Under The Veil of Night

Chapter 23 People in This City

On the weekend, Kanae would go to the store and work from morning until afternoon. She chose to work full day on the Saturday, so she could get a rest tomorrow. Today the store was rather empty in the morning. She has quite a lot of time to rest.
"Old Man, I'm hungry," Kanae said with a grin.
A light tap to her forehead was what she got to ask for food. The Old Man already gave her the breakfast, so he would not give her food anymore before it was the time for lunch break.
"You're going to make me lost a lot of money, little girl."
Kanae caressed her forehead. "I'm hungry, Old Man."
"You already say that a few times," the Old Man rolled his eyes. If only she was not his employee and he was fond of her, he might have thrown her out from the store.
Kanae took a seat near the counter. "There are fewer customers lately."
"Some new gangs are formed lately," the Old Man answered immediately. He took out a few newspapers and placed them in front of Kanae.
"You might find them interesting."
"Let me see," Kanae picked it up and saw the headline was about the recent gangs attack. Aside from the school, they also attacked some other places and each of them was listed here. Other school was also not spared from the attack from the gangs.
Based on the interview the reporters did with the police, they concluded that there were a lot of new gangs formed lately. Those whom they managed to catch were mostly new people they have never seen before. They didn't know why the number increased, so they were trying their best to investigate more.
"There is a lot of news lately," Kanae flipped the newspaper. Most of the news was about the attack that happened.
"It'll only take time before those gangs clash with the established clans," the Old Man shook his head lightly. When that time came, there would hardly be any peace for them.
Kanae nodded her head. "From the news, that's very likely."
"Do you think your place is going to be safe, little girl?"
Considering that her place was being guarded like that, Kanae doubted that anyone would try to barge in. Although her house was a simple run down building on the back of a big mansion, she knew that it was very unlikely for anyone to trespass. At most, the one who would come to bother her was her cousin.
There were a lot of guards guarding the mansion of Nali Family. After all, they were one of the wealthiest families in this city, so it was obvious that they would not slack off in this matter.
"I doubt there's going to be anyone who attacks the place," Kanae answered reassuringly.
The Old Man nodded his head. He didn't know what kind of place Kanae had, but he knew that it must be very ordinary. After all, if she was not poor, why would she come to him for job?
At that time a few men came to the store. Looking at their build and appearance, Kanae tensed up almost immediately. They were all big guys and even if they didn't bring any weapon, there might be some hidden ones. Besides, their clothes were not fashionable.
"Old Man," the first person greeted. "How are you doing? You have been staying in this store for a long time."
"Long time no see," the Old Man smiled widely and walked toward the group of men. He shook their hands one by one before started talking about various things.
Kanae was rather dumbfounded, but she tactfully moved to the back. She didn't know them, and she didn't want to barge into their conversation when it was unneeded. She and Old Man were merely friends, but before that they were strangers.
If it was not because the Old Man saw her holding a sheet while looking for job on the street, she would not be here. She didn't know much about the Old Man and she was not going to barge into his life without his permission like that.
The conversation didn't last long before the leader of the group noticed Kanae on the back.
"Old Man, I don't know you have a daughter," he said jokingly.
The Old Man laughed. "She's not my daughter. She's an employee who works in this store."
Hearing that, the leader was surprised. He stared at the Old Man, but the Old Man merely shook his head. With that gesture, he understood that the Old Man didn't wish for the girl to know much more.
"Do you want to talk with her?" the Old Man looked to the back and beckoned Kanae to come closer. "Kanae, this is my old friend, Ryan. Ryan, this is the best employee I have, Kanae."
"Nice to meet you Mr. Ryan," Kanae greeted politely.
Ryan shook the girl's hand. "Nice to meet you too, Kanae."
"He's my old acquaintances, so he's quite rigid," the Old Man laughed. Based on appearance alone, that statement was quite hard to believe. However, Kanae knew that the Old Man looked older compared to his real age, so that word was actually quite believable.
"How's the Old Man here, Kanae?" Ryan chose to change the conversation.
"He's very diligent," Kanae answered. "He's also very kind."
Hearing that, Ryan almost choked. "You call this annoying Old Man kind? I can't believe what you feed to her head to make her call you like that voluntary."
The Old Man laughed. "You don't need to know."
They talked for quite long before customers started to pour in, so Kanae didn't have the time to joke around anymore. Ryan waited on the side and occasionally ordered the noodle, which the Old Man answered with a grunt, but he still made them. All in all, his appearance made the store became even livelier.
"I'm going to close the store earlier today, you can go home first, Kanae."
Kanae nodded her head. She bid her farewell to the Old Man and Ryan. Although she still wondered who he was, she didn't try to dig deeper. In this city, each person has something they hid from other people. She was not that close with the Old Man, so she would not dig deeper into his life.
When she already disappeared from the view, Ryan looked towards the Old Man and asked.
"Her hand is quite hard. Where do you find someone like her?" he asked curiously.
"She's wandering on the street holding a job searching sheet from newspaper," the Old Man answered. "She looks like a good girl, so I give the offer for her to work for me in this store."
Ryan nodded his head. "Have you asked about her condition?"
"No, there's no need to ask about her past and everything," the Old Man shook his head. "Let's go, you didn't come just to taste my noodle again, right?"
"Hahaha, you're right. Let's go."