Urban Martial Saint

Amidst the laughter and discussion of the crowd, Ye Qing suddenly dashed down from upstairs carrying pillows and bedding, heading straight to Qin Jing’s room.

”Ye, what are you doing?” Hou Sanqi asked.

Ye Qing shook the pillows and bedding in his hand and said, ”I’m moving downstairs from now on. The second and third floors are for the girls to live in!”

”Come on, is that really necessary?” Hou San, with eyes wide open, said, ”It’s fine, you can live upstairs. We trust your character, you definitely wouldn’t do anything!”

”It’s not about what I would or wouldn’t do, it’s about the reputation of those girls!” After Ye Qing finished speaking, he pushed open the door to Qin Jing’s room and went inside, leaving everyone outside to discuss even more.

The conclusion of the discussion was that Ye Qing could really be considered a good man like no other in this era. But in this era, it’s the good people who are most likely to be taken advantage of. Everyone pondered what kind of woman would be worthy of Ye Qing?

Hidden behind a pillar in the second-floor corridor, Lin Mengjie also stealthily peeked out her head. After coming back, she hadn’t gone to her room but had been listening to everyone’s discussion instead. Only when Ye Qing moved his belongings downstairs did she dare to show her face. Looking at Qin Jing’s door below, her gaze was somewhat blurred, unclear whether it was grief or touched emotion she felt.

After standing at the stairway entrance for a long time, she finally sighed softly and whispered to herself, ”In this world, who could possibly be worthy of you?”

Early the next morning, Zhao Chengshuang hurried over, and upon seeing the apartment that Ye Qing had rented, he also sighed deeply. He could now walk with the aid of crutches, and hearing that Huo Pingping was staying on the third floor, he even attempted to go upstairs to greet her, limping along. But Ye Qing dragged him back downstairs. So early in the morning, several girls hadn’t even woken up yet; if he went up now, how different would it be from a hooligan?

Qin Jing left early in the morning with Yue Peng, planning to head to Tian Sheng after breakfast. The accounting books from all the places would be delivered that morning, and he needed to tally them and calculate the previous night’s earnings before starting to collect money. Qin Jing was basically acting as Ye Qing’s financial manager now, as all these matters were handled by him.

Zhao Chengshuang couldn’t go upstairs, so he took a turn around the first floor, getting acquainted with Chen Jun Hou San and others. Zhao Chengshuang had now been appointed as the deputy director, albeit at a branch office, but in a major city like Shenchuan City, and at his age, reaching such a position was indeed no simple feat. Hearing of Zhao Chengshuang’s position, Chen Jun Hou San, and the others were greatly shocked. They knew very well the significance of Zhao Chengshuang’s deputy directorship, which was worth much more than Wang Yuanbo’s rank. Knowing that Ye Qing had such a strong backer in Shenchuan City thrilled everyone, as it meant their prospects in the city were even brighter.

Ye Qing introduced Zhao Chengshuang to everyone and then took him out for breakfast at a nearby diner, where he also inquired about his brother, Ye Jun. It was this very matter that had brought Ye Qing rushing back to Shenchuan City. He had contacted Zhao Chengshuang when he arrived the previous night, but Zhao Chengshuang had been busy, so they hadn’t had the chance to talk about it. The next day Zhao Chengshuang did come looking for Ye Qing, but he had run into Shen Baichuan from the Xihang Shen Family. In the end, to prevent a conflict between him and Ye Qing, Zhao Chengshuang took Shen Baichuan away first. Today, Zhao Chengshuang finally came alone, so Ye Qing was determined to properly question him about the situation.

”Hey, what’s the rush?” said Zhao Chengshuang, setting aside his crutches. ”I’ll tell you, the news I got was just that your brother’s body wasn’t in that car, which only proves that your brother is still alive. As for where he is now, I don’t know; I don’t have any clues here either. So, my suggestion is that you shouldn’t panic, we need to find some clues first before we can locate your brother!”

”Clues? Where do we find clues?” Ye Qing frowned, then suddenly said, ”Right, Scarface told me that my brother was indeed taken by those people to transport goods. But when they came back, my brother was not in the car. This means that something must have happened to my brother on the way. And the only ones who would know about this incident are the people who went to transport the goods!”

”You’re right,” Zhao Chengshuang nodded and said, ”But at that time, those people were either killed by you or scared off by you, and now we don’t even know who they were, so the clues are broken there.”

Ye Qing said in a deep voice, ”We don’t know who they might be, but there’s someone who definitely knows who was responsible for transporting the goods at that time!”

Zhao Chengshuang looked at Ye Qing and said, ”Are you talking about Lin Tianhao?”

”Besides him, who else could it be?” Ye Qing clenched his teeth and said sternly, ”Those people were sent by him, he must know exactly who was in charge of the transportation.”

Zhao Chengshuang nodded and said, ”That’s true, but now his enmity towards you is as deep as the ocean. His downfall is entirely your doing. If you ask him about it, he may not be willing to tell you!”

”Regardless, I have to try,” Ye Qing said to Zhao Chengshuang. ”Is there any way I can see him?”

”It’s not difficult to see him. He’s been sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve. He’s currently in prison. If you want to see him, I can arrange it,” said Zhao Chengshuang, pausing before he continued, ”But I still want to advise you not to get your hopes up.”

It wasn’t difficult for Zhao Chengshuang to arrange this for Ye Qing; it was just a matter of a phone call. Ye Qing drove to the prison, where everything had already been arranged, and he managed to see Boss Lin without any trouble.

Now, Boss Lin no longer had his former dignity. Dressed in ragged prison garments, clearly stained with blood. His face was swollen and bruised, with a cut near his eye and a swollen mouth. Dragging one leg, he almost shuffled over. His hands were cuffed together, but one hand was clearly dangling, being held up by the other so he could just barely walk. Now he looked just like one of those beggars whose limbs had been chopped off and thrown onto the streets by him; he finally got a taste of that kind of life.

Upon seeing Ye Qing, Boss Lin’s face showed no particular change. He just slowly moved to the table and sat down. After looking at Ye Qing, he sighed softly and said, ”I didn’t think that you would be the first one to come see me.”

Ye Qing quietly observed Boss Lin and said, ”Did you think anyone else would come see you?”

”Yes, someone like me, laden with heinous sins, responsible for the death and maiming of so many, truly deserves to die. Those who knew me, those associated with me, can’t wait to sever ties with me, let alone visit me,” Boss Lin slowly lifted his head, his eyes somewhat wet, suddenly clenching his teeth and saying, ”Actually, all that is bullshit. Let me tell you, this world is always about the victor being the king and the defeated being the outcast. When I was rich, those underlings, those women, those friends, all of them were subservient to me. Even the people of the Lin family, when they got my money each month, acted as affectionate as if they were my own family. How many of the Lin family didn’t know my money was dirty? But they never refused it. Now, as my misdeeds have been exposed and I’ve landed in prison, these people immediately cut ties with me. It’s laughable. By distancing themselves from me, do they really become clean?”

Ye Qing looked at Boss Lin and, honestly, he felt a bit of sympathy for him—not for what he was going through now, but because he had lived for so long without a single friend, without anyone who really cared for him. Those underlings, friends, women, and relatives all scattered like monkeys once he got in trouble, none willing to look back at him even once. Human relations are so cold and brittle, it’s chilling to the heart.

Having said that, Boss Lin seemed to have vented quite a bit. He turned his head to look at Ye Qing and asked, ”Got a smoke?”

Ye Qing took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, lit one, and handed it to Boss Lin. Boss Lin quickly took the cigarette, took a deep drag, and closed his eyes in bliss, as though savoring the feeling. After a long while, he opened his eyes and asked, ”Do you know who gave me these injuries?”

”Your fellow inmates?” asked Ye Qing.

”Correct, the inmates. But do you know what kind of inmates?” Boss Lin said as he looked at Ye Qing. ”The ones living with me, the ones who were sentenced with me, they were my former underlings. The wounds all over my body were inflicted by them. When we were outside, which one of them didn’t revere me like a god? But here, the ones who beat me the most viciously were them. Haha, such is human nature. When I provided them with money, they worshipped me like a deity. But when I could no longer give them money and instead caused them trouble, they treated me with the cruelest methods. All this talk about good begetting good, I don’t believe that crap. For these people, it was I who gave them money, it was I who allowed them to live. But did they ever treat me well? Ye Qing, I don’t believe in your theories. I only believe in one thing: human nature is fundamentally evil. Everyone is the same, all living for their own benefit!”

Ye Qing was silent for a moment, then said, ”Maybe they treated you this way because you never treated them like friends in the first place. You gave them money to live on, but did you ever give them dignity? When you bossed them around and gave orders, did you ever consider that they are also people, with their own dignity?”

Boss Lin clenched his teeth and said, ”The money I gave them was enough to buy their dignity.”

”That’s right,” replied Ye Qing, ”your money was enough to buy their dignity. But now you can’t give them money, so why should they treat you well?”

Boss Lin was taken aback. Staring at Ye Qing for a long time, it seemed as if he had finally understood something. He slowly nodded, looked at Ye Qing, and said, ”Go ahead, why did you come to see me? We have no close ties, so you wouldn’t come to visit me without a reason!”