Lu Yan didn’t just choke on the cigarette smoke in his mouth – he had also received a faceful of vehicle odor from the modified car owned by that surname Xiao.
Dajin Chain followed Lu Yan out, and together, they stood at the entrance of the Seventh District, watching the vehicle as it drove far away. The rear wing of the car looked like it had grown wings. He elbowed Lu Yan: “Xiongdi, what happened? Did you take the wrong person into custody?”
Lu Yan’s mood was quite complicated.
Kidnapped the wrong individual?
Was it actually a misunderstanding?
“Wei-ge.” Lu Yan recalled the incident back in the corridor moments ago, feeling ashamed for having involved an unrelated and innocent individual. He even felt a bit apologetic towards that person, even if that person had no manners at all, cursing them ‘murder pop punk’.
He sighed, extinguishing the cigarette in his hand, and said to Wei-ge, “Let me borrow your vehicle. I’ll go after them to apologize.”
Hearing the word ‘vehicle’, Wei-ge suddenly flared up. If thorns were growing on his body, then every single one of them would’ve been nervously straightened up: “Other affairs, ge can promise you, anything but the vehicle!”
The so-called vehicle Lu Yan had referred to was actually a motorbike.
Wei-ge is the eldest brother in the building. He works at a rent collection company, usually doing businesses that involved licking blood off a dagger’s tip. On his right arm, there were four conscientious characters tattooed on them: ‘In debt, bill repayment.’ Before the Seventh District was demolished, he served on the community-organized women’s alliance committee. A guy who was both tender and tough, he earned quite the reputation in the building.
That motorbike is among the most valuable in Wei-ge’s belongings.
Black in color, ranging exterior, with a four-cylinder engine – he even treats those two motorbikes like they’re his sons.
Lu Yan: “Are we still brothers?”
Wei-ge was desperate: “You almost ravaged my motorbike the last time you drove it out!”
“Almost, but isn’t it still not battered?”
“If it really was battered, then it’s going to be unfortunate! Because if it really was battered, you wouldn’t even be here. The grass on your tombstone would’ve grown to two meters in length by now.”
Lu Yan straightforwardly snatched the keyring placed on Wei-ge’s waist: “This time, I’ll definitely be safe and careful, especially at the high expense of our Wei-ge’s vehicle… thanks.”
“Seriously,” Wei-ge recalled back to the ‘car accident’ from last time, “You even almost crashed into a wall at that time. I witnessed it with my own two eyes.”
Lu Yan stayed silent this time.
He lowered his slight, setting his gaze on the ring of keys for a while, and smirked: “My hands just slipped.”
Wei-ge didn’t take him seriously and asked: “Do you even know which way they went? Can you chase them down?”
“There’s only a few streets in this district.” Lu Yan hooked the keyring with his finger, swinging it around as he strolled away. “I’ll try my luck.”
Facts prove that Lu Yan’s luck is actually passable.
This must be the first time the young master has been here. Eight to nine out of ten vehicles had navigation systems set up, and he planned to drive according to the route provided by this system. Not long after he drove through a few intersections, he came across a familiar modified vehicle… the car was parked fifty meters away from the triangular warning sign.
Xiao Heng thought that he shouldn’t have forgotten to check the fortune calendar today before heading out the door, because if not for his luck, then why would this short ten-minute trip create this many surprises for him?
“Big bro,” Di Zhuangzhi spoke up cautiously, “did the car really malfunction?”
Xiao Heng: “Maybe it’s just a bit exhausted. Let’s leave it to sit for a while.”
Di Zhuangzhi touched his nose, knowing that he asked such an obvious question. “When will the tow truck arrive?”
“Around half an hour.” Xiao Heng folded his hands and prayed.
In this place, there’s neither a village in front nor a supermarket behind them. On their left is an old residential district, and on their right is an abandoned fruit garden.
Dehydrated by the weather, exposed to the wind, and scorched by the sun.
The two guys endured it all and sat in the car to waste away time.
“In the past, I didn’t even know that such a place existed in our city,” Di Zhuangzi said. “Just now, I wasted half a day searching for a grocery store, and guess what the store actually sells... Wangzai powered milk drink.”
Xiao Heng thought, I also heard someone who can actually play the guitar so awfully, it’s almost abuse.
I also met a ‘murder pop punk’.
And even fought once in some corridor out there.
“Oh, by the way, did you find that person?” Di Zhuanghi recalled their main purpose for coming to Xiacheng District. “What did that woman mention? She shouldn’t know that your dad’s not planning to keep this child... That’s his own blood and flesh, is he truly that heartless?”
Di Zhuangzhi hadn't finished his sentence yet when Xiao Heng’s phone screen lit up.
Three characters appeared on the phone screen: Xiao Qishan.
Xiao Heng didn’t answer the call.
Di Zhuangzhi wanted to ask why he didn’t answer the call, but with a single glance at the screen, he understood the situation.
Xiao Qishan.
There seemed to be an evil aura surrounding those three characters. The anxiety that Xiao Heng had suppressed up until now finally couldn’t be covered up anymore, and it nearly swallowed him up entirely, sucking all the oxygen in his lungs dry.
That man’s imposing and cold-blooded speech might just seep out through the phone screen.
Xiao Heng, why did I give birth to a good for-nothing like you…?
A Good for-nothing.
Slowly, he felt like he couldn’t breathe, his fingertips becoming dry to its bone, scorched as though it had been set ablaze.
Parched and dehydrated.
Like a cigarette addict.
No one spoke up. For a few moments, it was silent inside the car, until suddenly, someone from outside knocked on their car window. They carried an improper Chinese accent as they seemed to ask in concern: “Little brother, did your car break down? There’s an auto-repair station ahead. How about I help you phone them?”
Xiao Heng lowered the car window.
A male stranger arched over to speak to them from outside the car window, dressed in a grey construction overalls. He also had a scar on his face.
“Thanks, but I already phoned them.” At this moment, Xiao Heng neither wished to chat with other people nor was he in the mood to do so. However, the other person didn’t seem to have any intentions of leaving, so he asked, “Is there anything else?”
Ba Dao1 glared closely at the wristwatch Xiao Heng was wearing through the car window, sneakily glancing around the vehicle’s interior, and then gleefully replied: “I saw this car from a distance and found it quite familiar. I also once owned a car similar to this.”
[1]: The guy from chapter one.
Ba Dao then began a speech about his precious car, telling him of how he drove it through various regions. He then abruptly changed the topic, his tone turning sorrowful: “But the car is long gone. I gave it away. Don’t judge me by my appearance, I once even opened a food production business factory, and it’s still considered very splendid... But later on, I figured out that wealth is all but what is truly important.”
All that talk about starting from scratch to establishing a splendid business had suddenly disappeared in the middle.
“So what if you’re wealthy? Money’s not gonna save you from feeling desolate no matter what. You won’t find your true purpose in life, and you’ll only get lost in the crossflow of material desire.
“So instead, I now focus all my efforts on charity business, assisting isolated desert lands and giving to impoverished children in the faraway mountains a chance to go to school.” Ba Dao pulled out a mobile phone, tapping two to three times on Baidu, and showed an image of a run-down classroom that couldn’t even withstand the winds and storms. “Look, this was the poor children’s study environment, don’t you feel distress, or heartache?”
Di Zhuangzhi froze for a moment, focusing his gaze on the image, and then nodded: “This school environment sure does look like it’s in rather a poor condition.”
Xiao Heng: “…..”
“That’s true. Witnessing children with dreams and aspirations to face the storm that drenched their wings, moving forward with a heavy burden.”
Ba Dao patted Di Zhuangchi on his shoulder. When it came to the emotional parts, his speech became dominant and powerful: “So, I am even more determined to carry forth my goodwill! The most crucial thing in life is to flourish your wealth. There are many things in the world that are more meaningful than wealth, little brother. Now, I have three charity projects on hand...”
Ba Dao spoke as he held up three fingers.
Ba Dao was just about to introduce those charity projects in detail when he heard a familiar voice speak from behind him: “Still haven’t crippled enough fingers yet?”
Lu Yan sat on the motorbike with one foot on the ground, halting exactly behind Ba Dao.
He had slender legs, and he looked as if he was deliberately trying to find an angle to post for a camera.
“Those who don’t have money say that they will lead people to flourish through giving their wealth, yet somehow, they still lack the money for donating to charity,” The person posing in front of the camera said. “Such ideas, such ideas. You deserve to be praised.”
Di Zhuangzhi, who was still immersed in the scene of impoverished children with dreams to follow and the storms that drenched them, suddenly realized: “You’re a scammer?”
Ba Dao felt like Lu Yan was the huge, unavoidable curse in his scamming career.
A hurdle that cannot be jumped over.
A barricade that cannot be upturned.
Ba Dao’s voice started to quiver: “Why is it you again, haven’t you messed around enough? Did I dig your grave in your past life?!”
Lu Yan finds this sentence rather agreeable: “Perhaps we are truly fated.”
This didn’t really appease Ba Dao, but he also didn’t dare to fight one-on-three, so he peered to his left, then to his right, and soon shrank back and escaped through another road.
Lu Yan glanced at the people in the car: “Xiao...” He had no idea how to address that person, so after saying ‘Xiao’, he didn’t continue anymore.
Despite this, Xiao Heng got off the car, reaching out just in time to shut the door before Du Zhuangzhi, who wanted to watch the brewing commotion between the two, could even go out.
Di Zhuangzhi’s forehead smashed against the car door: “The f*ck!”
Xiao Heng: “You remain in the car.”
“Apologies for that just then.” Lu Yan said as he faced him. “It was all a misunderstanding.”
Lu Yan watched his expression, which seemed to exude a feeling of ‘you’re not worth my attention,’ thinking that this short-tempered young master wouldn’t think much of it.
Lu Yan waited for three seconds.
The other party still didn’t show any signs of acknowledgement.
The atmosphere was still really awkward. Lu Yan caress his nose and said, “601 is truly not at home today. If it’s something urgent, I’ll wait until she comes back and I’ll remind her of it.”
Looks like this drama scene of theirs was destined to be a one-man scene, since the other party continued to ignore him. Lu Yan was just about to depart, not expecting that the other would actually curtly reply: “No need.”
Lu Yan felt that his first impression of this person really was accurate: a bad temperament, and was extremely distant.
Anyway, they aren’t familiar with each other, and what needed to be said had already been said, so Lu Yan decided to not question any further. “Alright... Is your car okay?”
Suddenly, in the middle of the conversation, an unknown vibrating sound suddenly interrupted them.
Buzz.
Buzzing….
Xiao Heng tried to pinpoint where the source of the vibration was, and his gaze landed on Lu Yan’s leg that was treading on the ground.
He wore jeans today, so the vibration was probably from a mobile phone, which was located around his upper thigh. It made the sound quite perceptible.
Lu Yan took a long time to fish out his mobile phone.
It’s Wei-ge.
Not even five minutes have passed since he drove the motorbike out, yet Wei-ge was getting impatient on the phone: “Did you catch up to them yet, little guy? If you can’t reach them then just give up. Is my motorbike still alright?”
“I’ve reached them, what else can happen?” Lu Yan said. “Your son is my son too. I didn’t step on the accelerator often, even the scooter bikes are faster than me... Alright, I’ll return immediately.”
Wei-ge blabbered for a while, then finally hung up.
Lu Yan put his mobile phone back, nodding to Xiao Heng as he looked at him, and then told him again: “Truly, I am apologetic for today’s events.”
Once he finished speaking, he stepped on the accelerator, turning back to the direction of the Seventh District.
Translator: Piggybank
Editor(s): Rum, Muku
Proofreader: Rae