Chapter 50 It

was late at night when Zhuang Min emerged from the mahjong parlor. After a full night of playing, he had lost tens of thousands of yuan, squandering his family's living expenses for the next few months. Standing on the deserted street, he felt like slapping himself.

Since the beginning of the year, he'd been facing setbacks everywhere, his luck steadily worsening. Countless times, he'd vowed never to gamble again, and that if he did, he'd first burn paper for his deceased mother and say a few kind words to ward off bad luck.

Tonight, he couldn't resist, and at the urging of his fellow card players... He cursed and roughly rummaged through his thin wallet, as if the more he rummaged, the more money would begin to fall.

After a moment's hesitation, he decided to go home for a nap. But returning empty-handed would surely invite a nagging from his wife.

Flustered, he touched his shrunken cigarette case and entered the nearby convenience store.

At this hour, the only convenience stores open in the area were adult stores. Under the dim purple light, a variety of supplies lined the shelves. The salesperson at the door dozed off on the cash register.

"Hey, kid," he tapped the table, slapped a bill on it, and woke the man. "Give me two boxes of Yellow Crane Tower."

The salesperson jolted awake, opened a drawer, and took out two packs of cigarettes. Besides adult products, this place also had cigarettes, mineral water, and other small items to cater to the men who left in the middle of the night.

While giving the change, he said, "Isn't this Uncle Zhuang? It's so late. It seems like there's a lot of money tonight."

Zhuang Min said, "Give me a bag."

The salesperson rolled out a plastic bag, took a closer look, and said, "Hey, your eyes aren't healed yet? Why didn't you go to the hospital?"

Zhuang Min scolded him, "Shut up and stop asking questions."

When he pushed the door open and left, the salesperson sneered behind him, "You poor idiot, you really think you're a big shot."

Zhuang Min had already taken two steps out, but this sentence floated into his ears like a wisp of smoke, like a spark falling into a gasoline barrel, and the fire in his heart suddenly ignited.

He rushed in and grabbed the young man by the collar: "What did you say about me? Say it again?"

The salesman's eyes widened and he stammered, "I, I..."

Zhuang Min asked, "Who are you calling poor? Huh? You're calling me poor?"

"No, no, I was talking about myself," the salesman begged. "You heard me wrong, Uncle Zhuang!"

Zhuang Min refused to let him go. He had finally found a scapegoat, and this guy had really hit the mark. He unleashed a barrage of obscenities, cursing his ancestors for eighteen generations, then banged the salesman's head against the wall.

Even a rabbit would bite if it was bullied. The salesman could no longer tolerate it and immediately started cursing: "I'm talking about you, you poor gambler. Sooner or later, you'll lose all your old, shabby house. You deserve to be beaten up. You deserve your mother to die in the hospital for no apparent reason. You deserve your wife to be with someone else..."

Zhuang Min's rage burned, and he increased the strength of his hands, and the salesman began to fight back. After a long, fierce battle, both sides were injured. The villager

suffered a cut on the corner of his mouth, and the salesperson was bleeding from his forehead. Still possessed by reason, the villager decided to quit while

he was ahead and stumbled out. The salesperson was still smashing things inside, shouting, "Stupid thing!" The villager's eyes were full of stars. This was the only way home

, a place he had to take late at night, and no one else was seen in this alley. He spat. He felt so miserable tonight that he didn't want to go home. Where could he stay for the night?

His mind was so tangled that he didn't notice a wisp of smoke flickering at the entrance of the alley ahead.

It blinked like the pupil of a wild animal hanging in the night.

Feng Ran had been waiting for him for a long time.

He took a deep breath, crushed the cigarette butt under his foot, stepped forward, and delivered a flying kick.

The villager was kicked to the ground, and before he could utter a curse word, fists and feet were already raining down on him.

He had just confronted the salesperson, and fighting with injuries, he couldn't even get up, let alone fight back.

Feng Ran's attack was merciless. It was a brutal, one-sided beating.

Zhuang Min was so dazed he couldn't even utter a word of plea for mercy. His eyes burned, his ears tinnitus incessantly, his face scalded with a thick, fishy heat, his stomach churning, a sour taste rising in his throat. "

What bad luck! Where did this mad dog come from?" Zhuang Min cursed inwardly. "Could it be that salesman who'd chased him? Impossible...

what other enemies did he have? "

After several desperate struggles, he gave up

. He couldn't beat this man. Strength, endurance, and agility—everything was outmatched. This man wasn't a martial artist; his ruthless and precise attack must have been honed through years of street fighting.

To put it bluntly, he was most likely a thug. He was an adult, younger than him, and had been in many fights.

Nine times out of ten, this guy was going for the cripple. If this continued, he'd be dead tonight.

His instinct for survival made him scream. The man stopped, and he finally managed to gasp for air, begging for mercy, saying he had elderly parents and young children to support, and that any amount of money would do, just to spare his life.

"You still have the nerve to lie? Huh?" the man sneered.

Zhuang Min was stunned for a moment. For a moment, he thought the deep voice sounded familiar, but he couldn't place it.

Even faster, two hands clamped around his neck like iron pliers, ready to kill him! Zhuang Min struggled to pick at his fingers, crying out, "You're a magnanimous man! Killing people, killing people means jail! Calm down!"

"You're still threatening me?" Another kick. "You're the one who should be in jail!"

Zhuang Min shuddered. The man's hand finally loosened from his neck, and he fumbled in his trouser pockets, pulling out his wallet and two boxes of Huanghelou.

Zhuang Min hurriedly said, "Take it, take it." He didn't have much money anyway.

Lighting a cigarette, Zhuang Min finally saw that it was the same gay man from the hospital. Later, he found a group of kids to take revenge on his men and beat them up badly. They were here for revenge.

His face changed, and he wanted to run, but his calf was tripped by Feng Ran, and he fell flat on his face.

Feng Ran stepped on the back of his neck with his shoe sole, crushing it repeatedly, and said viciously: "Still want to run?"

"I was wrong, I was just not in the right mind!" Zhuang Min cried, "You and your people beat me twice, and I only caused trouble for you once, this... I am not taking advantage of you anyway, just let me go!"

Feng Ran got angry when he heard it: "If you have a grudge to take revenge, you can find him or me, why are you looking for trouble with others? And you called a group of minors, each with a stick, do you have any shame?"

"I was wrong, I was wrong..." Zhuang Min could only repeat these three words.

Feng Ran squatted down, gnashing his teeth as he extinguished the burning cigarette in his hand. "You're lucky today."

Zhuang Min grimaced in pain, gasping for air as he said, "Yes, yes, I'm lucky to have met you. You're so kind and merciful. Anyone else would have been dead."

Feng Ran threw his wallet and cigarette at him, pointing at his nose. "My body hasn't recovered yet, so I can't use my strength. Otherwise, I would have broken your legs. Get out of here now." Zhuang

Min agreed repeatedly and limped away. Feng Ran leaned against the wall to rest for a while, then slowly wandered out of the alley.

One of the consequences of long-term inactivity is that even fighting doesn't allow for immediate recovery. His heart was beating furiously, and his arms and legs were as soft as noodles.

He had to find a place to rest.

Internet cafe… He opened the map on his phone and found the nearest one was a kilometer away, so he changed direction and headed that way.

No.

Turning around, his steps hesitated for a moment.

On the empty streets, subtle sounds, a fleeting shadow, were easily detected.

And this was clearly a stranger stalking him.

Feng Ran smiled inwardly, suddenly feeling intrigued. He deliberately teased him, moving forward and backward like a phantom, turning into alleys and back again, his speed and pace erratic, making him look like a toddler.

After several rounds, Feng Ran slipped into a crossroads a few steps away and pulled a gleaming silver dagger from his pocket. Sure enough,

the man chased him like a headless fly, looking left and right before turning to face Feng Ran, the blade at his throat. He

was a young man, wearing a baseball cap, a mask, and sunglasses.

Feng Ran pointed the tip of his knife at his mask and said, "Do you want to take it off yourself, or should I help you?"

After a pause of two or three seconds, the man removed his mask.

"...He Chuan?" Feng Ran was a bit dumbfounded, and put his hand down awkwardly. "No, where are you from? Why are you following me in the middle of the night? It's scary."

He Chuan said, "I thought you might be here."

"Have you been in Hai City?"

"Sort of."

"Okay." He didn't know how long "sort of" meant, and then he said, "Where are you...staying?"

"Hotel."

"Then how are you going back?"

"Walk back."

Feng Ran waved. "Oh, bye. I'm going to the internet cafe."

He turned and walked away.

He Chuan hurried after him, staring at the blood on his collar. "You're hurt."

"No, don't worry."

He Chuan tugged at his clothes, leaning in for a closer look. Feng Ran grabbed his wrist, and He Chuan's gaze fixed, and he slowly opened his eyelids.

Their hands slowly dropped, Feng Ran not letting go, and He Chuan not struggling.

Under the dim streetlights, on the quiet street, this scene...

Feng Ran raised an eyebrow. "Do we know each other?"

He Chuan frowned, seeming annoyed by the stupid question.

"Before I met you, you... well." Feng Ran hesitated. He turned away, and he hesitated for a moment. "What's wrong with you?"

"Let go."

"Oh."

Feng Ran waited for him to say something, but he didn't. What was he

expecting He Chuan to say? Saying they knew each other before, so what? He couldn't remember He Chuan at all; that was a fact.

Maybe they just met by chance, or something happened, but Feng Ran had never looked at him straight in the eye, so it was normal for him not to remember.

His memory wasn't perfect, but it wasn't that bad either. If he had dealt with someone in the past, he would definitely have some traces in his memory.

He stood there scratching his head twice, then said, "Then I'll go."

He Chuan said, "Where to?"

"Internet cafe." Feng Ran gave a rough location.

"I'm going too."

"Why are you going? You're not staying in a hotel?"

"Isn't it okay?" He Chuan said calmly.

Feng Ran leaned his arm against the wall behind He Chuan, biting a cigarette but not lighting it: "Of course not, but there's no need. Tell me, what are you doing here?"