Mira didn't know if this Mr. Mo was the same kind of person.
But for now, it seemed that quite a few people had good feelings toward him.
And the young boy standing there, Denim, looked innocent.
She didn't really want to get involved, but this boy had helped her before.
That morning when they entered the city, her father Riyo's wheelchair had broken apart. If it weren't for Denim lending a hand, her father might have fallen hard to the ground.
The woman standing in front of the kneeling boy said coldly, "Denim, if you have any pride left, stop kneeling here and blocking others' business. Mr. Mo should've died long ago, and you shouldn't still be showing your face around here. Stop making things messy."
Denim stayed silent, as if he didn't hear any of the harsh words.
The woman grew angrier and snatched some eggs from the crowd, throwing one hard.
"My eggs!" someone cried.
Smack! The egg splattered on Denim's head, the liquid sliding down through his hair, dripping into his eyes. The boy lifted his head and looked at the woman. His handsome face, now covered in egg, looked strangely different.
The place went completely silent.
After a long pause, someone else threw a vegetable.
Smack! That sound echoed in everyone's heart.
No! Mira's heart sank. She knew this could easily trigger the "herd effect." And sure enough, after that first throw, people started tossing things at Denim one after another, yelling as they did.
"Go back where you came from!"
"Stop showing your shameful face out here."
"Your father should've died, and so should you! A criminal's son, a disgrace. How dare you walk these streets."
If it kept going like this, Denim would be in real danger. Once people ran out of vegetables, who knew what they would throw next?
Mira panicked and tried to step forward, but an older woman beside her grabbed her arm.
"Girl, you're just a young lady, right? Don't get involved. I've seen how you take care of your father. You're a good child. You're looking for the Lü family, right? Keep walking a bit further, turn right, and you'll find them."
The old lady had sharp eyes. She noticed Mira was still very young.
She probably meant well. After all, she had watched Mira carrying and helping Riyo all this time. Clearly a dutiful daughter. She didn't want the girl to get dragged into this chaos and tried to pull her away.
Mira looked back at her father.
Riyo knew his daughter. He understood she never forgot a kindness. This boy had helped him before, and if she didn't help back, it would weigh on her for a long time. So he gave a barely noticeable nod.
Mira smiled slightly, gently pulling her hand free from the old woman's grip.
"It's okay. This young man helped me once. Besides, I don't live here. Helping him a bit doesn't matter."
She was right. Not long after, someone threw a rock.
Smack! It hit Denim's head. Blood immediately started to run down from the wound.
Mira didn't hesitate. She grabbed an umbrella and rushed over, covering Denim with it.
The old woman shouted, "Stop throwing things! A young girl just ran over there!"
"Stop! This is going too far. Someone's going to get seriously hurt. You won't walk away clean from this either!"
Riyo, seeing Mira do this, felt a stab in his chest and also shouted out, trying to stop the crowd.
Denim felt like he was frozen, surrounded by cold water. The yelling and the things hitting him — he didn't even feel them anymore. He thought maybe dying like this wasn't so bad.
After all these years, now everyone called him nothing but a disgrace. Friends had all walked away. He felt no reason to keep going.
But then, he noticed things getting quieter around him. Even the pain felt a little lighter.
Confused, Denim slowly opened his eyes. He saw a shadow covering him.
He looked up. The shadow moved, sunlight spilled over again, and a figure stood glowing under the light.
The girl had tanned skin and big round eyes like a cat. She looked at him anxiously, her small red lips opening and closing as if she was trying to speak.
It was the same girl he had met at the city gate.
Back then, he had already noticed that her smile looked a bit silly. Even though she was dragging her father along and sweating a lot, she still smiled widely just to make her father happy. Without realizing it, he had watched her for a long time. When he saw her father's strange chair fall apart, he had quickly helped.
The girl was clearly thankful. She hurried over to hold her father and smiled at him. Her cat-like eyes sparkled with emotion that made his heart race. Her voice was sweet and clear when she said, "Thank you."
Denim suddenly felt nervous and didn't say anything. He turned and walked away quickly.
He didn't expect to see her again now.
But she seemed angry. Her clear voice showed her anger as she shouted, "Are you trying to die?"
Denim felt that sentence ring in his mind. He suddenly felt nervous again. He thought maybe he had made her upset. He wanted to tell her not to bother with someone like him. It wasn't worth it.
He had just started to move when Mira gently patted his hand.
Mira thought he was scared. Back when she was at the orphanage, she often comforted the boys like this. She looked at him with kindness and said, "It's okay. Don't be scared. I'll help you."
The woman saw someone coming to stop them and looked at Mira angrily.
"Who are you? Why are you getting involved? Do you even know what he did? You just rushed in without understanding anything."
She looked at Mira's torn clothes and dark skin and immediately thought she was not worth paying attention to. She snorted with no respect.
Mira was not pale. Years of walking outside made her skin darker than most girls. But her facial features were very beautiful, and her cat-like eyes always smiled first. That made people feel warm when they saw her.
"Hello everyone. I'm just passing by. But I saw everything clearly from where I was standing. You were blocking the road, so I stopped and watched."
Mira smiled as she pointed to where she had been standing earlier.
Denim followed her finger and realized he might have been standing in her way. He suddenly felt embarrassed and wanted to say sorry.
"If you saw what happened, why are you still causing trouble? This has nothing to do with you. If you want to leave, then leave first."
The woman didn't care about her. She didn't see Mira as important.
The others also nodded. They didn't want to argue with someone who was smiling. She was just a young girl. What could she do? She probably only wanted to join the crowd. Besides, her smile made them feel soft. She seemed kind and innocent.
Mira nodded and asked, "I just want to know. What did this young man do that made you treat him like this?"
Her words made everyone pause.
Some people were still holding stones. When they looked at Denim's bloody head and the pile of things near him, they were shocked and dropped the stones quickly.
They started to wonder why they had done this. Why had they thrown stones? That was so dangerous.
Someone cried, "Where's my vegetables? Who threw my vegetables?"
"My eggs are gone too."
Mira saw no one was answering, so she turned to the woman and asked, "Sister, I just want to ask. Why did you tell everyone to hurt this young man? What kind of problem do you have with him?"
The people around them suddenly came back to their senses.
Yes, they thought. Why did we follow along just like that? Usually, they only liked to watch. They never got involved.
Everyone started looking at the woman with suspicious eyes.
"Who is she?"
"Does she have some issue with the Mo family?"
The woman saw the crowd starting to doubt her and felt insulted.
"I'm standing up for Shishin. Why are you making people suspect me? You and I are both women. We should support each other. Shishin was forced into madness. And you are helping the one who caused it. Don't you feel ashamed to call yourself a woman?"
Mira narrowed her eyes. Using shame to control me? You're not good enough.