Chapter 99: Ripping the Face Open Face‑to‑Face

Shen Fang, Li School, Mao Wang, and a girl beside them, who is Aunt Yinxiang's daughter, looks ordinary, a bit plump, and is said to be either on a blind date or on the way to a blind date.

They were walking around the beloved grandson of the old village chief, Shen Nan, chatting; as the village chief's only grandchild, Shen Nan is very popular in the village and is the most successful among their generation of youngsters.

It is worth mentioning that Shen Nan not only does well now, but will also do well in the future.

When the village develops in the future, he will take part in many projects; after his Father passes away, he returns, and the largest, most luxurious house in the village was built by Shen Nan.

Shen Nan is the most celebrated person in the village, while he is the most ragged one in the village at that time.

Met on the road.

Shen Nan doesn't even look at him, and he can only stand by the roadside, gloomily "gazing up" as Shen Nan drives by in a luxury car.

At that moment, seeing Shen Nan suddenly, he can't help feeling emotional.

Shen Nan flicks the long bangs on his forehead, smiles and initiates a greeting: "A An, long time no see."

"Yeah." Wu An smiles, his gaze scanning the others; Shen Fang averts his eyes, and when Mao Wang meets his gaze, he even narrows his eyes.

"I heard you've been studying well lately, going to sea every day to fish, incredibly diligent," Shen Nan continues, "So why didn't I see you at the seaside today?"

"I went to the tidal flats, but something unexpected happened and I didn't catch any seafood." Wu An shrugs, saying, "We'll talk about it next time."

"No wonder, people are like that; maybe luck has always been that good, after all it's always ups and downs… just down, down, down," Mao Wang says sarcastically.

Wu An furrows his brow; he knows Mao Wang remembers being hit but forgets being beaten, and after just being shocked by Gu Anran, he shouldn't have leapt around so quickly.

Mao Wang raises the plastic bag in his hand and says, "We went to the sea today, the catch was decent; I sold over two thousand."

"Shen Fang and the others also made quite a bit of money."

"It's perfect that Shen Nan is back; I still have a lot of seafood left—green crabs, mantis shrimp and the like. The bunch of us who grew up together should get together."

"Ah."

"Forgot to call you, but luckily ran into you on the road…"

Wu An is suddenly enlightened.

No wonder.

He thinks making money from the sea proves he's capable again.

Shen Nan furrows his brow and says, "A An, Mao Wang isn't very articulate; don't misunderstand, he didn't intentionally leave you out—we actually met him halfway."

Wu An smiles.

Misunderstanding?

Where does the misunderstanding come from?

There is no misunderstanding at all; Mao Wang just wants to step on him and show off in front of Shen Fang.

Can he tolerate that?

Of course he can't.

"It's fine, you don't need to explain anything to him; my conflict with him has a long history," Wu An says calmly, pulling away the unnecessary veil.

Shen Nan is surprised.

As a young man, everyone has to face it; he didn't expect Wu An to speak so candidly about their conflict—shouldn't they maintain a superficial relationship?

Wu An notices Shen Nan's expression and knows his words might be hard for a young person to grasp.

He mutters under his breath that maintaining such a relationship is pointless, then continues, "Mao Wang, if Shen Nan treats us, I will definitely go."

"If you treat, I won't go."

"Rushing to invite Shen Nan for a meal and making others keep you company—does that sound fun?"

Mao Wang was originally quite smug.

He thought Wu An would be embarrassed by his words, but Wu An simply tore his face open.

What's worse, everything he said hit the mark, leaving him powerless to retort!

"You…" he is about to explode on the spot.

Wu An smiles, "See, you're flustered; I broke your guard, right?"

"Besides being helplessly angry, what else can you do?"

"Can you beat me?"

"Or are you hoping Shen Nan and the others will speak for you?"

"Ah!" Mao Wang roars, not knowing why every word Wu An says makes him extremely uncomfortable.

"Ahem." Shen Nan grabs Mao Wang, then looks at Wu An and says, "We all grew up together; it's just a joke when we meet, right?"

"If you say it's so, then it's so; Mao Wang can think it's so too, I don't really care." Wu An says as he walks to the big trash bin at the intersection.

The trash bin is already full, with a lot of garbage strewn on the ground, and dogs rummaging for food, making a mess.

This is the norm; someone will come to clean it up the next day.

He tosses the plastic tablecloth aside, looks back at Shen Nan and says, "I have something tomorrow, need to go back early to sleep, I'm leaving."

After speaking, he waves his hand and strides toward Lao Wu.

He would naturally be happy to get along with Shen Nan, but today it's clearly inappropriate; there's no need to beg or push, and it's unnecessary to chase connections. Instead of networking, he'd rather figure out how to make money, big money, and live a prosperous life.

Just as he leaves, a few cats and dogs, apparently smelling something, come over and paw at the plastic tablecloth, quickly tearing it open, scattering crab shells and legs everywhere.

Mao Wang spits, can't help cursing a couple of times, and is stunned by the crab‑shell trash.

Shen Nan shines a light on it, teasing, "No wonder Wu An doesn't care; they're already full and satisfied."

Mao Wang doesn't know what to say.

He only caught three green crabs in total, yet among Wu An's trash there are seven or eight crab shells at a glance—damn, did he eat the green crabs for a meal?

Shen Nan looks at the silent Shen Fang and says, "I heard that before, Wu An beat someone into the hospital for you?"

Shen Fang quickly shakes her head, saying, "It's not like that."

Shen Nan, curious, asks, "Then what happened?"

Shen Fang bit her lip and repeated what Wu An had told her earlier.

Shen Nan exclaimed: "Actually it's like that, why is there so much gossip in that Village?"

Shen Fang: "……"

……

Wu An returned home and sent a message to Gu Anran; he thought she would be asleep at this late hour, but unexpectedly she replied instantly.

The two agreed to meet in town tomorrow.

Actually.

Now they could pay by transfer, but neither mentioned it, and in unison they chose 'cash payment'.

After finishing the business, the wine hit him, Wu An said goodnight, put down his phone, and quickly fell asleep.

On the other side.

Gu Anran looked at the chat page on her phone, hesitating whether to send another message; she wasn't the least bit tired, and actually still wanted to chat to pass the time.

Mao Wang and peers of the same age gathered, but Mao Wang was inept at socializing, couldn't speak well, the atmosphere fluctuated between cold and hot, and after eating and drinking for less than an hour they dispersed.

That night, the lights in Xixi Village were bright, and those gathering seafood came in an endless stream.

That night, Wu Ping and Mei Yueqin stayed up for a long time, discussing how to spend the suddenly earned twenty thousand yuan; such a large sum felt impossible to spend completely, and they fell asleep happily with smiles on their faces.

That night, Wu Yingwei got drunk, slept deeply, and rare for him, had a good dream.

That night, Shen Nan, who planned to return to the Village to develop, felt that among his peers who grew up together, only Wu An was somewhat inscrutable to him, even giving him a faint sense of pressure.