Chapter 382: You are an expert

Half an hour passed, and my float didn't move at all. The cold wind kept drilling into my neck, and goosebumps surged all over my body, scrambling to pop out.

Not far away, Deng Hanyu, with his back to me, looked like an old monk in meditation, his figure hazy. In the darkness, only the tip of his cigarette glowed on and off.

A fire kept flaring up in my heart. Damn it! Am I sick? How could I have easily agreed to this dog-eat-dog night fishing with Deng Hanyu? Especially on such a steep, spring-chilly night.

Would fish bite the hook at a time like this? It would make anyone laugh their teeth out if they heard it.

But since it had already started, I couldn't easily give up. It was just like fighting a war; once the flames of war were ignited, could you just stop whenever you wanted? Who would give up without deciding a winner?

Actually, how I wished Deng Hanyu would be the first to suggest a truce!

But that dog-eat-dog Deng Hanyu seemed to have everything under control, sitting there silently, waiting for some unlucky fish to come and bite the hook.

Li Lian walked back and forth, darting around like an anxious mouse, looking at my side, then running over to Deng Hanyu's side, watching for a while and saying, "Forget it. The fish are all asleep."

Deng Hanyu just laughed and said, "There are always some that want to come out for a midnight snack."

Li Lian scolded, "You think fish are like you, a night owl who even eats midnight snacks."

Li Lian was the life of the party; with her there, our sitting around wasn't too boring.

Lao Can came over to watch for a while, shook his head, and walked away with his hands behind his back without saying a word.

Music drifted out from the villa, the intense sounds pounding against the water surface, seemingly stirring up ripples in circles.

I squinted my eyes, smoking quietly. A pile of cigarette butts had already accumulated at my feet.

The world seemed to have come to a standstill. Besides the music, I began to hear the chirping of spring insects. From time to time, the croaking of old frogs added a sense of mystery and tranquility to the boundless night.

The phone in my pocket rang frantically, breaking the silence and giving me a start.

I took it out and saw it was Yu Wei calling, saying he had returned and asking if I had any arrangements.

I said, "Get some good rest now that you're back," and wanted to hang up.

Yu Wei suddenly lowered his voice and said, "Boss, I saw Reporter Huang in the provincial capital."

My heart skipped a beat, and I pretended to be indifferent, saying, "Maybe she went to the provincial newspaper for business."

Yu Wei laughed ambiguously and said, "I saw her when I went to see your cousin."

I gave an "oh" and hung up the phone directly.

A driver shouldn't be gossiping about such things. Besides, this matter was very mysterious!

Deng Hanyu turned his head and asked me, "Chen Feng, you still have phone calls late at night. You really are an official, busy with public affairs."

I replied coldly, "Private business."

Deng Hanyu tossed a cigarette over from afar, lit his own, took a puff, and asked me, "Chen Feng, what do you think about the old Secretary's idea?"

"What idea does the old Secretary have?"

"Are you playing dumb or do you really not understand?" Deng Hanyu exclaimed with a fuss.

"I really don't understand."

"Re-employment."

"What does that have to do with the old Secretary?"

"Re-employment started under the old Secretary's watch; do you think it has anything to do with him?"

I gave an "oh" and looked at the float. The float seemed to move, and I became nervous, reaching out to grab the fishing rod.

Deng Hanyu saw my nervous look and laughed loudly, "It's a shrimp biting the hook, not a fish."

"How can you tell?" I retorted irritably.

"When a fish bites, the momentum is fierce; when a shrimp bites, it just moves the float." He ignored my displeasure and educated me like a master.

"You are an expert," I praised insincerely.

"Not really. Just a bit more experience than you," Deng Hanyu said lightly. He stood up and shouted toward the villa, "Lao Can, you dog, can't you send some tea over? I'm dying of thirst."

After shouting for a long time, no one paid him any mind. Deng Hanyu angrily went to smash the door.

Li Lian hurriedly stopped him and said, "Can't you hear? I'll go get it."

As Li Lian walked away gracefully, Deng Hanyu leaned in and said mysteriously, "I heard Xie Tian's windows were smashed?"

I smiled noncommittally.

"And the pigeons he raised his whole life are gone too?"

"Someone seems to have mentioned it."

"Pigeons are Xie Tian's life. Isn't this taking his life?" Deng Hanyu cursed indignantly, "That dog, doing such a wicked thing."

I teased him, "Didn't you do this?"

Deng Hanyu jumped up with a shout, pointed at my nose, and yelled angrily, "Chen Feng, what kind of person do you take me for? Am I that low?"

I still smiled noncommittally. My smile left Deng Hanyu with no confidence at all; he turned pale with anger, walked back to his fishing spot, and kicked his fishing rod away.

Deng Hanyu's exasperated performance basically ruled out his involvement in this matter. But I knew in my heart that Deng Hanyu definitely knew about my plan to cut down on re-employment.

He took the initiative to bring this up, nothing more than to test my reaction.

"Just a joke, why are you getting so angry? Are we still fishing or not?" I asked.

"Fish my ass! I'm not fishing anymore."

"Are we still betting?"

"Bet my ass." Deng Hanyu grabbed his small stool, threw it hard into the middle of the pond, and cursed, "Chen Feng, you can't be a brother; you actually suspect me."

I said, "Lao Deng, didn't I tell you, I was just joking."

"The ghost believes your words. If you didn't have something hidden in your heart, would you say such things?"

"Let's just say I was talking nonsense, okay?" I also stood up. After sitting for several hours without even seeing a shadow of a fish, the night fishing ended in Deng Hanyu's exasperation.

We walked toward the villa one after the other. Just as we reached the door, Li Lian happened to come out with a thermos. Seeing Deng Hanyu with a dark face in front, she didn't dare to make a sound.

"What's wrong?" Li Lian asked me quietly.

"Nothing. Not fishing anymore," I said, feeling extremely relaxed.

"Did Lao Deng lose his temper?"

"None of my business."

"Did you two have an argument?"

"No," I said firmly, "What's there to argue about? Lao Deng and I aren't in the same trench."

Li Lian pursed her lips and smiled, saying softly, "I heard that only people who have been classmates together and carried guns together are in the same trench."

I lowered my voice and said, "No, there's one more sentence you didn't say. Only those who have been to a brothel together are truly people in the same trench."

Upon hearing this, Li Lian laughed until she shook like a flower.

The laughter caused Deng Hanyu to turn his head and curse, "You pair of dogs, what are you laughing at?"

Hearing this, Li Lian arched her willow eyebrows and scolded back, "Deng Hanyu, did you eat gunpowder? Your mouth has no gatekeeper; I'll help you guard the gate."

Deng Hanyu accompanied her with a smiling face, "Li Fulian, you, having a new love, you forget the old. Now that you have Chen Feng's thigh to hug, you don't put me in your eyes anymore."

Li Lian gave a contemptuous smile, "Deng Hanyu, tell me, when did I ever put you in my eyes?"

Deng Hanyu was rebuffed by her, his eyes turned red with anxiety, and he cursed, "Li Fulian, so it was all me being sentimental."

"Isn't that so?" Li Lian laughed until she shook like a flower again, rushed forward, and grabbed Deng Hanyu's hand, "Lao Deng, we are like falling flowers with intention, but the flowing water has no heart."

Deng Hanyu snorted and cursed, "Old woman, go to your flowing water. This flower of mine won't fall."

Watching the two of them bickering so fiercely, I was happy to watch the fun from the side.

Just as they were having fun, Guan Peishan's majestic shout came from upstairs: "All of you, shut up."

Li Lian stuck out her tongue, made a face at me, and hid behind me.

Guan Peishan had an aura of a tiger whose prestige remained even after death. This aura made me very envious, so much so that after he finished questioning, I also felt a pressure coming from thin air.

"Come up and talk." Guan Peishan turned and went into the room.

We hurried upstairs, standing behind him, not daring to make a sound.

"Don't you look at the place when you argue?" Guan Peishan reprimanded us.

"We weren't arguing," Li Lian stammered.

"Still not arguing? The whole building heard it; what else counts as arguing?"

"Lao Deng was just talking nonsense," Li Lian replied in a small voice.

"What did he say?"

"Actually, he didn't say anything," I said, trying to help Li Lian out of the predicament.

"Let her speak." Guan Peishan didn't even turn his head.

"What did I say?"

"Since you don't know what to say, you're still here like a flower butterfly. I don't know how Lao Mo manages you." Guan Peishan didn't leave her any face, and mentioning Lao Mo in his words showed that he knew exactly about Li Lian's background.

Being told this by him, Li Lian's face turned black, she suppressed it for a moment, but in the end, she couldn't hold it back, and tears flowed out.

I was just about to comfort her; after all, she came with me, and I couldn't let her be wronged.

Before the words could come out, Li Lian erupted like a mountain flood, pulling her throat and crying earth-shatteringly. ===== CHAPTER 383 =====