At that time, three young men at the neighboring table were drinking and playing finger-guessing games, their voices quite loud.
"Brother Kai, they're so noisy. Do you have the clout to ask them to keep it down?" Luo Yang asked with a smile.
Wu Tiankai was taken aback, and seeing everyone looking over, after having previously boasted and showed off for a while, if he refused, he would lose face. So he turned his head toward the neighboring table and shouted, "Hey, keep it down."
Unexpectedly, the three young men at the neighboring table didn't pay any heed. They only glanced at Wu Tiankai and continued on as if nothing had happened, their finger-guessing game growing even louder, clearly using their actions to give Wu Tiankai his answer.
Wu Tiankai immediately jumped up and said in a stern voice, "Believe it or not, I'll make a phone call and have people over to chop you guys up!"
"If you've got the guts, call them!"
When the conversation reached this point, Wu Tiankai had no way out. Even though Yan Lili and others urged him to let it go, he picked up his phone to make a call.
Among those three young men, one of them was also making a phone call, most likely summoning backup as well.
After the time it took to smoke a cigarette, several young men Wu Tiankai had called arrived on motorcycles, but the three young men's backup also arrived just in time. The situation suddenly became extremely tense, and the diners had no choice but to retreat to the side and watch from a distance.
"Who's acting so tough here?! Picking on my little cousin!"
A big dark-skinned man pushed through the crowd and emerged—it was Chen Zhiyun.
When Wu Tiankai saw Chen Zhiyun, he deflated by half and hurriedly said with a forced smile, "Brother King Kong, this is a misunderstanding."
Slap! Slap-slap!
A series of resounding slaps echoed, and Wu Tiankai's cheeks were already swollen red, but he dared not fight back.
"Piece of shit, you dare to act tough? Kneel down before me!"
Chen Zhiyun, wearing leather shoes, kicked Wu Tiankai in the abdomen, knocking him down.
"Brother King Kong, it's really a misunderstanding, I didn't know he was your cousin. Please, spare me this once," Wu Tiankai implored from his knees.
"Weren't you going to fight? You dare to make trouble here?!" Chen Zhiyun kicked Wu Tiankai, and his shoe even flew off.
"Brother King Kong, please stop hitting me," Wu Tiankai pleaded, his facial muscles contorted in pain.
At that moment, Luo Yang stepped forward through the crowd and walked up to Chen Zhiyun.
Seeing that it was Luo Yang, Chen Zhiyun greeted him, "Niu Zai, what are you doing here?"
Luo Yang said, "Brother King Kong, for my sake, forgive him this time. How about it?"
"Is he your friend?"
"No. Seems like he's an old middle school classmate of my girlfriend."
"Fine. Since you've asked, let's leave it. Wanna go to the bar?"
"I'll pass for now."
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Chen Zhiyun left with his gang.
Luo Yang helped Wu Tiankai up and asked with concern, "Brother Kai, are you hurt?"
Wu Tiankai's face was red as blood and slightly swollen. He hung his head without saying a word, crossed the street, got into his car, and drove off.
After the spectacle ended, the diners returned to their seats, now abuzz with a new topic of conversation, the noise even louder.
Originally, Wu Tiankai had promised to treat everyone to a late-night snack, but with his departure, no one was left to play host. Yan Lili and the others looked at each other in bewilderment.
"I'll foot the bill tonight. Everyone, eat whatever you like," Luo Yang declared.
Upon hearing this, everyone cheered up and started to see Luo Yang in a new light, no longer looking down on him with disdain.
After the late-night snack, Luo Yang said goodbye to the crowd and returned to the Hongyun Brigade on his motorcycle, with An Yuying wrapping one arm around his leopard waist and the other bracing his bike.
It was nearly midnight, and Luo Yang was getting ready to go to bed when he suddenly received a call from Qin Piao.
She said anxiously on the phone, "Niu Zai, I've run into a bit of trouble, can you come now? I'm off work already."
Luo Yang asked, "What's the trouble?"
But she hedged, unable to make it clear, insisting that he should come and then she would tell him. Given the nature of a bar, it was possible she had been bullied by some thug.
Luo Yang slipped quietly out the door and rode his bicycle through the night.
The night sky was sprinkled with stars, and although there were no streetlights, he could still roughly make out the condition of the road.
Upon arriving at the appointed place at Xiaoshulin Market, he saw Qin Piao and realized she had asked him to come just to treat him to a midnight snack.
"I'm sorry, Niu Zai, I wanted to treat you to a midnight snack," she said with a smile.
"As long as you're okay," said Luo Yang.
"I want to treat you to shrimp congee to thank you for getting me a job," Qin Piao said softly.
Luo Yang had already eaten, but he couldn't refuse her warm invitation, so he accompanied her to the food stall.
Compared to the food stalls in the county town, those in townships usually closed by midnight, with a peak in customers around 10 p.m., after which few remained. They continued to operate at night only because there were entertainment venues nearby attracting some late-night customers.
Earlier on the dimly lit street, he couldn't see Qin Piao clearly, but now at the food stall, he saw she had put on light makeup and looked girlish; if he didn't know her, it would have been hard to tell she was married.
After ordering shrimp congee, which would take about twenty minutes to be served, Qin Piao sat down next to Luo Yang and asked softly, "Niu Zai, what time do you usually go to bed at night?"
"Around twelve," he replied.
He caught a whiff of a faint fragrance and couldn't help but glance at Qin Piao a few more times unconsciously.
She pretended to ask him how to use the internet on her phone, moving closer to him, resting her cheek on his shoulder, and occasionally casting glances at him, breathing on his neck. It tickled.
At that moment, a Land Rover and a Mercedes parked in front of the food stall. Several young men got out, led by Lin Guofa.
With the food stall sparsely populated, Lin Guofa immediately noticed Luo Yang sitting at the outside table and then his gaze fell on Qin Piao. Seeing her beauty, he thought to himself, "This Luo seems to know quite a few beautiful women."
Their group combined two tables and sat down. Lin Guofa walked over, offered Luo Yang a cigarette, and said, "What a coincidence."
Luo Yang accepted the cigarette and nodded.
"Why don't you join us? I'll treat," Lin Guofa invited.
"Thanks, but no thanks," Luo Yang declined.
Back at the Lin Family's villa, he had a slight friction with Lin Guofa, and gathering together again held no appeal.
Lin Guofa felt extremely jealous inside, thinking, "The beautiful woman, Doctor Tang, who went to my place with him last time, seems to be quite close to him. Could this girl be his girlfriend?"
With that thought, he probed, "Your girlfriend is so pretty."
Luo Yang was about to explain when Qin Piao gently tugged at his shirt, then rested her head on his shoulder.
This delay led Lin Guofa to assume Qin Piao was Luo Yang's girlfriend, and he went on, "Brother, I have something I want to talk to you about, I need a favor. Come on, let's take a drive in my car, we'll be right back."
Luo Yang asked Qin Piao to wait and got into the Mercedes, soon they were on the road.
"Brother, what should I call you?"
"Luo Yang, yang as in sunshine. Or you can call me Niu Zai."
"Others call me Young Master Fa."
After the pleasantries were over, they fell into a brief silence. Lin Guofa slowed the car down.
After discussing his sister Lin Yuqing's illness for a few sentences, he suddenly said, "Niu Zai, I want to ask you something. You seem to be quite close to Doctor Tang, is she single or what?"
Luo Yang had already guessed that Lin Guofa wanted to talk about Tang Guihua, but didn't want to be his accomplice. Most importantly, he felt that if he were to bring Tang Guihua and Lin Guofa together, it would likely be Tang Guihua who would end up hurt.