Chapter 525: Delinquent Youth

Yan Jiefang swayed out from Xu Damao's house, casually slapped Liu Guangtian on the back of the head, and sneered, "You really are a complete waste! Your dad isn't home, and you can't even handle your mom? You might as well be dead from stupidity!"

Liu Guangtian raised his hand and punched him, glaring as he shouted, "She's my mom, what else can I do?"

Yan Jiefang grinned, leaned in closer, and said, "Buy your mom a train ticket and coax her into going to Guangzhou to see your dad. Once she leaves, won't Liu Guangqi have no one to look after him? You have money to eat out; bring your brother along to satisfy his cravings from time to time. Won't your eldest brother be the only one left at home? Your mom can't leave much money for your eldest brother, so his life definitely won't be easy..."

Liu Guangtian's eyes widened instantly. He thought about it and praised, "I think you have more devious tricks than Xu Damao. My mom was just talking about my dad a while ago; if I buy her a ticket, she'll definitely go."

Yan Jiefang chuckled, carrying a sense of maturity that didn't match his age: "What Xu Damao said earlier about 'brothers being enemies' isn't wrong. My eldest brother is also incredibly selfish! He's about to graduate from junior high, and he probably won't pass the exam for technical school... He spends all day forcing my dad to buy him a job. A job costs over three hundred yuan. My dad is willing to pay, but they don't have the money, so they cry poverty to me every day and even talk about borrowing money from me, asking my brother to pay interest and all that... I know, that's like throwing a meat bun at a dog..."

Liu Guangtian curled his lip and teased, "Just a moment ago, weren't you quite capable of giving me advice? How come you're helpless when it comes to your own family affairs?"

Yan Jiefang shook his head, his expression dimming slightly: "In your family, it's your parents who are unreasonable, which can be solved with some tactics. Besides, your dad is still quite capable of earning money. As for my family? Whenever something happens, my dad puts it all out in the open, saying we should 'discuss it together' and talking about equality... But how can we kids shoulder the burdens of adults?"

Hearing this, Liu Guangtian couldn't help but laugh and curse: "I really want to grow up fast and leave this home..."

"Let's go." Yan Jiefang nudged him with his arm, "Let's head to the hospital and see if we can get you some laxatives!"

"We don't know anyone there, how are we going to get them? Didn't Xu Damao agree to get them for you?" Liu Guangtian was already backing out before they even started.

"Xu Damao would fleece you to death!" Yan Jiefang led Liu Guangtian straight to the inpatient department of the Beijing hospital.

Yan Bugui had been hospitalized there a while ago, and Yan Jiefang came by often, so he was fairly familiar with a young nurse named Pingping.

Just as they were about to step into the gate of the inpatient department, they were stopped by the old man on guard duty.

"Kid, who are you looking for?" The old man's eyes were filled with scrutiny.

Yan Jiefang immediately put on a smile and nimbly pulled a pack of Qianmen cigarettes from his pocket, unobtrusively stuffing them into the old man's pocket: "Grandpa, I'm Jiefang. My dad was hospitalized here a while ago; he's a teacher. I'm looking for the nurse Pingping for a private matter. I'll be out very quickly."

The old man felt his pocket, a smile appeared on his face, and he waved his hand: "Alright, get in and out quickly!"

"Got it, thanks Grandpa!" Yan Jiefang pulled Liu Guangtian, and the two of them slipped in like loaches.

When they reached the nurse station, they saw Pingping preparing medicine at a glance.

Yan Jiefang immediately went up to her and greeted her with a grin: "Sister Pingping, busy? Do you still recognize me?"

Pingping looked him over and nodded: "You are... Teacher Yan's son?"

"Yes, yes, that's me, Jiefang." Yan Jiefang leaned in closer, took out five yuan, and lowered his voice: "Sister Pingping, do me a favor. My dad has been constipated lately and is really suffering. He asks my mom to help him every day... but my mom thinks it's too filthy to use her hands and doesn't want to. My dad is stubborn and refuses to come to the hospital for a check-up. My mom is at her wit's end, so she told me to find a way to get some strong laxatives..."

Pingping didn't have a high salary and also wanted to earn some extra money. Seeing the child speak so convincingly and with such sincerity, she thought for a moment and nodded: "This five yuan will count as the registration fee. I can get you 100 grams of Magnesium Sulfate. This stuff is potent, so don't use too much at once. I'll write down the dosage for you later. However, the medicine itself will cost at least ten more yuan. Are you willing?"

Yan Jiefang didn't hesitate and handed over another ten yuan, his movements crisp and efficient.

Pingping took the money and patted Yan Jiefang's head with a smile: "Come back to get it at this time tomorrow."

"Alright, thanks Sister Pingping!" Yan Jiefang turned around and ran off, pulling Liu Guangtian who had been waiting in the corner.

After exiting the inpatient building and reaching a secluded spot, Yan Jiefang lowered his voice to tell Liu Guangtian: "The medicine wasn't cheap, twenty-five."

"So expensive!" Liu Guangtian's heart ached so much he almost shouted.

"Keep it down!" Yan Jiefang glared at him, "If it weren't for my connections, you wouldn't be able to get hospital medicine at all. You want to go to Xu Damao? With his black heart, he'd charge you fifty!" As he spoke, he held his hand out in front of Liu Guangtian.

Liu Guangtian wrinkled his face, dawdled for a long time, and then reluctantly pulled a roll of money from his inner pocket, carefully counted out twenty-five yuan, and slapped it into Yan Jiefang's hand.

Yan Jiefang tucked the money away and kicked Liu Guangtian in the calf: "Stop crying over the money. Let's go, next step, I'll get you the train ticket. Isn't your buddy being pretty loyal? I've been running errands for you all day!"

Liu Guangtian was still hesitant: "I... I haven't made up my mind yet! Do I really have to buy the ticket?"

"You're such a waste!" Yan Jiefang pushed him impatiently, "Your mom has no backbone, what are you still discussing with her? Just shove the ticket at her; I don't believe she won't go. Just buy one for the day after tomorrow, your mom will definitely leave!"

Pushed and prodded by him, Liu Guangtian's mind began to stir, and he gritted his teeth: "Then... let's go buy the ticket?"

"That's more like it!" Yan Jiefang threw an arm around his shoulder, and the two walked out of the hospital with their arms linked.

The crowd at Yongdingmen Station was surging, and the noise was enough to almost lift the roof.

Several long, winding lines were formed in front of the ticket windows, and everyone had an anxious look on their faces.

Yan Jiefang squinted at the mottled price list posted on the wall and calculated quickly in his mind: "Beijing to Hankou, 19.5 yuan; Hankou to Guangzhou, 21 yuan. Total 40.5 yuan." He turned his head and said to the slightly dazed Liu Guangtian beside him: "Give me thirty, I'll find a way to get the ticket."

"What?" Liu Guangtian's eyes widened, thinking he had misheard, "Isn't the ticket over forty?"

Yan Jiefang snorted, a rogue smile that didn't match his age curling the corner of his mouth: "Did you return everything Siqiang taught you? Watch."

He casually stuck his right hand into his pocket, his fingers nimbly feeling and pinching inside. When he pulled it out, a razor blade as thin as a willow leaf and gleaming with a cold light was held firmly between his thumb and index finger.

The blade was hidden between his fingers with extreme ingenuity; if Yan Jiefang hadn't shown it to Liu Guangtian, he would never have noticed it.

Liu Guangtian had also learned this "craft," but his hands were clumsy, so he could only ever act as a lookout for his fellow apprentices and had never actually done it himself. Seeing the blade now, his heart couldn't help but pound.

Just then, a man in a Zhongshan suit, looking like a Cadre, squeezed to the front of the window and said in a loud voice: "Comrade, buy one express ticket to Guangzhou."

The ticket seller didn't even look up and replied mechanically: "The Yangtze River Bridge isn't open yet, you have to transfer at Hankou. There are no express tickets left, only regular ones, 40.5 yuan for both legs."

"Fine, then a regular ticket." The Cadre frowned but still counted out the money and handed it in.

After receiving the ticket, he carefully checked the train number and date, then cautiously opened the half-old black leather bag in his hand, put the ticket inside, zipped it up carefully, and turned to squeeze his way out.

The moment he turned and the crowd surged slightly, Yan Jiefang moved.

He suddenly lowered his body and dashed forward, shouting anxiously: "Excuse me, excuse me, let me through! I bought the wrong ticket, I need to get a refund—"

Before he finished speaking, he "happened" to bump squarely into the Cadre walking out.

"Oh, sorry, sorry!" Yan Jiefang apologized repeatedly, his left hand seemingly in a panic as he grabbed the other man's arm to steady himself.

In the instant they made contact, his right hand, holding the razor blade, moved as fast as lightning, sliding gently from front to back, and a five-inch-long slit instantly appeared on the black leather bag.

Almost simultaneously, the ticket slid out gently.

Yan Jiefang's right hand was prepared; he caught the ticket and hid it in his palm, the entire process as smooth as flowing water.

The Cadre only felt like he had been bumped and didn't suspect a thing. He even said "It's nothing," wiped the sweat from his forehead, and walked toward the outside of the station.

Yan Jiefang quickly squeezed in another direction. His eyes met Liu Guangtian's, and the two quickly disappeared into the flow of people at the station entrance.

Not until he was about to reach the bus stop did the Cadre subconsciously touch his pocket. His face turned white in a flash; his leather bag had been cut with a large slit. He was sweating profusely with anxiety, looking back, but all he could see was the vast sea of people.