Chapter 555: 551. The Respective Choices of Those Once by My Side

On the afternoon of the fifth, Zhang Ran was still chatting and bragging with a group of old men when He Yong came looking for him.

He Yong's expression was very strange, somewhat excited yet somewhat uneasy, and he was gripping his phone tightly in his hand.

"Brother Zhang, a call from Chengzi," He Yong said in a low voice.

Zhang Ran was taken aback, then immediately asked, "Him? What's the matter?"

"You should hear the specifics from him personally; I need to go verify something on my end," He Yong said.

Zhang Ran detected something from He Yong's tone, thought for a moment, and said, "Alright."

After saying this, he answered the phone, stood up while looking at the chessboard he was about to lose, and put on an expression that said he had to take a call.

The old man playing against him couldn't be bothered to pay him any mind; this guy was like this every time, and he was already used to it.

"Brother Zhang." The voice on the other end was trembling and somewhat strained, as if it had been a long time since he had spoken.

Zhang Ran smiled and said, "How do you have time to call me?"

"I'm sorry," Li Cheng said.

Zhang Ran said, "No need to be sorry. Your choice back then wasn't wrong either; after all, I 'died,' so there was no need for you all to hold onto anything."

Listening to the silence on the other end of the receiver, Zhang Ran sighed and said, "Hey, you guy, alright, I mean it—I'm really not angry."

"But..."

"There's no 'but' about it. I'm not angry, so I'm not angry. Since you have time to call, you might as well come find me for a drink," Zhang Ran said.

Hearing Zhang Ran say this, Li Cheng suddenly had an urge to cry; this iron-blooded man who had been knocking about on the battlefield for nearly thirty years also had a soft spot of his own.

That spot was the memories of those years, the days spent by Zhang Ran's side.

Back then, he didn't know how to cherish them, nor did he know just how precious Zhang Ran's trust in them really was.

But he knew now, and he knew even better just how rare and valuable the attitude and trust of someone with Zhang Ran's net worth toward people like them truly was.

Li Cheng took a deep breath and said, "Brother Zhang, I might not be able to go back."

"What's wrong? Did you stir up trouble out there? You know my rules—as long as it's nothing heinous, I can help you resolve whatever it is," Zhang Ran said, thinking Li Cheng had come to him for help.

For the first time in thirty years, Li Cheng truly smiled. "Brother Zhang, thank you, but that won't be necessary."

"Then you called just to reminisce?" Zhang Ran said with a smile.

"A little, but there is still something I'd like to ask Brother Zhang for help with," Li Cheng said.

Zhang Ran said irritably, "I knew you wouldn't come to the temple without a reason. Fine, speak up—what is it?"

"It's like this: I have some brothers here, and I'd like Brother Zhang to help look after their families, especially the family of one of my brothers back in the country," Li Cheng said.

Zhang Ran didn't ask any further questions and said directly, "Alright, since you, Li Cheng, have asked, I can't refuse this favor. Tell me how you want me to help."

Li Cheng asked, "Brother Zhang, aren't you going to ask for the reason?"

"Ask what?" Zhang Ran said.

Li Cheng said, "I originally wanted to claim credit with you."

"Claim credit?"

"Mm, Brother Zhang, have you heard of Lieqing?"

"That's illegal!"

"Brother Zhang, I'm being serious with you."

"I'm being serious too. You kid, you aren't doing that now, are you?"

Li Cheng sighed and said, "Brother Zhang, your name as a Rich Man has already resurfaced, so how do you not know about our Lieqing? Are we really that obscure?"

Zhang Ran was suddenly stunned; he really hadn't thought in that direction before.

"You're from Lieqing? No, Lieqing is yours?" Zhang Ran said.

He had been learning about things in this circle over the last few days and knew of Lieqing's existence, but he hadn't thought much of it; after all, the Whale Shark had offended too many people over the years.

"Mm, I left after that time. I originally thought I'd just live as fate willed, but I didn't expect that after all these years, not only did I not die, but it's actually grown bigger and bigger," Li Cheng said with a simple laugh.

Zhang Ran, however, heard a hint of pride in it, though there was actually more danger involved; it wasn't as if Zhang Ran knew nothing about this circle.

"Look at you all—was it necessary? One chose to sink into depression, one chose to change his identity, one chose self-destruction." As Zhang Ran spoke, he found himself unable to continue.

This group of people by his side back then really surprised him one after another.

Except for Zhao Hu, who chose a new life much like he had imagined and was doing quite well, the others all seemed to still be living under the influence of him, Zhang Ran.

Not to mention He Yong, who back then was bent on dragging people like Tian Yaohui to their deaths.

Zhu San chose to sink into depression; he seemed to have completely wasted himself away and had done many things to atone for his sins.

Xiao Long chose to change his identity, but not to start a new life—merely to eventually drag Galaxy Capital down with him and serve as a funeral sacrifice for him, Zhang Ran.

Now, Li Cheng had chosen self-destruction, only he hadn't managed to die after all these years.

Li Cheng smiled and said, "It's just because your personal charisma, Brother Zhang, is too great."

It seemed that after talking to Zhang Ran, he had returned to his former state—he could smile, and he could joke even more.

Zhang Ran rubbed his brow and said, "Alright, I know. Send over the information on those brothers of yours; I will make arrangements on my end.

Also, how is your family doing now? Do you need my help?"

Li Cheng said, "If Brother Zhang is willing to help out, that would of course be good."

"Fine, you're really something. By market standards, you haven't done a thing yet, and you want me to pay first," Zhang Ran said irritably.

He knew the purpose of Li Cheng's call was actually to tell him that he had prepared everything on his end and could act at any time.

"Hehe," Li Cheng scratched his head.

In a place Li Cheng couldn't see, Scorpion and Viper were both full of disbelief; what had they just seen?

At this moment, they really suspected that Li Cheng was an impostor!

However, they weren't eavesdropping on Li Cheng's conversation; they were just observing Li Cheng's expression. From their position, they couldn't hear Li Cheng's voice, but they could observe the surrounding environment to prevent anyone from approaching.

"Who do you think our new boss is? The boss is very familiar with him?" Scorpion said, stroking his bearded chin.

The Viper was silent for a moment and said, "This isn't something we should be concerned with, but I trust the boss."

This was the kind of trust that only comes from experiencing life and death together for over a decade; many people might not be able to do it, but this group of theirs had more faith in each other than they did in themselves.

As for Zhang Ran, he didn't chat much more with Li Cheng, and after hanging up the phone, Zhang Ran also fell into silence.

He didn't know what to say about this group of people who had been by his side back then, but in his heart, there was a faint sense of.........