CHAPTER 26: CHAPTER 26: SHE’S MENTALLY ILL

EDITOR: ENDLESSFANTASY TRANSLATION

Gu Ningyue walked along the food street, stopping occasionally with her shoulder bag slung over her shoulder.

Though it was a poor district, the snacks were indeed quite good.

The only downside was the chaos—truly, it was far too chaotic.

Garbage was everywhere, along with some burly men dressed in vests and shorts, drunkenly waving bottles in broad daylight.

She thought that dressing so ordinarily would keep her unnoticed, but even in such an environment, she attracted quite a few glances.

Even the old granny selling fried cakes looked at her and asked, "Girl, you’re not from around here, are you? Are you looking for someone?"

Gu Ningyue shook her head and said, "No, just wandering around. The food here is really delicious!"

"Yes, it’s some old craftsmanship." The granny finished frying the cakes, packed them for Gu Ningyue, and handed them to her: "Girl, don’t go further in; it’s very messy inside. Head back!"

Gu Ningyue glanced deep into the alley: "It seems alright!"

"There are many addicts and some punks inside," the granny leaned closer to Gu Ningyue and lowered her voice: "Those people would do anything for money. Girl, don’t come to this place again."

Such a clean and pretty girl, it would be a pity if she were to be ruined here or to pick up bad habits.

Gu Ningyue smiled, "Thank you, Granny."

The granny, seeing her response, thought she had listened to the advice and let out a relieved sigh.

But the next moment, she saw Gu Ningyue turn and stride briskly toward the depths of the alley.

The granny sighed, "Ah, kids these days..."

Gu Ningyue bit into the fried cake, looking at the dilapidated buildings on both sides. It felt like she was back to a long time before.

In her previous life, her childhood was spent in such a slum. Her father was very irresponsible, and shortly after her birth, he disappeared.

Vanished without a trace, his fate unknown.

In such an environment, her temperament became remarkably tenacious.

Having seen too much darkness, too much filth.

So, after her mother passed away unable to afford treatment, she was stronger than anyone.

She worked hard and studied diligently, enduring any hardship.

She thought that’s how her life would go, but she met her master unexpectedly.

It was her master who led her out of the dark cage, slowly welcomed the light.

Though beneath the light was endless bloodshed, it still gave her hope to live.

Now reborn, seeing such scenes, it felt like returning to her childhood.

She wondered if there were also children like her here.

"Hey? Where’s this little chick from? Really pretty."

"Which establishment’s new girl? Tsk tsk~"

"How could this temperament be a working girl? Don’t talk nonsense, she’s clearly a student."

The growing whispers around her pulled her back from her memories to reality, her gaze swept over the faces of those people.

There were no kids like her, but plenty of sleazy thug-like men!

Fortunately, she had brought a folding knife.

With one hand in her pocket and the other holding the fried cake, Gu Ningyue stopped in the middle of the alley and looked at one of the bald men: "Excuse me, where’s the Top Game Hall?"

The bald man, looking at her fair and clean face, unexpectedly replied in a rare gentle tone: "Just walk straight and turn left."

Gu Ningyue nodded, "Thank you."

The whispering voices were left behind, and shortly after, Gu Ningyue stood at the entrance of the Top Game Hall.

She wondered whether Nan Shaoyue would be here, after all, as a well-known figure in the scene, would he still hang around such a dark corner?

He should be like Long Zhihai, at the Shenghua Club.

Pushing the door, she entered the game hall, nearly staggering from the strong smell of smoke.

The cursing and machine-slapping noises mingled together inside. To be safe, although she didn’t plan to play, Gu Ningyue still bought a hundred yuan worth of game tokens.

Casually finding a spot with more people, Gu Ningyue sat down.

The few guys who were excitedly playing caught sight of the newcomer not far away and couldn’t resist looking over, then kept glancing several more times.

Gu Ningyue ignored them, quickly pressing the buttons in front of her.

After only a short while, she lost a third of her tokens.

"Girl, you don’t know how to play, right? Shall I teach you?" The uncle sitting next to Gu Ningyue offered, even pulling out his own tokens.

Gu Ningyue glanced at him: "No, thank you, I’m here waiting for someone."

"You think the girl’s interested in you? You’re deluding yourself! Hahaha!" The uncle’s companion immediately mocked without mercy.

Gu Ningyue pretended not to hear, continuing her game.

"Go to hell." The uncle silently retracted his tokens, "Hey, did you hear about the guy who died here two days ago? Heard he OD’d."

"Isn’t that normal? Two people die like this here every year." The companion sneered indifferently.

The uncle whispered something into his ear, the companion waved his hand: "False, I saw Nan Shaoyue here playing yesterday! Maybe he had something today, so he didn’t come!"

The uncle said, "Could be. That kid might be scared. After all, he’s a big shot. Didn’t complete a job well, maybe hiding now!"

Gu Ningyue’s hand hit the button, a big shot? Who could it be?

She wanted to listen more, but these two stopped talking.

After a while, the two stood up and left.

A few young guys with dyed yellow hair came over, having watched Gu Ningyue for a while from over there, now naturally not missing the chance.

"Sister, which school are you from? I seem to have seen you before!"

The cliché approach, Gu Ningyue stayed focused, not bothering to respond.

The yellow hair wasn’t put off, continued asking: "Sister, do you have a boyfriend?"

"Yes!" Gu Ningyue didn’t even turn her head: "But I got pregnant, and he ran off. I’m here waiting for him!"

The yellow hair grinned, "That doesn’t matter, women go through abortions several times in life, I don’t mind, let’s be friends!"

Gu Ningyue’s hand pausing on the button, turned to look at him, "Really?"

The yellow hair nodded, "Of course."

Gu Ningyue grinned, "That’s great, I have intermittent mental illness, my boyfriend found out and ran. So there are people who don’t mind! That’s wonderful. What’s your WeChat? Let me add you!"

As soon as she said this, Gu Ningyue clearly saw the young guys’ faces change: "Well..."

Gu Ningyue sneered, with such little skill attempting to hit on someone?

"You all mind too? Well! Such a pity!"

Gu Ningyue feigned regret, picking up her box of tokens and leaving, leaving them shock-stricken behind her.