Time passed quickly after Li Yan returned to Wujingwan Town. He plowed the soil in his small yard and planted vegetables in half of it.
Three months seemed to pass in a blur. Li Yan often heard the sounds of drinking and gatherings from the Chen family house next door. Friends of Father Chen, who hadn’t been in touch for years, suddenly started showing up again.
This was a sharp contrast to the years when Father Chen struggled to borrow money from anyone and his calls went unanswered.
One night, Li Yan went to the supermarket, bought two bottles of Erguotou[mfn]clear liquor originating from Beijing[/mfn], and took them to Chen Yaxin’s grave. A howling north wind might have better suited the mood, but the night was stiflingly hot. The incessant chirping of cicadas from the forest added to the irritable atmosphere, with not a breath of wind in the air.
He squatted by Chen Yaxin’s grave, reaching out to touch the inscription on her tombstone. Some of the characters were worn, and weeds grew wildly around it.
It felt like he needed to drink a bottle and a half before he found the courage to speak. He choked a little, coughing as he half-closed his eyes, his gaze focusing on the carved words “Chen Yaxin.” Inside the small square photo, Chen Yaxin’s face still held a calm smile.
“I saved Chen Yu…” He breathed out, but his expression showed no relief. “I did everything I promised you.”
“Everyone is doing well…” Li Yan managed a smile, though it wasn’t a pleasant one. He hesitated, stammering slightly, “I am too.”
He leaned in closer, speaking to Chen Yaxin like a child sharing a secret. “And you? Does it no longer hurt?”
In the desolate forest, there shouldn’t have been anyone else around in the middle of the night except for Li Yan.
But he still heard a sharp, unexpected noise.
Amid the loud chorus of cicadas, there came the distinct snap of a dry branch breaking underfoot.
Li Yan immediately turned his head, but all he saw was the deep forest in the distance, leaves rustling while the cicadas seemed to chirp even louder.
He slowly turned back. He wasn’t afraid; if it had been Chen Yaxin—even as a ghost—he thought he would still hug her.
But in the end, his hope was in vain. He stared stubbornly into the distance for a while, but no one was there.
A week later, Liu Qing found out that Li Yan was back in town and insisted he treat him to dinner, joking that after so many years of brotherhood, it was quite considerate of Li Yan to vanish to the big city without a word.
When Li Yan arrived, he found not only Liu Qing but almost all their close friends from the days they worked under Master Qin Liu.
Li Yan stared at Liu Qing for a moment before blurting out, “There are so many people—I can’t afford this…”
The group burst out laughing and cursing, piling bottles of baijiu[mfn]clear Chinese liquor[/mfn] and beer on the table. Li Yan was soon overwhelmed by the drinks.
By the end of the meal, Liu Qing patted Li Yan on the shoulder and asked if he wanted to come back.
Li Yan was drunk, slumped over the table as the white incandescent light in the restaurant’s private room reflected in his pupils. Liu Qing’s face, faintly shadowed by stubble, swayed before his eyes.
Li Yan could hear the words, but they took a moment to register as if his brain was processing a delayed signal. He was about to refuse when the sharp crack of the branch breaking suddenly came to mind.
In that brief moment of clarity, a suspicion surfaced: perhaps that night, he shouldn’t have envisioned things so beautifully, as if Chen Yaxin’s ghost had truly come to visit him.
Since returning, Li Yan hadn’t found a job. Father Chen seemed to look down on him now, offering only a few hundred yuan and constantly bossing him around.
That night, Li Yan spent the entire evening mulling it over before finally deciding. In twenty minutes, he had packed his bags.
He realized he couldn’t continue living like this. Remaining unemployed forever wasn’t an option. Returning to Master Qin wasn’t ideal, but it felt like his only choice.
After all, if it had really been Lu Lianning’s people following him that night, what could he do? Run to the next city? But where could he go?
Almost all his friends and family were here. It’s true, sometimes people are greedy. When he first escaped, he thought even just getting a brief look at this place would be worth being caught again. Now that he was back, he wanted to stay forever.
When he worked for Qin Liu, people called him a thug, but he was mostly a lookout. Qin Liu was practically a local overlord, and few dared to stir up trouble in his businesses.
Li Yan had followed him after dropping out of school, watching as Qin Liu’s operations grew bigger and more lucrative. He rose from being a lookout to someone who served tea and water at Qin Liu’s side. For reasons unknown, Qin Liu took a liking to him and wanted to make him his godson.
Li Yan had refused back then. Since Chen Yaxin always wanted him to find a better job, he took the chance to leave.
Qin Liu hadn’t stopped him, though he wasn’t exactly pleased. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have withheld help during Li Yan’s most difficult moments.
Now, going back to Qin Liu wasn’t just about finding work—it would be like acknowledging him as a father!
Li Yan indeed possessed a keen sense of danger, sharp intuition, and a certain cleverness. He was like a wild animal—rough, instinctive, and reckless, yet agile. He followed his own set of rules for navigating challenges, but those rules only applied to his own jungle and his interactions with those of his kind.
But outside of that, someone like him, a somewhat clever ordinary person, was no match for someone like Lu Lianning, who was anything but ordinary.
Li Yan’s thinking was simple. When there was no other option, he chose Qin Liu for protection. In his eyes, Master Qin Liu was a man of integrity and strength—wealthy and resourceful. When Li Yan had just dropped out of school, he had nearly idolized him. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone to work for him immediately after leaving school.
The reason Lu Lianning was so unrestrained with him was simply that bullying Li Yan came at little to no cost. He could do as he pleased. However, if Li Yan returned to Qin Liu, the situation would change. If messing with Li Yan became troublesome, Lu Lianning might learn to weigh the consequences and eventually back off.
What Li Yan didn’t realize was that the man he regarded as all-powerful, resourceful, and bold—the one whom everyone on the street respectfully called “Master Qin Liu”—meant nothing to Lu Lianning.
In his office at the Lu Group, Lu Lianning tossed aside the report on Qin Liu that his assistant had handed him. About the man nearly twenty years his senior, he remarked with a dismissive tone, “A small-time merchant.”
Biting my nails in anxiety!