Chapter 660: Street Commotion

I didn't expect Li Ming to say on the phone, "Brother, I know what you're thinking. Xiao Long isn't your child, so you obviously don't care. If Xiao Shitou ends up in a family like Fang Rui's, what would you do?"

"Fine, don't look for me either. Stay out of Xiao Long's matter."

After Li Ming finished speaking, he hung up.

I held the phone, stared blankly for a while, and said nothing.

Li Ming's meaning was clear: Xiao Long isn't my child, so in this matter I'm being malicious, deliberately steering Xiao Long toward a family like Fang Rui's.

If it were Xiao Shitou, I would stop it immediately.

From now on, don't let me intervene, which shows I've never done anything right inside.

My heart trembled, then I put the phone down.

My mind was a mess.

I took out a cigarette,

and lit it again.

Just now Xiao Long came to tell me about his thing with Fang Rui,

and now Li Ming is complaining again about Xiao Long and Fang Rui.

What exactly have I done in the middle,

I really haven't done anything.

Regarding children's romantic issues, I personally think parents can only offer advice,

the child's opinion must be primary, their own choice.

Whether the marriage is happy or not is their own choice; they'll understand later.

There's no way around it; if you don't take a few detours and fall a few times, you'll never think you're mature.

As for Xiao Long's matter, I of course know Fang Rui's family situation, but when I was in Provincial Capital I already promised Fang Rui not to reveal it.

It must stay hidden.

I keep my word,

I haven't told Li Ming or Qian Niang.

I can't say.

I think my concealment is right. Sometimes people can't live too clearly.

If you say everything, there's no meaning.

I also didn't expect Li Ming would go to Shanghu to investigate; now Li Ming shifts all the matters onto me.

I'm a bit angry; this anger is irritating.

I can only helplessly keep smoking.

At that moment Shi Yong came down from the stairs, saw me smoking in the tea room, and walked over,

"Brother, why are you here? What are we eating tonight?"

"Whatever. Anything is fine," I told Shi Yong.

"I can sense your mood is off. What's wrong, brother, did you get dumped?" Shi Yong asked.

"No, I'm not heartbroken. At my age I'm not into any love," I said.

"Brother, I don't know, love can really be sweet. My life now is sweeter than honey," Shi Yong said with a smug smile.

"As long as you feel the sweetness, that's enough; where there's sweetness there's bitterness,

bitterness and shortness coexist, like fortune and disaster."

"Shi Yong, I ask you,

what would you do if your closest person complained?"

Shi Yong scratched his head and thought for a moment,

"Brother, when the closest person complains about me, I've thought about it and the answer is to sever the relationship, so they won't nag and whine."

"Any complaint is just shirking responsibility," Shi Yong said.

Shi Yong was right,

but cutting ties like that—how could that be? We've been together so long, our bones and tendons are linked.

I smiled lightly and said nothing more.

I took a sip of tea,

then said, "Shi Yong, let's go out. Whatever we encounter, we'll eat."

"Alright, brother, I love that," Shi Yong stood up.

Shi Yong and I walked out of the hotel together.

We stepped onto the street, and immediately the place was bustling, car horns and street vendors' cries mingling together.

This is life.

I suddenly recalled something,

namely to contact Zhu Sheng, ask him to send experts for a survey; this progress must be sped up.

First, set aside Li Ming and Xiao Long's two elders' matter.

I have to attend to the main business.

I pulled out my phone, found Zhu Sheng's number,

and dialed it,

the call connected quickly,

and Zhu Sheng's voice came through,

"Jianqiang, do you want to come over for a drink?"

"Zhu Sheng, the drinking matter can be discussed later; as for what I told you last time about having experts come to Xue County for research, arrange it as soon as possible."

"Aren't we planning to handle it after the New Year?" Zhu Sheng asked.

"No, Tian Shi wants to act quickly," I said.

"Alright, I'll hold a meeting tomorrow and finalize the experts."

"Decide how many people, decide who goes. When the time comes, I'll notify you."

"Okay, Zhu Sheng. I'll wait for your notice so I can arrange," I said.

"Jianqiang, the last time you came, did you handle the Zhuang Shi matter I mentioned?" Zhu Sheng asked.

"Zhu Sheng, regarding this, I've already arranged for someone to communicate with Zhuang Shi."

"He is currently out on a survey; at the end of the month, when he returns to Huaihai City, I'll visit him then."

"Then we'll exchange."

"That works; keep communicating with Zhuang Shi's side and don't let the connection break."

"Fine, that's it. Wait for my call," Zhu Sheng said.

Zhu Sheng hung up.

After putting down the phone,

Shi Yong and I walked along the food street,

It had been developed into a pedestrian street,

On both sides of the street were numerous food stalls.

Various hawkers' cries kept echoing; whenever a passerby appeared, the stall owners would recommend their dishes.

Shi Yong and I walked among them,

In my right hand I held a pork fire‑roasted bun, and in my left hand a vegetable pancake.

Shi Yong had a big handful of skewers in his hand.

We walked and ate, thoroughly enjoying ourselves.

At that moment,

Suddenly, a car horn sounded from behind.

It startled Shi Yong and me,

because cars aren't allowed on the pedestrian street.

But this sedan had somehow driven in,

and after entering, deliberately turned the car's sound system up to the maximum.

The driver was a young man with dyed yellow hair, and beside him sat a very young girl who deliberately exposed her bare arms.

Both looked like street thugs.

I quickly grabbed Shi Yong's arm,

"Shi Yong, let's step aside."

Upon hearing that, Shi Yong turned his head to look at the young man in the car,

and got angry,

"What the hell, a pedestrian street, damn it, what the hell are you doing driving in? I won't let you."

After saying that, Shi Yong deliberately blocked the car.

The yellow‑haired driver pointed at Shi Yong and cursed, "You big idiot, didn't you hear the horn? Get lost now."

Shi Yong's temper could endure this anger,

He stepped up to the car, opened the door,

then reached out and grabbed the yellow‑haired man's neck.

"Damn it, who told you to get out? You didn't even ask. I'm your dad, you little bastard."

The kid didn't even flinch,

He shouted aggressively at Shi Yong, "You wanna die, huh? Damn it, the whole street belongs to us, the Cui Family, you dare provoke us."

"Cui Family," Shi Yong laughed upon hearing that.

No need to ask that yellow‑haired guy; it's unclear whose child from the Cui Family is causing trouble on the street.

"It's not too late to beg for mercy; call me 'grandfather', kneel and bow three times, and I'll let you go."

"Damn it, you really don't know when to die, you don't even ask who I am, I'll teach you a lesson," Shi Yong said, then slapped him twice.

Five clear finger marks were on the yellow‑haired man's face.

The yellow‑haired guy hadn't expected Shi Yong to actually strike.

The girl beside him pulled out her phone and started calling for help.

At that moment I said to Shi Yong, "Shi Yong, let's just leave and stroll, forget about him, let's go."

"Bro, we can't leave; he's dialing people on the phone. Let me see who he summoned."

"In this tiny place of Zaocheng, are there still people I don't know?" Shi Yong didn't want to leave any more.

He wanted to take the chance to show his face.

People started fighting, many stopped their business, and everyone became a gawking crowd, watching the excitement.