Urban Martial Saint

After dinner, Wu Yian found places for Chen Yuzhong and Deng Xiang to stay in town, settling them down nicely. Starting from tomorrow, they were to officially start working here, and it was clear that both young men were also very excited.

Ye Qing drove Wu Yian and Zhou Tianshun back home; Erdao Village really was remote, not even served by a proper road. Fortunately, the Land Rover Ye Qing drove, which belonged to Li Lianshan, had no problem with off-road performance, and they reached the entrance of the village with the car rocking and swaying. Several half-grown kids were seen squatting at the entrance of the village, holding their bowls and staring wide-eyed at the car Ye Qing was driving.

Although Shenchuan City was a very affluent place, Erdao Village was quite poor due to its remoteness, narrow mountain roads, and lack of resources. It was considered one of the poorer villages in Shenchuan City. Usually, there were no vehicles coming to this place, so seeing a car here was quite difficult, which is why the kids were staring so intently.

Wu Yian poked his head out of the car and called out from a distance, ”Zhao Erhu, Li Xiaoliang, you guys quickly go tell the other kids in the village that starting from tomorrow, they’ll go to town for school. The school has been arranged, and everyone can go for free, so hurry up and tell them!”

Hearing this, the kids hugged their bowls, turned their heads, and scurried back into the village to spread the news. It was evident that these kids also wanted to go out to school and didn’t want to spend their whole lives cooped up in this place.

Watching the kids’ agile figures, Wu Yian and Zhou Tianshun exchanged a smile, both feeling very settled now. What they worried about the most were the kids. Having settled them, the two men had no other major concerns.

Just as Ye Qing pulled up at Wu Yian’s house and before he had even gone in to sit down, more than a dozen people from the village had come by, all excited and curious, running over to ask Wu Yian about the schooling situation.

”Principal Wu, is there really a place to go to school?”

”Yes, is it really free?”

What the people were most worried about was how much schooling would cost. In this village where even survival wasn’t easy, they couldn’t afford much in the way of tuition fees.

Once Wu Yian explained that it was indeed free and that the children could also get free food and lodging at the school, everyone became happy. They surrounded Ye Qing so tightly that he could hardly move, bombarding him with thanks; they were nearly on the verge of kneeling down to kowtow to him.

Ye Qing was detained by the enthusiastic villagers for more than an hour, finally managing to leave the village with Wu Yian’s help. Of course, his mood was also very good, doing something good like enabling these kids to continue their education.

Back at the orphanage, Ye Qing picked up Lin Mengjie, Fang Tingyun, and Mo Xiang on the way. Huo Pingping had gone off somewhere after work, leaving no clue as to where she had gone. According to Fang Tingyun, she had been rather elusive lately, and no one knew what was up with her.

Ye Qing didn’t worry about it too much; Huo Pingping was the most feisty of the three women, and she probably wouldn’t be at a disadvantage if she encountered any hoodlums.

After returning home, Lin Mengjie went straight to check on several locations by car. Chen Junhou and his group’s injuries had almost healed, and in a couple of days, they would be able to get back to work. However, these few days they were still playing cards in the living room, leading a carefree life. Moreover, today it wasn’t just them playing cards; there were also two little spectators sitting beside them.

Li Lianshan’s godson Mao Mao and the kid Ye Qing had adopted, Broom Star, were sitting to Chen Jun’s left and right, watching them play cards. Seeing how focussed they were made Ye Qing wonder if they’d end up becoming little gamblers in the future.

Seeing this, Mo Xiang, who was a teacher, was the first to express dissatisfaction, ”What are you guys doing, playing cards and letting these two kids watch, what if you corrupt them!”

Turning around and seeing a beautiful woman, Chen Jun and the others immediately chuckled, ”Teacher Mo Xiang, it’s not that we let them watch; they wanted to. Little kids, you know, they should be encouraged to discover their interests from a young age. And these two, their interest is cards, which isn’t too bad.”

”How is that an interest if it ends up turning them into gamblers like you guys!” Mo Xiang walked over, pulled Mao Mao and Broom Star away, and said, ”You two better not follow them anymore, they are not good people!”

”Hey, Teacher Mo Xiang, that hurts my heart to hear!” Hou San grinned and said, ”We might be a bit ugly, but we’re definitely kind-hearted, how are we not good people?”

”Do good people gamble all day and not work!” Mo Xiang retorted.

Chen Jun shook his arm and said, ”But we were injured, right? We need to find something to do, can’t just sit around watching TV all day, that would be too decadent!”

”Mo Xiang, why don’t you take them upstairs for now,” Ye said with a light smile, knowing that if Mo Xiang started arguing with these hooligans, she would definitely be at a disadvantage.

”Come on, let’s go up!” Mo Xiang, with one child in each hand, started to lead them away, and the two kids looked back longingly.

”Uncle Chen Jun, Uncle Hou San, can I come down to find you guys again tomorrow?” Mao Mao said in his childish voice.

”Why are you still looking for them?” Mo Xiang glared and said, ”Don’t learn from them, or you’ll turn into bad kids!”

Broom Star suddenly said, ”We are just observing with a critical eye!”

The few people inside the room were stunned for a moment before they all turned to look at Broom Star; this kid had quite a way with words.

”What’s ’a critical eye’?” Chen Jun waved his arm and said, ”Kid, you’re not coming to watch me play cards tomorrow! Critical eye? I won’t even let you watch.”

”Watching you play cards isn’t even interesting,” Broom Star said. ”You guys play, and the money just circulates among you; plus, you’re all insiders. It’s just a futile effort. If you really had the skills, you’d go out and win other people’s money—that would be productive, that would be...”

Broom Star wanted to keep talking, but Mo Xiang directly pulled him upstairs, not giving him a chance to continue.

The people in the living room looked at each other for a long while before Chen Jun muttered, ”What the kid said... seems to make some sense...”

”It’s more than just making sense!” Ye Qing smacked his lips. He had never seen such a peculiar child like Broom Star in his life. The things he said were like the maxims from an aged sage who had experienced the vicissitudes of life, seen countless affairs, and possessed extraordinary wisdom. Every word was filled with philosophy, which is why Ye Qing found him the most astonishing—it was a mystery how this little kid could speak such words of wisdom.

”Whether it makes sense or not isn’t the key point; the key point is, what are we going to do if we don’t play cards?” Hou San shook his arm, still wrapped in bandages, and said, ”What, just sit here and watch TV?”

”You’re right!” Chen Jun nodded and said, ”Let’s just keep playing cards!”

”You guys should clean up and get ready for bed!” Ye said from the side. ”I think you’re just idle. Starting tomorrow, join Qin Jing and go visit some job sites, so you won’t have to play cards. And you, Chen Jun, you’d better not lead Mao Mao astray, or Li will come over and kill you. Li only has this one godson, and he treasures him like his life. He left him with us for care out of fear that the kid would be corrupted by his own men. Now that he’s here, if you guys corrupt him, see if he’ll let you off the hook!”

”Heh heh heh...” Chen Jun Hou San and the others immediately laughed sheepishly, with Chen Jun repeatedly gesturing with his hands, saying, ”How could that be? Ye, don’t worry, starting tomorrow, I won’t let that kid come within three meters of me!”

”Just be aware of it yourself!” Ye Qing was in no mood to deal with them any further and got ready to rest after tidying up a bit. After staying up all night yesterday, he had only managed a short nap in the morning, and it was clear he was still short on sleep.

The next morning, just after five, Ye Qing got up as usual, feeling refreshed after a good night’s sleep. After two hours of morning exercise, his spirit was even more invigorated. When he got back, Fang Tingyun, Huo Pingping, and Mo Xiang had already finished breakfast and were ready to go to work at the orphanage.

Seeing Huo Pingping, Ye Qing couldn’t help but express surprise, ”Eh, Pingping, you came back last night?”

Huo Pingping rolled her eyes at Ye Qing and said, ”Making such a big deal out of it, if I didn’t come back, should I have slept on the streets?”

”You seem to have been quite busy lately; it’s been a few days since I’ve seen you!” Ye Qing said.

Huo Pingping said, ”Don’t start with me. I’ve been at the orphanage every day, it’s you who haven’t been coming. Besides, how long have you been here from your hometown? Just a few days, so what do you mean you haven’t seen me!”

”Really?” Ye Qing looked towards Fang Tingyun, who smiled slightly and said, ”Pingping, don’t bother making excuses, you have indeed been quite busy lately. What’s the matter, got a boyfriend?”

Huo Pingping’s face turned a rare shade of red as she waved her hands, ”What are you talking about? What dirty thoughts you have! Just because someone is busy, you think they’re dating someone? Are you joking? Do I look like the type to casually date? If I want a boyfriend, he has to be one in a million, I can’t be that casual. You’re all just making wild guesses, that’s defamation!”

With confused looks around the table, Ye Qing said, ”If you’re not dating, then you’re not. Why explain so much? You almost make it seem like you’re guilty!”

”You’re the one who’s guilty, your whole family is guilty!” Huo Pingping’s face flushed red as she pointed a fork at Ye Qing and said, ”If you want to eat, then shut up. If you want to talk, don’t sit at this table!”

Ye Qing didn’t dare to provoke this tigress and just lowered his head and ate quietly for a while, but like Fang Tingyun and Mo Xiang, he was snickering on the inside. They all knew, Huo Pingping was definitely dating someone. The question was, which unfortunate guy ended up with such a tigress?

After a while of eating with her head down, Huo Pingping still felt that something was off and explained, ”Actually, I’ve been learning to drive recently; don’t get the wrong idea—I haven’t been dating anyone!”

”No talking during meals!” Ye Qing cut her off with a single sentence, almost causing Huo Pingping to throw her fork at his head.