Chapter Ninety-Two: Fury That Raises the Hair on End

When I said I would go pick her up, Sister Shi Yu answered with a soft laugh and a tenderness that made refusal impossible. “No need to trouble you. I’ll freshen up and take a taxi over. You go ahead to the East District business quarter first. I’ll call you when I get there.”

Though I felt a little helpless, I still agreed. In truth, I knew that at a time like this, when she had nothing else to do during the day, Shi Yu could have driven over herself. Yet she still chose to take a taxi. She was doing it for no reason other than to spare me embarrassment and keep our meeting from becoming too awkward. And I had actually gone and said something as foolish as “I’ll come pick you up,” inviting trouble for myself. I really was an idiot beyond saving.

Feeling grateful for her consideration, I could not help but smile bitterly to myself. With the face I had, what was it even worth? Probably not enough to cover the fare.

I took a taxi to the East District business quarter and found a step in front of a shop to sit on, waiting for Shi Yu to arrive.

About fifteen minutes later, a tall and graceful figure appeared before me. To my surprise, Shi Yu bent slightly and extended her hand with a smile. “Have you been waiting long?”

I shook my head, took her warm, smooth hand, and stood up. Then I asked in confusion, “How did you know I was here?”

“Because I saw you, of course,” Shi Yu said naturally, brushing the dust from my clothes.

“Really? There are so many handsome men passing by on this street. How could you spot me in a crowd like this?” I found her answer hard to believe. After all, with the way I was dressed now, unchanged for ages, and with a face that was nowhere near the level of those dazzling movie idols, it was unbelievable that someone as ordinary, even as pathetic, as me could be recognized at a glance among millions.

Shi Yu seemed to read my thoughts. As she led me toward the store we had already chosen, she said calmly, “Because all I was thinking about then was you, so in my eyes, there was only you.”

I nodded, half understanding and half not.

“Oh, right, Sis. I got news about Yezi. Did he call you?” Passing a bank along the road, I suddenly remembered An Ye’s matter.

“Mm, he did,” Shi Yu said, nodding. Her beautiful eyes turned to me. “Yezi really is living as freely as ever lately, traveling everywhere with beautiful girls at his side. Isn’t that the life he always dreamed of? Though I wonder whether he’s carrying his guitar with him.”

“I don’t know. But one thing’s for sure—Youqin will definitely have a guitar with her.”

Shi Yu gave me a surprised look, but said nothing more. Perhaps because she did not know much about Youqin, we did not go any deeper into Yezi’s current romantic situation.

After walking for about ten minutes, Sister Shi Yu pointed to an empty storefront ahead. “This is the one.”

At first, I did not look at the place itself. I scanned the surroundings instead. It was near the edge of the bustling street, but not within the commercial zone. The roads around it intersected in all directions, so transport was fairly convenient. More importantly, there were no businesses of the same kind nearby, and that was the most crucial point of all.

After assessing the location, I could not help giving Shi Yu a thumbs-up with a smile. I had to admit her eye for this was impressively mature. The location was excellent, yet by cleverly avoiding the commercial core, the rent could not be pushed too high. Still, if managed properly and advertised well, it was not so remote that customers would mind the extra steps.

“I’ve basically looked over every storefront in the East District that’s been available for lease lately. This is the only one that’s really decent,” Shi Yu said, gesturing toward the place in front of us, signaling that we should go in and take another look.

“Why were you only paying attention to shops in the East District?” I asked in confusion.

“Because... it’s closer to where you live, so it’ll be more convenient once you start working there... Don’t underestimate that. It can quietly save you a lot of energy,” Shi Yu explained with a smile, brushing aside her neat side-parted short hair.

Hearing that, it felt as though my heart was about to melt. Warmth spread through me like morning sunlight. Faced with that kind of thoughtfulness, I did not know what else to say. Perhaps I did not need to say anything at all. Any further words of thanks would only seem more false. What I needed to do was remember this care firmly in my heart, and when the day of success came, repay it in full.

I pushed the door open, and a middle-aged man in his mid-thirties or so came toward us. He was bald, narrow-eyed, and looked a little sleazy. There were strange tattoos on his neck as well.

“You are...? Is Mr. Jing not here?” Shi Yu looked around, but the empty room held only the three of us.

“Oh, I’m his friend. I’m watching the place for him. The landlord called me this morning, so I’ve been waiting here for the two of you,” the middle-aged man said with a smile, making a gesture for us to come in.

Shi Yu stepped inside first, then turned back to ask for my opinion.

I looked over the room, which had already been cleared out. The walls and ceiling were still clean, so it did not seem necessary to repaint anything. The floor was concrete, and would definitely need tiles or wood flooring later. The room was divided into three smaller rooms, likely left behind from the previous tenant’s renovation. My plan was to open up the two rooms toward the entrance, tear down the walls entirely, and turn the space into one large hall. I would keep only the smaller room at the back for a kitchen.

I walked through each room by myself while Shi Yu stayed outside to negotiate the price with the landlord.

Overall, I was quite satisfied. The building was rectangular, and if I really converted it into a hall, it would look spacious. I would only need to put some thought into the layout so it did not feel too monotonous. Besides, at the beginning I did not intend to set up many tables and seats. Because of limited funds, I was only planning to hire Yang Xiaoyu for the time being. I did not know how business would go after opening, but if things turned out well, there was no way Xiaoyu could handle everything alone. So for now I could only keep things lean, focus on quality, and first make a name for myself. If the future really looked promising, I could always expand later.

Just as I was thinking about the future layout of the shop, a scream snapped me back to reality.

“What... what are you doing!”

I could hear the trembling fury in Shi Yu’s voice.

Without another thought, I rushed out. The first thing I saw was Shi Yu, pale-faced and backed into a corner, clutching a broken shard of glass she must have picked up from somewhere and pointing it at the bald middle-aged man.

“Sis!” I shouted and ran to her, stepping in front of her, though I still did not know what had happened.

“What’s going on?” I stared coldly at the man in front of me, a burly middle-aged brute much stronger than I was, and asked in a low voice.

“Why are you so worked up? Aren’t you still looking at the place?” The bald man grinned carelessly.

Seeing the malicious smile on his face, I seemed to understand a little more.

“Sis?” I moved closer to Shi Yu. I could almost hear her breathing, unsettled by fear.

“Chen... Chenzi... we, we’re leaving...” Shi Yu edged toward the door, one hand on the glass, pressed against the wall.

“Sis, tell me what he did to you...” At that moment, I was unnervingly calm. Enduring humiliation in silence? Maybe I, Yang Chen, could be trampled underfoot because I was not strong enough, but anyone who bullied my family or my friends could forget it. Wrong was wrong, and there was no such thing as simply letting it go. There was no logic in that.

“He... he...” Shi Yu seemed to see the determination in my eyes. After hesitating, she said, “He put his hands on me...”

“Damn it!”

I had known this bastard was no good. The moment I walked in, something had felt off, but I never expected him to be nothing more than a filthy lecher.

I cursed and lunged straight at the bald man. I did not care whether he came from the underworld or from anywhere else. If he dared to bully my sister, I would take his life.

The middle-aged bald man apparently had not expected me to strike first. He reacted a beat too late, and I seized him by the throat and shoved him against the wall.

Freeing one hand, I drove a fist into his eye. When you fight, you do not go for the face? Fine. Then I would blind him first.

But the bald man was not an easy one to handle. Though my fist landed hard and swollen his eye, he did not cover it. Instead, he shoved me away with both hands and drove a foot straight into my chest.

The force sent me staggering back to the wall. I coughed once to steady my breathing, then turned to Shi Yu, who had been frightened into helplessness. “Sis, get out!”

Shi Yu looked at me and shook her head. Tightening her grip on the broken glass, I saw a streak of bright red blood running down it...

“Sis, give me the glass... go outside...” I looked at Shi Yu, who was afraid but refused to retreat, and for some reason the rage and irritation that had been boiling inside me suddenly settled. My voice turned calm.

“I won’t!” Shi Yu’s hand trembled constantly from the pain of the wound, but she still bit down hard on her lip, her gaze gradually turning resolute.

I watched her in silence. The impulsive fury I had felt a moment ago was gone. In its place rose a kind of protectiveness I had never felt before. Even during that near-life-and-death fight with Luo Qing at the Other Shore, I had never experienced anything like this.

“She’s so pretty. Of course she’s got plenty of water to her. What’s wrong with a little touch?” The bald man rubbed at his eye, now red and swollen, and sneered. “If you dress that sexy, you’re obviously here to sell yourself. If you don’t want to do it for free, then name a price. I don’t mind playing with you once!”

Listening to the filthy words from the bald man, I actually laughed.

“Sometimes fate really does love a joke. I dodged it once, but I can’t dodge it a second time...” I sighed and shook my head. “Looks like it won’t rest until it throws me behind iron bars.”

“Yang... Yang Chen, calm down...” Shi Yu seemed to realize something was wrong with me. Her bloodied hand tugged gently at my sleeve.

“You like to play, do you?” I reached out, took the shard of glass from Shi Yu’s hand, and used my belt to wrap it around my fist twice. “Today, one of us is leaving here on his feet... and the other is not leaving at all.”