Chapter 26 [Night Walk]
Knife Brother felt a chill shoot from his heels straight to the back of his head.
"It seems the lesson last ti wasn’t painful enough." Chen Nuo shook his head. "Knife Brother, are you here to teach how to behave again?"
One of Knife Brother’s friends, not noticing his buddy’s expression and acting on habit, cursed, "Get lost! My bro Knife is talking to his girl here. Where the hell did you pop up from? Looking for a beating, are you?"
Chen Nuo was about to speak when an even more arrogant voice suddenly ca from behind the crowd.
"Who is it? Who wants to hit my friend?"
Luo Qing forcefully pushed through the crowd and squeezed in. He walked up to Chen Nuo and School belle Sun, smiling confidently. "Chen Nuo, don’t be afraid! I’ve got your back!"
Without waiting for Chen Nuo to react, he turned to face Knife Brother and his group, a sneer on his face.
The kid casually flicked his school uniform, tilted his chin up, and deliberately asked, "Who’s looking for trouble here?"
Knife Brother was still hesitating, conflicted, when one of the punks by his side couldn’t take it anymore. "I think you’re the one asking for a beating, aren’t you—"
Before he could finish, Luo Qing stepped right up to him, neck craned. "Go on, hit !"
Anger flashed across the other guy’s face, his hand already raised.
Then Luo Qing was heard sneering, "My dad is Luo Dachan! You hit , I dare you! Co on!"
As soon as he said that, the atmosphere instantly tensed. The guy who had raised his hand froze, his arm stuck in mid-air, not daring to bring it down for a long mont.
The opposing group, including Knife Brother, all froze, clearly intimidated by the na "Luo Dachan."
"You... you’re Luo Da— Boss Luo’s son?" Knife Brother, as the leader, forced himself to ask, swallowing his pride.
"Yeah. Weren’t you going to hit ? Go ahead," Luo Qing sneered.
"..." Knife Brother’s eye twitched. He softened his tone and said through clenched teeth, "It was a misunderstanding just now... brother. I was just talking about sothing with your classmate, nothing else. Um... today, we’ll give Boss Luo face. Let’s just call this a misunderstanding. Let’s go, let’s go."
As he spoke, he was about to lead his n away, but Luo Qing shouted, "Brother Hu Lu! Soone wants to hit ! Aren’t you guys going to do sothing about it?!"
In a corner of the arcade, three burly n in their thirties with fierce expressions had been smoking and playing cards. Hearing Luo Qing’s voice, their faces instantly changed. One of them yelled, "Holy crap!" and jumped to his feet, tossing his playing cards aside. His eyes scanned the area, and he strode quickly towards them.
The leader, called Hu Lu—true to his na, he was short and well-built with a buzz cut—wore a leather jacket with rolled-up sleeves, revealing a segnt of a green dragon tattoo on his thick forearms. He pushed through the crowd and walked in.
Seeing Luo Qing unhard, Hu Lu nodded, then turned and glared at Knife Brother and his crew. "Who the hell is causing trouble?"
Luo Qing pointed at Knife Brother. "He said he was going to hit ."
"The hell?"
Hu Lu wasted no words, went straight up, grabbed Knife Brother by the neck, and dragged him over.
Knife Brother was terrified!
Those weren’t even my words!!!
"Big Brother, it’s a misunderstanding!"
SLAP!
A solid slap landed on his face.
Knife Brother covered his face. "I didn’t say I’d hit anyone."
SLAP!
Another slap.
Tears welled up in Knife Brother’s eyes. "Big Brother, I was wrong! I said it, I’d give Boss Luo face..."
SLAP!
This one was even harder!
Hu Lu sneered, "Give your mom face! A little runt like you, you think you’re qualified to talk about giving *my* boss face?"
SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!
SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!
A dozen slaps rained down in quick succession. Poor Knife Brother was left with a bloody mouth and nose, his entire face swollen.
Chen Nuo quickly covered Xiao Yezi’s eyes. Looking at Knife Brother, he couldn’t help but sigh.
This is too brutal...
"Damn it..."
Knife Brother’s buddies couldn’t stand to lose any more face. One with a hot temper cursed and was about to rush forward.
The two thugs behind Hu Lu sneered and took two steps forward. Each sent one of Knife Brother’s n sprawling with a kick, then pinned them down by stepping on their faces.
Another one directly unzipped his jacket, revealing a knife tucked into his waistband.
"Move! Just one of you try to make a move!"
The few punks were completely intimidated.
Over there, Knife Brother had started crying out loud, opening his mouth to spit out a mouthful of bloody saliva.
"Big Brother, I was wrong, I was wrong! Spare , please spare !"
Hu Lu looked up at Luo Qing. "Qingzi, what’s the call?"
Luo Qing looked a bit uncomfortable, pursed his lips, and waved his hand dismissively.
Hu Lu hauled Knife Brother up, spun him around, and kicked him in the backside. "Get lost!"
Knife Brother and his n scrambled away in a panic. The man called Hu Lu glanced at Luo Qing. "Alright, Qingzi, I’m off. Call if you need anything."
He also nodded at Chen Nuo and the others.
Chen Nuo sighed and patted the still-shocked School belle Sun, then looked at Luo Qing.
Luo Qing chuckled. "This arcade? It’s also my dad’s."
Chen Nuo laughed. "You’re no re rich kid; you’re practically a young mob boss!"
Luo Qing shrugged. "Mob boss this, princeling that... I don’t usually get involved in my dad’s affairs. But if you ever have trouble in the future, you can find . If soone bullies you, I’ll back you up."
"Uh..." Chen Nuo thought for a mont, then said sincerely, "Thanks."
·
Luo Qing’s father, Luo Dachan, was the one who’d had a son late in life. He was a genuine "old hand" in the local area.
Not like Brother Lei.
A *true* old hand.
He was known as Luo Dachan (Big Shovel Luo) because, in his early years, he was a worker who shoveled sand at a state-owned sand and gravel plant. He later made his fortune—the exact details are unknown—and was now a prominent figure in the local underworld. Years later, he ended up acquiring the very state-owned sand and gravel plant where he once worked. Currently, he ran a sand and soil business, controlling a good portion of the supply for local real estate developnt. Additionally, he owned several dozen dump trucks.
In the last couple of years, he had started venturing into the entertainnt industry, opening a KTV lounge and setting up a few arcade halls.
A genuine local tycoon.
One might wonder why, with such family wealth, his son Luo Qing ended up in a bottom-tier school like No. 8 Middle School.
Actually, the answer was simple.
Luo Qing told Chen Nuo that during his high school entrance exams, he had scored 36 in math and 21 in chemistry. His total score hadn’t even reached four hundred.
Firstly, in the preceding years, the comrcialization of education hadn’t beco so pervasive; it wasn’t yet at the stage where money could buy entry into prestigious schools.
Secondly, although Boss Luo Dachan had risen to prominence in recent years, he had, after all, clawed his way up from the grassroots. He had considerable wealth, but his status wasn’t entirely legitimate, and he lacked connections with the true elite.
Given Luo Qing’s grades, getting into No. 8 Middle School was already sothing his father had paid for. As bad as No. 8 Middle School was, it was at least a recognized public high school.
Moreover, Luo Qing himself didn’t want to study abroad, and Boss Luo Dachan was unwilling to send his child overseas either. As for private elite schools, such things didn’t exist in Jinling City before the year 2000.
Consequently, Luo Qing ended up in No. 8 Middle School, just drifting through his days.
Inside the spacious and brightly lit KFC, Luo Qing sowhat sheepishly explained his family situation. Chen Nuo listened with a relaxed expression, while School belle Sun, on the other hand, looked rather astonished.
Chen Nuo regarded Luo Qing with a new degree of seriousness.
In his previous life, during his youth in Jinling, he had also heard the na Luo Dachan.
However, he later heard that this big shot’s fortunes had declined.
Perhaps it was because he ca from a rough background and his foundations weren’t deep enough. Jiangning District, in previous years, could only be considered a suburban area of Jinling City. Luo Dachan had monopolized the sand and soil business there, dominating the local scene. But with Jinling’s developnt, Jiangning’s university town had taken shape in recent years, and the entire district was undergoing developnt. In the coming years, more and more real estate developers would be acquiring land and launching projects there.
Previously, no one had interfered because it was just a suburban area; the real giants hadn’t turned their eyes this way. Later, as the entire district underwent massive developnt, with comrcial centers and residential complexes springing up one after another, the once-suburban zone gradually transford into a new urban center—that piece of at had beco very lucrative!
Various factions all began to extend their reach.
Because of his unrefined origins and lack of deep roots, Boss Luo Dachan’s fortunes declined steadily in the following years, and he was gradually squeezed out by others.
His end, it was said... was quite grim.
Looking at the carefree young Luo Qing before him—Calculating the ti, the Luo’s House probably had only one or two more years of prosperity left.
Chen Nuo sighed inwardly and temporarily suppressed these mories.
His impression of his classmate Luo Qing wasn’t bad. He had always felt that Luo Qing was low-key and didn’t show off in class. He just didn’t like studying and enjoyed reading novels, never stirring up trouble, and seed quite reliable.
Now that he knew about his family background—in this era, for a kid from such a wealthy and influential family not to bully boys or harass girls, not to swagger around school, and to interact amicably with everyone... That was truly remarkable. If it had been soone else with such a formidable father, they probably would have been chasing girls all over the school long ago, or they would have gathered a gang of followers to boss everyone around.
Thinking about it carefully now, during the ti he had known Luo Qing at school, Luo Qing had indeed been exceedingly low-key, never even doing anything that could be considered showing off his wealth. His usual attire just made him look a bit neater and sharper, and his bicycle was slightly better than average. He had a gentle temperant, a hint of reserve, and at his core, he was quite a good person.
Thinking this, Chen Nuo found Luo Qing even more agreeable.
The group of young people chatted and laughed while eating and drinking at KFC, only dispersing around seven or eight in the evening.
They walked back to the school together to escort School belle Sun ho. However, Luo Qing only went as far as the school gate before leaving. This left Chen Nuo to take his sister and walk School belle Sun upstairs to her apartnt.
She unlocked the door and pushed it open. The apartnt was pitch dark; Old Sun hadn’t co ho from work yet, and School belle Sun’s mother hadn’t returned either.
School belle Sun seed accustod to this. After entering, she hesitated, wondering whether to invite Chen Nuo and his sister in to sit for a while.
Chen Nuo, however, understood the girl’s thoughts and her hesitation. He smiled, made an excuse, and led his sister downstairs to leave.
Chen Xiaoye was, after all, just a child and was starting to get sleepy at this late hour. Chen Nuo simply squatted down and let his sister climb onto his back so he could carry her.
However, as they passed by the school’s main gate, Chen Nuo looked at the pitch-dark campus. He noticed that the school gate was locked and the school’s office building inside was also completely dark. He couldn’t help but frown.
Old Sun isn’t ho, and the school offices are all dark... Where could he be?
After a mont’s hesitation, Chen Nuo decisively turned around and ran back to the Sun family’s apartnt. He knocked on the door. School belle Sun, already changed into her loungewear, opened it and looked at Chen Nuo in surprise.
"Huh? Why are you back?"
School belle Sun’s face was a little flushed.
Chen Nuo let out a breath. "Your dad isn’t back yet?"
"No..." Sun Keke’s face turned even redder.
Chen Nuo smiled. "I have a favor to ask. I have sothing I need to go out for tonight, and I can’t leave my sister at ho alone. Could Ye Zi stay here with you for a bit? Could you look after her?"
School belle Sun was taken aback for a mont. "Huh? You... where are you going this late?"
Chen Nuo started to casually invent a reason, but as he t School belle Sun’s clear gaze, the words caught in his throat. He sighed softly. "Please, don’t ask, okay?"
With that, he stepped inside and gently laid the already sleeping Chen Xiaoye on the sofa.
"I’ll co pick her up tomorrow morning."
"Ah?" School belle Sun instinctively started to cry out, but she only managed half a sound before, afraid of waking Chen Xiaoye, she quickly lowered her voice. She tugged at Chen Nuo’s arm. "Wait! What exactly is going on? What could you possibly have to do that requires you to go out so late?"
Chen Nuo gently pried School belle Sun’s hand from his arm, patted her head softly, and said, "Be good. Don’t ask too many questions."
Saying this, before School belle Sun could even react, Chen Nuo had already slipped out the door and hurried downstairs.
While on his way, School belle Sun called him several more tis, but Chen Nuo simply silenced his phone.
Tucking the phone into his pants pocket, Chen Nuo walked to the roadside, hailed a taxi, and gave an address.
·
XX Street Construction Developnt Company.
This was a state-owned construction and developnt company operated by the local street administration, with private sector equity participation; the street administration held half the shares. They jointly developed various real estate projects within their jurisdiction.
The only thing that made it special was: this was the workplace of School belle Sun’s mother, Ms. Yang.
He glanced at his phone: 8:15 p.m.
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