The Yellow-Haired Villain in Soaring Phoenix’s Novels Also Desires Happiness

Chapter 60: An Imperfect Date

“You think you can just walk away after breaking my gem?”

“Hmm?”

Mu En was taken aback for a moment, narrowing his eyes:

“Uncle, what do you mean by that?”

“Look!”

The bald-headed old man still held onto Mu En’s ankle with one hand, while the other hand lifted the gem he had just examined.

In the sunlight, a clear crack was visible on the gem.

But when Mu En had just held it, it was perfectly intact.

“This must have been damaged when you were holding it!”

The bald-headed old man looked furious:

“You have to pay!”

“Just holding it broke it?”

Mu En was somewhat stunned, looking at the old man:

“How much do you want me to pay?”

The old man with the pockmarked head cast a greedy glance at Mu En’s expensive attire:

“One hundred thousand, I want one hundred thousand!”

“One hundred thousand?”

Mu En raised an eyebrow.

Now that was an interesting figure.

If that gem were truly the Tear of True Love, one hundred thousand Ai Mi Er wouldn’t even buy the box it came in. But clearly, the gem was fake, and judging by its shoddy craftsmanship, ten Ai Mi Er could buy a whole bunch at the wholesale market.

In other words…

“Extortion?”

Mu En suddenly found it amusing.

“What extortion!”

The old man with the pockmarked head spat bitterly:

“You broke my gem, so you must compensate me.”

“And what if I don’t?” Mu En replied with a half-smile.

“If you don’t…”

The old man’s shifty eyes darted around, and he suddenly threw himself on the ground, rolling about:

“Oh, everyone come look! Someone broke my things and won’t pay! Is there any justice in this? Is there any law? Isn’t this just bullying an honest old man?”

The bustling street, already lively, quickly gathered a crowd as people pointed and whispered at the old man and Mu En.

At that moment, a uniformed officer pushed through the crowd.

“What’s going on? Why is everyone gathered here?”

It was a security patrol officer.

The officer, holding a baton, glanced around the scene. His eyes lit up when he saw Mu En, then turned to the old man and asked:

“What happened?”

“Officer, you must help me!”

Seeing the officer’s arrival, the old man suddenly gained confidence, standing up to point at Mu En.

“He broke my things! And he won’t pay! He’s just bullying an old man with no one to rely on.”

“Is that so?”

The officer approached, tapping his baton in his hand, looking at Mu En:

“Kid, if you damage someone else’s property, you have to compensate them at market value. This is a basic principle; you wouldn’t be unaware of that, would you?”

“Of course I know.”

“Then hurry up and compensate him, and don’t block the road here, wasting everyone’s time,” the officer said with an impatient expression.

“Looking at the clothes you’re wearing, taking out a hundred thousand Amiel shouldn’t be too difficult, right?”

“Exactly, just compensate at market price, it’s only fair.”

“Kid, you wouldn’t want to skip out on paying, would you?”

With the words of the patrol officer, many onlookers began to point fingers at Mu En, accusing him.

For a moment, Mu En seemed to have truly become the scoundrel who broke the precious gem of a lonely old man and refused to pay for it.

But when Mu En turned to look, he realized that the one speaking was just a few fixed individuals hidden among the crowd.

“Oh dear, junior, it seems you’ve encountered the specialty of the Lower District of Beirlande.” Senior Anna watched from the side, her face showing no concern at all, instead sporting a smile as if she were watching a show.

“Specialty?”

“It’s this collusion between officials and thugs to extort money. They usually target someone like you who looks wealthy. Every year, quite a number of people fall victim to this. I thought this street would be better, but it seems that as long as it’s the Lower District, it’s all the same, isn’t it?”

“So arrogant? Aren’t they afraid of biting off more than they can chew?”

“This is the Lower District, after all. The big shots up there wouldn’t even glance down here, filled with dirt and stench. There’s no hard nut to crack, and people like this usually have gang backgrounds. Those who can’t be messed with have long been noted, which is why they target someone like you, who clearly looks like an outsider and an easy mark.”

“Do I really look that easy to bully?”

Mu En scratched his head.

After all, he had a yellow-haired face; why did he always end up in these protagonist-exclusive scenarios?

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

The patrol officer’s face turned dark upon hearing Anna’s words. However, when he glanced at Anna, his gaze, fueled by the sight of her pretty face and the alluring figure that her dress couldn’t hide, suddenly turned fiery. He sneered:

“You don’t seem like a good person either. I suspect you’ve stolen something and are hiding it on you. You’ll have to come with me to the station for a thorough investigation.”

Mu En’s expression immediately darkened at these words.

He stepped forward, blocking the patrol officer’s line of sight, and said in a deep voice:

“Well, this is interesting. A mere security patrol officer can just arrest someone without evidence?”

“What do you mean no evidence? We have both witnesses and physical evidence right here!” The patrol officer looked arrogant, as if he had done this countless times before and was quite familiar with the routine.

As long as he intimidated someone, most people would obediently comply.

“Ha, it seems that talking to you is just a waste of time.”

Mu En sighed and took out a family crest intricately carved with a sword pattern.

“Do you recognize this?”

“What is this?”

“You don’t even recognize it? Then go find someone who does.”

“What do you think you are? Why should I listen to you?”

The patrol officer continued to sneer.

You don’t even have the pass of my Chihuo Gang, what are you pretending to be, a big shot?

But the next moment, he saw a fist as powerful as a sand pot rapidly enlarging in his eyes.

“Why? Just because of this!”

Mu En rarely showed such uncontrollable anger in his eyes as he swung his fist with force.

“I didn’t want to resort to violence at first; after all, that would make me look rough in front of the senior sister. But it seems this way is quicker to handle!”

The patrolman’s still arrogant face twisted instantly under Mu En’s fist, and then he flew backward.

Taking advantage of the fact that he was howling on the ground and had not completely lost consciousness, Mu En coldly added,

“Of course, the most important thing is, your eyes are too dirty.”

……

“It’s over, it seems like I’ve run into a tough nut.”

On the other side, seeing the patrolman being sent flying by Mu En’s punch, the old man with a toad-like head instantly turned pale.

He took advantage of the chaos in the crowd, crawling on the ground, trying to sneak away, but his palm was suddenly forcefully stepped on by a white leather boot.

Anna pressed her long skirt to prevent the holy domain from being spied on, looking down at the terrified old man with a smile and saying, “What’s wrong, old man, are you not going to compensate?”

……

Just as Mu En said, once he directly moved to “assault the police,” the situation began to accelerate.

First, a rotund man with a big belly rushed over, cursing amidst the crowd. Upon seeing the family crest in Mu En’s hand, his anger instantly turned to terror, and he almost lost dozens of pounds of fat from fright.

Then, a black carriage arrived at a speed that seemed like its wheels were about to fall off. A middle-aged balding man with heavy dark circles under his eyes jumped down from the carriage and almost rolled over as he ran to Mu En.

“Young… Young Master Campbell.”

The balding middle-aged man kept wiping the sweat from his forehead:

“What brings you to the lower city?”

“What? Can’t I come to the lower city?”

Mu En glanced at the middle-aged man, whom he had met once before and still remembered:

“Viscount Gu En, it seems your management of this lower city isn’t very good.”

“My fault, my fault, I will definitely change, definitely change!”

Viscount Gu En smiled obsequiously, his heart already shattered into who knows how many pieces.

Did he accidentally step on someone’s ancestral grave recently?

First, a count’s son died, attracting the princess.

Now even a duke’s son comes to hang around, and coincidentally runs into this incident.

What’s going on? When did the lower city become a tourist spot for you high-ranking figures?

You’re making my already sparse hair even more endangered!

“I’ve already understood the situation clearly. I will handle it properly and give Young Master Campbell a satisfactory response.

So, does Young Master have any other requests?” Viscount Gu En wiped his cold sweat and asked cautiously.

“None. Just disappear from my sight.”

Mu En waved his hand impatiently.

Gu En felt as if he had been granted a great pardon. He hurriedly led a group of subordinates, escorting the previous patrol officer and the old man, to make their swift exit.

The street quickly returned to calm.

Mu En turned to the waiting senior sister beside him, and the gloom on his face vanished instantly, replaced by a helpless smile:

“I always feel like my good mood has been spoiled.”

“Really?”

Anna tilted her head and smiled:

“But I think the junior just now was quite handsome.”

“Was he?”

“Of course! Especially when he said, ‘Your eyes are too dirty.’ It felt just like a prince from a story.”

“That’s too exaggerated.”

“But it really is true.”

“…”

At that moment, looking at the crescent-shaped eyes of Senior Sister Anna, Mu En couldn’t help but feel his heart flutter again.

“Shall we continue?”

“Mm, sure.”

And so the date continued.

Mu En flipped through the book “Belrand Dating Guide” again, confirming the new route.

However, just as he hesitated whether to go left towards the well-rated food street or right towards the riverside where there was supposed to be a fireworks display at night, Anna was distracted by something else.

“Junior, look, it’s a cat.”

On a stone bench by the road, a milk-white kitten was curled up there, meowing softly.

“Does Senior Sister like cats?”

Mu En asked instinctively.

But there was no need for an answer, as Anna had already light-footedly walked over.

“Meow~”

“Meow meow…”

“Meow meow~”

“Meow meow meow meow…”

Anna mimicked the sound of a cat while cautiously approaching the kitten.

She did it quite well, and soon the kitten’s wariness was quickly dispelled.

In a daze, Mu En felt as if Anna, his senior, had transformed into a cat, lazily meowing under the sunlight.

“So cute…” Mu En said instinctively.

“Right? This cat is so cute.”

Anna had successfully cradled the adorable kitten in her arms, gently scratching under its chin, and the kitten purred contentedly.

“It seems to be injured.”

Anna looked compassionately at the kitten’s hind leg, where there was a gruesome wound, almost deep enough to see the bone. That was why the kitten had been curled up here, not fleeing even when a stranger approached.

After a moment’s thought, Anna took out scissors and a small knife, scraping away the kitten’s fur and necrotic flesh from its hind leg.

The kitten yelped in pain, immediately scratching a few lines of blood on Anna’s hand.

“Senior!”

“I’m fine.”

Anna didn’t mind at all; she gently held the kitten down while taking out a potion and pouring it over the wound.

The wound visibly healed, and Anna carefully bandaged the kitten.

By the time she finished, the kitten had regained its ability to move. Startled by the earlier pain, it suddenly kicked off Anna’s leg and darted up a nearby tree, quickly disappearing.

“Oh no, what a pity.”

Watching the vanishing kitten, Anna seemed a bit reluctant to let go.

“I wanted to pet it a little longer.”

“Senior, are you okay?”

Mu En walked over, looking at the scratches on her hand.

“I’m fine, just a few scratches.”

Anna poured the remaining potion from the bottle onto the back of her hand, and the tiny wounds quickly healed, leaving no trace behind.

“See, the potion is amazing.”

Anna seemed to be showing off a bit.

“Amazing, you’re the best, Senior.”

Mu En couldn’t help but chuckle, surprised to see this childlike side of Anna.

“But Junior.”

Suddenly, Anna propped her chin on her hand, looking at Mu En with a teasing smile and said:

“After waiting so long, you should have figured out where to go next, right?”

“……”

Mu En’s lips instantly froze.

It’s over, he got so caught up watching his senior that he forgot.

……

In the end, he decided to find a restaurant first to solve his lunch problem.

It was only when his stomach suddenly growled loudly that Mu En remembered he hadn’t eaten anything for over thirty hours.

His stomach was already so hungry it felt like it was touching his back, but the anticipation of the date with his senior had temporarily suppressed this bodily instinct.

Although this date he was so looking forward to had been quite unfortunate so far.

“But this time, there definitely won’t be any problems!”

Mu En clenched his fist and said confidently.

There’s a saying that goes, to win a woman’s heart, you must win her stomach. So along the way, he had read the most about the various famous restaurants on this street.

After much comparison, Mu En finally settled on a private restaurant that he found faultless in terms of ratings and the decoration in the pictures.

The only downside was that it was a bit secluded, located even off this commercial street, onto another street mostly filled with residential areas called Durank.

However, for a date, that tranquil environment, paired with pleasant music and candlelight, was the perfect setting, wasn’t it?

Any woman would surely be moved by a perfect candlelit… candlelit lunch!

“It seems I should really look forward to this.” Seeing the confident Mu En, Anna couldn’t help but smile.

……

……

“Why… is it like this?”

Half an hour later, after finally finding this indeed very secluded little restaurant, Mu En couldn’t help but start questioning life.

“Why… is it closed?”

Looking at the words “temporarily closed for business” on the tightly shut door, and then at the somewhat strange expression on his senior’s face, Mu En fell back into a state of extreme bad luck-induced fear.

What’s going on?

Am I really this unlucky?

First encountering a scammer was one thing, but why, after finally finding a suitable restaurant, is it closed?

Isn’t today Sunday?

Generally speaking, would a restaurant choose to close on a Sunday?

All I want is to have a decent date; is that so hard?

“I refuse to believe this evil, damn it, Heaven, if you have the ability, make me even more unlucky!”

Mu En couldn’t help but redden his eyes and let out a howl to the sky.

Then, as if something forgotten had naturally come to light, Mu En, in that moment, heard another familiar voice.

“Mu… Mu En classmate?”