The electric wheels ran over the takeout soup stains on the ground. I cursed and didn't even have time to brake.
A group of people gathered in front of me, blocking the entrance of the alley. I honked the horn twice, but no one paid any attention to me. When I looked around, I saw three yellow-haired gangsters surrounding an old lady. The leader kicked over the foam box in front of her.
"Old lady, you didn't hear that this street collects protection fees, did you?"
The old lady was hunched over, and there were plastic bottles scattered on the ground. She tremblingly tried to bend down to pick them up, but the yellow guy kicked them again, and the box flew directly into the middle of the road. A truck ran over and shattered into pieces with a click.
I looked at the takeout hanging on the handlebars, and there were still twelve minutes left for the timeout. Twenty yuan will be deducted for each overtime order, and I am still three hundred short of this month's rent.
But I'm already off.
"Hey." I put the electric bike up and walked over, "What's the point of bullying an old man?"
The three gangsters turned to look at me. The leader looked up and down at my takeout clothes and sneered: "How dare a takeout delivery guy meddle in other people's business?"
I took off my helmet, hung it on the handlebar, walked over and helped the old lady up. She was very thin, her arms were as thin as matchsticks, and she was wearing an old cotton-padded jacket that had been washed white, and the cuffs were frayed. She grabbed my hand and I felt her fingers were cold.
"Young man, leave me alone, go away." Her voice was so hoarse that it was almost inaudible.
"I won't take care of this matter for now." I stood in front of the old lady and said to the yellow guy, "Either get out or call the police."
