our secret base

Chapter 11 Conflict
"Spring algae."

The middle-aged woman standing in front of them was thin, with protruding cheekbones and fleshless cheekbones. Under the gray hair, her eyebrows were twisted into a ball, and anger was brewing in her eyes.

"Auntie..."

Ji Chunzao responded weakly, and she lowered her head again, covering her expression with her long hair.

aunt?Yan Jingxing blinked, is that... the "family member" who threw away all the things Ji Chunzao had collected before?
"Why are you here? Didn't I tell you to stay at home and read a book?"

Facing the adult's gloomy face like a thunderstorm, the little girl subconsciously shrank her shoulders and said nothing.

Afterwards, Aunt Chunzao's gaze shifted to Yan Jingxing's face.

"You are……"

"I'm Ji Chunzao's classmate."

"What are you doing here with her?"

Aunt Chunzao's tone was very stiff.

"We are friends. I just moved to the town, and many places feel unfamiliar, so I asked classmate Ji Chunzao to help me find a place where I can buy the things I want. Today is the weekend, so we went out together."

Yan Jingxing explained without changing his face.

"..."

The woman nodded noncommittally, her eyes fell back on her niece, and she suppressed her voice and said:
"Don't you hurry up and let go of your hand, and flirt with the man, what are you talking about!"

Ji Chunzao seemed to have just reacted, and retracted his hand as if he had been electrocuted.Then, she was grabbed by her aunt and walked forward unsteadily.

Yan Jingxing spread out his palm.Because the girl had been gripping him nervously just now, after she let go, she felt a little uncomfortable.

"Auntie..."

"You come back with me now."

"Oh……"

Ji Chunzao looked downcast, but he walked obediently behind the middle-aged woman.

Yan Jingxing looked at the girl's back, a little worried about her condition.

But the other party is her elder after all, he has no reason to stop it casually, and the two of them were planning to bid farewell...

After the two walked a few steps, the anger in the eyes of the middle-aged woman did not dissipate because of Ji Chunzao's obedient attitude. She suddenly said to her niece in a low voice:

"Also, I will keep an eye on you in the future, and I won't let you out to run around. From now on, I will stay at home honestly on weekends. Whether you have to do your homework or stare at the TV in a daze, in short, you are not allowed to go to other places. place to go."

"what?"

The girl raised her head all of a sudden, her round, dark eyes were wide open, full of panic.

"Why, why?"

"You still ask me why!" Her voice suddenly raised a bit, "Sneak out to hang out with boys on weekends, who knows what else you will do! Are you trying to make me lose face?!"

Ji Chunzao flinched and took a step back, but the next moment, she tried to straighten her chest, her eyes covered by bangs looked directly at her aunt's face, and her clear voice also became louder.

"I didn't do anything bad with him!"

"How dare you say that..."

It may be because the child seldom resists adults, but this time, the sudden retort completely angered the woman.

"Do you know how much you have humiliated me with your usual weird behavior?! Now the neighbors all know about you and laugh behind your back. Your uncle did something wrong in the first place, so he shouldn't tolerate you. Come to my house!"

"me……"

"Come on, come home with me, don't be ashamed here!"

The middle-aged woman said, grabbing the little girl's arm, planning to drag Ji Chunzao home like this.

Yan Jingxing, who witnessed this scene, began to frown tightly.

When he saw the two arguing just now, he was still hesitating, "Shouldn't I get involved in this kind of housework?" Although Chunzao seemed to be criticized a bit miserably, which child was not scolded by the family?

Besides, seeing two junior high school students go shopping on weekends these days, it is more normal for adults to worry about puppy love or something.

But when he saw the woman's rough hands, all the worries and reasons at that moment were all left behind by him.

……

Ji Chunzao closed her mouth tightly and didn't speak anymore, but her attitude was clearly still resisting, the angry woman raised her hand to scare her, as if she was about to slap her -

But at this moment, a figure rushed over from not far away.Yan Jing took three steps and ran to them in two steps,

"Hey!"

He quickly reached out and grabbed Aunt Chunzao's wrist, trying to separate the two.

"You, what are you doing?!"

The woman stared at him in surprise and anger.

"Jingxing..."

Ji Chunzao opened his eyes wide, his expression full of surprise.

"Auntie, please let go of your hands."

Yan Jingxing's heart was pounding, and he tried to speak in a calm tone.

"I teach my children a lesson and you want to take care of me?"

Aunt Chunzao said bluntly.

"But she hurts a lot from being caught by you now, haven't you noticed?"

Yan Jingxing raised his voice.

The woman was taken aback, and turned her head to see Ji Chunzao's face. She was staring at the boy in a daze, but her lips were tightly pursed, and the curvature was a little distorted. It was obvious that she was enduring pain.

The little girl had a slender figure, and she looked fragile. Her soft skin was as fragile as jade. After being held so hard, bruised finger marks appeared on her arms.

She was dazzled by the anger, and the strength in her hands was naturally impossibly small, so she subconsciously exerted all her strength.

But even after realizing this, the woman still has no intention of letting go.

And Yan Jingxing had been observing, he noticed that Aunt Chunzao's grip on the girl's wrist had eased a little, but she still refused to let go.

He suddenly realized one thing: it is impossible for an adult to bow his head at such a time, especially when a child points out his mistake face to face, even for the sake of face.

But after realizing this, Yan Jingxing was even more unwilling to let go.No one knows if Aunt Chunzao will vent her anger on the girl after letting the two of them go back like this. The other party is capable of doing things like "throw away all the things the child loves"!
In this way, the stalemate between the three lasted for a few seconds. Since they were standing near the entrance of the commercial building where people were coming and going, someone nearby had already noticed the dispute here, and cast their eyes here.

The middle-aged woman seemed to be hesitating. For a face-saving person like her, she actually didn't want to stay here for a long time.

An adult, entangled with two junior high school students?It's not nice to say that.

at this time--

Yan Jingxing's ears moved slightly.

He seemed to hear...footsteps?

No, it's not an illusion, there is a sound of hurried footsteps approaching, rushing towards them!

His eyes wandered around, subconsciously wanting to find the approaching figure, but the subsequent development of the situation was so rapid that it was completely beyond his expectations:
"boom!"

The middle-aged woman in front of her was staggered by the violent force from behind. She struggled forward and walked a few steps, but she still couldn't stand still and fell to the ground directly.

After she fell, the figure behind her appeared in front of Yan Jingxing.

It was a girl carrying a schoolbag on her shoulders, with black and smooth shawl-length hair, and a genuine ladylike temperament.

She was panting while stroking her chest, her cheeks were flushed, as if she had rushed all the way from a distance, and at the same time her eyes were firmly fixed on the woman who fell on the ground.

"Eh?"

"what……?"

The other two junior high school students present were all amazed.

The person who knocked Aunt Ji Chunzao to the ground from behind just now was Xie Yuzhi...?
After reacting, Yan Jingxing felt that his jaw could hardly close. He looked at Chunzao, who also opened her mouth wide.

A classmate who is both excellent in character and academics and is deeply trusted by teachers and students, knocking down his classmate's parents with a "rocket head hammer" is really...

It was too surreal.

And it wasn't until this time that Aunt Chunzao got up from the ground and turned to look at the "culprit".

She didn't fall very hard, but she just got a little dust on her body.But from the woman's eyes, it can be seen that she is shocked now, even a little frightened.

When she saw that the "assailant" behind was a junior high school girl who was the same age as her niece, the woman's expression became even more incredible.

"You... who are you? What are you doing?"

Compared to the shocked three, Xie Yuzhi's expression was unexpectedly calm.

After breathing calmly, she began to arrange her hair, grasping the shoulder strap of her schoolbag with both hands, and said softly at the same time:
"I'm sorry, Auntie, I ran too fast just now and accidentally bumped into you."

Her manner is very polite.But what he said was definitely a lie, and the head hammer was obviously a deliberate attack.

"Excuse me, is there any discomfort? Do you want to go to the hospital for examination?"

"I..." The middle-aged woman was startled and angry, "But you just—"

"It really doesn't matter?"

Xie Yuzhi stared at Aunt Chunzao's eyes, and interrupted her conversation unceremoniously.

"Don't worry, Auntie, I'll let my driver take you there. Of course, any inspection and medical expenses will be borne by you here."

As her voice fell, a man pushed through the crowd and walked towards this side.

He is at least 1.9 meters tall, with a strong and thick physique, with scars on his face, and an unfriendly aura all over his body, which makes people look sideways.

The man walked behind Xie Yuzhi and said in a low voice.

"Miss, you ran too fast just now, be careful not to fall."

"Well, I know. Did you hear what I just said?"

The man nodded and turned to the middle-aged woman.

"Ma'am, do you want me to take you to the hospital? Get in the car if you need to."

It seems that he is the "driver" Xie Yuzhi said.

When the man invited, he was polite and respectful, with a calm tone, but when Aunt Chunzao saw him, she was obviously afraid and vigilant, and she was unwilling to go forward. After all, she was just an ordinary housewife.

"No, no need..."

The woman looked at Ji Chunzao again.The long-haired girl noticed her gaze, and couldn't help but quietly took a small step behind Yan Jingxing.

"Is this classmate your child?"

At this time, Xie Yuzhi spoke again.

"It's okay, auntie. I know her. I'll have someone take her home later."

……

Aunt Chunzao left without saying a word.

Yan Jingxing heaved a sigh of relief.

Although the situation developed suddenly, at least it didn't get out of control and cause more serious consequences... Uh, shouldn't it?

At this moment, he suddenly felt that the hem of his clothes was slightly pulled back.

Then he realized that even if his aunt had left, Ji Chunzao still didn't seem to have any intention of coming out from behind him.

"Yan Jingxing?"

Xie Yuzhi's gaze turned to the boy.

"Well, it's me."

He nodded.

"Today is Sunday, you and Chunzao are here..."

"We're here to find aliens!"

Before Yan Jingxing could speak, the long-haired girl hiding behind him raised her head and explained loudly, and then quickly shrank back.

"Aliens... that's it."

Yan Jingxing noticed that the other party sighed softly, seemingly imperceptibly.

"Well, I can guess that, actually. What about you?"

It took him a moment to realize that Xie Yuzhi was asking himself a question.If Chunzao's pupils are like a pair of bright black jade, then the color of the eyes of the team leader student is darker and darker under the bright sunlight...

To be honest, it was quite oppressive to be stared at by her.

"I……"

Before Yan Jingxing could speak, Ji Chunzao appeared again to steal his talk.

"Just like me, he also came to find aliens!"

"is it?"

Xie Yuzhi remained calm, her gaze remained on his face.

"Uh……"

Yan Jingxing scratched the back of his head in agreement.

"Yes, I am like her."

Chunzao's "hehehe" laughter came from behind.It seemed she was content with her answer.

"Really. It seems that she has finally found someone who is 'like-minded', and that's pretty good."

Xie Yuzhi nodded and asked again:
"Chunzao, do you want me to take you back?"

He could fully imagine the hesitation and entanglement in the girl's heart from the strength of fingers scratching and rubbing the clothes from behind; after a long while, Ji Chunzao replied.

"No need, I'll just go back by myself."

The classmate of the team leader didn't say anything, and waved goodbye to Yan Jingxing politely, turned around and left with her driver.

"...Thank you! Cough...cough cough..."

The girl behind mustered up her courage and wanted to thank her loudly, but she choked on her own saliva because she was too nervous.

Xie Yuzhi's footsteps seemed to stop for a moment, but she didn't look back, and quickly continued walking.

"Thank you……"

As a result, only he heard what Ji Chunzao really wanted to say.

(End of this chapter)