Chapter 1030
Nonetheless, after purchasing all the items and loading them onto the small three-wheeled car, she discovered that one of its tires had been removed. An honest-looking young man approached Amelia and said, “Oh, no. Its tires are missing, so you won’t be able to ride it. There’s a repair shop nearby. How about we move it there and have it fixed for you?”
Amelia suddenly recalled a conversation she had with one of the shopkeepers when she had gone to restock her goods at the market carlier. The shopkeeper had mentioned that there had been a surge in incidents involving three-wheeled and electric scooter tires being punctured or removed outside the market, which had made the nearby car repair shop quite popular.
Many people who had visited the car repair shop had been subjected to extortion for money.
Most in the market speculated that the car repair shop was involved, but the surveillance camera positioned outside the market had experienced repeated malfunctions. After being repaired a few times, it broke down once more.
Amelia quickly replied, “It’s fine. I’ll figure out another solution.”
“What other solution? This repair shop is right here. It’s so convenient. We’re offering to help because we’re kind-hearted. Otherwise, it’ll take quite a while for a woman like you to haul this cart to the repair shop with all these items,” the man persisted in his attempts to persuade her.
“No need. I’ll figure it out myself,” Amelia said.
Upon hearing this, the two people abruptly shifted their expressions. Rather than feigning honesty and kindness, they turned fierce and declared, “Don’t force us to resort to the hard way. Your vehicle has to be repaired here!”
They were then prepared to forcibly move Amelia’s tricycle to the repair shop.
Amelia hastily exclaimed, “What do you think you’re doing? I’m calling the police!”
“Fine, go ahead and call the police. You let us help you move your vehicle to the repair shop, and now you’re changing your mind. Hand over 100 dollars, and we’ll be on our way. We can’t do this for free!” the men asserted.
They were practically talking nonsense. Amelia knew that she had met unreasonable jerks.
100 dollars was no small sum for her. She retrieved her phone and intended to call the police. Seeing this, the two men promptly lunged toward her, attempting to snatch the phone from her grasp. Amelia attempted to dodge them, but they suddenly seized her hair and forced her to lean backward.
“Ah!” A startled yelp escaped her mouth.
At that very moment, someone suddenly seized the hand holding Amelia’s hair. “Let her go! I’ve already called the police. The police will arrive shortly! We’ll see who’s in trouble when we’re at the police
station!”
Upon hearing this, the two men spat and uttered fiercely, “What bad luck! You should hope we never cross paths again!”
After uttering those words, they swiftly left. Amelia gazed at the man who had come to her aid. It was
Lucas!
“Thank you, Lucas,” Amelia expressed her gratitude.
“Are you okay? What happened just now?” Lucas asked.
“I’m fine. It’s not a big deal,” Amelia replied, starting to re-tie her hair as she explained the details of the incident.
Lucas gazed at Amelia’s nimble hands as she skillfully tied her hair and couldn’t help but express in a tone of envy, “Women’s fingers are so dexterous. I can’t seem to grasp how to tie my daughter’s hair. Whenever I try to do it for her, I end up making a mess.”
“Just practice a few more times. If you still can’t, I can teach you another day,” she offered.
“Okay, I’ll take you up on that offer,” Lucas replied with a smile. He then added, “The tires of your tricycle must’ve been removed by those two people just now. Some shops are wicked like that. It’s unbelievable.
1/2
09-35
Heartless shops like that usually don’t last long. You have quite a few things with you. Let me give you a ride back.”
“But my tricycle…”
“Give me the keys, and I’ll have my coworkers repair it for you. Once it’s ready, I’ll return it to your place. There’s a tire shop I own right here in the market,” Lucas offered.
“Thank you,” Amelia said, handing the keys to Lucas.
Lucas summoned one of his colleagues and told him about Amelia’s tricycle. Then he helped Amelia load all her belongings into his car and drove her back to the concession stand.
On their way back, Amelia learned from Lucas that he had previously co-owned a shop with his friends. However, their partnership had ended, and he had since rented a store in the market to sell electric vehicles and a variety of related accessories. Additionally, he occasionally received orders for vehicle customizations.
“Actually, running a business alone can be quite beneficial. When working with friends, it’s common for disagreements to arise or for there to be numerous conflicting ideas. Continuing to work under such circumstances can be challenging,” Amelia commented.
“It’s not that there was a disagreement, but…” Lucas appeared somewhat troubled and hesitated to elaborate.
Observing Lucas’ hesitation, Amelia sensed that there might be something he found hard to bring up. Consequently, she chose not to press further and redirected the conversation to a different topic.
When they reached the concession stand, Lucas assisted Amelia in unloading her belongings and offered a warm greeting to Matilda. Upon learning that the store’s water pipe was always blocked, he retrieved some tools from his car and immediately began working on the problem.
“Thank you so much! You drove me back, helped repair my tricycle, and even helped with the water pipe issue,” Amelia expressed her gratitude.
“You’re welcome. I’ll be heading back first. I’ll inform you once your tricycle is repaired,” Lucas said.
“Okay,” Amelia responded.
After Lucas left, Matilda said regretfully, “I must say, Lucas seems like a really nice guy. He was also very kind to Aiden. If you were with Lucas in the past, your life would probably be much better now.”
“Mom, what are you thinking about? Lucas never had feelings for me. A good man like him deserves to be loved and cherished. My heart is too stone-cold. I would only hurt him if we were really together,” Amelia responded.
“It’s just a thought,” Matilda said.
Two days later, Lucas personally brought Amelia’s tricycle back. He happened to run into Aiden when he got off school, and he mentioned that his daughter had been missing Aiden these days. So Matilda took the opportunity to propose that Amelia and Aiden should go with Lucas and his daughter to the amusement park together to relax and have some fun.
“I’ll watch the store. The business here is usually slow on weekends anyway,” Matilda said.
The shop mainly catered to students, so it was relatively quiet on weekends with not many customers.
“If it’s okay with Amelia and Aiden, I’ll take Nadine to the amusement park on the weekend. It’s been a while since I took her there,” Lucas said.
Amelia smiled. “Okay. It’s been a while since Aiden had some fun outside too.”
Amelia could tell that her son was happy about the idea too, as she saw a trace of excitement on his face after she agreed.
