Liu Yiyi stopped her from saying more. "It's fine, wait a moment."
She turned around and glared fiercely at the menacing upperclassmen. "I don't know and I don't want to know."
Liu Yiyi thought to herself that it looked like this fight was unavoidable.
The upperclassmen stood up and launched their attack. Liu Yiyi ripped off the bottom of her skirt to reveal the sweatpants underneath, gathering strength throughout her body.
Seeing the fists and kicks coming at her, she suddenly swung her right arm, throwing a fierce punch toward the man on the left. It hit him squarely in the cheek, and he collapsed to the ground, unable to get back up. She grabbed the wrist of the next person, bent it downward, ducked behind him, kicked the backs of his knees to force him to his knees, and pinned him down with one hand.
Looking at the remaining two, she kicked one in the abdomen, leaped into the air, and delivered a side kick to the neck of the other. The one she had kicked in the abdomen stood back up and grabbed Liu Yiyi by both arms. Stepping onto the dining table, Liu Yiyi flipped backward and hurled him crashing into his companion. In less than five minutes, all of them were flat on the ground.
Liu Yiyi looked down at the upperclassman who had mocked her and said, "Senior, you can make do with this drink." With that, she picked up her torn skirt and her notebook, then walked over to Shang Hui.
Shang Hui's eyes widened in shock, and she suddenly shrieked, "Yiyi, you are amazing! So cool!" As she spoke, she threw punches into the air—left, right, left, right.
Liu Yiyi pulled her back to their table, placed the torn skirt inside her backpack, and waited for their food.
Groaning and supporting one another, the five men limped out of the cafeteria. Only then did the people in the cafeteria recover their wits as murmurs broke out around the room.
"Are all freshmen these days this savage?"
"That freshman girl is seriously handsome."
"She's done for. She has no idea those guys are Xu Chengjin's lackeys. I'm sweating for her."
"Good thing I didn't try to pick a fight earlier and just got her autograph peacefully."
"The freshman's campus life is going to be rough from now on. Xu Chengjin is notorious for holding grudges."
"This shouldn't really be the freshman's fault, though."
"If she had just swallowed her pride, she probably wouldn't have gotten mixed up with them."
Liu Yiyi caught bits and pieces of what the upperclassmen were saying, but she didn't care. She sat and waited until her noodles were served by a young girl.
The girl stared straight at Liu Yiyi and said, "Big Sister, I know you."
Liu Yiyi looked puzzled. The girl continued, "At that mall, you helped me. I haven't thanked you yet."
Seeing the young girl's face, Liu Yiyi remembered what had happened at Guangyu Mall and said quietly, "It's nothing."
"My name is Tongtong, and I know your name is Liu Yiyi. You were so cool fighting just now! Can I call you Yiyi Sister from now on?" Tongtong blinked her eager eyes, waiting for a reply.
"Alright, I'll call you Tongtong from now on." Seeing in Tongtong's eyes something reminiscent of Qiyu's gaze—always so innocent and pure—Liu Yiyi's voice softened a little.
Overjoyed, Tongtong pushed the bowl of noodles toward Liu Yiyi and sat down beside her.
Across the table, Shang Hui introduced herself to Tongtong. The two of them chatted happily, occasionally turning to ask Liu Yiyi a question.
Liu Yiyi simply gave brief replies like "Mhm," "Okay," and "Yeah," keeping her head down to eat her noodles. The portion sizes in Thailand were small, and apparently, the school cafeteria was no exception.
When Liu Yiyi finished her noodles, she stood up to go order something else. Tongtong grabbed her and asked where she was going. "To buy food."
"I'll take you, I know which ones are good." Tongtong said goodbye to Shang Hui and dragged Liu Yiyi straight to the food stall run by her parents.
Seeing Tongtong pull someone over, Tongtong's father asked, "Tongtong, who is this?"
Tongtong introduced them cheerfully, "Dad, Mom, this is the kind person I told you about who helped me—Yiyi Sister!" Tongtong's parents hurriedly expressed their gratitude.
"It's nothing, really," Liu Yiyi waved her hands and replied with a smile.
Tongtong went into the back kitchen and emerged a moment later with a plate piled with rice and dishes, saying these were all her favorite things and she wanted Yiyi Sister to try them.
Liu Yiyi took out her money to pay, but Tongtong's father repeatedly refused. "No, no. You helped our Tongtong, we haven't even had the chance to thank you properly."
"Uncle, I've already accepted your gratitude. Please take this money, or else I won't dare to come eat in this cafeteria ever again." Liu Yiyi thought back and realized she hadn't really done anything major; if she didn't pay, she wouldn't be able to ease her conscience.
Tongtong quickly accepted the money Liu Yiyi handed over, saying, "Yiyi Sister, you have to come eat at my place often from now on, and I'll give you extra-large portions!" She probably realized that Liu Yiyi wouldn't eat a free meal.
"Okay. By the way, Tongtong, do you still want to go back to the table and chat with Shang Hui?"
"No, it gets pretty busy around noon. Yiyi Sister, can I add you on Chat?" In Thailand, people used the Chat app, which was equivalent to WeChat or QQ in China.
"Sure." Liu Yiyi recited her ID number, took out her phone, and accepted Tongtong's friend request.
At that moment, a sudden commotion broke out in the cafeteria.
"So handsome! So handsome!"
"It's Shao Qi from the School of Economics!"
"He's here to eat."
Shao Qi walked over to the stall where Liu Yiyi was standing. Spotting him, Tongtong came out from behind the counter and rushed over to grab his sleeve.
"Brother Qi, I went to your autograph session, but there were so many people I didn't even get your autograph." Tongtong pouted her little lips.
Tongtong's words woke Liu Yiyi from her thoughts. She realized she should have brought a photo of Shao Qi so she could have gotten his autograph. *Sigh, I missed my chance.*
Just as she was thinking this, a voice rang out. "Yiyi Sister, this is Brother Qi." At the same time, a whisper came right into her ear: "I know you're a fan of Brother Qi. Aren't you super excited to see your idol?"
A flock of imaginary crows cawed across the top of Liu Yiyi's head. Tongtong must have misunderstood because she saw her at Shao Qi's autograph session too.