Love For You - Chapter 29

Chapter 29: His Reputation Is Too Bad

The high-end nightclub where Chen Yi hung out was quite famous in Vine City. The main proprietor was a man named Zhang Bin, who also owned several other industrial companies. However, Zhang was only a minority shareholder, doubling as the manager of operations. He was often seen at the nightclub, especially when dealing with crucial social engagements, such as entertaining investment groups from chambers of commerce or public officials. When he wasn't personally present, there were always four or five of his men hanging around the club year-round. When Chen Yi first worked as nightclub security, the head of security he reported to was one of those men.

The majority of the shares for the nightclub were in the hands of a boss named Zhai Fengmao. Zhai was a native of Vine City who had obtained Hong Kong residency in his early years. He returned to Vine City under the banner of a Hong Kong investor to develop his business. He held investments in over a dozen local companies, involving bathhouses, hotels, micro-loans, and various engineering projects. Zhai Fengmao didn't show his face often, as his movements were primarily between Vine City, Hong Kong, and Macau. However, it was said that Zhai had a gentle and approachable personality; he was a person of great legend, seen only in fleeting glimpses.

Chen Yi entered this circle through billiards. At the nightclub, he first tagged along with the head of security, who shared his surname, Chen, and was also a billiards enthusiast. Chen Yi was young, yet he already possessed a certain rugged, street-smart aura. He could hold his own with smoking, drinking, and gambling, so he was a diligent follower. He brought Bo Zai and Dai Mao into the club as well. In this territory, his background was considered clean and transparent—he was someone who knew how to "eat from this bowl." Through their time at the pool table, Chen Yi—who acted as a sparring partner—proved to be exceptionally perceptive. During that period, he spent over a dozen hours every day at the pool tables, his skill improving by leaps and bounds, which eventually led to him meeting Zhang Bin and his crew. These men were no longer young—mostly in their thirties or forties—but they were a tight-knit group with a deep, silent understanding that outsiders found nearly impossible to penetrate.

Anyone could see that their backgrounds were not exactly pristine. Society today wasn't like it was in the past; blatant fighting and killing were no longer in vogue. The big bosses of the underworld were already "whitewashing" themselves—doing less evil, opening companies, and running legitimate businesses. Their underlings helped clear the path so everyone could make big money securely without having to live a life of licking blood off the edge of a blade.

Betting on pool games was a common occurrence at the nightclub. Sometimes Chen Yi would play against others directly; other times, the bosses would pick players to wager against one another. Zhang Bin had an impression of Chen Yi as that young guy who played well, smoked like a chimney, and was particularly popular with the girls. The younger generation was pushing the older one aside; there was no helping it—it was the youngsters' world now.

Chen Yi met Zhai Fengmao when someone brought him along to a five-star hotel to bet on a pool game. The spectators that evening were all either rich or powerful—people Chen Yi didn't recognize at all. Yet, no one seemed to care about the win or loss of five hundred thousand yuan in a single night. After a few rounds, the cheers around the table were constant. Chen Yi didn't embarrass himself and ended up splitting a fifty-thousand-yuan dividend. Chen Yi didn't take the money for himself; in the private room afterward, he bought Zhang Bin a drink, thanking him for his cultivation and guidance.

An unremarkable middle-aged man sat to the side. Seeing Chen Yi’s youth and handsome features, he casually asked if Chen Yi wanted to play professionally, offering to hire a coach for him and send him to Macau. Chen Yi, hearing the slight Cantonese lilt in the man’s accent, respectfully lit a cigar and handed it to him, shaking his head. He said he had no grand ambitions and was content working under Boss Zhang, having always been the recipient of his kindness and care, with no plans to leave.

Zhai Fengmao didn't mind; he simply walked off with Zhang Bin, his hands behind his back.

Returning home after that night’s game—having even shelled out a few thousand yuan of his own money—Chen Yi lay on his bed with his hands behind his head, staring lazily at the ceiling. Miao Jing came in to return his washed clothes. Seeing him still with a cigarette dangling from his lips and ash falling onto his clothing, she pursed her lips, placed the clothes in the wardrobe, turned back to take the cigarette butt from his mouth, and crushed it into the ashtray.

Chen Yi furrowed his thick brows, let out a clicking sound with his tongue, and got up to pinch her shoulder, urging her to go to the kitchen to cook.

As he spent more time at the nightclub, he was called on whenever things came up—sometimes to play cards, sometimes to run errands or do odd jobs, or to act as a driver. He was drifting toward becoming a low-level underling.

There were also times when he followed them to stir up trouble, mainly regarding the demolition and redevelopment of the old town. Residents in the local shantytowns refused to move for the sake of higher demolition compensation. At such times, a large number of people had to be mobilized. A group of big, burly thugs who looked like bad news—dangling cigarettes from their mouths and wearing thick gold chains—would loiter in the streets and alleys in dilapidated vans. They would squat there for ten days or half a month, intimidating the residents until the compensation was settled. Once the real estate company moved into the old demolished houses, they also had to guard against people coming to make trouble.

Zhai Fengmao certainly had a lot of property in Vine City, a portion of which was managed by Zhang Bin. Around that time, a mass brawl occurred. There was a logistics company under Zhang Bin’s name that had constant friction with a rival. The opposition was a local “Big Brother” in Vine City named Brother Han. In his prime, he had been a gang leader with over a hundred followers. Later, he “washed his hands of the business,” dismissed his underlings, and cleaned his dirty money to open a company, effectively controlling Vine City’s provincial long-distance passenger and logistics transportation.

Zhang Bin sent a group from the nightclub—including the security guards—to deal with it, and Chen Yi went along. The two factions clashed at a passenger parking lot while competing for business.

A month later, Brother Han was killed at the entrance of a foot massage parlor. He had been shot.

The case was solved in three days. The officer in charge of the investigation was a criminal police officer named Zhou Kang'an. Local news even tracked the story, reporting that the shooter was a former underling of Brother Han who had a grudge over the distribution of ill-gotten gains and had sought revenge.

Chen Yi saw the news report. He had seen this killer at the nightclub once before. The only reason he remembered him was due to a scandalous story: the man had ordered ten hostesses at once but hadn't paid the tip or settled the bill, leading the floor manager to simply let him go.

Not long after, a familiar face from the nightclub vanished quietly. When asked about it, people just said he had gone to Yunnan on business.

The nightclub had a floor dedicated to a cigar room and a wine bar, which that underling had previously managed. With him gone, the atmosphere shifted. Chen Yi, after treating some people to dinner and moving on from the pool hall, managed to land that position, officially becoming one of Zhang Bin’s legitimate underlings.

Miao Jing could vaguely perceive bits and pieces. She knew Chen Yi’s room like the back of her hand and knew he hid plenty of dirty things—aside from a few adult films, there were sensitive items like walkie-talkies and wiretaps, and even sharp weapons like batons and daggers that would appear occasionally, only to vanish silently the next day.

What could she do? Beyond her heavy studies, she would toss and turn at night, unable to sleep. The two of them had been in an intermittent cold war. When things were good, they shared a silent understanding, each knowing the other’s meaning with a single glance. When things were bad, they traded cold words and sharp retorts. Chen Yi didn't fear arguing with her; he was the type who could handle her, and he simply didn't care.

They often talked about the third year of high school. With her grades, she was destined to go to university. Miao Jing didn't want to stop at a high school diploma. Even without money, she could apply for student loans or work part-time. The only difference was whether the university would be within Vine City’s province or outside it—but it certainly wouldn't be in Vine City. Chen Yi couldn't wait for time to pass faster. Once Miao Jing left, he would be completely free and relaxed. He had no intention of keeping her, nor had he thought about what would happen afterward. Maybe… maybe things would just end like this?

Three whole years had passed since Wei Mingzhen left Vine City. Perhaps it was because he saw how pitiful she was, or perhaps it was out of a fleeting moment of kindness, that he had stumbled through keeping her in his home. But whenever he drove her away, he had never minced his words.

And so, Miao Jing lived her third year of high school in a state of confusion and contradiction.

It wasn't that there weren't happy moments. He was happy when eating the food she cooked; he was happy when he brought her food from his social engagements; he was happy when, cool and dashing with a cigarette in his mouth, he gave her pocket money; and occasionally, when she finished late-night self-study, he would be happy to see that tall figure standing lazily at the school gate, his coat fluttering in the night wind. It was happy when he tapped her head, pinched her cheeks, or draped an arm over her shoulder while crossing the street.

“Miao Jing, is that person who walked you home last night really your brother?”

“Yes.”

“He’s so handsome! How old is your brother? Does he have a girlfriend?”

He wore a baseball cap, a camouflage flight jacket, jeans that hugged his long legs, and canvas shoes—the hallmark of a young man, possessing a temperament that sat right between a mature man and a youth.

“He’s almost 30, and he doesn't have a girlfriend. His reputation is too bad. He’s all glitz on the outside but rotten on the inside. He beats people up, and women all run away from him.”

“Ah…” The classmate looked panicked. “Is he… is he that scary?”

“Yeah!” Miao Jing nodded solemnly.

Anyway, since she didn't have parents to teach her since she was a child, what did it matter if she told a few lies?

Because they were in the graduation year, facing the separation of youth, everyone’s feelings grew deeper by the day. There were boys who gave Miao Jing small gifts, formed study groups with her, and looked for chances to be alone with her. During the mid-term exams of the first semester, Chen Yi took the time to attend her parent-teacher meeting and discovered the small gifts and love letters in her desk. He frowned, his fingers pinching one of the artistic note papers.

“What is this junk?”

“Can’t you read it yourself?”

Dammit, it took him forever to figure it out: some romantic poet had written a classical poem, a cryptic acrostic poem. The vertical lines of the first characters, when read, were flowery and pretentious; he only managed to understand Miao Jing’s name.

“What does this mean?”

“It means they like me, adore me, and want to be with me.”

Chen Yi’s sword-like brows arched high. He said calmly, “This is a critical period in your third year of high school. Don’t get involved in this flowery nonsense.”

“I think you meant… don’t get involved in this romantic nonsense.” Miao Jing paused, her brows knitting slightly as she tilted her head to look at him in confusion. “With your level of education, can you really make anything of yourself? Don't let someone sell you out while you're still helping them count the money, acting as a scapegoat. You'd be better off doing something steady.”

His face flushed slightly, but he remained as calm as a stone lion. “What the hell do you know? Wealth is sought in danger. Study your own books and stop asking about my business.”

Miao Jing’s expression turned cold. She heard him rustling through the candy wrappers in his desk. He took a chocolate for himself, peeled another, and stealthily slipped it into her mouth. His warm palm brushed against her lips. This time, there was the mixed aroma of chocolate and tobacco. Miao Jing gave her lips a light suck; there was a slight suction against his palm. Chen Yi felt a tickle in his heart. He turned to look and saw that the chocolate had already been taken into her mouth. Her long, curled eyelashes trembled—she looked exceptionally pure and well-behaved.

Autumn in Vine City was extremely brief. The weather alternated between heat and cold, and the autumn rain was constant. Late-night self-study for the third year ended at 10:30 PM. Miao Jing could compress the trip home to under twenty minutes on her electric scooter, but it rained frequently during that period, making her arrival time quite unpredictable.