Chapter 433: Going to Town to Pick Up Feiyang

Get up, we're going into town to pick up Feiyang. Ye Cheng flung open Xiao Hu's blanket.

What time is it even? Going early is useless.

Nonsense, I don't know, Qian Shen has blocked my doorstep—you think I can avoid going?

Fine, fine, I'm getting up.

He woke Xiao Hu up, and the two each rode a motorcycle into town, skipping breakfast, planning to eat in town.

The town offers many breakfast options, so Ye Cheng directly took Xiao Hu to the food stall at the market where he had previously seen Lao Wang.

Speaking of which, that guy Lao Wang hasn't been in touch for ages, and neither has Xiao Rou.

By the way, I haven't heard from Yang Liu lately either—no word at all about what she's busy with.

Ye Cheng ordered a bowl of rice noodles with pig's intestines plus a fried egg, Xiao Hu got pig's liver with egg, plus a basket of xiaolongbao and twenty pan-fried dumplings; seeing such a big customer, the owner nearly burst with joy,

"Wow, you youngsters are great—you can really eat!"

"If I don't eat now, I won't be able to when I'm old—owner, give me extra chili, I like it strong."

"Sure thing, I'm just afraid you won't be able to handle it."

"Don't worry, even if you dump that whole pot of chili in, I'll be fine."

Ye Cheng was just bragging, but he didn't expect the owner to actually take the advice.

While cooking the noodles, she pulled a packet of chili from under the counter and dumped a handful into Ye Cheng's rice noodles.

No need to eat it—holy shit!

The chili's fumes made everyone nearby cough nonstop.

"Come on, handsome, this rice noodle—I've added chili from my hometown."

Ye Cheng sniffed the aroma—holy crap, is this chili?

This is the Threefold True Fire.

One bite and his lips went numb, his scalp sweated, his eyes bulged like bronze bells.

Ye Cheng gratefully grabbed a bottle of happy water and drank it to ease the spice.

"Owner, where's your hometown?"

"I'm from Jiangxi—how's the flavor, alright?"

"Sure, absolutely!" Ye Cheng gave a thumbs-up.

Since forever, domestic chatter has been about Sichuan-Chongqing spice, but actually Sichuan-Chongqing is mala, and in pure heat level it's not that spicy.

Only later, as people communicated more, did we realize the truly spicy places are Jiangxi and Hunan—those really can set you on fire.

According to Ye Cheng's tasted flavors, Jiangxi is spicier than Hunan, because Jiangxi likes salty-spicy while Hunan likes fragrant-spicy, and salty-spicy is hotter!

Xiao Hu could handle a bit, but he nowhere near Ye Cheng's tolerance; he honestly shifted his bowl away a little, fearing Ye Cheng would suddenly slip him a chopstickful.

"Brother, don't waste food—the owner specially cooked this for you, you have to finish it."

"Don't worry, it's rare to get this spicy—you think I'd give you any? Pfft!"

A bowl of noodles drenched him in sweat, exhilarating, though his lips were a bit sore; he guessed his asshole would be burning tonight.

The owner's chili is good—no stomach pain from the heat, showing it's genuinely quality chili.

Some shady owners like to use technology; the heat is enough, but once it hits the stomach it feels awful.

Ye Cheng has suffered that loss before.

After breakfast, Ye Cheng packed another basket of xiaolongbao to give to Feiyang later.

He checked the time—it was past eight, just right to head to the police station.

Sure enough, when they arrived at the police station gate, they saw people trickling in, off to work.

After calling Song Zhiyong, Song sent someone to pick them up and bring them inside.

Upon entering, they saw the meeting room packed with people, a table piled high with documents.

"Holy shit! Captain Song, are you prepping for grad school?" Ye Cheng teased.

"Screw studying for a master's—do you think police work ends after catching a suspect? There's a mountain of paperwork to sort.

"With so many victims this time, each needs a file and file. This is more exhausting than making arrests."

Song Zhiyong clearly isn't the type to sit still doing paperwork, so he personally took Ye Cheng to fetch the people.

Feiyang had been waiting anxiously; seeing Ye Cheng and Xiao Hu approach, a big lad squatted inside and burst into loud sobs.

"Captain Song, you… also didn't take good care of him." Ye Cheng murmured.

"Bullshit, he's got food and drink, a private room—what more does he want? Last night I even snuck him a bucket of instant noodles on the side; this treatment would be over the top even if the Heavenly King himself showed up." Song Zhiyong spoke with a bandit's vigor, blunt and straightforward.

"I'm doing this for your sake; otherwise I'd have lumped him in with the other criminals long ago."

"Fine, fine, Captain Song is the most formidable." Ye Cheng said, then slipped him a pack of Hua Zi cigarettes; since they were giving him face, he couldn't refuse to reciprocate.

Xiao Hu had already pulled Feiyang out; the kid looked at Captain Song with teary eyes, an honest expression,

"Officer, can I really go now?"

"If you don't want to leave, that's fine—I can give you another two days out."

Hearing that, Feiyang waved his hands in panic, "No, no, I was just asking casually."

"Feiyang, Captain Song was just joking; we're heading home—your mom came looking for me early this morning, afraid you'd stay another minute."

"Thanks, Brother Cheng, thanks Brother Xiao Hu."

After being detained for over a day, Feiyang's spirit had largely returned to normal, no longer the arrogant vigor he had before.

Xiao Hu handed the xiaolongbao to Feiyang, waited beside him, while Ye Cheng still needed to talk to Song Zhiyong about refunding the money.

"We held a meeting last night at the station, following the plan we discussed earlier; the money wasn't supposed to be returned so soon, but since you're here, I can't let you go back empty-handed.

"Last night I had someone work overtime to tabulate your village's funds; in a bit I'll have Xiao Wang accompany you back to the village, summon the village committee, and we'll sign off the refund together."

"Captain Song gets things done—when we get back I'll erect a shrine for you and burn incense daily."

"Get lost, I'll burn incense for you, damn it." Song Zhiyong laughed and cursed.

After saying that, he pointed upward,

"Why don't you go say hello to Chief Zhou?"

Ye Cheng thought for a moment, yeah, he should thank Chief Zhou, although speaking of it, this time he was the one who helped them.

But who knows if they'll ask them in the future?

Ye Cheng first called Qian Shen, had He Feiyang say a few words to her to reassure her, then he followed Song Zhiyong up to Chief Zhou's office.

As soon as the door opened, Chief Zhou was leisurely sitting in his office chair; seeing Ye Cheng come in, he immediately stood up and pointed to the sofa,

"Our great hero has arrived, come, sit."

"Talking about you, Captain Song." Ye Cheng teased.

Song Zhiyong gave a dry laugh twice,

"Just hurry up and sit; it's already good enough that Chief Zhou is willing to give me a pleasant look, and yet you call yourself a great hero."

"What's wrong? Song Zhiyong, you're itching for a fight again, picking on my flaws."