Walking along the street for quite a while, the sun overhead had unknowingly tilted and sunk, and more and more people gathered on the sidewalks.
This is the CBD, where people are generally in a rush. Tang Yanqi’s leisurely pace was clearly unsuitable for the rhythm here. After accidentally being bumped a few times, Tang Yanqi finally turned into a nearby alley.
B City’s architecture is quite peculiar. The CBD is located in the city center, bustling and dazzling, but it’s also where the old town used to be. Many buildings that couldn’t be torn down are still preserved, allowing one to deeply feel the rapid development of society when walking among them.
Tang Yanqi walked a bit along the alley, faintly hearing footsteps behind her, but she didn’t pay attention. After taking a few more steps, she realized that the footsteps seemed to be increasing, and it felt like they were following her.
Instinctively, Tang Yanqi quickened her steps, and the footsteps behind her did the same. At that moment, alarm bells rang in Tang Yanqi’s mind, and she subconsciously wanted to head towards a crowded place.
But she had already entered the alley; unless she could run straight to the other end of the alley, where the main road was, could she outrun the people behind her?
Feeling the footsteps behind her speeding up even more, Tang Yanqi couldn’t care less, and started running as fast as she could. As she previously thought, she simply couldn’t outrun them.
Soon, several people emerged and instantly surrounded her.
"Hey, this chick even knows how to run?"
One of them, with hair dyed yellow, playing with a small knife in his hands, sneered with a hooligan look.
Tang Yanqi looked at them, five people in total, three men and two women.
Though asking such a question at times seemed pointless, when it came down to it, there wasn’t much else to say.
"Miss, don’t worry, we’re just a bit short on cash lately and want to borrow some money from you."
One slightly chubby woman "kindly" spoke to Tang Yanqi. To be blunt, they were here to rob.
It wasn’t that Tang Yanqi was a coward; this was no time to show off. Tang Yanqi threw her wallet and phone over, hoping to escape while they picked up the wallet. Obviously, she was overthinking it; these people were seasoned and it needed only one to pick up the items.
After rummaging through Tang Yanqi’s wallet, the woman spoke again, "Miss, that’s a bit ungenerous, this little amount wouldn’t even be enough for a beggar."
Tang Yanqi was truthful; she was poor to begin with and wouldn’t carry much cash, but the robbers wouldn’t believe her.
"Sis, stop wasting words with her. There must be more in the bag."
If it were any other day, Tang Yanqi might have surrendered the bag, but not today. Inside the bag was her mother’s broken bracelet; she couldn’t protect it well and couldn’t let it be snatched now.
Instinctively, Tang Yanqi gripped the backpack strap tightly. This small move was like sending a signal to the other side — the previously "friendly" woman’s face changed, "Get it from her."
When a person is down on their luck, even drinking cold water makes them choke. Tang Yanqi held onto her bag fiercely; her petite body seemed to muster an enormous strength.
"Damn it, won’t let go? Beat her."
These people clearly intended to rob without causing a death, so even though everyone held knives, none dared to truly use them. Therefore, fists from men and women’s high heels pummeled towards Tang Yanqi in a chaotic mess.