after hearing Yang Liu’er’s story did they learn that Weiwei had nearly been in an accident on the second floor. The grandfather hugged his grandson tightly, while the aunt wiped away her tears and held Yang Liu’er’s hand, expressing her endless gratitude.
Aunt Weiwei wanted to treat the two young women to a meal, but both Yang Liu’er and Xiao Man politely declined. Aunt Weiwei wouldn’t let them leave just like that, however. In the end, Yang Liu’er said they had plenty of time in the future and that she would come to visit Weiwei often. She also took the initiative to ask for the Lu family’s address and phone number. Only then did Grandpa Lu and the aunt send them downstairs with a thousand thanks.
Once they were out the main entrance, Xiao Man started to walk away on her own without saying goodbye to Yang Liu’er. Yang Liu’er stood rooted to the spot, watching her back. Seeing her get farther and farther away, she stomped her foot and chased after her.
"Tang Manman, wait for me."
"Didn’t we agree to act like strangers?"
Xiao Man turned to look at the slightly breathless Yang Liu’er. This woman, who claimed to have heard of her and seen her before, clearly harbored some kind of resentment and animosity toward her. For now, Xiao Man didn’t know the reason, nor did she want to waste time talking about it. She needed to get home.