Wang Yu demanded fifty or sixty thousand as soon as he opened his mouth, leaving Earring and his cronies momentarily stunned. Earring had thought himself shameless enough, but the man in front of him was proving to be even more despicable. Indeed, there was no limit to shamelessness.
After exchanging glances, Earring and his gang showed their true vicious nature and, brandishing their daggers, lunged at Wang Yu. Not only did they not have that kind of money, but even if they did, they'd never hand it over—what kind of thugs would they be if they did?
Wang Yu smirked, put a cigarette in his mouth, dodged the other three, and aimed a fierce punch right at Earring's abdomen. The blow made Earring stumble back seven or eight steps before he stopped, clutching his belly in agony and wailing loudly.
However, Wang Yu didn't stop there. He dodged a few more blows then resumed his attack, delivering several slaps to Earring's face, sending him reeling in a daze, almost seeing stars.
"Feel good?" Wang Yu coldly asked, and as soon as the words fell, he punched Earring squarely in the mouth again.
Earring, still dizzy from the slapping, regained some sense from the punch. In terror, he waved his hands frantically at Wang Yu, pleading for a halt in a slurred voice.
Earring's three accomplices, still clutching their daggers, stood there dumbfounded. Watching Wang Yu, they silently swallowed their saliva and thought it best to stand still; challenging him would only lead to a beating.
At the same time, they finally understood why this guy was so brazen—it was because he had the gall to back it up.
"Puh!"
Earring spat a mouthful of blood, along with three teeth, voicing a serious protest at Wang Yu.
"Why do you keep hitting me? Why not them?" Earring glared venomously at Wang Yu, wishing he could leap up and bite into him if only he stood a chance against him.
"Because you look like you deserve a beating. What kind of man wears earrings? I find it irritating. You might as well go to TG and become a ladyboy."
Wang Yu said with a laugh, but the real reason he focused on Earring was because he had been the most vicious when they attacked Chen Cheng.
Earring remained speechless in the face of Wang Yu, wishing he could just die. Who would have thought a few extra holes in his ears could serve as a reason for a beating? If he had known, he cursed himself for ever getting them.
After looking at Earring, Wang Yu removed the cigarette from his mouth and turned his gaze toward Earring's cohorts, suddenly opening his eyes wide.
Earring's three cohorts trembled at the sight, quickly dropping their daggers to the ground, and put on a fawning smile for Wang Yu.
"Wouldn't it have been nice to be like this from the start? Save me the effort. Any objections to my proposal just now?"
Leaning against the wall, Wang Yu leisurely blew a smoke ring, looking utterly relaxed.
"No...No objections."
Earring immediately took up Wang Yu's words, having learned his lesson and not daring to go against Wang Yu's wishes, for fear of getting beaten again.
"Good!"
As he spoke , Wang Yu reached out his hand toward Earring, a curve forming at the corner of his mouth.
Earring rose to his feet slowly, looked at Wang Yu hesitantly, gulped nervously, and said unclearly, "Big...Big brother, we're willing to pay, but we really don't have that much money on us. Where do you expect me to find it for you?"
Wang Yu blinked a few times, suddenly retracted his hand, causing Earring to quickly step back and loudly say, "Big...Big brother, don't hit me, alright? I'll find a way. Isn't that okay?"
"Don't be nervous; I'm just feeling a bit itchy in my head, probably because I haven't washed it."
Wang Yu said as he scratched his head and scanned everyone. Noticing their shabby clothing, he figured they weren't exactly wealthy.
"How much?" Wang Yu asked.
"Let me check, let me check," Earring said, then turned around and shouted at some women, "Are you f***ing deaf? Hurry up and hand over all your money! Didn't you hear the big brother?"
The women glanced at each other, got up, and began to search themselves until the table was covered with crumpled banknotes.
Wang Yu scoffed upon seeing it, thinking to himself how "closely" the money had been kept, only hoping it wasn't contaminated with any germs that could pass on some disease to him.
Earring didn't pay attention to all that; once the women had gathered all the money, he collected it all, counting each note, sometimes moistening his fingers in his mouth, which nearly disgusted Wang Yu to death.
"Big...Big brother, there's just over nine thousand altogether, including the five thousand you handed out earlier, all here, you see..."
Earring held up the cash with both hands, approached Wang Yu, and looked at him with a mixture of hope and fear in his eyes.
"Get a bag to put it in."
Wang Yu said indifferently, feeling a significant relief from his frustration. They were just a bunch of little thugs after all; having been beaten and scared, he hoped they would refrain from wrongdoing in the future.
Earring quickly packed the money into a bag and handed it to Wang Yu with both hands, saying, "Big Brother, please take this."
Wang Yu reached out to take the bag and slowly said, "Don't let me see you guys doing bad things again, or the next time won't be so pleasant." Having said that, he turned, opened the door, and walked out.
Earring and the others watched Wang Yu's departing figure with gloomy faces. Their scheme to make some easy money had backfired, not only failing to extort cash but also getting extorted out of four thousand of their own—what kind of world was this? Was thug life really that hard?
After leaving the Sunshine District, Wang Yu looked at the bag of money disdainfully and casually hailed a taxi to the Tianhao Hotel. More than an hour had passed, and he figured that Chen Cheng should have already arrived at the hotel by now.
Indeed, when Wang Yu got back to the hotel, Chen Cheng was sitting on a sofa in the hotel lobby, his head wrapped in gauze—undoubtedly a result of a beating from Earring and his group.
Seeing Wang Yu, Chen Cheng immediately got up to greet him. Without wasting any words, Wang Yu led him straight to his room.
"What did the doctor say?"
In the guest room, Wang Yu poured a cup of tea for Chen Cheng, then sat down beside him and passed him a cigarette.
"Nothing serious, just that I can't wash my hair for the next few days," Chen Cheng said as he took the cigarette and lit it with the click of a lighter.
"Good to hear there's no issue!" Wang Yu nodded, lit a cigarette for himself, took a deep drag, and then asked, "Chen Cheng, tell me, has our brotherhood really faded over these eight years?"
Chen Cheng let out a sigh, stood up, and walked to the window. Looking outside, he said, "Little Yu, I know you're angry with me for not telling you what happened earlier. But you have no idea what's going on in my mind."
"What is it then? Are you afraid I'll get into trouble for you again?" Wang Yu's voice suddenly rose as he stood up abruptly and said, "Exactly! Eight years ago, I did suffer a bit because of you, but what is that compared to our brotherhood? Chen Cheng, don't forget, we grew up together as orphans with no other relatives. If I don't have your back when trouble comes, who will?"
At these words, Chen Cheng's fingers trembled, and his cigarette fell to the floor. He turned to look at Wang Yu, his eyes welling with tears.
Wang Yu clenched his teeth, tossed his cigarette into the ashtray, and stepped forward to embrace Chen Cheng.
In that moment, no more words were needed—a hug was enough.
After a while, they separated and returned to sit in their chairs. Wang Yu took out the bag of money he had "extorted" from Earring and pushed it across the table to Chen Cheng.
"Take this, it's compensation from those guys for your medical expenses."
Chen Cheng was taken aback, skeptical of Wang Yu's words.
When he'd left, the gang was clearly demanding five thousand yuan in compensation from Wang Yu, so how could they possibly have agreed to compensate for his medical expenses? This must be Wang Yu using their name as a pretext to give him money.
"Little Yu, even if you want to give me money, there's no need for excuses. Don't worry! I might not earn much, but I won't starve to death. I can't take this. Plus, there's still some money left from what you gave me before. I'll pay you back when I can, after all, it's not easy for you either," he said, taking out the remaining money from his pocket and placing it on the table.
Seeing his expression, Wang Yu knew what he was thinking, smiled, and said, "Just take it. It really is compensation from those guys, and believe me, if I were giving you money, it would be a lot more than this. Don't talk about paying it back; I'm not short of a few bucks."
Wang Yu wasn't bluffing; if he really intended to give Chen Cheng money, he certainly wouldn't just give a paltry sum. He had several tens of millions in assets to his name and earning money came easy to him—a single assassination job would net him millions.
However, Wang Yu understood one principle: it's better to teach someone to fish than to give them fish. Giving Chen Cheng money was less useful than offering him a way to earn it.
Hearing this, Chen Cheng's confusion grew even deeper. If the money was truly from those guys, what made them change their attitude? Could it really be because of Wang Yu?
"Wang Yu, what's really going on?" After thinking it over and still unable to figure it out, Chen Cheng had no choice but to ask Wang Yu directly.
Wang Yu answered with a mysterious smile, "You don't need to know the details. Just understand one thing: the Wang Yu of today is no longer the same Wang Yu who used to be pushed around."
As he spoke, Wang Yu emitted a powerful aura, one that even Chen Cheng could readily sense.
Chen Cheng believed that Wang Yu must have gone through some extraordinary experiences over the past eight years. But as for what kind of extraordinary experiences had shaped the present Wang Yu, Chen Cheng didn't know and felt it inappropriate to ask.
In the time that followed, the two discussed how to look for Xiao Xue. Afterwards, Wang Yu informed Chen Cheng that he would be moving to live in the Sunshine District soon and recounted the events regarding Lin Xi to Chen Cheng.
However, the story was slightly altered from reality—Wang Yu merely mentioned that Lin Xi had sprained her ankle when coming down from the mountain, and after he helped her home, she invited him to stay in the Sunshine District out of gratitude.
After hearing Wang Yu's explanation, Chen Cheng was both surprised and annoyed—surprised that Wang Yu had such an encounter immediately upon returning to Shen City and annoyed that Wang Yu would choose to live with a girl rather than with him.
Of course, Wang Yu certainly wouldn't mention that he was moving in with Lin Xi to prevent her from being deceived by Hu Liang. To do so would have unraveled the story he'd just told.
Afterward, Chen Cheng helped Wang Yu pack up his belongings, then drove him to the Sunshine District, by which time it was already midday.
Watching Chen Cheng's car fade into the distance, Wang Yu shook his head with a smile and turned to walk into the district.