Chapter 51: Old Buddies
It was a middle-aged man with plasters on his face. The person was being jostled around in the crowd while limping. He would bow to apologize every now and then.
Ye Chen walked over as soon as he had a clearer look at the person’s face. He called out to him by instinct, “Da Tian’er?”
The middle-aged man turned his head to look at Ye Chen. He shuddered slightly before turning around and ran towards the exit of the nightclub without saying anything.
Ye Chen chased after him immediately. He grabbed onto him by the street and said coldly, “Yang Tian, why did you run when you saw me?”
The middle-aged man froze and only turned around after a few seconds of silence. He revealed a dispirited look on his face and forced a smile. “Xiao Yezi, I’m no longer the Yang Tian that you knew before. Why do you still remember me? Why?”
As they stood close to each other, Ye Chen realized he had undergone a major change. He seemed disheveled with extremely messy hair. He had stubble all over and a couple of plasters on his face. A part of his brow bone was fractured as he seemed to have been beaten up. Overall, he exuded a lifeless aura.
The man before Ye Chen was Yang Tian who had once been his best buddy back in university. There was a famous movie series called ‘Young and Dangerous’ that had come out back then. Yang Tian loved the character Da Tian’er, so he gave himself that nickname too.
Throughout their time at university, both of them stayed in the same dorm and they had endless things to talk about. One was rational and quiet while the other was straightforward and impulsive.
Ye Chen clearly remembered going to a cyber cafe to play Dungeon Fighter with Yang Tian when he was in the third year of university. He had some conflicts with the gangsters at the cafe and was beaten up by the gang.
The cafe owner was terrified of those gangsters due to their background. Aside from stopping them, he did not even dare to call the police.
Having just gotten out of the bathroom and noticing Ye Chen being bullied, Yang Tian went to the cafe counter and picked up a fruit knife. Then, he charged into the crowd and injured three people, so he asked Ye Chen to leave first before he did.
After the incident, Yang Tian became a victim of revenge, whereby he had to secure his life by getting a finger chopped off. Because of that, Ye Chen felt guilty for a very long time.
They parted ways after they graduated. Though that was the case, both of them still kept in contact. They only lost contact when Ye Chen was tossed into the river.
It had been years since they last spoke. Never had Ye Chen thought he would meet Yang Tian here. Unfortunately, Yang Tian ran away as soon as he saw him.
Ye Chen took a deep breath in as he thought about this. He enunciated word for word while staring at Yang Tian, “Because you’re my brother!”
Yang Tian’s voice came to a halt. He looked at Ye Chen blankly as his eyes became red all of a sudden. The big hunk began crying right then and there. “Xiao Yezi, I don’t deserve to be your brother. I really don’t!”
Ye Chen patted his shoulder. “You’re wrong. You’ll forever be my brother no matter what happens. Now tell me, what exactly did you go through all these years? Why do you look like this now?” He was almost screaming when he said that.
Yang Tian’s current appearance was a great disappointment to him. He was once the most handsome guy in cla.s.s, but now he had become a lifeless uncle. Even after he had a finger chopped off, he still took life like a breeze. Alas, now he was weeping like a little kid. He squatted on the ground and could not stop bawling with his hands covering his face.
“You piece of sh*t, you coward, what else can you do apart from crying?” Ye Chen jeered in disappointment as he threw a punch at his face while feeling irritated.
Yang Tian rolled on the ground from the punch that Ye Chen threw. Blood was dripping from the corner of his lips. He seemed to have been triggered, so he shrieked hysterically out of nowhere, “Come at me, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d. Come fight me. Be more like a man, alright?” Then, he stood up and threw his fist at Ye Chen.
Thud!
Ye Chen did not dodge. Instead, he chose to take the punch while standing still. After Yang Tian was done with that punch, Ye Chen threw another punch at him which made him roll on the ground. Ye Chen rushed forward and punched his face over and over again although he did not use any part of his cultivation base.
Soon, the duo began wrestling on the ground.
An uncle, who happened to pa.s.s by, took out his phone in the attempt to call the police after witnessing that. Pressed under Ye Chen, Yang Tian shouted at him ferociously, “F*ck off!”
“Kids, why can’t you guys talk things out no matter what kind of conflicts you have? Why must you fight?” the uncle sighed and advised out of kindness.
“You sc.u.mbag, are you blind to be saying that we’re fighting? We’re catching up like old times. Stop your nonsense if you don’t understand this. I’ll beat you to death if you stay!” Yang Tian wiped the blood off his face and condemned him.
The uncle’s lips twitched. How was that catching up? He was already bleeding!
However, the uncle seemed to be scared, so he ran away. He made a phone call as he was fleeing, “h.e.l.lo, is this 110? There are two young men here…”
Ye Chen and Yang Tian looked at each other upon hearing that. They then laughed out loud. They had still been beating each other to death earlier, yet now they had their arms around each other’s shoulders.
Yang Tian took a packet of cigarettes out and handed a stick to Ye Chen. He said in his extremely husky voice as the cigarette smoke lingered around them, “Thanks for remembering me as your brother, brat.”
“Stop your nonsense. Tell me what exactly happened? And where is your wife?” Ye Chen took a puff and asked while looking at Yang Tian.
Yang Tian, who called himself Casanova, had gotten married as soon as he graduated from school. Ye Chen had attended his wedding and knew the bride as a generous and charismatic lady.
Yang Tian’s face froze as he held his head down and said expressionlessly, “She’s dead!”
Ye Chen’s hand that was holding the cigarette trembled slightly. He then asked while squinting, “Who killed her?” He did not bother to ask how she pa.s.sed away. If Yang Tian’s wife had died of natural causes, he would not appear so beaten right now.
Yang Tian clenched his fists hard and looked away. “She died in a road accident!”
“A road accident?” Ye Chen scoffed, “Do you dare to say that in my face while looking at me? Do you dare to repeat that before your wife’s memorial tablet?”
“Xiao Yezi, stop forcing me, alright? I’m serious. Stop forcing me,” Yang Tian groaned in agony as he wrapped his head with his arms.
His reaction verified Ye Chen’s speculation further. Ye Chen could not help but retort, “If you still have a little bit of humanity left inside of you, tell your brother everything. You have me by your side even if the sky is falling!”
Yang Tian stood up and glared at him in rage. His eyes were bloodshot. “Why? Why must you force me like that? Learning the truth will only bring you disaster. I’m already suffering. I don’t want to drag you down with me. We can’t afford to offend that person!”
“Haha!” Ye Chen tossed the cigarette b.u.t.t and stood up. He glared coldly into Yang Tian’s eyes and grinned. “There’s n.o.body in this world that I, Ye Chen, can’t afford to offend!
“You don’t have to tell me anything if you want to continue living your life like a zombie in pain. Of course, that will spell the end of our friends.h.i.+p!”
Ye Chen turned around and left without hesitation as soon as he was done speaking. He only heard Yang Tian’s voice after walking more than ten meters away.
“It’s the Ding family!”