There used to be a big farmer’s market downstairs from Fang Yu’s eighth floor house. Later, the surroundings were renovated, and the market was replaced by a big supermarket. The original farmer’s market was moved to another street, not far away.
This vegetable market was larger than the original one. It was both indoors and outdoors. There were many residential areas nearby. People who lived far and near came here to buy food. There were many people bustling about, buying fresh aquatic products, all kinds of cooked food, and braised snacks. It had everything and was exceptionally lively.
Yang Lei and Fang Yu squeezed into this vegetable market. It was a different scene. Most of the people who bought groceries were uncles and aunts, and most of the young people were young married women. It was rare to see two men who were so well put-together and handsome. Even the vegetable sellers saw them as a novelty.
Fang Yu was used to living alone from childhood to adulthood. There used to be a big vegetable market downstairs from where he lived. As the boss of a big restaurant in the past, he was very familiar with purchasing ingredients and whatnot. Yang Lei was different. From childhood to adulthood, the number of times he entered a vegetable market could be counted on one hand. When he entered the vegetable market, he could only follow behind Fang Yu. Yang Lei had no idea whatsoever about what was fresh, how to choose, or how much to weigh. Fang Yu laughed at him for being a real young master. Yang Lei was defiant. Just as he was about to speak, Fang Yu turned around and took a big red apple that he had just bought, wiped it, and gave it to him. Yang Lei took it and ate the apple quietly, chewing it with relish.
The two of them walked around the sunny outdoor vegetable market, squeezing together along with the crowd. Yang Lei saw that everything looked fresh. When Fang Yu saw something, he would turn his head and ask Yang Lei, “Do you want to eat it?” Yang Lei would say that he wanted to, and Fang Yu would take it. If Yang Lei thought that it was novel and interesting and hadn’t eaten it before, Fang Yu would just buy it. Later, Yang Lei looked at the bags they were carrying. They were all full of the food he liked. Yang Lei said: “Don’t just get what I want to eat.”
“Can’t I feed you?” Fang Yu was determined to nourish Yang Lei.
“What if I get fat?”
“I can carry you,” Fang Yu returned quite quickly.
“Fuck…” Yang Lei’s face was hot.
The two of them strolled as they talked and laughed. The weather was sunny and cool. When Fang Yu came out, he still wore a white dress shirt. It shone brightly under the sun. Even if the two of them were separated by the crowd, Yang Lei could see the white dress shirt at a glance in the crowd. It shone brightly under the sun, so bright that it made Yang Lei feel secure, extremely secure.
It was a kind of true security, just like the warm sunshine under the sky right now, warming Yang Lei’s entire body. He squeezed next to Fang Yu’s side. Fang Yu was afraid that he would be pushed away by the crowd again. He held the groceries with one hand and held Yang Lei’s hand with the other, pulling him to his side.
Yang Lei was stunned. Warmth came from his palm. Fang Yu was very calm as he naturally grabbed him, and Yang Lei tightly held Fang Yu’s hand. They just strolled together like that under the sunshine, among the crowd of people coming and going. Sometimes, Yang Lei would intentionally scrape Fang Yu’s palm, and Fang Yu used his finger to pull him in response to his little movements. In the crowded stream of people, no one noticed their actions. Everyone’s expression and gaze were kind, relaxed, and full of the happiness of ordinary life. Yang Lei and Fang Yu were very open and straightforward. The sun was setting in the west, and golden light fell on them. The two of them were shoulder to shoulder, holding hands under the crowd. If they were swept away slightly by the crowd, Fang Yu would pull Yang Lei back to his side.
Yang Lei smelled all kinds of smells mixed together in the vegetable market, fragrant, spicy, raw, fishy, and more. He had never been to such a place before. Now, he felt a kind of feeling that couldn’t be articulated. Perhaps it was the feeling of longing for it when he was young but not having it, yet pretending not to care after growing up—the feeling of having a home.
What was the feeling of having a home? If Yang Lei were to answer right now, the feeling of having a home would be holding hands with the person he loved and strolling through the vegetable market, carrying the food they were going to eat together when they got back, and even a bunch of hungry brothers waiting for them at home.
Fang Yu bought some fruit. The fruit seller was an older sister who was young. After Fang Yu paid for it, the older sister took many more and insisted on putting them in his bag.
“It’s free. I’m giving it to you. Take it, take it! Next time, come here again!”
The older sister was very enthusiastic, looking at Fang Yu with bright eyes. Fang Yu couldn’t even push it away, and she persistently gave it to him. She was not willing to accept money when he gave it to her. Thus, Fang Yu, who was always nimble and hadn’t been confounded no matter how big the occasion was, was confounded by an older sister who sold vegetables. Yang Lei laughed as he watched from the side.
“Not bad, even when buying groceries, the older sister selling groceries can take a fancy on you. Why are you so likable?” After coming out, Yang Lei laughed at Fang Yu.
“Bullshit. Can’t she attract business?” Fang Yu carried the fruit a little heavily.
“Why doesn’t she attract others?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Gb sbe xcbk ktja Lbcu Bbcu wbnlfr mjii sbe? Pa’r mjiifv…”
Tjcu Ofl fnfc qea bc atf jma bo atlcxlcu jybea la.
“C ijvs xliifg!” Coafg rjslcu la, Tjcu Ofl ijeutfv ibevis!
“Memx!” Mjcu Te megrfv jcv ijeutfv. Tjcu Ofl ralii tjvc’a ijeutfv fcbeut, yea tlr wbeat kjr ujuufv klat jc bgjcuf…
At night, the brothers all came. Most of the meat dishes that Fang Yu and Yang Lei bought were hot. They only made a few simple vegetable dishes. What they ate was not important; what was important was wine. If there were wine, even if they were only eating peanuts, these brothers wouldn’t mind. They didn’t go to a restaurant outside because it was relaxed and comfortable here. It was snug and the house wasn’t big, and they didn’t call too many people. All the people who came were several close old brothers, Lao Liang, Er Hei, Yang-zi, and the others, and Hua Mao was also invited. Currently, Er Hei’s small company was also made lively. Both Lao Liang and Er Hei worked with Fang Yu. Only Hua Mao was still on the streets. Hua Mao didn’t attend to the Jiangbei territory when he was in prison, but once he came out, it didn’t take him long to recover the lost land. He dealt with Mr. Mei, who wanted to occupy his territory in Jiangbei, until he didn’t dare to say anything. Hua Mao was now the number one in Jiangbei. He was the only one still staying longer and longer on the gangster path, but Hua Mao wasn’t messing around for nothing. Right now, he had opened Internet cafes, arcades, and was still doing gambling machine business in the open and in the dark. He was living quite comfortably.
Other than a few sneaky blows from Mr. Mei sometimes, other times, Hua Mao was becoming more and more like a businessman. After all, in Jiangbei, there were few people who dared to provoke him. Without a fight, Hua Mao was quite lonely. Fortunately, Hua Mao was not a cultured person. If he were a cultured person, he would probably open his mouth and say, “An expert, as lonely as snow.”
Right now, the brothers had arrived at Fang Yu’s place, just like they had arrived at their own house. They drank wine without restriction, ate without restriction, and were noisy without restriction. In the golden years of the past when they were gangsters, Fang Yu’s eighth-floor house was originally like a base for the brothers. Later, after so many years had passed and so many things had happened, Jianghai had changed so much, and people on the streets and off the streets had changed. Fang Yu’s house seemed to have kept the brothers’ roots and kept the flavor of Jianghu of the past. These people were still those people, and the feelings were still the feelings of the past. In this era, that was already rare and valuable.
So when these brothers didn’t want to get together outside, they still liked coming here. Fang Yu and Yang Lei bought this house together, and the brothers didn’t think it was strange. Although this was an old house, it wasn’t about the house. What they reminisced about was the past of bygone days. This past, to all of them, occupied an important place in their lives. This was their youth, with their countless amazing memories, and the people and things they couldn’t forget.
“Lei-zi, are you almost as tan as me? It looks like I can’t keep my name for much longer!” Er Hei shouted once he saw Yang Lei.
Er Hei was famous for his dark skin. Otherwise, where did his nickname come from? But Yang Lei drilled and exercised in the army every day. It would be strange if he weren’t tan.
“Can I be the same as you? Yours is called black and mine is called bronze. Do you understand?” Yang Lei was bantering with Er Hei. “Keep that name for yourself. No one will take it from you.”
“Even if you wanted to take it, I wouldn’t give it? Don’t just see that I’m dark. My wife likes me like this. If I’m not dark enough, she won’t be willing to go to bed with me!”
When a group of men were together, they said anything openly. The room full of brothers laughed loudly!
“Da Ge, what urgent matter did you attend to this afternoon? I went to sign the contract and they asked me for a long time why didn’t General Manager Fang come? Even if I pretended not to know, I didn’t know what to say. I just said… you went on a blind date!”
Lao Liang’s voice was loud. The contract signing in the afternoon was big business. Fang Yu asked him to sign the contract for him. Fang Yu said that he was busy and couldn’t go. The other party asked, and Lao Liang didn’t know what Fang Yu was doing. In the end, he blurted out such a statement.
“Only you could!” In the laughter of the brothers, Fang Yu kicked Lao Liang.
“Can you blame me?” Lao Liang was greatly aggrieved. “You didn’t say what you were doing. When they ask me, what do you want me to say? If I randomly said something that’s not important enough, wouldn’t I offend them?”
Lao Liang was quite proud of himself. In critical moments, he was quite smart.
“Da Ge, just what did you do? What was so important?” Lao Liang was also a curious baby.
Fang Yu leaned against the sofa, his long legs crossed, holding a cigarette. With his brothers, Fang Yu was comfortable and relaxed.
“Urgent matters.” Fang Yu only gave two words.
Lao Liang wondered that, even if it was an urgent matter, why didn’t Da Ge’s expression look like it was something troublesome? He even glanced at Lei-zi. Why was he smiling so attractively at Lei-zi?
“Make way, make way.” Lao Liang went over and pushed away the brothers sitting by Fang Yu’s side. He sat down next to Fang Yu and took out his mobile phone.
Lao Liang pulled up a picture on his phone. Without saying much more, he showed it to Fang Yu.
In the picture was a very beautiful girl. She was very pretty and classy.
“Look.” Lao Liang pushed the mobile phone into Fang Yu’s hands.
“Sweetheart?” Fang Yu asked and looked at it, “Good looking. Your new hook up?”
“Good looking, right? Not bad, right?” Lao Liang put his cigarette butt in his mouth and pressed buttons. “Then I’ll make a call.”
“Wait a minute.” What kind of person was Fang Yu? He held down Lao Liang’s phone. “What do you mean?”
“Ha ha, Ge, when I told the boss of Tiancheng that you went on a blind date, do you know what the boss said? He heard that you were still single and became enthusiastic! Look, this is his niece. He told me to show her to you. If you are satisfied, have a meal together next time and meet up!”
Lao Liang was happy. His casual remark today may have found him a sister-in-law. She had a good family background and good appearance, and was worthy of his Da Ge. Could Lao Liang not be happy?
Cough… Yang Lei nearly choked on a mouthful of wine. Yang-zi patted his back: “Lei-zi, you should slow down. You’re not the one being introduced. What are you getting excited about?”
All the brothers in the room were amused.
“Lao Liang, have you changed professions? When did you work as a matchmaker?”
Yang Lei’s words were teasing, but his tone didn’t carry any of it.
“Lei-zi, don’t worry. This time, it’s Da Ge first. Wait for next time.” Lao Liang had become addicted to matchmaking.
“Da Ge, it’s time you found a companion,” Er Hei said. All the brothers in the room nodded.
Although these brothers were not very clear about what happened to Fang Yu and Ying-zi back then, they knew that they had never married. Not only did they not marry, they even knew that it wasn’t what they thought. Fang Yu and Ying-zi had actually never been together. Fang Yu didn’t tell his brothers why he went to the south back then, and he stopped Yang Lei, who wanted to tell the truth of those three years several times.
Fang Yu thought long term. Fang Yu didn’t intend on letting the other brothers know about three years in Li County prison, other than Hua Mao, who knew about it. He told Yang Lei and laid stress on it.
He knew the temper of these brothers. Yang Dahai was Yang Lei’s father. This knot was always in Yang Lei’s heart. Although Yang Lei didn’t say it aloud, he still suffered from it in the depths of his heart. Fang Yu would untie it for Yang Lei sooner or later, untying it between father and son. In those three years, where he was and how he was doing, were not important. What was important was that he didn’t regret it. He was calm. He would certainly not let this knot lie between Yang Lei and his brothers.
Because he knew that Fang Yu was actually always single, Er Hei, Lao Liang, and the others couldn’t bear to see that Fang Yu was still alone. They asked Fang Yu, and Fang Yu said he had one. He told them not to worry about it. But they never saw Fang Yu bring anyone with him. Especially Lao Liang, seeing the pretty young girls inside and outside the company revolving around Fang Yu, who had Fang Yu looked in the eyes? He really didn’t know what his Da Ge was looking for.
It was strange that Lei-zi was the same as their Da Ge. He also didn’t date. But it was justifiable that Lei-zi was in the army and didn’t have time or opportunity to date. Their Da Ge was different. Therefore, these brothers were deeply concerned about their future sister-in-law.
Lao Liang, Hei-zi, and several others knew about Fang Yu’s worries in the past. They knew why Da Ge hadn’t dated all along. It was because he was a gangster in the past. Today, he didn’t know about tomorrow, and he didn’t want to hold up girls from good families. But now, they were already no longer gangsters. As the younger brothers, they couldn’t watch as their Da Ge didn’t have someone by his side meticulously caring for him and warming his bed. They should make arrangements for him, so that he could have a proper family.
So Lao Liang wanted to pull strings with this girl, but Fang Yu spoke.
“Lao Liang, arrange a time for me to have a meal with General Manager Liu and prepare a gift. I will apologize for my absence today. About his niece, I will thank him personally and explain.” Fang Yu spoke.
“Da Ge, you don’t like her?” Lao Liang realized what Fang Yu meant.
“Don’t mess around in the future. I’ve long had one,” Fang Yu said.
“Where are they? Why have we never met?” None of the brothers believed it.
“You have.”
The brothers looked at each other.
“I brought them to see Jiu Ge. In front of Jiu Ge’s grave, I brought them for Jiu Ge to see. In my heart, I’ve gotten married.”
The brothers were all silent. When Fang Yu said this, everyone knew what the significance was.
“I told Jiu Ge, in this lifetime, I will only accept this one.”
…Yang Lei looked at Fang Yu. In the room full of brothers, Fang Yu also looked at him.
“If there is a next lifetime, it will still be them,” Fang Yu said.
The two of them looked at each other across the space. Yang Lei didn’t speak, but there was a wave of heat in his eyes, rushing straight to the rims of his eyes…
Later, when the brothers really knew everything, how they knew and what their reaction was, that was another story.
Yang Lei was a soldier. Soldiers had the influence of soldiers. Fang Yu wouldn’t let him be affected. He would tell his brothers at the right time. Openly and honestly, before the brothers, before Yang Lei’s parents, and before Jiu Ge.
This was something that Fang Yu had set his mind on. It was just one sentence. Falling to the ground, it was one sentence. Falling in his heart, it was a lifetime.
Fang yu ia going to make me cry once again T-T
Thank you for the chapter 💕
Thank you.
Fang Yu is such a great character, brave, loyal, mature, loving and caring. I don’t blame any girls and guys for falling in ❤️ with him.
How beautiful. Fang Yu, I love you too!
Awww those last few sentences were so touching and endearing!! Thanks for the chapter!!
Thank you so much for translating the extras. This is the kind of closure that I need, a life of peace and harmony for both of them.