Chapter 3：The Girl Next Door

"That's enough." Nanrong Wanqing gently frowned and said, "He's just a peasant, why are you so bothered by him? The most important thing right now is Grandpa's health."

"Hmph!"

Looking at Ling Chen, who was swaggering his way out, Su Lin hatefully grit her teeth, and darkly cursed in her heart, "You better watch out."

Returning to the courier company, Ling Chen handed over the payment for the delivery and then lugged the ancient clock directly to the nearby pawn shop for five hundred dollars.

With his pockets lined with cash, Ling Chen was feeling magnanimous and bought a carton of cold beer, plus a few braised dishes, and went straight home.

He lived in an old city district of Dong Hai, with all buildings there being extremely old, almost 40 to 50 years in age. Due to the environment being somewhat rundown, the rent there was relatively cheap, being only three hundred dollars a month.

As he entered his apartment, he felt a sweltering heat blasting towards his body. This kind of cheap rental apartment had no air conditioning, and only an old rundown fan was installed.

Ling Chen took off his sweat-drenched shirt, and sat on the balcony shirtless, enjoying the cool evening breeze, while drinking cold beer and eating his braised dish. Satisfaction was written all over his face.

After downing a few bottles of beer, Ling Chen crossed his legs. Under the intoxication of alcohol, he started humming a popular tune from a few years ago.

"You are the wind..."

"I am sand, lingering... on the horizon."

At this moment, a melodious voice, that was as clear as water flowing in a stream, continued the latter half of the lyrics.

Ling Chen turned his head and saw a beautiful girl walking out on the adjacent balcony. She looked to be seventeen or eighteen years old and seemed like a natural white lotus, full of elegance and charm.

Seeing the beauty, Ling Chen instantly broke into a wide grin.

This was the child of his neighbouring family, Tang Shiyun. She had a cute and bubbly personality, earning the adoration of everyone around her.

When he had just moved in, he had coincidentally come upon Tang Shiyun being harassed by a few ruffians and decided to lend her a helping hand. From then on, the two were acquainted with each other, and when he was feeling bored, he would often go pull pranks on the lass.

"Lass, if you keep hanging around me, your mother would be angered to death."

Tang Shiyun smiled shyly and leaned on the railing. She cupped her cheeks with her two dainty hands and grinned at him, "Big Brother Ling, every day you behave like such a hoodlum! Anyone who is not familiar with you will definitely think of you as such!"

Ling Chen glared at her: "What would a lass like you know? This is called being cool, okay?"

"Who are you calling a lass." Tang Shiyun said, unconvinced: "I am already eighteen."

Ling Chen eyed her and emotionally lamented: "Eighteen, huh. Hmm, really you're not that young anymore."

"Big Brother Ling, you are also getting on in age, how come you still cannot find a girlfriend?"

"Do you think I don't want one? The three major requirements to marry are: house, car and savings, I do not possess any of them. You say, which woman will blindly fall in love with me anyway." Ling Chen took another swig of his beer and said helplessly.

"But you look pretty handsome, though." Tang Shiyun naively said.

"Can handsomeness buy me a meal? Alright lass, don't worry about my business. Come, sing a song to cheer up your big bro."

"Okay!"

Tang Shiyun moistened her throat and resumed singing in her sweet melodious voice.

The road of life is filled with bittersweet joy and sorrow.

I wish to share everything with you.

Inevitably I fell and waited

I must have the courage to stand up again.

Who is willing to always hide in a sheltered port?

I'd rather seek out tempestuous freedom

May the lighthouse you guard in your heart.

Guide you through the mist...

Ling Chen swayed the beer bottle in his hand in tune to the sweet melody.

As he watched the sun gradually settling down beyond the horizon, his heart was relaxed and brimming with bliss.

This was what you fucking called living life.

"Daughter, it's time to eat."

Right at this moment, a middle-aged housewife walked out from behind Tang Shiyun.

Seeing her precious baby daughter conversing with Ling Chen, the housewife's face crumbled and grew moody in an instant. Twisting Tang Shiyun's ear, she loudly ranted, "You stupid wretch, how many times have I said it? Stop interacting with hoodlums like him, why won't you listen to me? Scram into the house this instant!" Her voice was thunderous and piercing, as though she deliberately wanted Ling Chen to overhear her.

"I heard you, Mom! Owww, pinch softer, softer..."

Tang Shiyun stuck her tongue out at Ling Chen before obediently following her mother into the house.

Ling Chen could not stop the grin from forming involuntarily on his face.

He had long known that Tang Shiyun's mother had deeply-rooted prejudice against him, seeing him as a hoodlum that would corrupt her daughter. But then again, that wasn't too surprising, considering the fact that he often mixed around with the hoodlums in the area.

"Bro Chen, open the door!"

Speaking of the devil, someone was hurriedly knocking on his door.

"Coming!"

Ling Chen stood up to open the door, revealing a sturdily built young man, who was wearing a form-fitting tank top, standing outside. His face was full of anxiety, and a vein bulged out from his forehead, pulsing and twitching uncontrollably fast.

"Jiang Hao, you little brat! Why are you in such a hurry?"

The youth was called Jiang Hao, a little ruffian operating in the old city district. He had been one of the people harassing Tang Shiyun the previous time. After being taught a lesson, he had come to get revenge on Ling Chen by calling in his other ruffian friends. In the end, the ten or so of them had been pitifully beaten down by Ling Chen.

From then on, Jiang Hao had nothing but admiration and worship for Ling Chen, often bringing his underlings to Ling Chen's place. He would often bring good wine and cigarettes to bribe Ling Chen, wanting Ling Chen to impart some of his martial prowess onto them.

It was due to this that Tang Shiyun's mother developed the perception of Ling Chen as a hoodlum, prohibiting her daughter from even interacting with Ling Chen.

"Bro Chen, you must help me this time!" Jiang Hao sorrowfully pleaded with him; his face full of grievances.

"Can you be clearer when speaking?"

"Zhao Zhengxiong that bastard! He stole my territory and even kidnapped my underlings, asking me to pay a ransom to get them back. Bro Chen, I've never asked you to do anything for me before, but this time you really must help me!"

Ling Chen was hesitant. Although he interacted with Jiang Hao and his underlings frequently, he had never dabbled with their affairs. In his eyes, all these hoodlums are a rowdy bunch, always loving to cause trouble. He thought little of their petty squabbles and did not want to waste his time with them.

He had heard of this Zhao Zhengxiong person before. He was also a hoodlum in the old city district and a seasoned veteran at that, having been born a few years before Jiang Hao and the rest.

As the apartments in old city district were rented to many foreigners, it was a rabble of saints and villains, with people from all walks of life staying there. It was a hotspot for people with different spheres of influence and those like Jiang Hao were a dime a dozen; they were merely small fishes living in a giant pond.

Seeing the desperate plea in Jiang Hao's earnest eyes, Ling Chen then hardened his resolve. He retrieved a toothpick and placed it in his mouth, before nodding and said, "Let's go. I'll follow you to get your men back."

He had received a considerable amount of benefits from Jiang Hao and rejecting him seemed to be too heartless. It was not in line with his character at all. Furthermore, having interacted with Jiang Hao for a while now, he had a good understanding of Jiang Hao's character. Jiang Hao's intrinsic nature was not evil, so it would be fine to help him out.

With Jiang Hao leading the way, Ling Chen quickly found himself at an abandoned car garage.

The garage already had a few youths waiting outside. They were covered in bold tattoos and held on to still-smoking cigarette butts. They conversed amongst themselves loudly, and malicious grins adorned their faces.

"Jiang Hao, you finally showed up, you brat! You sure took your time, huh, making us wait for so long."

With Jiang Hao making his appearance, one of the youths let the cigarette butt in his hand fall to the ground. He swept a glance across the person beside Jiang Hao, finding the stranger casually wearing flip-flops and not looking the least bit intimidated. The youth sneered and gestured towards the inside of the garage. "Boss Xiong is inside. Make your own way in."