"Liu Kun, I have very little time left."
"No, Old Master, the doctor already said that you..."
"Those doctor's salaries come from my pockets. They would say whatever I want them to say." Nanrong Yong looked at Liu Kun and gloomily continued, "You are my closest confidant, I won't hide the truth from you. The doctor estimate that I have less than two years left. The reason why I didn't tell Wanqing and the rest is because I don't want them to worry about me. Wanqing has only taken over the company for a few years and her foundations are still unstable. If those bastards in the family knew about my condition, who knows what despicable tricks they will pull? With our family culture, profits reign supreme and are far more important than any blood ties."
"Old Master, please rest assured. I will not divulge this matter to anyone else."
Nanrong Yong nodded his head and proceeded to change the topic. "I heard that when I was bedridden, someone sent a clock?"
"Yes… We still haven't found out who the culprit is for the time being."
"Hmph! There's no need to investigate; I already have a good idea as to who was behind it. They had the Gall to send me a clock, which shows that they can't wait to make a move on me. Liu Kun, in the future, I want you to stay beside Wanqing and protect her. I hope the tragedy from last time will not repeat itself."
Liu Kun was painfully aware as to what 'tragedy' Nanrong Yong was talking about. A few years back, Nanrong Wanqing had been involved in a fatal car accident on her journey to the company. The driver had vanished without a trace, and to this day, they were unable to find him.
This fateful incident left her lower body paralysed and robbed her of her ability to walk, leaving the wheelchair her life-long companion. The Nanrong family had long suspected the accident was a result of foul play by one of their enemies.
"Old Master, I will stop at nothing to ensure the safety of Young Miss. But, I'm afraid that if I stay by her side, she will figure that something is amiss, given her intellect."
"What you said is true." Nanrong Yong furrowed his brows. "However, in the Nanrong family, other than you, there's no one with the ability to protect her."
Liu Kun rolled his eyes and suggested, "Old Master, since we don't have any experts in our family, why don't we look outside for help? I have a perfect candidate in mind, the previous time we sparred, I lost quite badly to him. If we can hire him, then I think we can guarantee Young Miss's safety."
"Oh?" Nanrong Yong's interest seemed to be piqued by Liu Kun's words. "Even you are unable to match up to him? What background does he have?"
"I conducted some investigations into him. His name is Ling Chen."
Liu Kun then recounted the happenings of that day to Nanrong Yong, without hiding a single detail.
"He's still so young, but he's actually able to defeat you? That's indeed impressive for his age. But abilities are one thing; the key thing is that he must be trustworthy."
"Do you want to test him?"
Nanrong Yong seemed to contemplate for a while before a resolute glint flashed in his eyes. "That's fine too. If he's as formidable as you make him out to be, there's no harm in testing him."
After he satisfied his hunger, Ling Chen left the hotel, his belly feeling like it was going to burst. In his hand was a toothpick, which he used to pick at the gaps between his teeth. His face was flushed, and he loudly exclaimed, "Little Hao, I won't be sending you home, take care of yourself on your way back."
The round of drinking had improved the relationship between the two considerably, with Ling Chen changing his address of Nanrong Hao from Young Master Nanrong to Kiddo Hao.
"Bro Chen, Bro Hao, then I'll be taking my leave. Let's catch up in the future."
"Alright."
After bidding farewell to Nanrong Hao, Ling Chen and Jiang Hao then walked to the main road of Five Mile street, casually chatting on the way.
"Bro Chen...." Jiang Hao started to say something, but then he faltered, unsure on how to continue.
"If you want to say something, just tell it to me straight."
"Just now, during dinner, you said your boss fired you. So, what are your plans for the future?"
"Why are you asking me this?"
Jiang Hao hesitated, before saying, "Bro Chen, since you are so skillful, why not..."
"Sorry, I'm not interested." Ling Chen knew what Jiang Hao was getting at and curtly rejected him.
Ling Chen had expended so much effort in order to leave that violent and bloodthirsty world behind, he was sick and tired of that kind of lifestyle.
Moreover, going around to cause trouble with a group of ruffians seemed to be a little uncool.
"Bro Chen, I just casually brought it up, no need to think too much into it. If you are not willing, then I won't force you, but… I hope you can instruct us and teach us some moves."
Jiang Hao continued in a severe tone, "Although I've gathered quite a few underlings, they're all small fries. They only know to rely on someone else's might to act arrogantly and are only good for bullying others with numbers. If push comes to shove, they are useless wallflowers. Wanting to stay in the hoodlum business requires genuine abilities. I do have a foundation now, but this foundation is quite unstable, I need your help to firm it up by helping to cultivate pillars that I can rely on. If that happens, then I wouldn't need to trouble you for everything in the future."
Listening to Jiang Hao, Ling Chen could not help feeling admiration. The brat was really not that bad, possessing both ambition and foresight.
No matter what one does, a sharp analytical mind is required, and the same went for the hoodlum business as well.
What Jiang Hao pointed out made sense, and it proved that he had put a lot of thought into the future of his gang.
Nobody would dislike someone eager to improve themself, and Ling Chen was no exception as well. Moreover, Jiang Hao was his friend, so he should lend a helping hand whenever he could. He was also curious as to how far Jiang Hao's ambition would bring him.
Thinking of these points, Ling Chen then nodded his head. "Alright then, I'll help you this time."
"Really?"
Jiang Hao had initially thought that Ling Chen would reject him for sure, as he had made the same request to Ling Chen many times before this but to no avail. Ling Chen's unexpected response thus left him pleasantly surprised.
"Bro Chen, thank you so much."
"There's no need to be so polite. Alright, I'm leaving now. See you another day."
Back at his apartment, Ling Chen fished out his key and was getting ready to enter. Just as that time, he saw Tang Shiyun skipping happily towards him, her face sparkling with excitement.
"Big Brother Ling!"
"Lass..."
Before he could finish speaking, Tang Shiyun suddenly stretched out her hands, and grabbed his neck, before starting planting a kiss on his face.
Ling Chen froze and stared dumbly at Tang Shiyun.
This lass has gone mad! Even if she likes him, there's no need to be so brazen in displaying her affection!
He quickly pushed away Tang Shiyun's small and slender hand and scolded, "You stupid girl, if you want to kiss, then do it inside! Do you know that others would gossip if they saw us?"
Realising that she had been overboard with her display of affection, her petite face flushed and she explained, "Who wants to kiss you? I only came because I'm so happy!"
"Happy to see me?"
"Stop dreaming!" Tang Shiyun rolled her eyes, before excitedly continuing, "Let me tell you a piece of good news. The results of the college entrance examination just came out. Donghai University accepted me!"
"Oh." That was the only reply Ling Chen could muster, looking extremely disappointed and depressed.
He had thought that this lass fancied him. It turned out that he was happy over nothing.
"Hey, what's with your reaction?" Tang Shiyun complained, looking very dissatisfied.
"Donghai University is a famous university renowned nation-wide, with less than 100 admission places every year. Aren't you happy for me?"
Ling Chen was afraid of offending the little witch, and hurriedly added, "Of course I'm happy for you! You have been admitted to such a renowned university, this brought glory to me as your brother."
"Since your sister has brought you glory and allowed your reputation to shine, how are you planning on repaying me?"
Ling Chen laughed and teased, "You should know that your big brother is poor. The most valuable thing on me is my body, do you want me to pay you with that?"
Tang Shiyun pouted, "I don't care for it."
"What do you want then?"
The gears in Tang Shiyun's mind seemed to churn, and she held his arm intimately: "Big Brother Ling, why not take me out to play? My mother always said that it was not safe to go out at night and would not even let me step one foot out of the house."
"I think in your mother's eyes, I'm more dangerous than anything out there."