Chapter 82

Ramen!

Zheng Xiaotian, Lin Ziyuan, and Li Yuncong sat at a small table.

Zheng Xiaotian and Li Yuncong, as usual, were glaring at each other.

"That turtle shell of yours is quite interesting, huh? It can even retract into your body?" Li Yuncong smiled, trying to make conversation.

"Sure, sure!" Zheng Xiaotian nodded, his face serious. "With a turtle shell, your martial arts are useless. You can burn me all you want, but you can't do anything to me. On the other hand, I can hit your butt as hard as I want, making up for what your parents owed you when you were a kid. Isn't that great?"

"You..." Li Yuncong slapped the table and stood up in anger. He hated it when people mentioned his parents, and now someone had brought it up. So, he was upset.

"What about me?" Zheng Xiaotian stood up, not backing down. "Why don't we just have a one-on-one?"

To be honest, Zheng Xiaotian was a bit annoyed. The other guy's tone was too arrogant, so he was upset.

"Both of you, sit down," Lin Ziyuan said.

Zheng Xiaotian and Li Yuncong looked at each other but didn't sit down.

"Do you still want your salary?" Lin Ziyuan looked at Zheng Xiaotian.

Zheng Xiaotian sat down. While his salary wasn't his life, it was still his. The other party was clearly threatening him. If he didn't sit down, they might withhold his salary. Withholding didn't mean not paying, just owing it to him for life, and when he died, they'd burn some paper money for him as a form of payment.

"Little guy, you still have a weakness," Li Yuncong said with a challenging look at Zheng Xiaotian.

"Should I tell my best friend about your bedwetting when you were a kid?" Lin Ziyuan looked up at Li Yuncong.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Li Yuncong immediately sat down.

"Alright, finish this bowl of ramen properly and don't cause any trouble," Lin Ziyuan said.

Li Yuncong glanced at Zheng Xiaotian and said, "I'm doing this for my cousin."

"Speaking of which, you mentioned bedwetting. Think about it, can you still eat after thinking about it? You won't just compare the color on the bedsheet to the ramen broth, will you?" Zheng Xiaotian raised an eyebrow.

"You..." Li Yuncong was furious.

Lin Ziyuan looked at Li Yuncong.

"I'm hungry, I'm eating!" Li Yuncong said nothing more.

Three bowls of ramen were brought to the table.

Chu Ling'er had left the house without eating much and was a bit hungry. She came to the noodle stand!

"Boss, give me a bowl of noodles!" Chu Ling'er said.

"Sit down for a moment, I'll be right there," the boss said to the regular customer, Chu Ling'er.

"Okay!" Chu Ling'er turned around and saw two familiar faces. She thought, if she was going to sit anyway, she might as well sit with them, so she walked over.

"Lin Ziyuan, you're eating noodles at my doorstep. Your taste is pretty good!" Chu Ling'er sat down.

Li Yuncong's eyes widened as he looked at Chu Ling'er. "Ling'er, eating noodles?"

"Of course, what else can I eat at a noodle stand?" Chu Ling'er smiled.

"I haven't eaten yet, so here, take it!" Li Yuncong pushed his bowl of noodles in front of Chu Ling'er.

"Really nice of you!" Chu Ling'er smiled.

"He just remembered the color of his bedwetting when he was a kid, and now looking at the ramen broth makes him feel off. He definitely can't eat it, so he's giving it to you since you're here," Zheng Xiaotian interjected.

"Ah?" Chu Ling'er looked at the ramen broth, then at Zheng Xiaotian, and finally at Li Yuncong.

"Don't listen to him!" Li Yuncong's face turned red. The bedwetting incident was one thing, but he didn't want his crush to know about it.

"Is the bedwetting incident not true?" Chu Ling'er looked at Li Yuncong.

"..." Li Yuncong stammered, unable to speak. Saying it was true would be embarrassing, but saying it was false would be a lie. Either way, he was in a difficult position.

"Would Lin Ziyuan lie about something like that?" Zheng Xiaotian shrugged.

"Damn, why are you everywhere?" Li Yuncong stood up, his eyes angrily staring at Zheng Xiaotian's face.

"I'm surprised you're everywhere too," Zheng Xiaotian stood up, not backing down.

Zheng Xiaotian and Li Yuncong entered a staring contest.

"Salary!" Lin Ziyuan said two words.

Zheng Xiaotian sat down.

Li Yuncong thought, since the bedwetting incident is out, what else can I reveal? At this moment, who should I be afraid of? At this moment, I'm not afraid of anyone.

"Surgery!" Lin Ziyuan said two more words.

Li Yuncong sat down. At this moment, he was afraid of Lin Ziyuan.

Surgery? Zheng Xiaotian's mind was racing. Brain surgery? Heart surgery? Which surgery would a man care so much about? The little one? Wow, the truth is revealed. The little one, even if it was a transplant, it wouldn't be necessary, and changing from female to male would be difficult. So, it must be a circumcision.

Zheng Xiaotian wanted to give himself a thumbs up. Clearly, he had uncovered the truth.

In the early days, the level of medical care in China was average, leading to many people needing certain procedures. Newspapers were full of ads for circumcision, laser treatments, and walk-in clinics. Later, in the 1990s, medical standards improved, and such procedures were often done during childbirth, so the ads didn't apply to the post-1990s generation.

Zheng Xiaotian compared his cousin's age, which was in the 1980s, probably around 1989, and the truth was revealed with the word "surgery."

"When did you have the circumcision? I heard the younger, the better. If it's around nine or ten years old, or even seventeen or eighteen, it's very easy to get infected," Zheng Xiaotian said to Li Yuncong, his tone and expression showing concern.

Lin Ziyuan tilted her head and looked at Zheng Xiaotian. She thought, can't you be less smart?

Chu Ling'er immediately understood and looked at Li Yuncong. She thought, this kid had bedwetting and circumcision, his childhood was quite eventful.

"I'm going to challenge you to a one-on-one!" Li Yuncong stood up, pointing at Zheng Xiaotian.

"Salary!"

Zheng Xiaotian didn't need to stand up.

"What about you?" Lin Ziyuan didn't use threatening words, just looked at Li Yuncong.

Li Yuncong gritted his teeth and sat down.