Chapter 1 Lying Down

At night, I lay on the bed, sprawled out in a large "X" shape, staring at the chandelier on the ceiling. The resentment in my heart surged up again as I thought of the harm Pei Shiyu and Lin Hai had caused me. Was that child really born to her and Lin Yang? Filled with doubt, I gradually drifted off to dreamland...

The next day, I was awakened by the doorbell. I rubbed my eyes and walked out of the bedroom, cautiously peering through the peephole first. It was Xiao Wu outside. Perhaps because of the cold weather, I saw him stamping his feet.

I quickly opened the door. Xiao Wu looked at my face and asked, "You're not up yet? It's almost ten o'clock."

I didn't answer directly, just said, "Come in."

"You keep this place pretty clean," he said as he walked in.

I immediately went into the bathroom, and Xiao Wu followed. I picked up a toothbrush cup and asked him, "Did you bring a woman over last night?"

He was a little speechless at my question, then stammered, trying to brush it off, "Wasn't it just inconvenient for me to take her home?"

Xiao Wu used to have a girlfriend, not exactly a respectable woman, whom he'd also met at a nightclub. She had a fiery temper, and if the two of them fought, it was hard to say who would win.

Before brushing my teeth, I asked, "You haven't broken up with your girlfriend, have you?"

"Broke up a long time ago. But when I brought Xiang Xiang over that time, we were still together."

"Cheating on her is no wonder she left you."

I started brushing my teeth, and he continued to babble beside me, "You underestimate me. I dumped her. She was hooking up with someone else behind my back. I beat her up, and she didn't even take her things when she left."

I quickly spat out the water in my mouth and said to him in a warning tone, "I don't care if you find women, but don't mess around in my bed in the future."

"That day, I just didn't have the money to rent a room, so I only came once."

"Once isn't enough, huh? You didn't even clean up the room."

I didn't say much more, went to the room, and put on the new clothes I bought last night, a completely new outfit from head to toe.

Xiao Wu was bustling around in the kitchen. I went in and asked, "What are you looking for?"

"I'm seeing if there's anything to eat. You didn't eat at home last night?"

"I went shopping and ate out."

I looked at him curiously and asked, "You don't even have money for food, do you?"

He immediately turned his pockets inside out, an unceremonious gesture that was typical of how he acted around me. He never pretended in front of me.

I picked up the luggage I had packed yesterday, lifted it off the ground, and left. Xiao Wu followed behind, saying, "Brother Lin, let's go get breakfast first."

Having been by my side for so many years, I understood him too well. If he still had money, he would have brought it over a long time ago, even if it was only ten yuan.

"How did you get here? Did you walk?"

"How did you know?" Xiao Wu showed an exaggerated expression.

"How can someone who can't even afford breakfast expect to take a taxi?"

"Don't make fun of me. I just value our friendship. If I were like A Cheng, I could be doing very well too."

I didn't respond. I wasn't even sure about my own future, and I didn't want to promise him that he could make a lot of money if he followed me. I was just drifting along anyway. My departure these past few years had already cost me my market resources.

I just wanted to go back to my hometown to calm down and plan my future. I couldn't find peace anywhere in the restless city.

I first drove into a gas station. The gas tank was almost empty yesterday...

"Brother Lin, how much money do you have left?" Xiao Wu suddenly asked when he saw me taking out my wallet.

"Enough for lunch."

"Don't joke around."

"Why are you asking?"

"If you don't have much money either, then we need to find a way to make some quickly."

"What way? Kidnapping or theft?"

"Chen Biao is doing very well now, completely different than before."

I was silent for a moment, then asked in a low voice, "What kind of business is he in now?"

"Legitimate construction business, cooperating with a big boss."

"Looks like he has some ability."

"This business used to be your dad's partner..."

I interrupted him irritably, "Not my dad, just call him Lin Hai."

"It's that woman with the surname Pei, their family's group. Lin Hai used to rely on them to get his start. Later, your disruption of their marriage caused the two families to cut off contact."

"They didn't get together?" I asked in shock.

"No, but your younger brother is still in contact with her."

"So Lin Hai's plan failed? Didn't he want to send me to prison to show his loyalty to them?"

"I'm not too sure about the details, but anyway, the business fell into Chen Biao's hands, and now he's very wealthy."

Xiao Wu's words really made me feel a sense of loss. My state seemed to have returned to square one. I couldn't keep up with the pace of the market economy these past few years. My old connections were probably all changed beyond recognition, and besides, I had always been trying to survive in the cracks.

Getting on the highway, I started to speed up. This trip wasn't short, at least two hours of driving. That place where I was born was a very small village, with houses built around the foot of the mountain. It took more than half an hour to get to the town.

When I left, there were still quite a few residents. A few years ago, I ran into a childhood playmate who said that it was basically empty now, with only elderly people left who didn't want to move.

Seemingly like a hoodlum, I was actually very lonely inside, and I liked to be alone when I had nothing to do. The house in my hometown had been empty for more than ten years, and whether it was habitable was still unknown.

It started to drizzle when I got off the highway. I deliberately turned on the music, and Xiao Wu woke up soon after, wiping the drool from his mouth and asking, "Are we there yet?"

"Just got off the highway. Didn't you sleep last night?"

Looking at his swollen eyes and haggard face, he was a few years younger than me, but he felt more mature overall.

"I haven't been sleeping well lately. I can only fall asleep when it's dawn. I didn't sleep because I had to come here today."

I looked at him curiously and asked, "If you're not sleeping, what are you doing all night?"

"I'm just swiping through videos on my phone. I've been losing a lot of hair lately too."

"Are you going bald before you even get married!"

"What can I do? The new year is coming soon, and my parents will be urging me to get married again."

"Then just grab anyone, just don't look for any more Xiang Xiangs. Do those kinds of people seem like they're suitable for marriage?"

Xiao Wu's attitude was very humble, and he replied a bit dejectedly, "Can someone like me even find a decent woman? Unlike you, even though you're a bit of a hooligan, you have good looks. Look at the women in the nightclubs back then, they were all fighting to go out with you for free."

His words reminded me of the woman I met at the mall last night. I had already forgotten her name. I really lived a ridiculous life back then.

"Brother Lin, you haven't touched a woman in so long, don't you want to? Why don't I make a call and have a few come over?" Xiao Wu asked me obsequiously.

I started to tease him, "There are women in prison too, have you heard of female prisoners?"

"I'm serious."

Only then did I put away my smile, "Do you think that's appropriate?"