Chapter 973: What

“What’s wrong?”

Jian Qiu tilted her head and followed Zhou Andong’s gaze to see a beggar limping toward them, holding a small aluminum basin.

He would stop anyone who looked wealthy and say a few lucky phrases if they gave money; if not, he wouldn’t press them.

If someone cursed him, he wouldn’t get angry—just bowed and smiled apologetically before moving on to the next target.

Zhou Andong stared fixedly at the beggar: “I might know that beggar.”

“Huh?”

Not just Jian Qiu—even Wu Hongkang and Zhang Shenghui became interested.

“Zhou Dong, you really have friends everywhere—can’t help but admire you,” Zhang Shenghui teased. “Just now, I and Old Wu gave him two yuan.”

“Wait to wipe later!” Zhou Andong stood up and walked over.

“Boss, boss! May you have good luck every day, fortune every month, prosperity every year, and wealth flowing through your lineage!”

“Oh my!”

A tall man—barely one meter fifty—who wore a thick gold chain around his neck and six massive gold rings on his fingers, holding a brick phone, burst into loud laughter. He casually pulled a hundred-yuan note from his pocket and tossed it into the beggar’s aluminum basin.

“Such smooth talker—rewarded!”

“Thank you, boss! Thank you, boss!”

The beggar bowed repeatedly, beaming with joy, his mouth stretched ear to ear, revealing a full set of yellow teeth.

He hadn’t brushed his teeth in at least half a year—otherwise, they wouldn’t look so vividly discolored.

The fellow reached out to pick up the hundred-yuan note and was about to shove it into his pocket.

Then he saw a hand that didn’t belong to him shoot out and snatch the note with a swift motion.

“Fuck your mother!”

The beggar instantly panicked, roaring angrily as he spun around—and saw a smiling face.

He froze, eyes widening in utter disbelief.

His eyes revealed tension, fear, and dread—all at once.

Abandoning his bowl, he slammed it onto the ground with a clang and turned to run.

Zhou Andong grabbed his hair: “Where are you running to?”

“Ow! Ow! Ow!” The beggar was yanked back, grimacing in pain. “Let go! Let go! Quick, let go, or I won’t be nice!”

“Oh?” Zhou Andong sneered. “Not nice? Fine, go ahead—show me how you’re going to be not nice.”

“...”

The beggar deflated like a punctured balloon and plopped onto the ground.

“You’re here to arrest me, aren’t you?” He looked around frantically. “Where are the cops?”

Zhou Andong crouched down and jabbed his finger hard into the beggar’s forehead, knocking him off balance—but the beggar dared not retaliate.

“Who the hell are you, Zhou Anlei? You want me to bring cops to arrest you? Use that pig brain of yours—do you even deserve it?”

“You… didn’t bring cops?”

Zhou Anlei’s fear vanished. He raised his hand to pat Zhou Andong’s shoulder—but seeing Zhou Andong’s cold expression, he awkwardly pulled it back.

“I knew it—we’re from the same grandfather, both surnamed Zhou, and I’m your older brother. How could you possibly bring cops to arrest me?”

Zhou Andong snorted, stood up, and kicked Zhou Anlei. “Get up!”

Zhou Anlei rose, grinning. “Hey, Dongzi, I haven’t eaten since morning. Take me somewhere for a good meal.”

Zhou Andong asked coldly: “When you left, how much money did Zhao Guifen give you?”

“N-not much,” Zhou Anlei’s eyes darted away, avoiding Zhou Andong’s gaze. “She only gave me two hundred yuan for travel.”

Zhou Andong stared at Zhou Anlei without expression, saying nothing.

That made Zhou Anlei’s nerves fray—he forced himself to speak: “Six hundred. She gave me six hundred.”

“Won’t tell the truth, huh?” Zhou Andong grabbed Zhou Anlei’s shoulder. “Come with me to the police station—you’ll tell the truth there.”

“Hey hey hey!” Zhou Anlei panicked, yanking his shoulder free. “Two thousand six! She gave me two thousand six!”

Seeing Zhou Anlei’s pathetic state, Zhou Andong’s anger surged.

Two thousand six hundred yuan was no small sum—especially in Yangcheng. Even without job ads everywhere, with that money he could start a small business and live comfortably.

Look at the shoe shiners—they easily earn ten or twenty yuan a day. Yet Zhou Anlei had sunk this low—begging with a basin for pocket change.

“With over two thousand yuan, you’ve become this trash in just over a year?”

Zhou Anlei opened his mouth to reply—then his body began trembling violently, his eyes filled with terror as he stared fixedly behind Zhou Andong.

Zhou Andong frowned, slowly turning—and saw five youths standing there.

Each was tattooed from head to toe; one, clearly the “boss,” stood out.

He smoked a cigarette, wore flip-flops, had his hair cut short enough to show his blue scalp.

“Lei Zi!” He spoke in broken Mandarin, smiling at Zhou Anlei. “What a surprise—running into an acquaintance here?”

Zhou Anlei turned pale, his body shaking, yet his face forced a grin.

“Brother Chang, I don’t know him!” Zhou Anlei grabbed Zhou Andong’s collar, glaring and shouting: “Fucking asshole, bumped into me and didn’t even apologize? Think you can just walk away?”

The moment these guys appeared, Zhou Andong felt fear radiating from Zhou Anlei.

Clearly, Zhou Anlei was in deep trouble here—and his current state might be tied to these men.

Zhou Andong stared at Zhou Anlei, seeing desperation on his pale face—as if silently begging him to leave.

Thinking back to the past—was this really the same Zhou Anlei? The idiot with a brain full of holes, zero IQ, selfish, who treated him like an enemy?

“You fucking idiot!” Zhou Anlei shouted again. “Apologize right now, or I’ll make you regret it!”

Seeing Zhou Anlei’s anxious face, Zhou Andong smiled. His cold gaze softened.

“Laugh your ass off,” Zhou Anlei snarled again, tilting his head slightly and glaring hard at Zhou Andong. “You think I won’t hit you?”

“Erlei!” Zhou Andong patted the hand gripping his collar. “Tell me—what’s my name?”

Zhou Anlei froze. He opened his mouth to curse—but seeing Zhou Andong’s calm expression, especially those deep eyes, suddenly gave him courage he’d never felt before.

“Your name is Zhou Andong!”

“That’s right!” Zhou Andong smiled again. “If you know my name is Zhou Andong, why are you still afraid?”