Chapter 2

Chapter 2

My cousin Lu Yong hadn’t even graduated from high school, yet he was the most successful person in our village.

This time, I had come specifically to seek his help.

The midday sun was blindingly bright.

Just as I stepped out of the hotel lobby, I saw Lu Yong leaning against the door of a Mercedes-Benz, wearing a loud floral shirt and smoking a cigarette.

“Cousin!” I called out.

Lu Yong looked over at the sound. “So, I heard from your mom that you quit your job?”

I scratched my head. “It was just a dead-end salary. No future in it, a complete waste of time.”

“Cousin, you’ve got real talent. I wanted to come and work under you, to learn the ropes and see the world.”

Lu Yong didn’t shake his head, nor did he nod. He handed me a Chunghwa and simply said, “Get in the car.”

“To be honest, you’re a college student. Doing this kind of work is a bit like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut,” Lu Yong said as he drove, a cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth.

“But I can guarantee that within two years, you’ll be buying a house and a car.”

“As long as your pockets are full of red bills, how could Huang Laosan refuse to let you marry his daughter?”

I sat in the passenger seat, smoking with a heavy heart.

Lu Yong had just hit me right where it hurt.

Back in my hometown, I had a girlfriend who was a nurse. We had been together for over five years. She wasn’t exceptionally beautiful, and her figure was average, but she was a very quiet, modest girl.

In my heart, she was different from those girls I’d had one-night stands with.

I was truly aiming for marriage with her.

But unfortunately, she had a snobbish father.

Every time I went to her house, her father would mock and ridicule me. I especially remembered him saying, “Kid, you’ve got nothing but a pretty face. No house, no family savings-how are you going to give my daughter a good life?”

Those words were like a needle, stabbing deep into me, yet I had no way to talk back.

The car drove out of the city, and the surrounding villages became more frequent.

After driving on the national highway for about ten minutes, Lu Yong turned the car onto a small path and finally stopped in front of a small shop called Liu Yikou Dog Meat Restaurant.

“Don’t be fooled by how unassuming this place looks; the flavor is top-tier.”

Lu Yong patted my shoulder.

“I’ll save the dog penis for you later so you can build up your strength.”

The storefront wasn’t large, but inside, besides the main hall, there were several private rooms.

The owner was short, quite thin, and bald. His teeth were covered in yellow stains, and he smelled of kitchen grease and smoke.

“Brother Lu, you’re here.”

Lu Yong took the cigarette the owner handed him.

“Liu Yikou, is the meat stewed yet?”

The owner bowed and scraped.

“Brother Lu, it’s been stewing for a long time. One male, one female-both are very tender.”

Lu Yong gave a cold snort. “I’m not taking advantage of you. Put the cost of this meal toward the debt.”

Lu Yong and I chatted in the private room for a while until two more people arrived.

The man had dark skin, was built like a tank, and had a fierce expression-the kind of person you could tell at a glance was not to be messed with.

Lu Yong told me to call him Brother Xiong.

The other was a woman with short purple hair, wearing a hip-hugging skirt that showed off her seductive figure. Around her neck, she wore a gold necklace in the style of a “princess on the run.”

Lu Yong said she was Brother Xiong’s girlfriend.

Her name was Fang Qing.