Chapter 68: Only One Night

Chapter 68: Only One Night

Five hours earlier.

Chen Xitong bid farewell to his classmates and walked back to the residential complex. A man was sitting under a large tree cooling off in the shade, but he didn't notice that the man's eyes were glued to him the whole time.

It wasn't until he reached the entrance of his apartment building that someone suddenly covered his mouth from behind and shoved him into the stairwell.

"Mmph! Mmph! Mmph!" Chen Xitong struggled in panic.

"My boy, you don't even recognize your own father?" the man said in a low voice.

As soon as the man released him, Chen Xitong stumbled back several steps until he slammed into the wall, staring in terror at Zhao Lianfeng, who had suddenly materialized in front of him.

"How... how do you know where I live?!"

"Back when this complex was being built, your mother said she wanted to buy a place here. Never thought she'd actually get you one." He looked Chen Xitong up and down, checking out his head-to-toe designer labels, and said, "Looks like Chen Li's been doing pretty well these past few years. What, not gonna invite your old man up for a chat?"

It was only now that Chen Xitong got a good look at Zhao Lianfeng, and he was nothing like how he remembered him.

When Chen Xitong was a child, Zhao Lianfeng, though he had a short fuse and was always throwing things and hitting people, still kept up the appearance of a gentleman in public—slap on a pair of glasses and he looked every bit the polished professional. But now he just looked like some street punk.

Taking advantage of his momentary distraction, Chen Xitong turned and bolted, but Zhao Lianfeng grabbed his clothes, yanked him back hard, and slapped him across the face.

"Smack!"

Chen Xitong was stunned, his face stinging.

It had been a long time since anyone had laid a hand on him. Chen Li was strict but never laid a hand on him. Zhao Lianfeng's slap instantly brought back his childhood—getting beaten with coat hangers and belts was the norm, and there was no fighting back.

Zhao Lianfeng said, "Where the hell do you think you're running off to? You told me to go hit up that Mr. Gu for money, but I figured I might as well just come straight to you. I raised you and fed you all these years—it's about time you paid me back."

Chen Xitong covered his face and said in a low voice, "How much do you want?"

"Transfer me thirty thousand first, and tell me where Zhao Yu lives too."

"You... you're looking for him?"

"That little bastard dared to report me to the police and got me thrown in prison for years. There's no way I'm letting him off this time!"

Zhao Lianfeng's tone was vicious as he rolled his shoulders and cracked his joints.

Chen Xitong suddenly remembered that this gesture was his habitual prelude to violence. He was going after Zhao Yu, and there was no telling what kind of crazy thing he might do.

"I..." Chen Xitong's face went pale, and he hesitated before stammering, "I don't know where he lives."

"You know who your brother's boyfriend is, but you don't know where he lives? If you don't tell me, you're not leaving today."

Zhao Lianfeng took another step forward, and Chen Xitong's body trembled. He quickly said, "He works at Yatai Restaurant! That's all I know!"

Only then did Zhao Lianfeng back off, smiling. "Don't be scared. You're a good kid, smarter than Zhao Yu. I wouldn't bear to hit you. Come on, take your dad to withdraw some cash."

Chen Xitong withdrew thirty thousand yuan for him, then rushed off frantically to find Zhao Yu.

It wasn't until he saw Zhao Yu that his heart finally settled, though it was now weighed down by even more complicated emotions.

When they were kids, every time Zhao Lianfeng went on a rampage, Zhao Yu would always shield him and take more of the beating himself. It wasn't until he saw Zhao Lianfeng today that he remembered how good Zhao Yu had been to him.

He had only wanted to drive a wedge between Zhao Yu and Gu Hansheng—he never meant to get Zhao Yu killed.

But he couldn't control Zhao Lianfeng at all. By the time the small seed of malice began to spiral out of control, it was already too late for regret.

"...I figured with all those security guards at Yatai, he probably wouldn't be able to do anything to you there. But I didn't tell him where you live." Chen Xitong gave a brief summary of the situation, omitting anything that made him look bad.

"How does he know I'm back in the country?" Zhao Yu asked with a grim expression.

"I... I don't know." Chen Xitong's eyes darted away. "I'm too scared to go home right now. Mom's on a business trip abroad, and I didn't dare tell her. I kept your address a secret for you, bro. Please help me too—he's definitely going to come looking for me again."

"I never asked you to keep my address a secret." Zhao Yu coldly tossed out the words and turned into the stairwell.

Chen Xitong followed closely behind. "I was wrong before, I shouldn't have said those things. Zhao Lianfeng definitely won't let either of us go now. We're safer together than fighting alone! Bro, you know better than I do what kind of person he is, and he's even more terrifying now than before... Bro, listen to me..."

Zhao Yu took the stairs two at a time and slammed the door shut with a bang.

Chen Xitong nearly got his nose caught in the door and stumbled back, his face a mask of panic.

Zhao Yu kicked off his shoes haphazardly, slipped into his slippers, and went inside, his mood as foul as if he'd swallowed a fly.

Back then, Zhao Lianfeng had committed armed robbery and assault. Zhao Yu had seized on that leverage to report him to the police, finally freeing himself from the man's grip.

Zhao Lianfeng had been wearing a mask and hadn't been identified—it was Zhao Yu's tip that landed him behind bars. He must hate him with a burning passion. Now that he'd tracked him down, this wasn't going to end easily.

Just thinking about Zhao Lianfeng made Zhao Yu's heart churn, and the spot where his ribs had once been broken began to ache faintly again.

After he finished showering, he suddenly heard soft sobbing outside the door. Irritated, he pulled the door open and looked down at Chen Xitong, who was crouched on the ground sniffling.

A hothouse flower, completely lost at the first sign of trouble.

"Come in."

Zhao Yu tossed out two words and turned back inside. Chen Xitong stepped in and stood at the entrance, asking in a small voice, "Should I change my shoes?"

It was so pathetic it was almost funny.

"Wear the yellow ones," Zhao Yu said.

Chen Xitong put on the yellow slippers, neatly arranged both pairs of shoes by the door, and then walked inside.

Zhao Yu sat down on the sofa and asked, "So what's your plan coming to me? How are you going to deal with him?"

Chen Xitong sat down too and said, "I don't know. I just wanted to ask you what to do. You've been around him the longest—you should know what he's like."

"I can tell you right now—you gave him thirty thousand today, and he'll keep coming back to bleed you dry. And if you don't pay, he has plenty of ways to make your life hell." Zhao Yu looked at the red mark on his face. "He hit you?"

Chen Xitong covered his face and nodded, his eyes red from crying, the tip of his nose pink as well.

Zhao Yu was silent for a few seconds, then said, "I can't help you. I've done everything I could to get away from him, and you've seen it yourself—he still found me."

Chen Xitong was consumed with regret. If only he hadn't let jealousy cloud his judgment, he never would have reached out to Zhao Lianfeng in the first place and brought this huge disaster upon himself.

"Then... can I stay here for now?" he asked in a small voice.

"Only one night."

With that, Zhao Yu got up and went into the bedroom.

Chen Xitong sat helplessly on the sofa, staring at the closed bedroom door, and finally lay down on the couch.

Strangely enough, after running into Zhao Lianfeng, the first person he thought of wasn't Chen Li—it was Zhao Yu.

It wasn't until now that he remembered: back when he was a kid, whenever Zhao Lianfeng hit him, Zhao Yu was always the first to jump in front of him. In the end, Zhao Yu ended up with far more injuries than he did, yet he'd grin and say: "This is what a big brother should do."

Back then, Zhao Yu was like a little ray of sunshine, warming everyone around him.

But Chen Xitong hated that smile of his, because it always attracted a crowd. Chen Xitong didn't have the personality to fit in, so he could only stand on the outside watching Zhao Yu laugh and joke with them.

Chen Xitong didn't have many friends as a kid—he spent all his time practicing the piano. He wished his brother would stop running off to play soccer and instead stay with him and practice the piano together.

But whether he used their mom as a threat or pleaded nicely, Zhao Yu would still sneak out to play, leaving him all alone at the piano.

He hated Zhao Yu, yet for the next ten-plus years, he lived like Zhao Yu.

Chen Xitong slept uncomfortably, tossing and turning on the sofa and nearly falling off, feeling miserable inside.

...

When Zhao Yu got up in the morning, Chen Xitong had already ordered breakfast to be delivered, saying: "I heard you had a stomach bleed before, so I only ordered porridge and eggs."

Zhao Yu glanced at the food containers on the table, unmoved by the gesture: "I'm going to work. Eat up and get out."

Chen Xitong opened his mouth, about to say "I ordered it for you," but Zhao Yu was already gone.

The reason Zhao Yu went to work early was to check if Zhao Lianfeng was lurking around Yatai—if he did run into him, he'd still have time to handle him.

He rode his motorcycle slowly around Yatai once and, not spotting Zhao Lianfeng, only then pulled into Yatai's parking lot.

The kitchen was tense today. First Blondie stirred up trouble, then Baldy screwed up again. The manager was nearly furious, chewing out the kitchen staff for two hours, then calling the two head chefs out for a private talk.

Then he came back in and said: "Anyone who doesn't want to work here can pack up and leave today! I'm telling you, even if you didn't do anything yourself, if you saw a colleague messing with the food and didn't report it, you're an accomplice! The boss said anyone who causes more trouble for Yatai will be blacklisted across the whole industry!"

The kitchen was dead quiet. Even after the manager left, no one spoke—they all just kept their heads down and worked quietly.

Che Shijie's face was grim. Baldy was his guy, after all. The manager had been tactful when talking to him outside, given his friendship with the boss, but there was still blame in his words.

To isolate Cao Xu, he'd been overly lenient with his subordinates, turning a blind eye to their mistakes or giving them a slap on the wrist. The reason Blondie and Baldy dared to be so bold was all because he indulged them, and now it was finally backfiring on him.

Cao Xu let out a cold snort, sneering at Che Shijie.

Che Shijie gritted his teeth, swallowing all his resentment back down.

After the big screw-up with the Gu family, even the boss was dissatisfied with him. If he let Cao Xu seize the opportunity to become Head Chef, he might as well forget about saving face.

But this was a delicate time, and with Zhao Yu backing Cao Xu, he couldn't afford to keep targeting him openly.

The kitchen infighting was finally going to die down for a while.

As Zhao Yu was cleaning seafood, Fatty suddenly dragged a low stool over and sat beside him, grinning: "Brother Yu, let me help you wash those."

Zhao Yu raised an eyebrow: "What do you want now?"

Fatty lowered his voice: "This time, I'm really not on Baldy's side. I didn't do anything."

"Scared?" Zhao Yu said. "I never said you two were in it together."

"What about last time..."

"I promised not to rat you out, so I'll keep it. I keep my word."

"Thanks, Brother Yu." Fatty laughed. "Brother Yu, take a break—I'll wash these."

Zhao Yu snorted, thinking this guy had some nerve, but he scooted over to give him half the space: "Hurry up and finish—my master needs them."

Zhao Yu's willingness to let things slide put Fatty at ease, and he worked hard to help.

Meanwhile, at Yatai's entrance, a man tried to walk in but was stopped.

"Sorry, sir, this is members-only. You can't come in."

Ever since the Blondie incident, Yatai had implemented a membership system, to keep any troublemakers out.

Zhao Lianfeng spit on the ground, turned away reluctantly, and sat down in the park across from Yatai.

Through the gaps in the park fence, he could clearly see everyone coming and going through Yatai's front door. And he had all the time in the world to wait for Zhao Yu to show up.