WHI – Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Lin Ting was in a very good mood, and he carried an undisguised smile all the way home. Su Li, who was tending to her expensive-looking flowers and plants in the yard, couldn’t help but ask, “Are you getting along well with your new classmates?”

“Not really, we almost got into a fight,” Lin Ting said truthfully.

Su Li didn’t get angry or scold him. Her expression remained as indifferent as ever, “…I knew it.” She then turned away without looking at Lin Ting again.

Lin Ting was still very happy at dinner, his smile uncontainable. Gu Jiang, sitting at the head of the dining table, chuckled as he cut his steak and asked, “How was Lin Ting’s first day at school? Is there anything you’re not used to?”

“It was fine.”

“And with your classmates, are you getting along with them?”

“Mm, they’re all right,” Lin Ting mumbled, chewing on his beef without waiting to swallow.

“I heard from Su Li that you almost got into a fight with a classmate?” Gu Jiang asked, with a hint of probing. “If someone bullies you, you should come back and tell us. Everyone in this circle is well-respected, and we all have to mind our manners and boundaries… You, you need to change some of your habits.”

“Is that so…” Lin Ting pondered, thinking that Gu Jiang must have some misunderstanding about those people.

“Ahem.” Gu Jiang glanced at Su Li. Su Li didn’t even bother to lift her eyelids and just shook her head.

Lin Ting’s good mood vanished instantly, as if he had been injected with anesthetic. He felt a bit disoriented, not knowing what he was eating, what he was hearing, or what he was seeing. He performed some actions based on simple muscle memory and said something. By the time he came to his senses, he was lying in the large bathtub in his room.

“I should buy some bath bombs tomorrow. After all, we’re upper-class now, so the bathwater can’t just be tap water, right?” Lin Ting muttered to himself, then suddenly remembered what he had said to Wen Lan in the end, and started laughing.

He couldn’t speak for others, but the water in the Gu family’s house was definitely problematic.

Until Saturday arrived, Lin Ting repeated the pattern of bickering with Wen Lan, threatening him, and occasionally shoving him. Wen Lan’s parting words each time were, “Just you wait until Saturday, I’ll make you kneel and call me daddy.”

On Friday afternoon, Lin Ting finally put a perfect period to that sentence: “My dad is dead.”

Then came Wen Lan’s furious roar and Lin Ting’s roaring laughter.

On Saturday, as Lin Ting left with his backpack, none of the three family members asked him where he was going. He didn’t even need the excuse he had thought of in two seconds.

The reason Lin Ting agreed to meet wasn’t because he was particularly afraid of that guy surnamed Ye. After all, it was their business. It wouldn’t be a problem if he was informed of the verdict after they finished fighting. Lin Ting found this thought amusing, and couldn’t help but chuckle as he stood at the bus stop. An old lady next to him looked worried but still moved a few steps away.

When Lin Ting arrived, Wen Lan had already brought his group of “children of the upper class” to wait. He seemed still annoyed and said, “Wait, in a few more hours, I’ll be your… your grandpa!”

“My grandpa is also dead.”

“…”

“Really, just a few months ago. I can show you photos from his funeral if you don’t believe me,” Lin Ting said, reaching for his phone.

“No, no, no.” Wen Lan stopped Lin Ting’s hand. “I believe you.”

He then slumped onto a worn-out sofa nearby, looked at Lin Ting with a complex expression, and closed his eyes to rest.

Speaking of which, this Cotton Mill was a “guaranteed iron rice bowl” decades ago, even more so than civil servants and teachers today. Everyone wished they could get in and live a happy and peaceful life. But all things succumb to time. The factory buildings were renovated, and the construction was left unfinished. Now, the Cotton Mill was just an empty shell, with no trace of its former glory. Lin Ting had never seen it, and couldn’t imagine it even from movies.

People find it hard to imagine things they haven’t experienced.

Just like Lin Ting couldn’t understand what this group of idiots in front of him was doing.

Wen Lan’s subordinates looked incredibly loyal. They had dispersed and formed a formation, with guardians on each side of the sofa, their eyes sternly fixed ahead, responsible for protecting Wen Lan’s safety.

Further to the side, a pockmarked face held an unopened cup of milk tea, and another boy with ears twice the normal size held a bucket of cucumber-flavored potato chips. Their respectful demeanor was as if they were holding the pure water vase of Guanyin Bodhisattva.

The remaining people were stationed at various windows, doors, and entrances, looking around, ready to report enemy movements as soon as the guy surnamed Ye arrived.

Each of them had a serious and solemn expression, as if they were in a battle, and they didn’t say a word. Every few seconds, they would glance at each other and nod inexplicably.

They were just short of assigning Lin Ting a sentry duty.

Tsk.

Lin Ting came to the meeting just to join the fun. Spending two days at the Gu family’s house would have driven him mad. But seeing these fools now, he regretted it a little.

It was like promising to play house with his younger cousins during Chinese New Year, and then realizing afterwards that it was a bit awkward.

Now… Lin Ting lifted his foot, preparing to slip away while Wen Lan had his eyes closed.

“What are you doing?” The pockmarked face, holding the milk tea, blocked Lin Ting’s path.

“Give me the milk tea, he doesn’t look like he wants to drink it anyway,” Lin Ting said, reaching out to take it.

The pockmarked face quickly stepped to the left, and Lin Ting seized the gap to walk out of the factory building.

Before Lin Ting could take two steps, Ye Laoda and his group appeared at the entrance of the factory.

Tsk, bad luck.

Wen Lan’s subordinates were quite diligent. They all rushed forward to relay the message, like signal fires, one after another, until one of the guardians whispered something into Wen Lan’s ear.

Wen Lan slowly lifted his eyelids, propped his chin with one hand, and looked towards the factory entrance.

Soon, the factory, which had been echoing and somewhat empty, was filled with a dense crowd of people.

The atmosphere, which had been like “playing house with cousins during Chinese New Year,” instantly became tense.

Ye Laoda walked over, whistling cheerfully, “Have you all eaten? Dinner.”

“What? Are you inviting us to dinner?” Wen Lan had no intention of getting up from the sofa. He spoke casually, but his expression was so serious that there wasn’t a trace of a smile.

“Sure!” Ye Laoda was in a good mood. “Provided you can still leave through this door.”

“Then I’m definitely eating, but you might not be.”

Ye Laoda burst into laughter as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world, clutching his stomach. The subordinates beside him also laughed uncontrollably.

The next moment, he kicked a paint bucket lying on the ground with a bang.

With a thud, the iron bucket hit the corner of the sofa and bounced back to the ground, making a loud noise.

The factory fell silent, with only the echoes of metal colliding in the empty space.

Wen Lan’s face turned ashen, like a roused beast. His gaze was direct and sharp, like a sharp knife, ready to cut his opponent in half in the next second, and then swallow them whole, bones and flesh included.

He hadn’t moved from the beginning, maintaining his posture. “Ye Laoda, what is this…?”

“Little Wen, it’s not that I don’t give you face. You grew up in this circle, and even though your parents… you should still have basic manners and upbringing, right? You’re not some lower-class person.” As Ye Laoda said this, he didn’t forget to glance at Lin Ting.

Lin Ting was now certain that the tap water from the Gu family and the Ye family came from the same source.

“You know, I never knew your age,” Wen Lan said. “Today I just found out, you must be at least 76 years old.”

“What nonsense are you spouting?”

“I’m saying, the People’s Republic of China has been established for 76 years. Have you seen the news?”

Lin Ting suddenly felt that while Wen Lan’s cold jokes weren’t great, they weren’t completely idiotic.

At least among a group of idiots, he appeared less severely ill.

Ye Laoda clearly had a lot of experience in the underworld, controlling his emotions effortlessly without any pause. The previously tense atmosphere suddenly became relaxed again, and he laughed heartily, “Little Wen, you really are… very humorous.”

“What are we doing today?” Wen Lan lowered his eyes, looking at the rusty iron bucket at his feet. “Plain or with meat?”

“With meat.”

Wen Lan nodded. “Okay.” He then got up from the sofa and beckoned. The big-eared guy who had been holding the potato chip bucket with both hands now held it with one hand, and took out a pair of knuckle dusters from his pocket, placing them respectfully in Wen Lan’s palm.

“Let’s play together today,” Ye Laoda added.

Lin Ting didn’t feel anything about this remark, but he saw Wen Lan’s expression instantly become uncontrollably dark.

Lin Ting could even see a flicker of panic beneath the dark clouds in his eyes.

“Didn’t it used to be just the two of us?” Wen Lan slowly put on the knuckle dusters, his clenched fist tightening.

“That’s not as fun. Let’s try a different way today, how about it?” Ye Laoda smiled.

Lin Ting knew what Wen Lan was worried about.

It wasn’t because Ye Laoda brought seven or eight more people than Wen Lan.

It was because Ye Laoda’s subordinates were all muscular, burly men with thick muscles, who looked like they fought with meat cleavers every day.

As for Wen Lan’s group, although they pretended to be like thugs, they were the type who would have to go home for dinner as soon as their mothers called. They probably had to find all sorts of excuses to get out tonight.

Let alone muscles, they should all be losing the excess fat around their bellies.

Among this group, perhaps only Wen Lan could fight, and they said they were going “with meat”… Lin Ting scanned the surroundings. Ye Laoda’s subordinates, upon hearing this, all took out various hand daggers, knuckle dusters, and even folding knives.

Wen Lan’s side had one pair of knuckle dusters and probably a folding knife in his pocket.

Then there was the pockmarked guy holding the milk tea, the big-eared guy holding the potato chips, and a group of bewildered people.

It was obvious that Wen Lan hadn’t expected the other party to resort to this.

But in such a situation, one couldn’t just call the police for justice.

If a fight broke out, the outcome was obvious.

Lin Ting thought about what he was about to do, and a smile inadvertently curved his lips.

It seemed he had been taking too many baths lately, and the imported tap water had permeated too much, making his brain not work properly.

He looked at Wen Lan. Wen Lan’s expression was serious, his back ramrod straight. The moonlight that night was exceptionally bright, sliding down his straight nose and lingering on his tightly pursed lips. His eyes, obscured by his high brow bones, blocked the moonlight, making it impossible to see his expression, yet from that darkness, one could feel a chill.

Wen Lan was about to speak when Lin Ting interjected:

“I say, have you all forgotten what the purpose of coming here today is?”