Chapter 15

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After Shen Kuo sorted Chen Yueqin’s matter out, he went out, took a few twists and turns in the narrow and deserted streets under the dim moonlight, and finally arrived at the front door of a broken-down shop.

The lock on the door was unfastened, so he simply pushed the handle and entered, the door making a harsh “creak” sound as it opened, the sound reverberating loudly in the silent night.

From the ceiling hung a few light bulbs, their dim light shrouding the shop. In the narrow room, plates were all over the floor, and several burlap sacks were bundled up and randomly piled up in the corners.

Shen Kuo walked in and knocked over a stack of compact discs in front of him, the crash resounding in the air.

A boy wearing a black vest was bending over to rummage into one of the burlap sacks. Hearing the movement, he looked back and asked in surprise, “Brother Shen, why are you here?”

“Came to take a look.” Shen Kuo covered his nose, holding back the urge to sneeze.

“Hey, I just bought the goods here. Feel free to sit anywhere.”

The boy’s name was Zhong Kai, who was about the same age as Shen Kuo. He dropped out of school because of his family circumstances. He was often seen in the stall vendors, always wanting to pull Shen Kuo to take the plunge and do business with him.

“Brother Shen, how come you have time to visit and sit with me?”

Because he was a teenager just like him, Shen Kuo didn’t beat around the bush and answered frankly, “I want to do business with you and earn some money.”

Zhong Kai raised his eyebrows and curiously asked, “Didn’t you set up a dance hall with Wu Qiang and the others? Why? Is the dance hall not profitable?”

“No, it’s very profitable.” Shen Kuo’s eyes were cold, “But I am going to withdraw my funds and I want to do business with you.”

“Why?”

To give up a business that’s profitable, that’s not like Shen Kuo at all.

“They did some bad things.” Shen Kuo said solemnly, “I will find evidence and make them pay the price.”

Zhong Kai also heard about the fire on the entertainment street. That Wu Qiang was a rogue, so the fire must be his doing.

As his childhood friend, of course Zhong Kai supported Shen Kuo’s withdrawal of funds and dissociation from those hoodlums.

“But Brother Shen, doing business is very hard. You should leave early and come back late every day, but you have to go to school and may not have so much time.”

Shen Kuo sat on a chair and lit a cigarette, “I’m going to drop out of school.”

“What? What?! Dropping out of school?”

Zhong Kai looked at Shen Kuo’s seemingly indifferent expression, suddenly feeling a little unsure. Before, he had always wanted Shen Kuo to leave school and work with him, but Shen Kuo never relented.

Shen Kuo was not like Zhong Kai. Zhong Kai could not study by himself, so he dropped out of school to do business.

Shen Kuo not only liked to study, but also had enough brains and good grades. Even if he had no time to review because of work, his grades were still among the best.

Now he suddenly wanted to drop out, which made Zhong Kai a little flustered.

“Is your father’s condition worsening again? If you have any difficulties, tell your brother!”

Shen Kuo groaned, and did not want to explain, “I just want to make some money.”

“Aren’t you making money all the time?” Zhong Kai spoke out, “Besides, uncle’s illness is covered by a pension, you don’t have to drop out of school at all.”

“It’s too slow, not enough.” Shen Kuo covered his eyes and shook his head, “I’m too poor.”

He was so poor that it was offensive to even look at her longer than a glimpse.

Not good enough.

Zhong Kai had known Shen Kuode for ten years. Even if the conditions at home were not so good, he had always been confident, because he worked hard enough to earn everything he wanted with his own hands.

This was the first time he saw this kind of faint confusion and low self-esteem in Shen Kuo’s eyes.

Shen Kuo would be confused for only one reason.

Zhong Kai looked at him in disbelief, “Is it possible that you took a fancy to a girl?”

Shen Kuo picked up a CD-ROM, which was Leslie Cheung and Tony Leung’s movie “Happy Together”.

His eyes were closed, his long eyelashes trembled slightly, and there was no response.

In the afternoon, Lu Yan went to Entertainment Street to find Shen Kuo, as she wanted to pay back the one hundred yuan with the money her brother gave her.

Shen Kuo worked very hard, and one hundred yuan was not a small amount for him.

The burned underground dance hall was not repaired yet, and the black ash could still be seen on the outer wall of the staircase passage. There were no casualties in such a huge fire, which was very fortunate.

Although Lu Zhen set up a stage deliberately to interfere with Shen Kuo’s business, setting the whole place on fire was indeed unkind.

But anyone with a discerning eye could see that the fire definitely had nothing to do with the song and dance hall opposite.

The police also came to investigate several partners of this song and dance hall, such as the largest shareholders Wu Qiang and Zhao Shen, but they found no evidence, so they had no choice but to give up and stop the investigation.

The arsonist knew that the fire if lit in the basement, would make it difficult to evacuate the building and that a little carelessness would likely cause countless deaths and injuries, but they simply didn’t care about it. It was clear how vicious his heart was.

The culprit must be found out and sanctioned by the law.

While Lu Yan was thinking about this, she suddenly glimpsed at Shen Kuo’s broad back as he headed to the opposite dance hall. Before she could stop him, he went in and disappeared.

Lu Yan had no choice but to follow him in.

Lu Zhen’s song and dance hall was just for fun and operated based on selling tickets for concerts, but this song and dance hall was open for business, so all aspects of equipment were more advanced, the venue was large, and the decoration was more luxurious.

Because of the fire, the business of this song and dance hall became very good. There were many young men and women dancing in the arc-shaped venue, and there was a band performing on the high platform in the middle.

She heard from Qi Yuhuan that this song and dance hall also has shares in Shen Kuo, so it was no surprise that he would come here often.

In the arc-shaped venue in the middle, there were a few men drinking. Lu Yan recognized them at a glance. They were the shareholders of the dance hall. The one with the scar on his face was named Wu Qiang, and the one sitting next to him was Zhao. What’s more, she heard that they were not good people.

Seeing Shen Kuo coming, Wu Qiang waved at him: “Xiao* Shen, come and sit here.” Shen Kuo walked over, and the woman in the sequined skirt next to Wu Qiang gave Shen Kuo a seat and poured him a full glass of alcohol at the same time. The beer was brought to him.

(*Xiao here means small, it’s a term of endearment for someone younger.)

Wu Qiang yelled, “You are late, so you should be punished!”

A fake smile surfaced on Shen Kuo’s face as he took the wine glass and drank it all.

“Splendid! I like to deal with people like you, Xiao Shen! Come on, Xiao Ni, pour him another glass.”

The curly-haired woman in a sequined skirt poured several glasses of wine for Shen Kuo, and he did not refuse, drinking one cup after the other.

The men around him shook their palms and applauded.

They liked to make Shen Kuo drink, because one, they like to tease him, the underage student, and two, when people are drunk, they become unscrupulous in their speech.

Lu Yan saw that Shen Kuo was playing with them so well, and that she couldn’t count on him for catching the arsonist.

In fact, Lu Yan could also understand, after all, this song and dance hall still had his shares, and everyone is like this, seeking advantages and avoiding complications.

Just when Lu Yan felt bored and was about to leave, she suddenly heard Shen Kuo say, “Brother Wang, you did a beautiful job in the song and dance hall opposite.”

Her footsteps suddenly stopped.

Unbelievable, Shen Kuo actually… would say something like this.

Wang Qiang showed some defensiveness in his eyes, and poured him another glass of wine, “What are you talking about? I don’t understand.”

Shen Kuo picked up the wine glass and gently touched the bottom of the cup. “Brother Wang, there is no need to keep it from me. Lu Zhen came to me and squeezed our business, and I hate him too.”

Wang Qiang looked at Shen Kuo, seeing that he was indeed slightly drunk, so he was a little relieved. He just said, “That kid Lu Zhen is too arrogant. He has some money from his father and thinks he can fight against us. He’s lucky he didn’t burn to a crisp that day.”

Hearing this, Lu Yan clenched her hand into a fist.

At this moment, a waiter walked up to her and asked her what she wanted to drink.

Lu Yan put on the hood of her sweater, pulled up the collar, and then casually strolled to the single seat next to them and ordered a cocktail.

Shen Kuo poured a glass of wine for Zhao Shen and asked with a smile, “What did Brother Zhao do?”

Zhao Shen’s mind was simple. After a few glasses of wine, he began to boast: “It’s Lao Tzu* who told someone to set fire, huh, Lao Tzu killed chicken to warn the monkey**, let everyone on this street know that there will be no good end for anyone who dares to fight against our brothers!”

(*Lao Tzu (or Laozi, if someone is familiar with the term) is generally used to refer to oneself, but in an arrogant way.)

(**杀鸡儆猴: to punish an individual as an example to others)

The wine glass in Lu Yan’s hand suddenly fell, making a “crash” sound.

Fortunately, the singing and dancing hall was full of people and the music was noisy. No one noticed other than only Shen Kuo, who turned his head and looked in the direction where she was.

Wu Qiang directly splashed Zhao Shen’s face with wine, and warned implicitly, “What are you talking about? You are drinking too much. What does Lu Zhen’s song and dance hall have to do with you? Don’t talk nonsense.”

Zhao Zhi was splashed, and he sobered up. He smiled and agreed, “Yes, I’m talking nonsense, nonsense!”

Lu Yan stood up and was about to leave. She must quickly report what she had just heard to the police and tell them that the arsonists are Zhao Shen and Wu Qiang.

However, at this moment, a young man walked up to Lu Yan and asked, “Little beauty, wanna dance with me?”

“I won’t dance, I’m going home.” Lu Yan pulled the collar further up and tried to bypass him.

The young man didn’t seem to want to let her go easily and pestered, “It’s so boring to go home so early!”

“Uh, it’s because something urgent came up at home.” Lu Yan just wanted to leave as soon as possible to avoid being recognized by Wu Qiang and the others.

“It’s not too late to go after having some fun.” The young man grabbed Lu Yan’s slender wrist, it looked like he was playing rogue to the end.

Wu Qiang noticed the entanglement between men and women at the next table, and his companion said, “Go and see what’s going on. These days, the situation is tense, we don’t want to meet with a mishap.”

“I’ll go.”

Shen Kuo stood up first and strode towards Lu Yan.

…

Lu Yan frowned, desperately breaking free from the shackles of the man. She didn’t want to alert the people opposite her, so she said in a low voice, “Let go!”

The young man seemed to be drunk, he entangled Lu Yan and refused to let it go. At this moment, a hand grabbed the young man’s wrist, freeing Lu Yan from his grip.

The young man yelled at Shen Kuo indignantly, “Hey, first come first serve, I spotted this girl first.”

If he changed Shen Kuo’s usual temperament, he would break his dirty hands directly, but now… He didn’t want to cause too much trouble, so he reached out and took Lu Yan’s shoulders, hooped her in his arms, and said in a deep voice–

“Sorry, she’s my woman.”

Lu Yan was surprised. Looking up at Shen Kuo, the young man’s face was expressionless and his eyes were sharp. When he said these words, he didn’t show any expression.

As he heard what Shen Kuo said, the young man saw Lu Yan snuggling in his arms so obediently. Although he was not convinced, persisting would not lead to anything but trouble, so he could only give up.

Lu Yan shrank into Shen Kuo’s arms like a little quail, and let him lead her out of the dance hall.

But at this moment, Wu Qiang, who was behind, suddenly halted him, “Shen Kuo, wait a minute, this girl… looks familiar.”

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