"Shopkeeper, how much are these silver earrings?" the girl asked.The shopkeeper paused from packing and looked at it. "That's $35."
He took it out to show the girl.
The silver earrings were pure white and smooth all over. The girl examined them carefully for a long time.
"Could you do $30?" the girl asked.
The shopkeeper looked at the girl.
"Alright, it's a deal."
The girl paid for the earrings, and the shopkeeper took out a long jewelry box and handed it to her. She thanked the shopkeeper, put the earrings into the box, and placed them in her bag. Then she called her companion, Irina, and left the antique shop.
Hardy watched the girl's figure disappear through the window of the art shop before retracting his gaze.
Although she didn't get the paintings she liked, the girl was happy to have bought the earrings, making the trip worthwhile.
"Elena, what are you going to do with these old earrings you bought?" Irina asked.
"Wear them, of course," Elena replied with a smile.
"What? No way, these things are so ugly and old, won't you feel embarrassed wearing them?"
"Haha, I am just messing with you, these are a gift for my mother, she likes ancient accessories."
"Oh," Irina understood.
As they chatted, several figures suddenly appeared ahead, blocking their path. The two girls were startled because they recognized the thief who had just tried to steal one of their bags among the six or seven men.
They immediately realized these people must be here for revenge.
A slightly taller and sturdier man among them looked at the two girls, then turned to the thief and said, "Elmo, you got beaten up by these girls? How embarrassing."
He turned back to Elena and Irina and said, with a mischievous smile, "But these two girls are quite pretty."
Irina was already frightened, clutching Elena's arm.
Elena was also scared. Although she knew some karate and could handle one or two people, dealing with so many adult men was beyond her ability.
"Run!"
Elena made a quick decision, grabbed Irina, and turned to run.
The thugs chased after them in big strides.
The two girls couldn't outrun these men. After running just over ten meters, they were surrounded.
One of the men tried to grab the girls. Irina screamed and used her bag to fend them off, but her bag was quickly snatched away.
Elena kicked one man down, but another grabbed her the next second. She immediately kicked out again, this time hitting the man in the groin hard.
"Ow ow ow~~!"
The man fell to the ground in pain.
"Can't even handle a little girl, idiots, attack together!" the leader shouted impatiently.
Several men rushed forward together.
Elena panicked, hitting one man with her bag while trying to fend off the other two. She managed to block one punch but was grabbed by another man.
Already understanding that things were not going well, she was frightened.
At that moment.
A figure appeared beside her.
"Bang~!"
A fist landed hard on the man's face who was holding her arm.
"Whoosh~!"
The man seemed to fly away, landing 2 or 3 meters away on the ground.
"Bang bang bang~!"
Hardy threw several more punches.
He knocked all the thugs away.
Finally standing in front of the two girls.
Elena looked at the man in surprise and said, "It's you!"
"Ah, it's the gentleman from the art shop," Irina also said.
The thugs quickly got up from the ground, looking at the tall and strong Hardy. From the previous punches, they knew this person was not to be messed with.
"Let's go~!"
The leader shouted, and the group quickly fled into an alley.
Hardy didn't chase them.
Although he didn't take these guys seriously, he knew not to pursue desperate foes, and as a dignified gang leader, he had no need to bother with these petty thugs. There were plenty of ways to deal with them.
"Ah~~ our bags!"
Irina shouted as the thugs ran away.
But she didn't dare chase after them.
She could only stomp her foot in place.
The action was somewhat funny and a bit cute.
"Boo hoo, my living expenses for this month were all in the bag, and my new cosmetics," Irina cried in sadness.
Elena was also upset.
"The earrings I just bought were also taken."
"These damn thieves!" Irina couldn't help but cry, worried about how to get through the month without money.
Elena looked at Hardy and said, "Sir, thank you for saving us just now."
"I'm Jon Hardy," Hardy introduced himself.
"Ah, thank you, Mr. Hardy," Elena thanked him again.
"This is the second time we've met, but I still don't know your names." Hardy asked.
"I'm Elena, and she's my roommate, Irina," Elena replied.
"Are you both okay?"
Hardy looked the girls over. After all, they had just been through a fight. Earlier, when he saw the girl knocking out a thug, he was quite surprised.
"We're fine," Elena said.
At this moment, Irina, still crying, said, "We have no money now, how can we get back to the university? Do we have to walk back to USC?"
Elena also showed a troubled expression.
Hardy looked at the two girls and said, "My car is not far from here. How about I give you a ride?"
"Wouldn't that be too much trouble?" Elena hesitated.
Irina tugged at her friend and whispered, "Don't refuse. Otherwise, we'll really have to walk back."
Actually, her voice was loud enough for Hardy to hear. He knew Irina did it on purpose, which he found quite amusing.
"Come on, USC is on my way."
Taking the two girls back to the art shop, the owner smiled as he carried out the two boxes of oil paintings. He looked at the two girls but said nothing, he had already seen what had happened outside his store.
Hardy and the shopkeeper went to the car and put the boxes in the trunk.
Irina looked at Hardy's car, her eyes shining even brighter. This man was handsome, could fight, drove such a nice car, and bought such expensive paintings. He must be rich.
In her eyes, he was definitely an ideal boyfriend. Searᴄh the nôvel_Fire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.