Chapter 199
Chapter 199
Chef Li fought back a laugh. “Breakfast is ready!”
Li Yang turned his grief and indignation into appetite, polishing off three bowls of tofu pudding and five steamed buns before finally stopping.
Even Zhang Bei had to admit defeat in the face of an appetite like that.
After breakfast, it was time for the Amusement Park to open for the day.
Since it was Saturday, Little Cao had brought a group of children and was near the front of the line.
However, first place had already been claimed by a man with a buzz cut.
The man’s name was Kou Fu. He should have lived a perfectly ordinary life.
But one day ten years ago, his fate changed forever. (Adapted from a true story.)
At the time, the road to his village had just been completed, and Kou Fu, who had spent half his life working away from home, was blessed with a baby girl.
He counted the savings he had accumulated over all those years. It came to a little over three hundred thousand yuan.
As it happened, the village had just launched a project to build greenhouses and cultivate wood ear mushrooms.
Wanting to stay by his daughter’s side as she grew up, Kou Fu invested three hundred thousand without a second thought.
The greenhouses went up day by day, and the price of wood ear mushrooms kept climbing.
His daughter even learned to call him “Daddy.”
No matter how hard life was, the man wore a smile every day.
After two years, the returns exceeded his wildest expectations.
But the village was remote and impoverished, and it had bred a family of local thugs.
Since they were all from the same village, the thug was naturally jealous.
He demanded to buy the greenhouses Kou Fu had built for three hundred thousand yuan for a mere fifty thousand.
The two sides argued for three whole days, and Kou Fu even gave the thug a beating.
By all rights, that should have been the end of it.
Kou Fu refused to sell, and even after every dirty trick had failed, the man should have given up.
But he was a thug, and no one in his family was any good.
The wind was fierce that night. A single fire reduced half a lifetime of Kou Fu’s hard work to ashes.
Kou Fu sent his wife and daughter to stay with her parents. Then he picked up a butcher’s knife and went to settle the score.
If the little boy’s eyes had not looked so much like his daughter’s, that entire family might have been wiped out on the spot.
Kou Fu had killed someone, but he did not run. He calmly allowed himself to be taken away in a police car.
Thanks to his lawyer’s vigorous defense, his life sentence was reduced to fifteen years.
This was his tenth year, and Kou Fu had been released early for good behavior.
He did not dare face his now-grown daughter.
He had failed to fulfill his responsibilities as a father all these years and had even caused her to develop a psychological disorder.
He only dared to secretly steal a single glance at her from afar. Doctor Yu had said that her condition was already improving.
He had come to the Amusement Park to see for himself what kind of place could cure his daughter’s condition.
“We’re open!”
Kou Fu stared at Zhang Bei’s young face in astonishment.
He had never expected the owner of the Amusement Park to be so young!
Following the Xiao Lu path ahead, he entered the Amusement Park, where futuristic attractions filled his field of view.
The visitors eagerly formed long lines at each one.
Zhang Bei was resting against a chair. When he noticed the man standing there, he immediately frowned.
Once someone had spilled blood and taken a life, the scent of blood on them could never be completely concealed.
Some people were simply more sensitive to such things.
As it happened, Zhang Bei was exceptionally sensitive.
There had been too many visitors in line earlier, so he had not noticed it.
But now that the man was standing there alone, that aura was impossible to miss.
“Hello.”
Kou Fu froze when he heard the voice beside him, then hurriedly turned around.
“Hello.”
“Want to talk?”
Kou Fu was silent for a moment before finally nodding. “All right.”
The two had only just sat down when another figure appeared in their line of sight.
The newcomer was fair-skinned and clean-cut, looking every bit like a harmless office worker.
But only a handful of people knew his true identity.
No one knew his real name. In the underworld, he was known as Ninth Master.
He had committed three major crimes in his lifetime. Seven years ago, he robbed a jewelry store, leaving three dead and five injured.
Five years ago, he robbed another jewelry store. Six died, with no survivors injured.
A year ago, he dismembered his girlfriend and fled to Dingyang City.
Then, just last night, someone contacted him after discovering his true identity.
Whoever that person was, they had to die!
Zhang Bei scratched his head. Looking at the pretty boy in front of him, he felt a headache coming on.
What kind of day was today?
Were murderers gathering in packs now?
Had there been a general amnesty or something?
“Hello, I’m the owner of this amusement park. Would you like to sit down and chat?”
Ninth Master looked Zhang Bei up and down, then broke into a smile.
“Sure. Thanks for having me, Boss!”
The three men, each harboring their own secret motives, sat down at a table. Zhang Bei poured tea for the other two.
Kou Fu’s hand trembled slightly around his cup. Why had the owner suddenly invited him to tea?
Was it because of his criminal record, or did he know about his daughter?
The moment Ninth Master sat down, he sensed that something was off.
It didn’t look like this owner was the person blackmailing him.
Then why had he invited him to tea?
What did he know?
Should he find a way to strike first?
The deeper Ninth Master sank into his thoughts, the more twisted his expression became.
Zhang Bei appeared to be drinking tea, but he remained on guard against both men.
Damn it. Most normal people could go their entire lives without meeting a single murderer. How had he run into two at once?
The strange atmosphere grew increasingly tense. Zhang Bei was already preparing to make a move.
“B-Boss?”
The moment the doctor spoke, three pairs of murderous eyes snapped toward him.
Zhang Bei reined in the killing intent in his gaze. “What is it?”
“There was something, but not anymore. Carry on!”
The doctor bolted almost before the words had left his mouth, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
What the hell was wrong with these people?
Holy crap, he would bet anything those three had been seconds away from fighting!
After fleeing the scene, the doctor hurried off into the distance.
What was he doing?
Looking for backup, of course!
He might not be able to stop the boss, but surely those submariners they kept seeing everywhere could!
With the strange silence broken, the three tense men relaxed slightly.
Zhang Bei refilled their cups.
“May I ask what you two do for a living?”
Ninth Master took a small sip of tea. “I run a supermarket. I guess you could call me a small-business owner.”
Kou Fu thought for a moment. “Sewing machine operator.”
Zhang Bei’s hand paused midway to his mouth. How was he supposed to respond to that?
The atmosphere turned strange once again.
Kou Fu’s already trembling hand began shaking even harder.
Having been to prison, the shame and inferiority he felt left him afraid to speak.
Meanwhile, Ninth Master’s mind raced as he tried to determine whether the owner was the one blackmailing him.
Zhang Bei, on the other hand, was wondering whether the doctor was smart enough to notice that something was wrong.
Hopefully, he would hurry up, call the police, and get these two taken away!
Zhang Bei was confident he could subdue both of them, but if either slipped past him and took a hostage, things would become troublesome.
The doctor fled until he was out of breath, finally finding a group of submariners preparing to ride the Roller Coaster.
“Please… huff… come with me.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Our boss is about to beat someone up! I can’t stop him!”
The submariners froze for a moment, then hurriedly pulled free of their safety restraints and followed the doctor.
The large group marched over and stopped a short distance away. After taking in the scene before them, they all fell into contemplative silence.