Chapter 7

"Hehe, Uncle Wei, it's pretty good following Master..."

After hearing Wei Dahu's words, Fang Yi scratched his head. He knew the reason why Uncle Wei and his Master had a big argument back then was actually to let him go down the mountain to school and receive a modern education. After all, the most popular saying of that era was, "Study well in science, math, and chemistry, and you'll have nothing to fear in the world."

"But that's a load of crap. If it weren't for Hua Zi bringing you those textbooks, you probably wouldn't even recognize simplified Chinese characters, right?"

Wei Dahu sneered when he heard this. He had practically watched Fang Yi grow up and knew that Fang Yi was smart from a young age. If he could have gone to school, he would at least be a college student from a prestigious university by now. But following that unscrupulous old Taoist had ruined the child's future.

"Hehe, Uncle Wei, you're right..." Fang Yi just laughed, not responding to Wei Dahu's words. Otherwise, he might bring up old accounts from over a decade ago.

"Dad, why are you nagging about this?" Seeing his father about to start bringing up old accounts again, the fatty quickly said, "Dad, we have a dinner appointment with San Pao tonight. Don't wait for us. We might stay there..."

All children in the world are almost the same. When they are young, they wish they could tie a rope to their parents and never leave them, but when they grow up, few are willing to listen to their parents' nagging. The fatty was a typical example.

"Brat, don't run away. Next week, go to the city with your Uncle Er to work..."

Seeing his son pulling Fang Yi out of the house, Wei Dahu chased after them in a bad mood and shouted, "And Xiao Yi, you should go with Hua Zi. Being a Taoist has no future. You should go to the city with Hua Zi to find a job..."

"Dad, don't worry so much. We've already made plans..." The fatty shouted without turning his head, pulling Fang Yi faster.

"Hey, fatty, what plans have we made?" After leaving the house, Fang Yi stopped the fatty and said, "Actually, going to the city with your Uncle Er isn't bad. At least there are familiar people to help us..."

The fatty's Uncle Er, Wei Pengcheng, was considered a capable person in the village. He started working outside the village in the 1980s and, after a decade, had formed a construction team. He could get some jobs in the city, making him the richest person in the village.

Actually, Uncle Er Wei Pengcheng and the fatty's family had no blood relation. Most people in the village surnamed Wei, and whenever someone from the village went to the city to work, the first person they would look for was usually Wei Pengcheng. The fatty had also worked with him for a while after being discharged from the military.

"No, I won't do it. Working on a construction site is worse than being a security guard..."

Hearing Fang Yi's words, the fatty said in a bad mood, "Being a security guard may be looked down upon, but at least you don't have to work hard. On a construction site, you have to work hard and are even more looked down upon. I can't afford to lose face..."

The fatty wasn't spoiled. Children raised in the countryside weren't afraid of hard work. But after working on a construction site for a while, he realized that as soon as they left the site, they were called things like "country bumpkins" and "migrant workers," and people looked at them with disdain.

That's why the fatty left Uncle Er's construction team, and he and Wei Pengcheng had a bit of a falling out at the time. So the fatty naturally didn't want to go back.

"You're just being unrealistic..." Looking at the fatty's proud posture, Fang Yi said helplessly, "First, find a place to settle down, then plan for the future. You can't expect to become a fatty overnight..."

Although Fang Yi had lived in the mountains since he was young, he had books and newspapers brought by the fatty and San Pao every year, and his Master, who was very experienced in social matters, had taught him. Fang Yi was pure-hearted but not naive. In fact, compared to the fatty, who was always aiming too high, Fang Yi was more practical.

"Hey, are you mocking me? Or do you want to fight me?"

Hearing Fang Yi's words, the fatty jumped up like a fat cat whose tail had been stepped on, glaring at Fang Yi. He didn't know if others could become a fatty overnight, but he had gained over ten pounds in just the first week of being a cook in the military.

"Heavenly Venerable, I misspoke. Don't be angry, don't be angry..." Seeing the fatty's angry face, Fang Yi rubbed his nose, realizing that his words had unintentionally hit a sore spot.

"That's better..." The fatty wasn't really angry. The two of them laughed and walked to the back of the village. It was already dark, so not many people were paying attention to Fang Yi's attire.

"Hey, San Pao, what are you doing? Is the food ready? I'm starving..."

About twenty meters from a courtyard, the fatty shouted loudly.

"You're so fat, you could go without food for three days..."

Standing at the courtyard gate was a young man, about 1.78 meters tall, thinner than Fang Yi, wearing glasses, and giving an impression of being gentle and refined.

"San Pao, are you asking for a beating?" The fatty approached with a fierce look, knowing he couldn't beat Fang Yi but was confident he could handle San Pao. The three of them had fought since childhood, and the fatty could only find a sense of existence by bullying San Pao.

"Don't, if you try to hit me, I'll run. See if you can catch me..."

Seeing the fatty coming, San Pao sidestepped and ran towards Fang Yi.

"Little con man, you finally came down the mountain? I missed you so much..."

From a few meters away, San Pao opened his arms to Fang Yi. As soon as they touched, San Pao's hand reached for Fang Yi's box, saying, "Fang Yi, you're too polite. What did you bring? Let me carry it for you..."

"Cut it out, stop this nonsense..." Fang Yi's shoulders tensed, using a bit of force to push San Pao away. The three of them had grown up together, so he knew each other's personalities well.

Wei Jinhua, the fatty, looked honest and harmless but was actually very clever. If he met a human trafficker in the city, the trafficker would probably end up being sold by him.

As for San Pao Peng Sanjun, he looked gentle and refined, giving an impression of being easy to bully, but in a fight, he was the most ruthless. Even though the fatty bullied San Pao every day, if it came to a real fight, the fatty would run as far as possible.

Every time San Pao and the fatty came up the mountain, they would bring books for Fang Yi, and Fang Yi would prepare wild fruits and other things to treat them. So whenever they met, the first thing they did was to check each other's pockets or take things from each other's hands.

As for Peng Sanjun calling Fang Yi "little con man," it was because Fang Yi's nickname was "con man," and the old Taoist was called "old con man." The young Taoist, naturally, was called "little con man." Of course, Peng Sanjun and the fatty wouldn't admit that they originally called Fang Yi "miscellaneous hair," and it only became "con man" after Fang Yi's physical intimidation.

"Hehe, the three of us are together again..."

After looking Fang Yi up and down, San Pao's usually unsmiling face showed a faint smile. He said, "I cooked a few dishes. Let's have a drink first. After drinking, we have an activity tonight..."

"What activity? Watching Aunt Six take a bath?" The fatty squeezed in, saying, "San Pao, Shengun is a good boy. Don't corrupt him..."

"Get lost, I have a girlfriend. How could I do that?" San Pao looked righteous, but as he turned to hug Fang Yi, he said, "Aunt Six is almost fifty. It's a shame this fatty still thinks about her. He has no taste..."

"Can't you two do something serious?"

Hearing San Pao and the fatty's conversation, Fang Yi smiled helplessly. He had heard Aunt Six's name for over ten years. It seemed that San Pao and the fatty's childhood was spent watching Aunt Six take a bath, and they always boasted about it when they came up the mountain.

"Just found a girlfriend? Look at you, so proud. Did we agree to you dating?" The fatty was very unhappy with San Pao's words. They were all bachelors before, but now that San Pao had a girlfriend, he had left the group and needed to be criticized.

"Do I need your approval to find a girlfriend?" San Pao glared at the fatty and said, "Do you want to help me on my wedding night too?"

"If you don't mind, I don't mind at all..." The fatty's face was almost a chrysanthemum, but he pretended to be shy, making Fang Yi almost vomit.

"Damn fatty, I'll fight you to the death..." By now, they were already in the courtyard. On his own turf, San Pao had an advantage. He grabbed a stick from the door and hit the fatty's butt.

"Damn, are you serious?" The fatty was caught off guard and got angry, grabbing San Pao's waist and throwing him to the ground. Of course, neither of them used full force, and it looked like a playful fight to Fang Yi.

"Having these two friends is really great..."

Watching the two playfully fighting, Fang Yi smiled. Although they called each other "bad friends," these childhood friends were his best brothers, the kind he could trust with his life.

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