Chapter 387: Chapter 366: Do Breakups Need a Reason?
The city’s streets became much more desolate after the rain; even on a relaxing weekend like this, few people were seen roaming around. Several motorcycles roared from afar, stirring up the not-quite-dry ground and spraying dirty water further away back into another puddle.
The modified engines rumbled in a certain street located on Huangpu Street, which is a hub for wholesale markets. Now, nearing noon, the foot traffic was more than halved compared to the past few days. Many shop owners were sitting at their doorsteps, cracking sunflower seeds and chatting with their neighbors, the sluggish business making people anxious.
Motorcycles halted in front of a small tavern with signage that ambiguously advertised Sichuan noodles, leaving people bewildered about what exactly was being sold.
"Is it here?!" The leader dismounted from the motorcycle, taking off her helmet, revealing a cascade of hair falling onto her shoulders.
"Yeah!" A few others also dismounted, following her closely.
Opening the wooden sliding door, crying could be heard from inside. The girl frowned but proceeded to enter.
"Auntie! We are here to find Lin Jiaqi."
A closed sign hung at the restaurant entrance, and a middle-aged woman sitting at the table held her head with one hand while pounding her chest with the other, her ponytail secured with a black and silver-threaded hair tie. Upon seeing the visitors, she was about to speak until she heard they were looking for Lin Jiaqi, which somewhat surprised her.
"Who are you?" The middle-aged woman turned from her seat, wiped her face with a tissue, and walked over to them.
"I am Liang Feng, a friend of Jia Qi from the same school, and we are all students from Yan University." Liang Feng placed her helmet on the table, and fearing the woman might not believe her, she also showed her school badge.
"Xiao Qi... she’s not feeling well." The woman, having received a stern glance from the man behind her, promptly changed her tune: "Maybe you should come back to see her in a few days!"
"Okay!" The middle-aged woman did not expect Liang Feng to agree so readily, setting her mind at ease: "Thank you!"
"No problem, I’ll return tomorrow." Liang Feng picked up the helmet on the table and left the restaurant with a few others: "You all head back, I’ll wait around to see!"
Liang Feng glanced back at the small restaurant. Usually, they stayed in the school dormitory, returning home once a week. Lin Jiaqi’s parents had just moved from Jiangling not long ago and opened a small restaurant. Due to the remote location, it was relatively stable, serving mainly the nearby shop owners. The second floor of the restaurant was partitioned off as a resting bedroom for sleeping, making the two-and-a-half-story house their entire living space.
Lin Jiaqi seldom returned home. If she wasn’t with Liang Feng and the others, she would be out with her boyfriend. Her family was too busy with business to check on her, only knowing school studies were intense, which made such parents easy to deceive. Liang Feng had cautioned her about this many times, but women often forget who they are when it comes to love.
Lin Jiaqi was a member of the Fei Feng Gang. After the Poison Dragon Gang was eradicated, they replaced them. The scope had merely elevated in degree—they wouldn’t commit evil deeds, and they disdained extortion. Liang Feng’s principle was simple, to help the weak and punish the wicked.
Seeing Liang Feng didn’t plan to return with them, the girls revved up their vehicles and drove off with a roar. Liang Feng casually found a place to sit and wait. Today, she was determined to meet Lin Jiaqi to get to the bottom of things. As a gang member, she would not stand by idly. She needed to know whether what that man said was true.
Angrily, she lit a cigarette, smoking silently.
Lin Jiaqi hadn’t been to the gang for many days, and this absence was unusual. By a stroke of luck, Liang Feng ran into Jiaqi’s boyfriend at a bar in the east part of town, openly flirting and cavorting with another woman and a group of people.
Witnessing such brazen infidelity, Liang Feng couldn’t stand it. Bringing along a few sisters, they stepped forward to pull the man aside for questioning, only to find out that he was scum. Knowing Liang Feng could fight, he staunchly refused to leave with them.
"We already broke up; why can’t I hold another woman?" The man, as if proving something, embraced the unfamiliar woman in his arms.
Lin Jiaqi deeply loved this man, although Liang Feng never understood what was so great about him. He wasn’t as handsome as Brother Qing Yi, nor did he possess Brother Xiao’s capability. With a figure as thin as a bamboo pole, he was nothing but an asshole.
"Reason for the breakup!" Liang Feng had never heard Lin Jiaqi mention it. They, along with Wawa and Xiaowen, were the best of old comrades in the gang and talked about everything.
"Isn’t it okay to have a one-sided breakup?" The man, somewhat fearful of Liang Feng, took a swig of the liquor on the table to bolster his courage: "What’s it to you?"
"Yeah, who do you think you are, ruining our fun?" The woman sitting on the man’s lap sneered, holding a cigarette between her nails: "Men and women breaking up and getting back together is very normal. Are you her mom, meddling so much?"
Finishing the last drag of her cigarette, she took out her phone and dialed a number.
"Brother Xiao, it’s me, Liang Feng!"
"Hmm, wait for me there." Hanging up the phone, Xiao Lin casually glanced into the depths under the bridge from the steps. Wasn’t it peculiar for an old lady to survive in such a place?
He took a step forward with his left foot, dragging his right leg in, the slow movements tilting his entire body forward, his fat jiggling, leaving a long trail on the ground. (To Be Continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to visit Qidian () to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)