While Lin Fan was in the restroom, he called Loli, but no one answered. She had said she’d wait for him no matter how late it was. Perhaps she was either asleep or busy now. Lin Fan didn’t mind and casually sent her a message before returning to the barbecue stand.

Before Lin Fan got back to the barbecue stand, he noticed there was quite a commotion. Laughter rang out continuously.

Could something have happened to Little Sheng? Lin Fan quickened his pace to get back.

There’s no denying, Zou Xiaosheng really seemed to attract troublemakers. She came to eat some barbecue and ran into bad people again.

A man, around thirty years old, was at the neighboring table, eating barbecue with a bunch of rowdy friends, chatting and laughing. Suddenly, he noticed Zou Xiaosheng’s arrival and was taken aback, apparently surprised to see her here.

Immediately, the man’s eyes gleamed with mischief, and he said to his group of friends, "Hey guys, hold on."

With that, the man stood up and approached Zou Xiaosheng, smiling slyly, "Hey, isn’t this Zou Xiaosheng?"

Zou Xiaosheng turned to see the man, her expression instantly changed, and she became instinctively flustered, turning sideways and lowering her head without saying a word.

This sort of instinctive self-protective action of a weak person only emboldened the man further, allowing him to act more presumptuously.

"Come now, how can you ignore your distant relative when you see him?" The man said.

The nearby rowdy friends began to heckle.

"What’s Brother Tao doing? No way, he’s going after someone like her? He must be drunk!"

"Brother Tao’s taste is really unpredictable, isn’t it?"

"Brother Tao, if you can’t take her down, we don’t respect you!"

"Hahaha..."

They didn’t know the man actually knew Zou Xiaosheng; they thought he was trying to hit on a girl.

These words made Zou Xiaosheng almost want to vomit from disgust.

The man spat and said, "Don’t talk nonsense. Do I have such poor taste? I’m not hitting on her; she’s my distant relative. In terms of seniority, I’m her cousin. But you guys didn’t know, our family connection is fake anyway."

One of them laughed, "Brother Tao, you said you’re not drunk, yet you talk about family relations and then say they’re fake. Which is true?"

"Hahaha, Brother Tao must be hammered!"

"Brother Tao hitting on a girl, yet not admitting it!"

"Hahaha..."

The group erupted in laughter once more.

The man said, "You guys don’t understand. I said we have family ties because my grandmother has connections on her grandmother’s side, so we count as distant cousins. But in reality, we have no relation, because she’s a foundling. Since childhood, everyone in the village called her a wild child."

The man explained further, then fixed his gaze on Zou Xiaosheng. "Even though she’s a foundling, I’m a kind person and always regarded her as my cousin. But it seems a foundling is a foundling; you see, she doesn’t even greet me when she sees me."

Another person teased, "Brother Tao, did you offend her?"

"Brother Tao, maybe you peeked at her bathing as a kid!"

"That sounds like something Brother Tao would do!"

"Hahaha..."

These people were like fools, saying things they thought were funny, egging each other on, laughing as one.

The man chuckled and said, "Did I offend her? Look at her ghostly appearance; even if she paid me, I wouldn’t look at her. Peeking at her? Overthinking it!"

The crowd burst out laughing.

In their eyes, Zou Xiaosheng truly was not good-looking, with no beauty, no figure, just a very ordinary, unassuming girl. She seemed timid and introverted, the kind of person easy to bully. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

If she were a stunning beauty, they might not dare to mock her like this. Precisely because they thought Zou Xiaosheng was easy to bully, they dared to be so reckless.

The man said, "Let me tell you, being ugly is one thing, she’s also very wicked. Zou Xiaosheng, what bad things did you say about me behind my back before?"

Zou Xiaosheng glanced at him and then lowered her head again. Facing a group of them, she was weak and instinctively afraid. Suddenly, all negative emotions overwhelmed her.

The man continued, getting even more enthused, "A foundling is a foundling; let me tell you, a bad heart speaks ill of people and has a foul mouth! Such people should be strung up and whipped daily until they’re obedient!"

Hearing the man call her a foundling over and over, Zou Xiaosheng’s body began to tremble, and her eyes reddened.

Thinking of Lin Fan, she suddenly found courage and retorted, "I’m not a foundling, I have parents!"

She lifted her head and stared straight at the man.

The man seemed surprised she dared to talk back, a trace of malice flashed in his eyes, "Heh, parents? You’re really cheap. Listen everybody, she was sold by her birth parents; isn’t that a foundling!"

As he said this, everyone present fell silent, their faces showing surprise.

What? Sold by her birth parents?

That’s far too tragic, isn’t it?

The crowd’s reaction hurt Zou Xiaosheng even more. Over the years, she’d seen too many cold stares and ridicule. These damages came very directly, and she’d also seen many looks of pity. But in reality, that was another form of harm. No one wanted to be regarded with pity, as if being reminded that they were pitiful.

She knew these people were kind-hearted, with good intentions and willing to help her. But it couldn’t be denied that she couldn’t bear the pitiful gazes.

Only Lin Fan had never looked at her with pity, and this was the first time she’d talked in detail about her experiences. Lin Fan, knowing her pain best, never looked at her with pity either.

It wasn’t that Lin Fan didn’t feel she was pitiful, but in his eyes, rather than offering cheap sympathy, it was better to encourage her to rally and seek revenge!

Nothing could inspire her more than revenge.

Seeing everyone with such stunned expressions, the man felt uneasy, thinking this foundling might be trying to garner sympathy due to her tragic past!

"Don’t pity her; she’s not worth it!" the man promptly said, "She has done plenty of bad things; she even stole when she was young, got caught, and bullied classmates—she was just a little delinquent!"

"You’re lying!" Zou Xiaosheng said angrily. She tolerated his ridicule of her origins but was enraged when he started fabricating lies to falsely accuse her.

The man chuckled, "What, afraid to admit it? I say you just lack parental guidance, going wild. People like you shouldn’t exist; your existence is just trouble. You should quickly go and die!"

Zou Xiaosheng stubbornly stared at the man, "Why should I admit to something I didn’t do?"

The man said, "I say you did, but let’s see who everyone believes, me or you?"

The crowd began to chatter, pointing at Zou Xiaosheng. Could what the man said be true? If it was, then this girl wouldn’t be deserving of sympathy.

"Wow, didn’t think she’s this bad!" someone said.

The man continued, "She’s done many bad things. For instance, she recently found her birth parents and actually forced them to buy her a house. Don’t you think that’s excessive?"

"I didn’t!" Zou Xiaosheng cried, shaking her head in distress.

A hand rested on Zou Xiaosheng’s shoulder, its warmth calming her down.

"Little Sheng, who is he?"

Lin Fan then sat next to Zou Xiaosheng, his gaze fixed on the man.