Chapter 5

Su Le's face was somewhat embarrassed. He picked up his chopsticks and took a bite of the egg, and upon tasting it, he found it wasn't as bad as the old beggar had said. He whispered, "Old man, this dish isn't as bad as you said, is it?"

The old beggar replied, "Not as bad? It's even worse than I said. It's the worst. Not only is your cooking terrible, but your taste is even worse. To be a good chef, you first need a good tongue. If you can't tell what's good and what's bad, how can you cook well? At your level, you're not even as good as the wild cook, Old Zhu, at the Nanwu Meat Plant canteen. I think you should just close this restaurant. It's a small matter to lose face, but getting beaten up is a big deal. Not every customer is as good-tempered as I am. If you open a restaurant at this level, you'll get beaten up at least three times a day. You're young, so it's better to save your life. Close the restaurant and be done with it."

Su Le sighed, "I really have to close it. Tomorrow, this place will belong to someone else."

The old beggar was taken aback by his words, "Did I really hit the nail on the head with my bad luck?" He patted Su Le's shoulder, "Kid, property is something you can't bring with you when you're born or take with you when you die. Don't be too upset."

Su Le wasn't particularly sad, but he had lived here for seventeen years, and the thought of leaving made him somewhat reluctant.

The old beggar said, "There's no banquet that doesn't end. This applies to people and things alike. For example, we met tonight, but who knows when we'll meet again. Live for today, Su Le. You seem to have a good drinking capacity for your age. Why don't we drink until we're both drunk?"

Su Le replied cheerfully, "Sure!"

That night, Su Le and the old beggar drank and chatted. Su Le didn't know when he got drunk, but he vaguely remembered having a great time. The old beggar seemed to have asked him a question: "What are your plans for the future?" Su Le had grabbed a bottle, stood on a chair, and shouted loudly, "I want to become a culinary god!"

When he woke up, he found the old beggar had already left. He hurriedly checked his wallet, which was still there. The table was a mess, and the floor was littered with beer bottles. Su Le rubbed his aching head, wondering how he had drunk so much last night. Thinking about today being the day Xin Yuejiang would come to collect the property, he quickly stood up and noticed a note on the table with a phone number and the words "expert" written on it. Su Le picked up the note and examined it. It was left by the old beggar, who had the IOU from his mother.

Su Le thought about throwing it away but decided to keep it. When his mother returned, he would ask her about the debt for a bowl of egg fried rice.

Although Xiao Dongfeng no longer belonged to him, Su Le didn't want to leave with a messy memory. He spent the morning cleaning up, packed his schoolbag, and pulled down the roller shutter. On the small blackboard, he neatly wrote, "Closed for business from today!"

Su Le rarely went out. In his limited memory, the farthest he had ever gone was to his uncle's house in the provincial capital, but the memory was already blurry. He vaguely remembered that his aunt was very strict, and after that, his mother never took him to the provincial capital again.

Three years ago, his uncle had visited once. They had dinner at Xiao Dongfeng, and he drank a lot, talking non-stop with his mother. Su Le thought their relationship wasn't that bad. His uncle seemed quite kind, though a bit talkative.

On the bus to the train station, Su Le suddenly realized he hadn't said goodbye to his friends. Thinking about it, he couldn't think of anyone worth saying goodbye to. In this city, besides his mother, he had no other relatives. His mother had no friends, and almost all the neighbors on Chunfeng Street had quarreled with her. Su Sanjie was notorious on Chunfeng Street. She had many creditors, and since Su Le could remember, various creditors had been coming to collect debts. He had no time to say goodbye to them.

Su Le thought about his teachers. In their eyes, he was always seen as lacking ambition and being too playful. He had left the college entrance exam without saying goodbye, and not a single teacher had called to check on him. Su Le felt he had really failed. Perhaps the teachers couldn't even remember his name. Teachers usually paid attention to two types of students: those who were very good at studying and those who were very mischievous. Su Le didn't fall into either category. Although he was mischievous, he never affected other students. He preferred to play basketball, swim, or fish. In his senior year, he often skipped classes, and with the World Cup starting, Su Le, being a football fan, often skipped school.

If his mother were still in Huinan, the only person worth saying goodbye to would be her. He believed she wouldn't forget his name. Thinking about this, Su Le couldn't help but smile. He liked to laugh, partly due to his nature and partly due to his upbringing. When he was young, his mother often got angry and took it out on him, forbidding him from crying and forcing him to laugh. Looking back, the seventeen years he spent with his mother weren't great, but people are strange. Deep down, he still cared about her and thought about her. This was the bond of blood, like a pig's intestine, impossible to sever and hard to untangle.

When the bus arrived at the train station, Su Le walked to the ticket hall. It was the off-season for railway travel, and the square in front of the station was sparsely populated. Because of the high summer temperatures, no one wanted to stand in the sun.

The few shady spots were already occupied by earlier travelers. Su Le crossed the underground passage to the opposite station ticket hall. At the entrance, a large enamel bowl was extended, and a dirty hand was shaking it, making a clinking sound.

Su Le searched his pocket and found a coin, which he threw into the bowl. The beggar smiled, revealing a mouth of yellowed teeth. Su Le looked at him and noticed he didn't have a staff and was dressed in rags, clearly different from the old beggar from last night. Su Le asked, "Are you from the Beggar Sect?"

"How did you know?"

"Are you from the Dirty Clothes Sect?"

"How did you know?"

"Can you do the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms?"

"How did you know?"

Su Le laughed and ran away.

Su Le's luggage was just his old schoolbag, which contained all his possessions. The ticket queue was short, and tickets to Nanwu were not in short supply. Su Le bought a hard seat ticket for 45.5 yuan, an air-conditioned express train, departing at 2:30 PM and arriving at 8:45 PM, a journey of over six hours. There were a few express trains that could get to the provincial capital in four hours, but the tickets were 6 yuan more expensive. Su Le calculated that 6 yuan could cover his food for a day. He now had 1,150 yuan left, and he needed to start budgeting carefully. If his mother wasn't in Nanwu, where would he go next? Su Le shook his head, deciding not to think about it for now.

At 2:30 PM, Su Le's first solo journey began. His seat was good, in the 7th carriage, by the window, and facing the direction of the train's movement.

First, a middle-aged man who looked like a migrant worker sat down next to him. Then, a young man in a white shirt and gray trousers sat across from him. He had a pale face, a black briefcase in his hand, and his hair was neatly combed. He was talking on his N70 as he walked. Su Le subconsciously squeezed his Nokia 3210. The N70 was a high-end phone, and his mother had also followed the trend to get one, but she didn't know how to use it. Her calls were mostly about playing cards or collecting debts. Su Le wanted one too, but unlike his peers, he didn't insist on getting it. He had a deep understanding of his family's situation and was more realistic than his peers.

Su Le's sadness about leaving his hometown didn't last long. A pleasant smell caught his attention. Looking up, he saw a woman in a black mini-skirt and a red short-sleeved T-shirt standing in front of their seats. She was about 23 or 24 years old, heavily made up, but with a well-endowed figure. Her tight, sexy clothing made her very attractive, especially to young, inexperienced men like Su Le.

Su Le's seat was a three-person row, with the migrant worker sitting by the aisle and Su Le by the window. The woman looked at Su Le with her long, narrow eyes, her full lips curling up, and a seductive expression on her face. She said in a sweet voice, "Little brother, can we switch seats? I get carsick!"

Su Le had never heard of someone getting carsick on a train, but he smiled and said, "Sure!"

For a beautiful woman, Su Le was always friendly, even though the one in front of him was just an ordinary beauty, but she was still above average.

"Thank you!" The beautiful woman switched seats with Su Le. As they passed, her full, round buttocks brushed against Su Le's legs, causing him to instinctively bend forward and pull his buttocks back. He didn't want her to notice the subtle changes in his body.

The man in the white shirt across from him looked at Su Le with a lecherous smile, as if he had already discovered Su Le's secret.

After sitting down, Su Le stared directly at the man, trying to give him the most intimidating look he could. Su Le's gaze was fierce and had a bit of a killing aura. He had killed thousands of chickens and fish in his life, which gave him a certain presence.

The young man actually submitted to Su Le's gaze, lowering his eyes and avoiding it.

Su Le's journey in life was officially beginning. Please follow, recommend, and click!

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