Cough, cough, cough.
Lin Che, who was just in the middle of a dream, was choked awake by a burst of dense smoke, snapping his eyes open.
Before his eyes stood a middle-aged man around forty years old.
That man had a lit cigarette dangling from his mouth, blowing out puffs of blue smoke from his nose like an old steam engine.
Lin Che watched as the man opened his mouth as if saying something, but he could not hear clearly what was being said at all.
His whole person was somewhat dazed, not knowing whether he was still inside a dream.
Lin Che grabbed the backpack in his arms and sat up abruptly.
Suddenly, a pulling pain came from his ears, and only then did he remember that he was still wearing headphones.
Lin Che hurriedly reached out to take off the headphones, and only now could he hear clearly what the person in front of him was saying.
That man said, “Young man, we have reached the terminal station.”
Damn, I overshot the stop again, Lin Che muttered in his heart.
“Sorry to trouble you, master, I will go down right now.” Lin Che picked up his backpack and walked off the bus.
In the side compartment of the bus, only his silver suitcase was left sitting there lonely, just like himself on the bus.
This was no longer the first time he had overshot his stop. Lin Che seemed like a pitiful person who was cursed. Every time he went out, as long as he took a ride, it would not take long after the vehicle started moving for him to fall into a dead sleep.
To put it nicely, it could shorten the travel time, but to put it bluntly, as long as he needed to get off midway, he would overshoot the stop.
Fortunately, there was a bus stop right next to the coach station, so taking a bus back home would still be in time.
Lin Che rolled his neck, which was somewhat stiff from sleep, and dragged his suitcase over to the bus stop.
At noon, there were not many people near the bus stop. Fortunately, after waiting for not long, the bus arrived.
Lin Che followed the line forward, reached into his pocket for the steel coins he got as change when buying water this morning, and tossed them in.
He boarded the bus and pushed his luggage straight to the very last row. Since he was riding to the last stop this time, Lin Che closed his eyes with peace of mind.
When Lin Che opened his eyes, it was as if everything refreshed directly. Taking out his phone to check, an hour had already passed.
He pushed his luggage off the bus, passed through an alley, and reached the entrance of the residential community.
As a result, just a few steps after entering the alley, a person sprinted out from somewhere in front of Lin Che to block his way.
That person’s height was not particularly tall, and his appearance had no special features, though his hair being dyed both red and yellow was quite distinctive.
“Yo, isn’t this Lin Che?”
Lin Che saw that this person recognized him, but he held no impression of the person in front of him.
“Enemies truly meet on a narrow road, don’t they?” the person in front of him continued.
“Who are you?” Lin Che furrowed his brows and asked.
Listening to Lin Che’s words, the person clenched his fists even tighter and kicked Lin Che’s suitcase aside with one foot.
That person grabbed Lin Che’s collar and shoved him against the wall, “You forgot who I am, but I cannot forget you.” Afterward, he patted Lin Che’s face and said, “Rest assured, from now on, you will not be able to forget me.”
Identifying the person in front of him carefully, only then did Lin Che remember who the person before his eyes actually was.
In fact, it was not that Lin Che had a poor memory. Dyed with this hair and not wearing a school uniform, he looked completely different from before.
Lin Che said indifferently, “Oh, I remember now. Aren’t you the defeated opponent who got beaten up by me last semester?”
He continued to provoke, “What was your name again? Grandson, right? What is it? Do you want to get beaten up again?”
“My name is Sun Que, say that again, damn it!”
Sun Que grabbed Lin Che’s collar and shoved Lin Che forcefully onto the concrete wall, producing a loud thud directly.
Lin Che let out a muffled cough and then said, “I will give you one more chance, release me immediately.”
“What if I say no?” Lin Che’s tone made Sun Que even more displeased.
Lin Che bent his knee with force, driving it directly into Sun Que’s crotch, and then struck a solid punch onto Sun Que’s face, knocking Sun Que straight onto the ground.
Lin Che squatted in front of Sun Que, patted his face, and said, “If you lack capability, threaten people less.”
Sun Que, lying on the ground, laughed instead, “You wouldn’t think I am by myself, would you?”
Hearing Sun Que’s words, Lin Che raised his head to look toward both sides. Without him knowing when, a total of six people had arrived on both sides of the alley. Seeing that Lin Che noticed them, they leaned closer toward him.
Those few people looked around the same age as Sun Que, the tops of their heads dyed in various colors.
Lin Che kicked Sun Que’s buttocks forcefully, spat on the ground, and exercised his wrist, saying, “Giving you another kick means I won’t lose out either.”
Lin Che thought to himself: It seems there is no way to get out without a fight.
Lin Che grabbed a handful of sand from the ground and then ran toward one side behind him. Lin Che tossed the sand held in his left hand directly toward the little yellow-hair who approached him first. Taking advantage of the moment when the little yellow-hair’s eyes were blinded, his right fist knocked that person to the ground.
Perhaps not expecting Lin Che to knock someone down right upon coming up, the remaining two people did not dare to act recklessly either, entering a stalemate with him.
“Don’t worry about me, beat him up for me!” Sun Que, lying on the ground, shouted to the two people coming over to help him up.
Seeing the situation, Lin Che flung his backpack onto the little green-hair’s face, then charged straight up, slamming the little green-hair directly into the wall behind him.
Only this time he failed to dodge in time, receiving a solid punch directly on his face from the little green-hair. The corner of Lin Che’s mouth throbbed with pain, and he struck a punch forcefully toward the little green-hair’s stomach. The little green-hair clutched his stomach and collapsed directly beside the wall.
Just after resolving one, Lin Che felt a sudden surge of pain from behind. Turning around, he followed the motion to grab the wooden stick in the little yellow-hair’s hand. Lin Che clenched his fist and struck a heavy blow toward his elbow, and the little yellow-hair also clutched his arm and cried out loudly upon the impact.
The three people who had just leaned close looked at the three people collapsed by the wall on the ground, feeling somewhat intimidated by Lin Che. Clearly, they had not expected Lin Che to look somewhat harmless to humans and animals yet hit so heavily.
“Are you still coming?” Lin Che rolled his left wrist, gripping the wooden stick in his right hand tightly.
“Damn it!” Another little yellow-hair also revealed the wooden stick in his hand and charged up.
Two fists could hardly match six hands. Lin Che tackled another little yellow-hair down directly and hammered away. The current situation was that Lin Che struck one punch and then took two punches himself.
Fortunately, Lin Che resolved another one. Lin Che wiped the bloodstains at the corner of his mouth, glaring at the remaining two people, “If you leave right now, we are settled.”
The other two people were also somewhat afraid of a reckless person like Lin Che.
After all, at the very beginning, they were merely called over by Sun Que to hold down the fort, not to risk their lives. They ran away directly without looking back.
Watching the people he called over fleeing in panic from Lin Che’s beatings, Sun Que shouted from behind, “Damn it! Come back! You group of useless trash!”
Lin Che walked slowly toward Sun Que, half-squatting in front of him and pinching his chin, saying, “Next time you call people, you had better bring a few more.”
He dragged Sun Que up by the collar, and just as his clenched right fist was about to strike down, his wrist was grabbed by someone.
Lin Che noticed that this hand was exceptionally white, clearly not belonging to any of those few people just now.
“There is still someone?”
Lin Che tossed the Sun Que he was lifting onto the ground. What followed was the thud of Sun Que crashing onto the ground and a burst of wailing.
He stood up and looked behind him, and the person before his eyes also verified Lin Che’s viewpoint.
Lin Che observed the person in front of him carefully. This person was more than a head taller than himself, wearing a black hat and a black coat, the all-black outfit making his face appear even whiter.
“You should not bully people,” the hat guy said to Lin Che.
Lin Che was amused to laughter by the hat guy’s words, but before laughing a few times, a burst of violent coughing came over him.
After recovering, Lin Che looked at the person before his eyes and said indifferently, “Are you here to act as a courageous hero? Then when I was being mobbed by six people just now, how come I didn’t see you coming over to help?”
The hat guy before his eyes widened his eyes, standing frozen right on the spot.
“So, how long do you plan to hold my hand?” Lin Che rolled his wrist, which was still being held by the hat guy, and asked.
Hearing Lin Che’s words, the hat guy released his hand holding Lin Che subconsciously.
Lin Che looked behind, and Sun Que had already run off to who knows where.
Cursing a sentence in his heart, he then said to the hat guy beside him, “Little hero, you have rescued him now, so can I leave?”
After saying that, Lin Che bypassed the hat guy directly, set upright the suitcase lying on one side, patted the backpack covered with dust on the ground, turned around, and walked toward the alley entrance.
Passing through the alley led to the entrance of the residential community.
This residential community was not large, possessing eight unit buildings in total. Lin Che’s home was in Unit 3 of Building 5.
This house was bought by Lin Che’s parents after Lin Che passed the exam into No. 2 High School. It was only five hundred meters away from No. 2 High School, mainly to make it convenient for Lin Che to attend school.
Lin Che’s parents did business out of town. Although the business was not large, they were busy and rarely returned all year round, so Lin Che lived in this small house by himself.
Although this suitcase was not large, half of the inside was filled with books, so the weight was still not low.
Having not eaten a meal to begin with, plus having just fought a big battle, Lin Che could barely exert strength.
Walking up one floor meant resting for two minutes. For a total of four floors, Lin Che walked for nearly ten minutes.
Back then, Lin Che strongly recommended his parents buy the neighboring elevator building, but his parents, facing the price difference of over one hundred thousand, still chose the current residential community, claiming under a fine name that it could help Lin Che exercise his body.
Just upon entering the room, a familiar scent inside the room drifted into his nose, and he thought to himself: This is probably the scent of home.
Lin Che first opened all the windows in the room to ventilate it.
Just a few minutes after he sat down, the phone on the table buzzed. Lin Che picked up the phone to see that it was a call from Li Huixin.
“Hello, Mom, what is it?”
“Nothing much. I just finished my work here and wanted to check on you. Isn’t today the day you are coming back?”
Lin Che turned on the speakerphone, placed the phone on the table, slumped in his chair, and perfunctorily said, “I am tidying up the room.”
“Truly worthy of being my diligent big darling son.”
At the same time, the voice of Lin Che’s father came from the other side of the receiver. Li Huixin said to Lin Che, “Then Mom will go get busy first, let us talk when we have time.”
Afterward, only two beep sounds came from the phone, and the entire room returned to silence once again.
In fact, Lin Che was already accustomed to it. After Lin Che entered primary school, his parents planned to go out and carve out some career. After so many years passed, although it was nothing grand or wealthy, they no longer needed to worry about money now.
Time also passed quickly. Clearly having done nothing, this day was already almost over.
Lin Che usually did not care much for eating, but he could not withstand not eating food for most of the day either. Now his stomach began to rumble as well.
He certainly would not cook today, so Lin Che picked up his keys and prepared to go out to grab a casual bite.
The benefit of living near the school was that there was plenty to eat, walking straight to the small noodle shop at the community entrance.
Lin Che was exceptionally fond of wheat food, and could be considered a regular customer here. Looking inside through the glass door, since students had not started school, there were indeed fewer people, with only two people eating noodles in total.
Pushing open the door before stepping in, a burst of cool air mixed with the fragrance of meat and noodles enveloped Lin Che in an instant.
Accompanied by a greeting of “Welcome,” the boss also noticed Lin Che, “The usual?”
Lin Che nodded and responded, “Yes.”
In just a few minutes, a bowl of braised beef noodles was served up. The portion was not small, with several large chunks of beef placed in the most eye-catching spot, paired with a few greens on the side. High quality at a low price was also one of the reasons Lin Che favored this shop.
Lin Che was indeed starved, having rushed over from the town, fought a battle, and then tidied up the house for half a day, actually eating the entire bowl of noodles in one breath, his belly bulging slightly from being full.
“The money has been scanned over.” Saying that, Lin Che pushed open the door and walked out.
The boss responded while clearing the table, “Welcome to come again next time.”
Whether it was because blowing in the air conditioning inside the shop made the contrast more obvious upon coming out, or because he ate the noodles too quickly, Lin Che wiped the sweat off his forehead. He only wanted to hurry home right now. He raised his head to look in the direction of his home, and although he could not see clearly, he felt that a person was leaning by the window of the neighboring house looking outside. The two exchanged a glance, and then that person disappeared.
Lin Che did not pay it any mind.
As a result, after arriving home, before his buttocks even sat on the stool, a burst of knocking sounded at the door.
Generally speaking, apart from couriers, no one knocked on this door. Lin Che, who had not had time to rest yet, was also somewhat annoyed. Walking toward the door, Lin Che raised his voice and shouted, “Who is it?”
There was no response at the door, as if what happened just now was Lin Che’s auditory hallucination.
Lin Che pulled open the door forcefully and asked somewhat displeased, “Who are you?”
As the person at the doorway raised his head, Lin Che looked at that face and recognized the other party in an instant.
“It is you!”