"Hmm! You sneakily went for grilled eggplant without me!"
At 9 PM outside of Old Liu Barbecue, Lou Cheng took out his mobile and saw Yan Zheke's message from a few minutes ago.
Lou Cheng's mouth curved upward into a smile unconsciously and he replied, "Qin Rui's treat for instructing him to meditate."
After yesterday's friendly match, Qin Rui's fame grew significantly within the circle.
"I don't care! You are eating it without me unless you bring two eggplants for me!" Yan Zheke added an emoji with heart in its eyes and saliva coming from its mouth.
Lou Cheng chuckled quietly and quickly typed his reply. "I was just about to ask if you needed my exclusive delivery service (sneer). Well, as you have asked so nicely, I'll bring you some!"
"Looking forward to it!" Yan Zheke sat elegantly with a bowl in front of her, waiting for her feeding time.
Noticing her delayed reply, Lou Cheng stroked his chin and asked, "Are you done shopping and dining with the Empress Dowager?"
"Mhmm! Everyone says shopping is a gift shared by all girls. Why is it not true for me? Am I not a girl (amusing)?" Yan Zheke said pitifully, "Cheng, I miss you. I miss your foot massage with the tremor force!"
"This is not the time to suggest the practice of the "Swordsman" Formula... It will ruin the romance!" Lou Cheng was typing when Qin Rui approached after paying the bill and tapped his shoulder. "Shall we?"
"You guys go ahead. I'll order something to go." Lou Cheng pointed at the grill.
"Why didn't you say so earlier?" complained Qin Rui.
"Are you not considering me a friend?"
Lou Cheng answered with a smirk, "This one I have to pay myself!"
"Got it!" Qin Rui came to a sudden realization and chuckled. "We won't take more of your dating time. See you around."
"See you." Lou Cheng waved at Ding Yanbo and him and then turned to the owner. "Two eggplants to go. No spring onion, please."
It reminded him of how annoyed the owner was by his repeated request of no spring onions when he prepared several thermos lunch boxes to bring food from Xiushan to his then classmate, Ke, last Spring Festival.
"Got it," answered the owner frankly with no odd expression. Apparently the memory didn't come to him.
He could recognize the regular customer Lou Cheng, but he couldn't remember all his trifles.
"One day, when the owner remembers not to put spring onions himself as soon as I mention eggplants to go, I can consider myself a frequent customer." Lou Cheng's heart was warmed by these old memories and his mind moved swiftly.
"One year has passed... Time flies when we are having fun... It felt like yesterday... "
Waiting for the grilled eggplants, Lou Cheng stood there playing with his phone while he spotted a familiar figure from the corner of his eye. It was Jiang Fei in a black down jacket.
"Hey! Fatty Jiang!" greeted Lou Cheng joyfully. He saw two men and two girls behind Jiang Fei, all student-looking.
"It must be his classmates who came to visit for a few days. Old Liu Barbecue for the first meal... What if it was too heavy for their taste buds?" thought Lou Cheng to himself.
Surprised to chance upon Lou Cheng here, Jiang Fei was lost for a moment before waving at him. "I was just thinking about contacting you in the next couple of days."
He then went on to introduce, pointing at Lou Cheng,
"My classmate."
Pointing at behind him.
"My classmates."
He was very amused by himself. "What kind of introduction is this?"
He hurried to explain, "High school classmate and university classmates."
"Hello." Jiang Fei's university classmates greeted politely.
"Welcome to Xiushan," replied Lou Cheng in a respectful manner. Paying no attention to their faces, he noticed that their clothes were more fashionable than that of Xiushan locals.
Taking a quick glance at the BBQ house, Jiang Fei said generously, "What a coincidence! Cheng, join us."
"I just finished. Waiting for some grilled eggplants for My Grace," laughed Lou Cheng.
"Your Grace... " Jiang Fei was lost for a few seconds before coming to a realization. He shook his finger with envy. "I just kindly offered you a meal and you returned the favor by showing off your love? You must make up for my mental damage!"
The conversation went long a bit longer until Jiang Fei led his four classmates into the restaurant and Lou Cheng left with grilled eggplants, about to order a taxi.
Watching him with a bag of takeaway food from behind, Jiang Fei's female classmate in a Korean jacket chuckled and said in a soft voice, "Jiang Fei, your classmate is very healthy. He's barely wearing anything on such a cold night."
Xiushan was cold and humid, pretty tough for many northern men. Seeing Lou Cheng in a light jumper and a windbreaker sent a chill down her spine.
"Maybe he's just sacrificing the warmth for the looks?" laughed a chubby girl with her hand held by one of Jiang Fei's male classmates. She had pretty good features, but both her face and body were a bit fat.
Jiang Fei felt a bit awkward. "He's pretty damn healthy... "
Like a monster!
"I don't believe it. All men like to play tough!" The first girl chuckled with her hand on her mouth. Her voice was much more attractive than her looks.
She changed the topic. "My cousin was like this. He didn't wear any sweaters during the winter. Only a down jacket and nothing more. His hands, feet, and ears all suffered from frostbite. How miserable!"
As the Lou Cheng topic ended all of a sudden, Jiang Fei didn't bother to explain further. He chatted along with his friends and urged the cook to hurry with their BBQ meat.
The beginning of the alley was well lit by the lamps on the main road, very different from further in.
He heard a vague shout.
"Help!"
Lou Cheng turned to the direction where the cry had come from and saw an abandoned six-floor building surrounded by a worn wall, weeds, and scattered bricks. On the side of the building, "To be broken down" was written.
"Help!"
A female voice came out with intense fear and panic.
With zero hesitation, Lou Cheng changed his direction, hopped over the broken wall, and dashed towards the building to bring justice.
For him, an average crime was no big issue!
"Help!"
The voice now sounded like it was about to cry. Lou Cheng followed the direction where the voice came from and came to the first floor where all windows were broken. He agilely jumped up and gave a push with his right hand to reach the second floor as fast as he could.
While running, a subtle, unspeakable feeling developed in his heart. All the hair on his body stood up.
Without thinking, Lou Cheng stopped and gathered his qi, blood, strength, and spirit in his lower stomach.
Bang!
The wall in front of him exploded, firing broken bricks and rocks like bullets in all directions through the air that was now saturated with dust smog. Every single piece carried the fatal strength that could end his life. He could block and dodge a few, but not all.
The terrifying part was yet to come! A tall and sturdy figure broke out of the wall behind those shooting rocks and threw himself at Lou Cheng in an imposing manner that could bring kids and timid ones to tears. He attempted to launch a fatal blow at Lou Cheng when he was busy dealing with the striking rocks.
Lou Cheng suddenly realized it was a trap. This dangerous martial arts expert was after him!
With no time to ask why or regret, he had to handle those approaching bricks.
In another room on the second floor, the Divine Enchanter of Sin Flame with deep eyes and high nose shook his head.
"A young man that grew up in peace... "
"He knows nothing about traps or tricks, so he follows his usual practices and previous experiences in peace and falls so easily!"
"Isn't this the purpose of your trip?" Monk Wenguang smiled.
Behind them, a girl in a seductive dress had fallen into a forever sleep.
Surrounded by broken bricks and rocks, approached by a strong enemy from behind, Lou Cheng was in a dangerous situation where there seemed to be no chance of survival. He would probably have tried his best to block and duck, playing with details and hoping for the best. However, this time he sensed it one second earlier!
Bang!
He fired his Dan strength downwards from his feet and made a hole in the worn-down floor. He began to fall freely to the bottom floor in dust and brick pieces and conveniently avoided the shower of rocks and any following attacks.
"Interesting... " Dong Shaoyang murmured to himself. Apparently, he was even more into this game now.
Instead of following into the hole and a potential ambush, he concentrated his force and stamped.
Bang!
The ceiling was broken again and Dong Shaoyang sank behind the shield of falling bricks.
Bang!
Inside Old Liu Barbecue, the chubby, round-faced girl listened carefully and muttered with a frown, "I think I heard something... "
"Normal. It's a bar street down there," answered Jiang Fei casually.
"Hmm... " The girl wiped off her frown and waited for their BBQ patiently.