Urban Martial Saint

”Sir, what... what are you doing?” the waiter said with a hint of schadenfreude: ”I told you it was dangerous. Look, the door is broken. According to our hotel’s rules, any damaged items must be compensated for at the original price. Do you want to pay by card or cash?”

Liang Xuepeng, of course, had no idea that Ye Qing had tampered with the revolving door; he just thought he had accidentally broken it. He also didn’t know how much the door was worth, but given its grand appearance, he knew it must not have been cheap.

Hearing the waiter’s words, Liang Xuepeng no longer had the arrogance he had upon entering. His forehead was covered in cold sweat, his mouth agape, yet he didn’t know what to say.

Fortunately, Liang Xuewen came over at that time. Seeing the situation, he hurried over to pull Liang Xuepeng aside and said, ”Brother, you take Qingzi upstairs first. It’s not easy for us to have a family reunion; don’t let this little incident ruin it. Leave this matter to me.”

”Right, right, right, you... you handle it...” Liang Xuepeng couldn’t wait to leave the place and quickly went upstairs with Ye Qing.

”Hey, sir...” the waiter called out from behind, which scared Liang Xuepeng into running even faster, without looking back once. Because he was too nervous, he accidentally tripped on the stairs, losing his balance and tumbling down. Having climbed halfway up the stairs, he slid all the way back down, his ridiculous state eliciting laughter from everyone in the lobby.

”Hey, I recognize that guy!” a voice suddenly came from a distance: ”Last time he was here, he spun around in that rotating door for six or seven turns!”

”So it’s him!”

”Right, right, right, I’ve heard about that incident, it was him who did it!”

Murmurs from the crowd continued to circulate, drilling into Liang Xuepeng’s ears. He was now both embarrassed and furious, as if he had lost all face. Blushing, he stood up and, without caring for Ye Qing, ran upstairs first.

The Liang Family members were made extremely uncomfortable by Liang Xuepeng’s antics; the others hurriedly took Ye Qing upstairs while Liang Xuewen dealt with the revolving door downstairs. Of course, Liang Xuewen wasn’t going to pay out of his own pocket. They were there on behalf of He Biao, so the expense could be charged to He Biao’s account.

After dealing with the revolving door issue, Liang Xuewen went straight upstairs. Everyone in the private room had already seated themselves. Liang Xuepeng sat next to Ye Qing, his bravado from the initial meeting now gone. Seeing Liang Xuewen coming up, he hurriedly ran over, pulled him aside to the restroom, and anxiously asked, ”How did it go, how much did it cost?”

Liang Xuewen replied, ”You don’t have to worry, I’ve already called He Biao. He said we don’t have to worry about the money. What’s most important now is to get Ye Qing on our side. He is Ye Changwen’s eldest son, and he will definitely have a share of that mansion. It’s a sure thing.

As long as Ye Qing is willing to collaborate with us, it’s as if we have control of the Ye family’s mansion in our hands. Then He Biao will have an excuse to personally stop Old Fifth Yang from working!”

”Right, right, right, with Boss He backing us up!” Liang Xuepeng was overjoyed and instantly regained his spirit, striding back into the room with a high head and seated himself.

No sooner had he returned to his seat than Liang Xuepeng pretended to be very familiar with the place, knocked on the table, and said, ”What’s the matter with this waiter, why hasn’t the menu been brought out yet? With such service attitude, how can they survive in society?”

Ye Qing replied, ”The waiters are probably all busy.”

Liang Xuepeng said, ”Busy with what? I’m not here for the first time, treating a regular customer this way, how can they retain customers?”

Ye Qing calmly said, ”The revolving door downstairs is broken, they are probably busy fixing it.”

Liang Xuepeng’s face turned red; this revolving door had already caused him trouble more than once, and it had become a lifelong pain for him.

”Let’s not talk about this anymore. It’s not easy for us uncles and nephews to meet up. Qingzi, you’ve grown up now, and honestly, we uncles are really happy for your mother!” Liang Xuewen said with a nostalgic look, ”I still remember the first time you came to my house, you were only five or six years old. Just a short time has passed and you are all grown up; truly, time spares no one!”

Ye Qing said, ”It’s been a long time, it’s just that you haven’t seen me over the years, that’s why you think I’ve changed a lot!”

Awkwardness filled the room, and Liang Xuepeng coughed and said, ”Qingzi, I know you blame us, for us uncles not having taken care of you all these years. But you must understand, no matter what, you are always our nephew. How could there be uncles who don’t care about their own nephew, if it weren’t for Ye Changwen, how could we have ignored you all these years?”

Liang Xuewen added, ”Yes, you know we have never gotten along with your father. And your mother, she was practically tormented to death by Ye Changwen. You were too young to remember this, but how could we uncles forget such a thing?”

Everyone followed suit, their words filled with hatred and hostility towards Ye Changwen.

Ye Qing’s brow furrowed slightly; the circumstances surrounding his mother’s death were very clear in his memory and certainly not as his uncles had described. His uncles were indeed very good at spinning lies. Fortunately, Ye Qing had an early memory, or else, ordinary people might truly be deceived by them.

Ye Qing tapped gently on the table, interrupting everyone’s discussion, and said, ”I don’t blame you for not taking care of me. However, even if you didn’t look after me, you have no right to insult someone who has raised me in front of me!”

The Liang family members looked at each other, unsure what to do next. Liang Xuepeng frowned and asked, ”Qingzi, what do you mean by that? I know you are still angry with us, but can’t you understand our difficulties? If it hadn’t been for Ye Changwen stopping us, do you think we wouldn’t have taken care of you? If not for Ye Changwen...”

”Stop spewing nonsense!” Ye Qing waved his hand and said, ”You didn’t invite me here to argue about what kind of person my father really was, right? I believe I have more of a say in this matter than any of you.”

As Ye Qing spoke, he tapped his finger on the table and continued, ”When I had a high fever at the age of ten, it was my dad who carried me on his back over thirty miles of mountain road to find a doctor who saved my life. When I was fifteen and went to middle school, it was my dad who ran sixty miles back and forth every week just to bring me some fresh vegetables.

When I was eighteen and went to university, it was my dad who sold his blood for two hundred yuan to cover my travel expenses to the school. When I was twenty and scavenging for leftover food in the cafeteria, it was my dad who sent me the money he had for buying medicine, and he still has lingering health issues that have not been cured.

Now, you’re telling me my dad is a bad person; what right do you have to make me believe you?”

The Liang family members exchanged awkward looks; after Ye Qing laid out all these facts, the atmosphere turned quite embarrassing.

Liang Xuepeng scratched his head and said, ”Qingzi, I... I didn’t know about these things. Why didn’t you call me? You... if you had told me, I...”

”I never called you. But Junzi did visit you, didn’t he?” Ye Qing calmly looked at Liang Xuepeng and said, ”I still remember the year I went to university, Junzi went to each of your doorsteps to kneel and collect money to treat my dad’s illness. He was only fourteen years old and had run back and forth several times. And you couldn’t even offer him a sip of water. Say a word? Hmph, how could I?”

The Liang family members became even more awkward, Liang Xuewen coughed, looking at his wife sitting across from him, and said, ”Junzi came to our house? I don’t recall this at all!”

”Whether you don’t know or you let...” Chen Shuxia, Liang Xuewen’s wife, was about to explode but saw Liang Xuewen giving her a sign with his eyes. Immediately, she changed her tune and said, ”Oh, now I remember, indeed, this happened. But I... I never added Junzi, how could I know if he was a scammer?”

Liang Xuewen immediately slammed his teacup down and cursed, ”Good for nothing woman, you can’t even recognize your own nephew. Look at what you’ve done! Damn it, what do I need you for? Were you raised on shit? Is your brain filled with shit?”

Chen Shuxia hung her head and didn’t reply, but inside she seethed, ”Liang Xuewen, you undying old man, curse all you want now, and we’ll see how I deal with you later!”

Seeing Liang Xuewen’s reaction, the other members of the Liang family also began blaming their partners. Liang Xuepeng scolded his wife fiercely and then turned to Ye Qing, saying, ”Qingzi, we truly didn’t know about this. Look, it’s your aunt’s fault. If I had been home, how could I let Junzi be treated that way? Qingzi, it’s not a crime if one is unaware, don’t be angry over such small matters!”

”You’re mistaken, I’m not angry,” Ye Qing slowly shook his head and said, ”You’re under no obligation to help me, are you?”

”Qingzi, you can’t say that. After all, we are uncle and nephew!” Liang Xuewen immediately put his arm around Ye Qing’s shoulder and said, ”You always carry the blood of our Liang family, don’t you? We’re all family, and your matters are our matters, you...”

”Since you’ve said that, I do actually have a little favor to ask of you,” Ye Qing said, cutting Liang Xuewen off mid-sentence.

”What is it?” Liang Xuewen was taken aback, Ye Qing’s sudden change of subject was completely unexpected.

Ye Qing said with a smile, ”I’ve been a bit strapped for cash with my business lately. Since we’re all family, as you said, could you perhaps lend me some money to tide me over?”

”Uh...” The faces of the Liang family members all changed; mentioning money immediately dampened everyone’s spirits.

”How much... how much money do you need...” Liang Xuewen asked in a low voice.

”Around one thousand... ten million or so,” Ye Qing said nonchalantly.

”One thousand... and... and ten million?” Liang Xuewen nearly dropped the teacup in his hand.

”What kind of business are you running that you need so much working capital?” Liang Xuepeng glared and said, ”Even my Fourth Uncle hasn’t needed so much working capital for his business over these years. What exactly do you do?”