Not So Confident

Yi Fei was aimlessly walking on the busy streets of Shanghai. She popped in her hot pink earbuds and started nodding off to some lofi hip-hop music. The sight of the limitless sea of people walking past her was unusually sedative, the faces easily vague and unrecognized. Suddenly, Yi Fei vocalized a distressed groan, her cut hand brushing against someone's expensive handbag. Small marks of blood stained the bag's strap. The owner hastily looked at the bag and noticed the red marks instantly.

"Brat! This is crocodile skin!" A wheezy, tight voice screamed into Yi Fei's ears. The old grandma firmly grabbed Yi Fei's hand, pressing her unwashed skin into the large cuts. Yi Fei immediately winced at the sudden pain, instinctively trying to escape from the secured grasp. "You trying to run away after dirtying it?!"

Yi Fei looked up and tried to explain herself, but the grandma continued to deafeningly scream in her left ear. A few people were starting to take notice, and they started to stare at Yi Fei with distaste.

"Pay me back! Call your parents right now and pay me back!" The grandma squeezed Yi Fei's hand even more tightly. "This is a limited edition brand bag! There are only 500 in the world!!"

"N-no, I—" Yi Fei meekly spoke.

The grandma's face was puckered and ragged, her sagging cheeks moving up and down as spit flew out of her mouth. A middle-aged man naturally approached the scene, calming down the grandma and sharply glaring at the kid in front of her.

"Kid, just pay up. Own up to your mistakes," The man commanded. "You shouldn't have been carrying opened sauce in your hand."

"Yeah, brat!" The grandma angrily shouted, shrugging off the man's hands on her lowered shoulders.

Yi Fei's eyes quivered left and right, her left hand shrieking in pain. It felt like it was burning, and small tears were coming out of her eyes—which others regarded as regret for messing up the old lady's bag. With irrational difficulty, she slowly reached for her Nokia phone and convulsed as her shaky fingers pressed the buttons on the phone one by one. The bacteria were entering her wounds at a fast pace, and Yi Fei couldn't handle it any longer.

"Hello?" A gruff voice squeaked.

The old lady furiously grabbed the phone out of Yi Fei's hand and screamed, "This is the parent?! Your bratty daughter just ruined my bag and I want you to refund me! Come down to Cloud Street right now!"

"My daughter...?" The voice on the phone asked. "I don't have a daughter..."

"What are you saying?!" The grandma bellowed. "Are you trying to get out of this?! I have your phone number and I'll report your daughter and you to the police! You better come here right now or else I'm going to sue you for 50 million yuan!"

"No... I really don't have a daughter," He said back, a little confused.

"You have Alzheimer's at your age?!" She scolded. "Here! Your daughter can talk to you but you better be here quick! This lady has no time to mess around!"

The lady savagely passed the old phone to Yi Fei, finally letting go of her hand.

"H-hello?" Yi Fei's voice rattled, her long fingers staggeringly holding onto the phone.

"You sound familiar... care to tell this uncle your name?" The man on the phone asked.

"Y-yi... fei," She gulped. "I'm the trainee... from yes-yesterday?"

"Oh!" He chortled. "You got yourself in some trouble, didn't you?"

"Yes..." Yi Fei muttered, glancing down on her excessively bleeding hand.

"Okay, I'll be right there," Owner Huo politely laughed. "You better pay this old uncle back later."

Yi Fei felt comforted by his assurance. Even while the grandma continued to scream and argue, Yi Fei didn't feel so scared anymore. Owner Huo was going to help her.

'He's really a good person,' Yi Fei thought.

What Yi Fei didn't know was that... paying back wasn't always in terms of money.