Urban Martial Saint

In the morning, the local designer Huang Fulin had found, Liu Denglin, delivered the design blueprints. According to these blueprints, the entire breeding farm would be torn down to build an orphanage with integrated dormitories, a cafeteria, classrooms, an office building, and a sports field.

Put simply, it was designed in the style of a boarding school. The designer, Liu Denglin, seemed hesitant to leave after explaining the blueprints to Ye Qing and Huang Fulin; he lingered by their side.

Seeing that he seemed to have something on his mind, Ye Qing put his discussion with Huang Fulin on hold and asked, ”Uncle Liu, is there something else?”

”Well... when do you plan to start construction?” Liu Denglin asked in a low voice.

”If possible, I would like to start as soon as possible,” Ye Qing pointed at the design blueprints and said, ”Moreover, there aren’t many buildings to construct, so the project isn’t very large and shouldn’t take too much time. The sooner we start, the better, especially for the classrooms—we need to get the kids in there as soon as possible to start their education.”

”Oh, in that case, we’ll need to find a construction team quickly,” Liu Denglin hesitated, then said with a forced smile, ”Boss Ye, have you... have you decided on a construction team yet?”

”Old Liu, you want to recommend those nephews of yours again!” Huang Fulin knew what Liu Denglin was hinting at and waved his hand, ”The team those nephews of yours can put together just can’t handle big jobs. These houses are for the children; there can’t be any safety hazards!”

Liu Denglin’s face turned red, and after a moment of silence, he said, ”Old Huang, I know they can’t handle big jobs. But they are my nephews after all. They came to me asking for help to arrange a meeting with Boss Ye. They will discuss the specifics with Boss Ye personally... Is that okay with you?”

”Just to meet?” Huang Fulin asked skeptically, ”Your nephews are not exactly the most honest workers. I’m telling you, Boss Ye is a big boss from the city. If your nephews have any tricks up their sleeves, tell them to clean up their act first to avoid making a fool of themselves.”

”That won’t happen. They just want to meet Boss Ye. If Boss Ye thinks they’re not up for the job, he can refuse them directly...” Liu Denglin said, looking at Ye Qing with hope.

Ye Qing nodded slowly. Liu Denglin’s request wasn’t unreasonable. Moreover, he was building a private orphanage in Eryao Town and in the future, he would certainly rely on the locals here; he couldn’t afford to alienate them.

”Uncle Liu, have them come over directly. I’ll be here all day today,” Ye Qing replied.

”Ah, Boss Ye, thank you so much, thank you!” Liu Denglin said excitedly, thanking him repeatedly before finally leaving.

Watching Liu Denglin walk away, Huang Fulin said, ”Boss Ye, it’s okay to meet them, but don’t get deceived by those boys. What they have is not really a construction team but just a few bricklayers. They can build a house no problem, but they can’t handle a large project like this.”

Ye Qing smiled faintly, ”Don’t worry, Uncle Huang, I know what I’m doing!”

Following Huang Fulin around the farm, he found Liu Denglin’s design to be simple, yet practical and in line with his needs. Behind the farm lay a wasteland—although Eryao Town was on the outskirts of Shenchuan City, it was remote and inconveniently located, making it one of the slowest-developing areas, lagging even behind ordinary small cities.

Weeds covered the barren land, and from this side of the farm, one could see cattle and sheep grazing. Near the animals, several older children were either playing or lying on the grass, appearing quite leisurely.

Ye Qing turned and asked in surprise, ”What day is today?”

”Wednesday,” Huang Fulin replied.

”Wednesday? Why aren’t these children in school?” Ye Qing asked, puzzled.

Huang Fulin glanced at the children on the wasteland and sighed, ”It’s not that they don’t want to go to school. The majority of them just can’t afford it. These kids are from the nearby villages. Their families are poor, with some struggling to even provide food, let alone pay for schooling. So many have dropped out to take care of cattle and sheep and earn money as soon as possible.”

Ye Qing was taken aback; he had assumed that a place as big as Shenchuan City wouldn’t face such issues. Yet, here, on the city’s outskirts, there were still impoverished people. The wealth gap in this place was indeed staggering.

”How can they just not attend school at their age?” Ye Qing frowned.

”There’s nothing that can be done,” Huang Fulin said with a sigh, ”For them, just surviving is an all-out effort, let alone thinking about anything else. Besides, even if they had the chance to attend school, they wouldn’t be able to afford the university fees later on.

It’s probably better for them to drop out early, save the cost of schooling, and be able to work and earn money when they’re grown up.”

Looking at the children on the wasteland, Ye Qing also let out a deep sigh. Living in the same city, why was there such a vast difference?

After going through the design plans and discussing the building locations for an hour, Ye Qing was discussing with Huang Fulin how to recruit teachers when Da Fei suddenly ran over, shouting from a distance, ”Ye, the brothers from the Liu Family are here, they want to see you. Should I let them in? If not, I can send them packing right now!”

Ye Qing knew that these brothers from the Liu Family were probably Liu Denglin’s nephews. Since he had promised Liu Denglin that he would meet them, Ye Qing certainly wouldn’t go back on his word. He waved his hand and said, ”Let them wait in the living room for a bit.”

”Oh.” Da Fei quickly agreed and hurried back to arrange it.

Ye Qing and Huang Fulin returned to the hall together, and as they walked in, they could see four men sitting in the living room from a distance. Three of them were looking nonchalant, with a hint of ruffian aura about them. The other man was dressed lavishly, with his hair neatly combed, looking every bit the Rich Second Generation.

The three ruffians were chatting with Da Fei, their words full of disdain for Da Fei working for Ye Qing. The Rich Second Generation was incessantly talking to Huo Pingping, who was making tea in the living room, pretending to be a ladies’ man with his language full of ambiguous undertones.

Huo Pingping, with her fiery temper, was provoked by his teasing and snapped, ”Trying to pick up on me?”

The Rich Second Generation was taken aback, as he wasn’t expecting Huo Pingping to be so direct. After hesitating for a moment, he smiled and said, ”Hey, beautiful, you’ve got the wrong idea about me. I...”

”If you’re not trying to pick up, forget it!” Huo Pingping curtly cut him off, ”In my life, I detest men without guts the most. If you want to hit on someone, just say it directly. If you can’t even admit it, you’re not even a man!”

The Rich Second Generation quickly tried to correct himself, ”Well, I... I do fancy you, you know, I...”

”Sorry, I’m not interested in you!” Huo Pingping waved him off, ”Could you please look in the mirror before hitting on girls next time? With your look, like a country non-mainstream, you still dare to hit on girls, don’t you find it embarrassing?”

The Rich Second Generation’s face instantly flushed red, a glint of annoyance flashing in his eyes as he said through gritted teeth, ”What did you say?”

Huo Pingping replied, ”I said you’re too ugly, I don’t like you. What, can’t you understand human speech, or is there something wrong with your ears?”

”You fucking bitch, you dare to curse at me, I...” Furious with rage and humiliation, the Rich Second Generation got up, about to slap Huo Pingping.

Da Fei hurried over to pull Huo Pingping away, smiling apologetically, ”Peng, Brother Peng, don’t be mad, please!”

”Fuck, how can I not be angry!” The Rich Second Generation glared and said, ”You bitch, you dare call me ugly, do you know who I am?”

”So who are you?” A cold voice came from the entrance, and everyone turned to look. They saw Ye Qing and Huang Fulin walking in from the doorway.

Though the four men from the Rich Second Generation didn’t recognize Ye Qing, seeing Huang Fulin following him, they could guess who he was. The three ruffians quickly went over to calm down the Rich Second Generation, while one of them came up smiling and extended his hand, ”You must be Boss Ye, it’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Liu Yibing, Liu Denglin is my uncle.”

Ye Qing didn’t respond to the offered hand, as he could see that these four were not good people. Especially the Rich Second Generation, who had started hitting on a girl as soon as he walked in and got angry to the point of getting physical when rebuked. Ye Qing had no respect for him and wasn’t inclined to show any courtesy.

”So you are the nephews Uncle Liu has talked about.” Ye Qing took a seat on the couch, glancing at the four men, ”I hear you have your own construction team, but what construction credentials do you have?”

Liu Yibing smiled and said, ”Boss Ye, our construction team certainly has no issues with credentials. It’s just that certifying credentials can be a bit of a hassle, so we have yet to handle all that paperwork. But you can rest assured, the houses we build won’t have any faults.”

”So that means you don’t have construction credentials!” Ye Qing waved his hand, ”I’m sorry, but we have standards for hiring. Without construction credentials, you’re not allowed to participate in the bidding.”

”Boss Ye, why bother about such paperwork?” Liu Yibing laughed and sat down next to Ye Qing, lowering his voice, ”Although we don’t have construction credentials, we can certainly minimize costs, ensuring you save a substantial amount of money.”

Ye Qing was startled and asked, ”Why would I want to save money?”

”Boss Ye, we’re all smart people here, no need for riddles,” Liu Yibing smiled, ”All this talk about building an orphanage, these public welfare projects, I know they are just a front. In the end, isn’t it about making a profit under this guise? Those buildings are just for show, so saving where you can is where the profit is.

Don’t worry, if you let us handle the construction, we’ll definitely cover all the bases well, even if someone investigates, there won’t be any problems at all!”