82: Chapter 82 The Prodigal Son Returns

Chapter 82: A Prodigal Son Returns

Returning to the urban area of Dongdu City, it was already close to 9 o'clock.

The strange incident that happened deep in West Mountain was also thrown to the back of everyone's minds.

Because they were rushing to the shooting range for training, Fang Cheng, Ma Donghe, and the others didn't even have time to eat dinner.

By the time the car was about to drive to Jiuchang Street.

To thank them for their help, Fang Cheng prepared to treat them to a meal at a slightly upscale small restaurant nearby.

There was no other way; his wallet was flat now, so he couldn't be too particular.

However, Ma Donghe had no interest in going to a restaurant to eat, directly proposing to grab a barbecue feast at the North Point Night Market.

Hearing this, Fang Cheng was slightly pleased and naturally went along with the suggestion.

The colorful neon signs flickered, and North Point at night was a mix of good and bad, exuding a strange vitality that it didn't have during the day.

A gray secondhand car was driving slowly on the bustling street.

"I know a food stall with amazing barbecue skills. I haven't had it in a long time, and I've been craving it so much lately..."

Sitting in the car, Ma Donghe vividly described various delicacies, as if he could already smell that enticing aroma.

Fang Cheng listened to his nagging with his ears, while his eyes gazed at the passing neon signs one by one.

Suddenly, his eyes narrowed slightly, and he spoke:

"Wait, stop the car."

Hearing this, Huangmao immediately stepped on the brakes.

The car window went down, and Fang Cheng poked his head out.

Then, he shouted toward a thin, small figure a few meters away:

"Wen Xin."

Hearing this call, a girl dragging a sack in the crowd immediately turned her head to look over.

When her gaze fell inside the car and onto Fang Cheng's face.

Those large amber eyes instantly flashed with joy.

"Brother Fang Cheng!"

Fang Cheng wore a smile and waved at her.

Wen Xin hurriedly trotted forward.

However, seeing that there were other people in the car, her eyes looked a bit timid, and the broken sack in her hand couldn't help shrinking behind her back.

"You haven't had dinner yet, right? Let's go eat something together."

Fang Cheng spoke to her familiarly.

Wen Xin secretly glanced at the two people sitting in the front row, shook her head, and didn't dare to reply.

"You must be Fang Cheng's little sister, right?"

Seeing this situation, Ma Donghe immediately leaned over and chimed in:

"Don't be afraid. Although we aren't good people, we would never bully a little girl."

While speaking, he also squeezed out a smile that he thought was kind and amiable.

To be honest, this look of his didn't look like Ma Jianguo's biological son at all.

Wen Xin's frail shoulders trembled slightly, making her look even more frightened.

Fang Cheng couldn't bear to watch, got out of the car, took the sack, and put it in the trunk.

Then he brought her to sit in the back seat.

Wen Xin seemed to be riding in a car for the first time, looking around curiously.

When her gaze shifted to the two uncles with tattoos on their bodies and injuries, her eyes shrank, and she hurriedly lowered her head again.

Seeing this, Fang Cheng bolstered her courage and said:

"Don't be afraid. If these two villains dare to bully you, I'll use my fists to beat them into true cripples!"

Hearing this, Wen Xin couldn't help smiling, a faint smile appearing at the corner of her mouth.

Huangmao, who was holding the steering wheel, trembled with both hands.

Seemingly recalling the experience of being beaten up back then, the car even swerved a little.

Ma Donghe also had a bitter face.

Let alone that his arm fracture hadn't healed yet.

Even with all four limbs intact, there was a high probability he wouldn't be a match for the "monster" beside him.

At the North Point Night Market, in a crudely built food stall.

The flames of stir-frying rose three chi high, and the smell of cooking oil mixed with the fragrance of scallions and garlic wafted over in waves.

The chicken wings, sausages, and grilled fish on the grill sizzled with oil, emitting an enticing aroma.

"Gulu—"

Fang Cheng and the others sat in front of a folding dining table by the roadside, clinked glasses with each other, chugged a mouthful of beer, and then took a bite of the skewers.

Tomorrow was the New Year's Day holiday, and the number of citizens visiting the night market at night increased significantly.

The seats in the food stall were crowded, the clamor was endless, the tables were covered in oil stains, and dishes were piled up.

Everyone didn't care at all and still ate with great relish.

"Fang Cheng, I really admire you for being young and promising. As for me, your big brother, I've really lived in vain for over thirty years..."

Ma Donghe had already chugged 10 bottles of beer in a row, felt a bit drunk, and began to sigh deeply.

Huangmao sat aside playing the foil, occasionally echoing a few words.

Fang Cheng listened with Focus, just continuously pouring beer for him and letting him continue.

Meanwhile, Wen Xin buried her head in gnawing on a skewer of chicken wings, almost licking clean the residue in the bone cracks, and even continued to chew the bones in her mouth.

The atmosphere at the table was each doing their own thing and enjoying themselves.

Don't look at how Ma Donghe had the build of a bear; his alcohol tolerance was no different from an ordinary person's.

By this time, his speech seemed a bit loose-lipped, directly telling all the embarrassing things he had done in the past.

Starting from fighting in school and playing truant when he was young.

To stepping into society, yearning to be a Jianghu hero, only to become more and more worthless the longer he mixed around, and even being disliked when going out to collect a debt.

Now stepping into the threshold of middle age, he began to feel lost about his future in life, not knowing what else he could actually do.

As he spoke, he suddenly burst into tears, slapped himself hard, and cursed himself as a piece of trash who couldn't even take care of his brothers.

Huangmao listened with extreme embarrassment and hurriedly persuaded him to drink less.

Ma Donghe's face turned flush red, and he stiffened his neck again to look at Fang Cheng:

"No mistakes, first release, inside content, check it out one by one!"

"A-Cheng, your brother is asking you a question."

"In your eyes, am I, Ma Donghe, a bastard among bastards?"

Fang Cheng didn't make a sound. He peeled a salt-and-pepper mantis shrimp and put it in Wen Xin's bowl.

From Ma Donghe's drunken words just now, he roughly learned why he lost control of his emotions.

During the melee where the Viper Gang was annexed by the Red Tiger Gang, Ah Dong, one of the two closest brothers by Ma Donghe's side, and the gang leader whom he regarded as an older brother were both hacked to death with random knives.

As for himself, he also suffered heavy injuries and almost lost his life.

Perhaps this experience could be considered a fierce wake-up call for him.

Fang Cheng didn't have much sympathy.

Since he chose to step onto the path of Jianghu, he had to have the psychological preparation of ending up dead on the street.

However, he still spoke a few words of comfort and asked the boss to clear away all the remaining beer.

During this late-night snack, they also encountered A-Fei and the others.

They deliberately ran over to curry favor, but seeing Ma Donghe acting crazy from drunkenness, they didn't dare to provoke bad luck and quickly slipped away again.

Just like that, three sober people accompanied a guy who was drunk and talking nonsense, continuing to sit for half an hour before cleaning up the table and setting off.

Watching Huangmao laboriously get Ma Donghe into the car, they gradually walked farther and farther away, sinking into the hazy city night.

Fang Cheng's eyes were clear, and afterwards he also took Wen Xin to walk slowly towards Jiuchang Street.

With his current physical fitness, alcohol was actually already hard to have any effect.

Arriving at the basement of the Tubular Building.

Wen Xin took out the key and carefully opened the door.

Then she stood on tiptoe and pressed the lighting switch near the doorway.

An incandescent lamp lit up, and the dim light exposed the situation inside the room.

The small one-room apartment had only a wooden plank bed and a table as furniture.

The room was piled everywhere with messy daily necessities and garbage, and there was no place to cook.

Two bowls with leftover steamed buns were placed directly in the corner, and the shadow of a mouse could vaguely be seen darting past from the side.

Wen Xin's mother was lying on the cold cement floor at this moment.

It seemed she had taken drugs again, murmuring dreamlike words in her mouth.

Fang Cheng furrowed his brows slightly, carried the person onto the bed, and covered her with a piece of clothing.

Turning around afterwards, he saw Wen Xin twisting the sack with her small hands, her expression timid.

"Brother Fang Cheng, will you look down on me?"

Her eyes blinked as she looked at Fang Cheng and asked in a low voice.

"How could that be?"

Fang Cheng was slightly startled.

Seemingly because she got a positive reply, Wen Xin's tense little face relaxed noticeably.

Before leaving, Fang Cheng remembered something, so he instructed again:

"Wen Xin, don't go out tomorrow afternoon. Stay at home and wait for Brother to come back, okay?"

"Okay."

Wen Xin didn't ask why, nodding and agreeing seriously.

After saying goodbye to her, Fang Cheng quickly went upstairs and walked towards home.

Passing in front of an iron gate, he suddenly stopped his footsteps.

Hesitating for a moment, he raised his hand and knocked on the door.

"Brother Cheng, is something the matter so late?"

After the door opened, Zhou Xiumei's pretty face flushed slightly, and she looked at Fang Cheng in surprise.

Fang Cheng weighed his words, then spoke up:

"Xiumei, could you please help me with something?"

Standing at the doorway, listening to Fang Cheng finish recounting the matter.

Zhou Xiumei's eyes vaguely flickered with crystal tears, and she nodded vigorously.

"Brother Cheng, please believe me, I will definitely handle this matter well."