Honestly, there really wasn’t much to worry about.
School had just ended, and with so many people coming and going, the chances of anything happening were pretty low.
But maybe it was because they’d just been talking about something that had been weighing on them — the moment Lin Wangye disappeared from sight, a wave of unease suddenly hit Shi Yuan like a punch to the gut.
He didn’t even stop to think. Just pulled out his phone and started dialing while looking around, hoping to catch a glimpse of Lin Wangye.
Right then, he felt a buzz from his pocket.
Only after pulling out Lin Wangye’s phone from his jacket did Shi Yuan remember — Lin had complained earlier about his pockets being too shallow and stuff always falling out, so when they got to school, he’d handed his phone over to him for safekeeping.
Compared to him, Lu Chengxuan didn’t seem that worried.
I mean, those two were definitely together, and he had at least some faith in Lin Shen’s ability to handle himself if anything happened.
Still, seeing that Shi Yuan couldn’t reach Lin Wangye, he immediately called Lin Shen and put it on speaker.
Thankfully, the call went through right away.
“Hello? What’s up?” Lin Shen’s voice came through.
“Where are you?”
“Already at the school gate. You two walk so slow. I’ve got stuff to say to Lin Wangye too, stuff I don’t want you guys hearing.”
“Lin Wangye’s right next to you, right?”
“Duh, what do you think?”
The second he heard that, Shi Yuan let out a long breath of relief.
“Lin Wangye’s phone is still with me,” he said. “Hang on, we’ll come find you guys.”
“Just hold onto it for now. I’m kinda craving that fried chicken from Yushan Fang. They’re probably still open. Lu Chengxuan, go grab some, we’ll meet up after.”
Right away, Lin Wangye’s voice came booming from the other side of the call.
“I want some too! Get me some!”
“Alright.”
“Sure.”
Lu Chengxuan and Shi Yuan spoke at the same time, then looked at each other and smiled. Lu Chengxuan ended the call, and the two of them walked out of the school gates, heading off in opposite directions.
On the other side, Lin Shen stuffed his phone back into his pocket, threw an arm around Lin Wangye’s shoulders, and turned into the pedestrian street near No. 7 High.
“Why’d you bring me here?” Lin Wangye asked.
“There’s a shop on this street my mom left me.”
As he spoke, Lin Shen led him further in. “I used to rent it out to this place that sold skewers, but it shut down during Chinese New Year. It’s been empty since. I don’t want to rent it out again — thought I’d do something with it myself. Your esports hotel is doing great, so come help me figure out what kind of place would work here.”
“This is such a good spot!”
Lin Wangye looked around in awe. As he glanced back, he thought he saw a few shadows flicker past. He squinted, but didn’t see anything clearly, so he brushed it off and kept talking.
“You had a shop in a place like this and still managed to be broke?”
“My sister used to manage it for me — she was the one collecting rent and all that. But she’s been busy lately, so now it’s on me.”
The street wasn’t very wide and led straight to another main road. Most of the shops on both sides sold clothes and shoes. Since it was a weekday and around the time night classes for seniors ended, most stores were already closed, except for a few food stalls that were still open.
The two of them chatted as they walked, and it didn’t take long to reach the place.
Lin Shen pulled out a key, bent down to roll up the shutter, and opened the door to let them in.
The shop wasn’t very big — probably around fifty square meters. Definitely too small for anything big.
The last guy who rented it out had done some light remodeling, putting up a partition to make a small kitchen in the back. That already limited space was now even tighter, basically cut in half.
“Open a milk tea shop,” Lin Wangye said. “Low cost, good location. Girls walking by will grab a drink to cool off while they shop. It’s perfect.”
As he said it, he walked into the back and knocked on the wall.
“But this kitchen’s gotta go — takes up way too much space.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” Lin Shen said, walking in behind him with his hands on his hips, looking around. “Only thing is, there’s already five or six milk tea places on this street. Feels a little crowded.”
Lin Wangye thought to himself, ‘man, you haven’t seen anything yet’.
The milk tea scene was just starting to take off — nowhere near its peak. In a few years, spots like this pedestrian street would have a drink shop every fifty meters. Five or six? That’s nothing.
“Girls don’t like carrying stuff around while shopping. It’s annoying. If they’re hungry, they’d rather sit down somewhere and eat slowly. That’s probably why the skewer place shut down. There’s no room in here for tables and chairs, so how’s it supposed to do well? A drink shop’s perfect,” Lin Wangye said.
Lin Shen listened patiently and nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, makes sense. I mean, not having to pay rent already saves a ton. And if there’s too much competition, I’ll just slash prices. It’s settled then. I’ll go home and start planning.”
“Don’t go franchise — do it yourself.”
Suddenly, Lin Wangye remembered the fruit teas and cream teas Shi Yuan had made for him in his past life. He rubbed his hands excitedly. “I’ve got a few unbeatable recipes!”
Lin Shen crossed his arms, looking seriously impressed. “Not bad, kid. Alright, we’ll work on it together sometime. If your recipes really work, I’ll give you a cut as a technical partner!”
Without missing a beat, Lin Wangye shot his arm up and held out five fingers.
“Fifty-fifty!”
“In your dreams.” Lin Shen smacked him on the back of the head with a grin. “Twenty percent, that’s the best I can do — unless you’re also helping me run the place.”
Lin Wangye was grinning ear to ear, just about to answer when a sudden sound cut through the air.
The metallic clatter of a rolling shutter being pulled down.
Both of them froze for a second in the small kitchen. Lin Shen, who was closer to the front, stepped out first — and the second he saw what was happening, his face darkened. He shoved Lin Wangye back. “Stay inside.”
It was rare to see Lin Shen look this serious, and the instant he did, a cold chill ran through Lin Wangye. Something was wrong.
The shutter had only been pulled down to leave a thin crack, and in that tight, already-cramped space stood five scruffy-looking middle-aged men, all with beards and wild eyes. Every one of them had a folding knife in hand, gleaming cold in the dim light, and they were staring straight at Lin Shen with bad intentions written all over their faces.
Lin Shen’s first thought was — could this be that same group from last time, the ones brought by Fu Xuexue’s brother?
But after what happened back then, those guys had probably figured out that they weren’t just some nobodies. No matter how gutsy they were, they wouldn’t come poking around again.
Plus, that last group had been younger and used clubs and sticks.
Anyone with half a brain knows — there’s a huge difference between fighting sticks and facing blades.
If you protect your vital spots, you can take a hit from a metal pipe and still get up and fight.
But blades? Even if they’re not razor sharp, there’s almost no room for mistakes. One wrong move and you’re bleeding.
And the knives these guys were holding — they were clearly sharpened.
What’s worse, in a space this cramped, Lin Shen couldn’t even use the martial arts he’d learned properly.
His fists clenched tight, his face growing more and more tense, just as he was about to ask what they wanted, the man in front suddenly spoke.
“Still hiding, kid?”
Before Lin Shen could stop him, Lin Wangye pushed past his arm and walked out of the kitchen, fear written all over his face, voice trembling.
“I… I already gave you the money, didn’t I? Why are you still coming after me? That was everything I had last time. I don’t have more…”
The man stepped forward with a creepy smile, swinging the silver blade in front of his face.
“You think I’m stupid? You had the cash to hand over that much in one go, and I’m supposed to believe that’s all you’ve got?”
Lin Shen froze, eyes going wide as he stared at Lin Wangye.
Seeing how scared he looked, the man leaned casually against the wall, flipping the folding knife in his hand. His tone was relaxed, almost playful — but it felt like a devil whispering in your ear. “Go on, tell your little buddy what’s going on. Then hand over the money.”
Lin Wangye was shaking all over, his eyes red as he turned to Lin Shen and mumbled, “This is Xu Suinian’s dad…”
And just like that, Lin Shen finally understood why that guy had looked so familiar the moment he saw him.
Back in their first year of high school, this man had caused a huge scene at the school.
A lot of students from No. 7 High had seen him acting like a shameless lunatic, making trouble and refusing to leave. But it had always been from far away, so they hadn’t gotten a clear look.
This was Xu Suinian’s father — Xu Shengrung.
He looked way skinnier now than he had back then, which was probably why Lin Shen hadn’t recognized him right away.
Ever since they saw him, Lin Wangye had been trembling nonstop. He stammered as he tried to explain, “It was during New Year’s… Xu Suinian said he wanted to take me home, but halfway there he suddenly told me not to go anymore. I thought it was weird — I figured something must’ve happened, something he didn’t want me to know. So I sneaked over to check… and ran into them…”
Lin Shen’s head was buzzing, but he forced himself to think, fast, piecing everything together.
Back to New Year’s Eve.
Lin Wangye had felt something was off.
Shi Yuan was never the type to make plans without thinking them through. If the power had really gone out at his house like he claimed, there was no way he’d wait until they got to the front door to remember — not after walking all that way in the freezing cold.
And when the people around him started acting weird, Lin Wangye definitely would’ve noticed.
He knew something was being hidden from him, so he picked a time to sneak over and see for himself — and just happened to witness Xu Shengrung getting beaten up by a bunch of people demanding money.
The guys surrounding him had obvious signs of drug use — pale skin, sunken cheeks.
When they realized Xu Shengrung had no money, most of them left quickly.
But just as Lin Wangye was about to sneak off, Xu Shengrung spotted him. He rushed over, pulled a knife, and pinned him down.
While they were facing off, Lin Wangye noticed needle marks on Xu Shengrung’s elbow — signs of intravenous drug use.
In his past life, a lot of rich kids messed around with that kind of stuff just for fun, but Lin Shen had always strictly forbidden it. He’d talked many times, seriously, about how dangerous drugs were — and how terrifying drug dealers could be.
So when Lin Wangye remembered the money he had in his account, he gave it to him on the spot.
Lin Shen was furious — his chest burned with anger and helplessness. He wanted to scream, wanted to hit something. His jaw was clenched so hard it felt like his teeth might shatter.
“Why didn’t you tell me?!” he yelled. “If someone’s messing with you, you say something!”
Lin Wangye kept his head down, staying completely silent.
It was obvious that the money he’d given Xu Shengrung had been a huge deal — not just enough to get him out of trouble for a while, but even gave him enough clout to gather a few people willing to follow him.
“Well,” Xu Shengrung said casually, “chat time’s over. Hand over the cash.”
“I really… don’t have any more,” Lin Wangye said quietly.
Xu Shengrung let out a mocking laugh, then smacked Lin Wangye’s cheek lightly with the flat side of the folding knife. “Who are you trying to fool? Don’t think I didn’t hear you just now, talking about opening a shop.”
The cold steel pressed against his skin, sending a chill straight to his bones.
With trembling hands, Lin Wangye took off the watch from his wrist and handed it over. Then he pointed toward Lin Shen. “He’s got money. You can make him go to the bank.”
“Lin Wangye!” Lin Shen exploded. His voice shook with disbelief and fury.
Xu Shengrung weighed the watch in his hand, feeling the weight and examining the material. He looked pleased, like he’d just scored a jackpot, and stuffed it into his pocket with a grin.
“You go.” Lin Wangye looked right at Lin Shen, his voice almost a whisper. “As long as you give him the money… he won’t hurt me.”
Lin Shen’s eyes were bloodshot, fists clenched so tight they were shaking.
But something felt off.
Lin Wangye’s face was pale, his whole body was shaking — but his eyes… they were too calm. Way too calm for someone that scared.
Still, there wasn’t time to think it over. Lin Shen didn’t dare take any risks. He turned and headed straight for the door.
“You two — go keep an eye on him,” Xu Shengrung ordered two of his guys with a glance.
Then he pressed the knife against Lin Wangye’s neck and shouted after Lin Shen, “Don’t try anything stupid. No cops, no tricks. If I feel even a little off — he gets it.”
“You can have as much money as you want,” Lin Shen growled, turning his head just enough to glare at Xu Shengrung. His eyes were full of rage that was barely being held back. “But if you touch even one hair on his head, I’ll make you regret it.”
“Relax,” Xu Shengrung said, with this sickly sweet tone as he reached out to pat Lin Wangye’s head like he was some kind of pet. His grin was disgusting. “I wouldn’t lay a finger on my little money tree. As long as you behave.”
Lin Shen didn’t answer. He just turned, bent down, opened the rolling shutter, and left.
As soon as he was gone, Lin Wangye’s body seemed to collapse. The tension drained from him, and he slid down against the wall, sitting on the floor like his legs had given out.
Xu Shengrung crouched down beside him, clearly in a great mood. He twirled the knife between his fingers and smiled like they were just having a friendly chat. “You’re just a kid. Where’d you get all that money from, huh?”
Lin Wangye kept his head down for a long time without saying a word. Then, all of a sudden, he spoke.
“You’re this old already, and you’re still this disgusting.”
Xu Shengrung froze for a moment, then grabbed his chin and yanked his face up, furious. “What did you just say?”
Lin Wangye stared straight into his eyes. There was no fear in his gaze, not even a flicker.
“I said you’re disgusting. What, you gonna hit me?”
“You—!”
“Well? Do it. Go on, do it!”
Xu Shengrung had just raised his hand when a sudden, thunder-like crack in the air made him freeze in place. Something felt off. He gripped the knife tighter and moved to press it to Lin Wangye’s neck.
And then — something completely unexpected happened.
The boy who just moments ago had looked too scared to even speak suddenly reached out and grabbed the blade with his bare hand, letting the blood run freely down his wrist.
Xu Shengrung was stunned.
Not because Lin Wangye was bleeding — but because he couldn’t understand why the hate in that kid’s eyes burned so deep.
That smug, twisted smile moved from Xu Shengrung’s face onto Lin Wangye’s.
He locked eyes with the man and spoke in a quiet, dead-calm voice that made your skin crawl. “You won’t hurt me. You won’t dare, because you don’t want to go back to prison. You think I’m just a scared little kid with money, and if you scare me enough, you’ll have a steady meal ticket, right? These guys follow you around because you’ve got something they want, huh? Let me guess… just how long would that get you locked up?”
Every word hit like a hammer, and for the first time, Xu Shengrung realized he’d walked straight into a trap.
He went to pull the knife back, but Lin Wangye held on tight, blood still dripping, pooling on the floor.
Even though he was the one bleeding, even though his eyes were brimming with tears from the pain, Lin Wangye stared him down like he was already the one in control. His voice was low, teeth clenched, and eyes burning red as he hissed:
“Your biggest mistake… was thinking I’m easy to mess with.”
Xu Shengrung had seen that look once before.
On the day he gambled away the compensation money after the fire that killed Xu Suinian’s mom. That same look had been on Xu Suinian’s face.
“You don’t deserve to live in the light.”
Then, before Xu Shengrung could react, Lin Wangye grabbed his hand — the one holding the knife — and drove the blade hard into his own shoulder.
“I won’t let you hurt him again,” he growled. “I’ll drag you straight to hell.”
Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters. (๑>ᴗ<๑)
