Besides getting choked by the smoke in his mouth, Lu Yan also received a faceful of exhaust fumes from that guy’s modified car.
The man with the big gold chain followed Lu Yan out and stood at the entrance of Area Seven, staring at the car driving into the distance. The rear wings of the car looked like pairs of wings. He touched Lu Yan with his elbow: “What’s going on, bro? Did you arrest the wrong person?”
Lu Yan’s mood was very complicated.
Arrested the wrong person?
Is this really a misunderstanding?
“Wei ge,” Lu Yan recalled the argument in the corridor just now and felt a bit embarrassed for having involved an innocent person, although the person was very rude and cursed ‘shamate’ every sentence.
He extinguished the cigarette in his hand and sighed, saying to the big gold chain man, “Lend me your car. I’ll catch up and apologize.”
If there were thorns in Wei ge’s body, they would have exploded when they heard the word “car”. Every thorn stood up nervously: “Ge can promise you anything else, just not the car!”
The car Lu Yan was talking about was a motorcycle.
Wei ge was the big boss in the building and worked at a debt collection company, usually involved in gritty business similar to licking blood off the edge of a knife. On his right arm was a tattoo with four contentious characters: ‘Debts must be repaid.’ Before the seventh district was dismantled, he served in the spontaneously organized Women’s Joint Committee, showcasing a balance of strength and gentleness. A man of both firmness and flexibility, he earned quite the reputation in the building.
That motorcycle is one of the most valuable assets in Wei ge’s limited possessions.
Black with a horizontal exterior and equipped with a four-cylinder engine, he usually treats that motorcycle like his own son.
Lu Yan said, “Aren’t we xiongdi?”
Unable to contain his anger, Wei ge responded, “The last time you took my car out, it almost got wrecked!”
“Almost, but it didn’t, right?”
“If it got wrecked, I wouldn’t be here anymore! You’d probably have grass growing two meters tall on your grave by now.”
Lu Yan directly snatched the keys tied to Wei ge’s waist. “This time, I’ll drive carefully and remember that life is precious. My brother Wei ge’s car is even more valuable… Thanks.”
“Seriously,” Recalling the last ‘accident,’ Wei ge said, “What happened that day? I watched you almost crash into the wall.”
Lu Yan fell silent this time.
He lowered his gaze, focusing on the keychain. After a while, he smiled and said, “Slippery hands.”
Wei ge couldn’t do anything about him and continued, “Do you know where they went? You should follow them.”
“There are only a couple of roads that lead to the city center. It’s a matter of luck,” Lu Yan said, hooking the keychain with his finger and turning it as he walked, making a clinking sound. “Let’s see what luck brings.”
As it turned out, Lu Yan’s luck was not bad indeed.
The young master was definitely here for the first time. Nine out of ten cars had a navigation system, and Lu Yan planned on following that route. After driving through a few intersections, he saw that familiar modified car… parked fifty meters away from a triangular warning sign.
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.
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Wljb Lfcu gfqilfv, “Pa wluta pera yf algfv ogbw gecclcu, ifa la ajxf j ygfjx.”
Zhai Zhuangzhi touched his nose, realizing he asked a foolish question. “When will the tow truck arrive, then?”
“About half an hour,” Xiao Heng said, pressing his temple.
The place was in the middle of nowhere, with an old residential area on the left and an abandoned orchard on the right.
Under the scorching sun and high temperatures, the two brothers in distress had no choice but to sit in the car to pass the time.
“I really didn’t know such a place existed in our city,” Zhai Zhuangzhi said. “I wandered around for a while before finding a small grocery store. Do you know what they sell there? I saw ‘Wangzi Milk’ for the first time.”
Xiao Heng thought, “I’ve never heard someone play the guitar so badly before.”
It was the first time he saw a shamate.
And it was definitely the first time he fought with someone in a hallway.
“By the way, did you find the person?” Zhai Zhuangzhi remembered the main purpose of their trip to Xiacheng District. “What did the girl say? She can’t possibly know that your dad doesn’t intend to raise the child and is dumping it on your family… Is she really that heartless to her own flesh and blood?”
Zhai Zhuangzhi just finished speaking when Xiao Heng’s phone screen began to flash.
Three words appeared on the screen: Xiao Qishan.
Xiao Heng didn’t answer.
Zhai Zhuangzhi wanted to ask why he wasn’t answering, but a glimpse of the screen told him what was going on.
Xiao Qishan.
Those three words seemed to possess a magical power. The emotions that Xiao Heng was suppressing since he left, the ones he couldn’t push back no matter how hard he tried, suddenly surged up. It was almost as if they were about to engulf him, and all the air in his chest was squeezed out in an instant.
The man’s solemn and emotionless words seemed to pierce through the screen.
“Xiao Heng, why did I give birth to such a useless son like you?”
Useless.
He gradually felt as if he couldn’t breathe, and the tips of his fingers became unusually restless, a restlessness similar to being burned by a fire.
Dry and scorching.
Like a cigarette addict.
No one spoke, and the car remained quiet for a few minutes. Then, someone outside knocked on their car window. Speaking with a slight accent, the person asked, “Little bro, did your car break down? There’s an auto repair shop ahead. Do you want me to help you make a call?”
Xiao Heng lowered the car window.
Outside was a stranger wearing gray overalls with a scar on his face.
“Thanks, we’ve already made the call,” In his current state, Xiao Heng didn’t feel like talking to anyone, but the man showed no intention of leaving. He asked again, “Is there anything else?”
Scar looked closely at the wristwatch Xiao Heng was wearing through the car window and sneakily glanced around the car’s interior. He then gleefully replied: “I saw this car from a distance and found it quite familiar. I also once owned a car similar to this.”
Scar began talking about his former car, recounting how he traveled all over the country with it. Then, his tone suddenly changed into something nostalgic: “But the car is long gone, I donated it. Don’t judge me by my appearance, I used to own a successful food processing factory…but then I realized that wealth is just something external.”
A substantial portion of his speech about starting from scratch to achieving business success was omitted.
“Having money, so what?” Scar continued. “More money only makes people feel emptier. Unable to find the true meaning of life, they became lost in the pursuit of material desires.”
“So now, bro, I’ve shifted all my focus to charity work, helping in desert greening projects, sponsoring education for impoverished children in mountainous areas,” Scar took out his phone, quickly opened Baidu, and found a photo showing a dilapidated classroom that couldn’t withstand the wind or rain. “Take a look. This is the learning environment for impoverished children. Does it make you feel uncomfortable? Does it break your heart?”
Zhai Zhuangzhi listened attentively, his gaze fixed on the photo. He nodded, “The learning environment is indeed challenging.”
Xiao Heng: “…”
“Yes, watching each child with dreams get their wings dampened by the rain, carrying burdens as they move forward.”
Scar patted Zhai Zhuangzhi’s shoulder. Becoming emotional, his tone turned firm and powerful, “That’s why I am even more determined to continue on my philanthropic path! The most important thing for a person is to live out their own values. In this world, there are many things more important than money, young man. Right now, I have three charity projects…”
Scar spoke while extending three fingers.
As Scar was about to provide detailed introductions to the charity projects, he heard a familiar voice behind him saying, “Not sticking your fingers up enough?”
Lu Yan was riding a motorcycle, one foot on the ground and conveniently stopped right behind Scar.
With his long legs, the pose he struck looked like a carefully staged shot from a movie.
“The ones without money talk about getting rich by bringing people along, and when they meet someone with money, they switch to charity,” the central character in the scene said, “Very flexible thinking. I commend you for that.”
Zhai Zhuangzhi was still immersed in the philanthropic atmosphere of impoverished children having their wings dampened by rain when he finally reacted, “Are you a scam artist?”
Scar felt that Lu Yan might be the curse he couldn’t escape in his career of bluffing and cheating.
An insurmountable obstacle.
An unclimbable wall.
……
Scar’s voice started to tremble, “Why is it you again? Haven’t you had enough? Did I desecrate your grave in a past life?!”
Lu Yan agreed with his statement, “Maybe it’s a special kind of fate.”
No matter how unwilling Scar was, he didn’t dare to confront three people alone. He looked left, looked right, then turned his head and slipped away to the other side of the road.
Only then did Lu Yan turn to look at the person in the car, “Xiao…” He had no idea what the person’s name was, so he didn’t finish the sentence.
It was Xiao Heng who got out of the car, and he immediately reached out to keep Zhai Zhuangzhi, who also wanted to join the commotion, inside the car.
Zhai Zhuangzhi’s banged his head against the car door. “My god!”
Xiao Heng said, “Stay in the car.”
“Sorry about that just now,” Lu Yan said, looking at him. “It was all a misunderstanding.”
Lu Yan looked at the person in front of him, whose face seemed to say: ‘I don’t really want to deal with you,’ and felt that this hot-tempered young master probably wasn’t appreciative.
Lu Yan waited for three seconds.
Realizing that the other party indeed wasn’t appreciative, the atmosphere became a bit awkward. Lu Yan scratched his nose and added, “601 isn’t home today. If you’re in a hurry, I’ll let her know when she comes back.”
This scene was destined to be a solo performance for Lu Yan, and the other person probably still couldn’t be bothered to deal with him. Lu Yan was about to bid farewell when the person in front of him unexpectedly said two words, “No need.”
Lu Yan felt that his first impression of this person was spot on—terrible temperament and personality, extremely aloof.
Since they weren’t familiar with each other and he said what needed to be said, Lu Yan didn’t plan to ask more questions. “Alright… Is your car okay?”
During the conversation, a vibrating sound echoed.
Buzz.
Buzz, buzz, buzz.
Xiao Heng followed the sound and looked at Lu Yan’s leg on the ground.
He was wearing jeans today, and the source of the sound was probably his phone. It was tightly pressed against the base of his thigh, making the vibration very noticeable whenever there was a message.
Lu Yan reached into his pocket and fumbled for a while before finally taking it out.
It was Wei ge.
It had been less than five minutes since he drove the car out, and Wei ge asked in an impatient tone over the phone, “Have you caught up, kid? If not, forget it. It’s been five minutes, is my car okay?”
“Caught up. What could go wrong?” Lu Yan replied, “Your son is like my son. I barely touched the gas, and the electric scooters next to me were faster… Okay, I’ll be back right away.”
Wei ge continued to nag for a while before finally ending the call.
Lu Yan tucked his phone back and glanced at Xiao Heng, reiterating, “Anyway, I’m really sorry about today.”
After saying that, he twisted the throttle, and with the sound of the motorcycle engine, he turned and headed back towards the direction of Area Seven.
WEI GE 🗣️🗣️🗣️ What a man!!