Chapter Fifty-Nine: King Meets King

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In the end, Xiao Wang’s assessment of Li Qing was that a real-life Blind Monk was far more skilled than any in-game version could ever be. After getting Xiao Wang’s call, Li Qing must have realized that his lackluster gaming skills had been exposed. He didn’t seem interested in talking much with me anymore. Just after I hung up the phone, Chen Dongfang walked over and said, “I don’t think Tang Renjie will dare lay a finger on Chen Zhuzi again. Is it a problem to leave Fatty here alone to keep watch?”

Fatty definitely heard this. He stood up; in front of Chen Dongfang, he seemed a bit reserved, not as lively as usual, but he still replied, “No problem. With me here, you can rest easy. Go take care of what you need to do.”

“Alright then. Yezi, come with me to the police station to claim your third granduncle’s body and bring it back to Fudigou. I’ll probably be heading back to Shanghai tomorrow,” Chen Dongfang said.

I glanced at Fatty, who just smiled back at me. Honestly, I felt bad about leaving him there alone to watch over Uncle Zhuzi. It made me feel like a fair-weather friend, cozying up to Chen Dongfang just because he was powerful. That wasn’t my intention at all, but for some reason, Chen Dongfang wanted me involved in this matter.

“Go on, it’s fine,” Fatty said to me.

I nodded, “If anything comes up, call me.”

After leaving the police station, I called Xiao Wang and told him I was going with Chen Qingshan to claim my third granduncle Chen Wenhai’s body. Xiao Wang replied, “The autopsy report on Chen Wenhai just came out. I know things are complicated on your end and the cause of death is hard to determine, but at least technically, it was suicide. There’s no evidence of foul play.”

“Alright, I understand,” I said.

When we arrived at the police station, Xiao Wang and his superiors were already waiting for us at the entrance. They regarded Chen Dongfang with a peculiar expression. I supposed they’d heard about Chen Dongfang’s attitude toward Tang Renjie from the officers on duty last night and inferred that he was someone important. Still, they likely didn’t know exactly who he was. Dealing with someone like that, though, they had to show proper respect—hence the reception at the door. Aside from last night’s confrontation, Chen Dongfang remained courteous and polite to everyone else. After shaking hands with Xiao Wang and the officers and signing the paperwork to claim the body, Xiao Wang noticed we hadn’t driven there and asked, “Are you sending him back to the village or to the crematorium? I can drive you.”

Chen Dongfang smiled, “Our family believes in returning to the earth, so we’ll bring him back home. I know burial reform is in place now and I’ll pay whatever fines are necessary.”

“That’s not what I meant. Actually, policies are more relaxed these days—not like a few years ago,” Xiao Wang said awkwardly.

In the end, we didn’t take Xiao Wang’s police car. He arranged for a hearse and Li Qing rented a car through a ride app. Together, we returned to Fudigou.

Back in Fudigou, the villagers naturally gathered around. Many recognized Chen Dongfang and came up to greet him one by one. Chen Dongfang seemed even more at ease among these old neighbors, and in the end, he brought over all the cigarettes, drinks, and wine from the village store to entertain everyone. Thanks to my third granduncle’s reputation, many people came to help, and soon a coffin was bought from a neighboring village. By the time all was settled, it was already afternoon. Chen Dongfang, busy and sweating, came over to me looking a bit tired and said, “Come on, take me to see Zhongmou.”

“Now?” I asked, surprised.

Some villagers were already gossiping about the fact that Chen Dongfang hadn’t shed any tears, saying he was indifferent even though his own father had died. People in the village loved to meddle, and words could be dangerous. If Chen Dongfang left again at this point, it would only give them more to talk about.

“It’s fine, let’s go,” Chen Dongfang said with a smile.

Since he insisted, I could only comply. Now that Chen Qingshan was here to keep things in order, I doubted anything would go wrong. So I went with Chen Dongfang and Li Qing to my eldest brother’s house. When we arrived, my brother was watering the flowers. He looked up and his eyes flashed brilliantly for a moment, then returned to normal.

Before I could introduce them, Chen Dongfang stepped forward and said, “I’m Chen Dongfang. You don’t know me, but I knew Old Sun well. If you see him again, tell him Chen Dongfang from Shanghai wants to know when he’ll return that fine pot of Biluochun tea he owes me.”

“You want to have tea with him?” my brother asked, glancing at Chen Dongfang.

“Yes, he’s owed me that pot of tea for eight years,” Chen Dongfang replied.

“You can go have tea with him if you want, but he’s already dead,” my brother said.

The atmosphere instantly froze. I felt awkward. On the way here, I’d worried about this. My brother was different from Fatty—Fatty would restrain himself a bit in front of Chen Dongfang, but my brother would act the same whether it was the Emperor himself in front of him or not. Sure enough, in only a few words, he left Chen Dongfang speechless. Still, I was intrigued by the story of Old Sun and the half pot of Biluochun tea. My brother’s name was Sun Zhongmou, so Old Sun must have been the man who adopted him.

My brother’s remark was rather barbed, and I had no idea how to smooth things over. However, after a moment of awkwardness, Chen Dongfang tried to place a consoling hand on my brother’s shoulder, but my brother sidestepped, leaving his hand hanging in the air. Then he made things even more uncomfortable by saying, “Next time you want to get chummy, make sure you know what you’re talking about.”

Even I was embarrassed for Chen Dongfang this time. Li Qing, on the other hand, stood by with a barely suppressed grin at Chen Dongfang’s discomfort. I quickly stepped in, “Brother, Uncle Dongfang is Third Granduncle’s son. He’s come back to handle the funeral arrangements.”

My brother said nothing, just turned and went inside.

I gave Chen Dongfang an apologetic smile. “That’s just how he is. Please don’t take offense.”

Chen Dongfang smiled, “No wonder he’s Old Monster Sun’s disciple—two monsters of a kind.”

Once inside, my brother sat on the sofa, making no move to play host. I hurried to brew some tea for everyone. As I was making tea, my brother suddenly said, “Wait a moment.”

“Hm?” I responded, thinking, Is he so displeased with Chen Dongfang that he won’t even let me make tea?

He stood up and went upstairs. I didn’t dare follow—my brother’s second floor was strictly off-limits. Shortly after, he came down holding a metal box. He took the teapot from me and said, “Old Sun wasn’t the kind to leave debts unpaid. Before he died, he left me half a bag of tea leaves, telling me to brew it for someone named Chen Dongfang.”

With that, my brother personally brewed the tea, then respectfully presented a cup to Chen Dongfang with both hands. “A son pays his father’s debts. This half pot of Biluochun tea owed by Old Sun—I’ll settle it for him.”

Chen Dongfang didn’t stand on ceremony. He took the cup, sipped it, and nodded, smiling. “Good. It’s settled.”

I stood aside, listening to their strange exchange. Honestly, I felt awkward for both of them. After serving the tea, my brother simply sat there, saying nothing. Chen Qingshan sipped his tea slowly, also silent.

At that moment, Li Qing looked up at the second floor with apparent interest—and then actually started walking upstairs.

I was startled. Apart from worrying about my brother’s attitude toward our guests, my biggest concern was that Li Qing might get into a fight with him. I’d thought that worry was unfounded by now, but unexpectedly, Li Qing chose this moment to head upstairs.

With my brother’s temperament, a fight was almost certain.

As I hurried to stop Li Qing, Chen Dongfang—who had been silent for some time—spoke up, “A few years ago, when I saw Old Sun, he boasted to me that the Ye family’s youngster was a rare talent, destined to shine for thirty years after coming into his own. I never had a problem with that—as you’re technically my nephew. Still, it’s natural for young men to be competitive.”

At those words, I immediately understood what he was doing.

Before I could say anything, my brother hurled his teacup at Li Qing.

Li Qing sneered, leapt up, and kicked the cup out of the air. Tea sprayed in all directions, and the porcelain cup shattered into powder.

“Yezi, come over here—scenes like this, you won’t see even on TV,” Chen Dongfang beckoned to me.

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