Chapter 37: Walking on Hell's Road, Leaving Heaven for Friends

  The boss of the billiard room is called Zhao Guanghui, who used to follow Ding Laosi's old gangster. Naturally, he knew Ye Haodong. Hearing that Ye Haodong and his men had a confrontation with someone here, he hurriedly ran out.

  Ye Haodong saw him coming over and nodded slightly as a sign of respect, handed him a cigarette and said: "Business is good, Uncle Zhao."

  Zhao Guanghui and Ding Laosi are sworn brothers, and Ding Dawei has always addressed him as "Uncle". Ye Haodong had met him twice at the wine table and followed Ding Dawei's lead in addressing him that way. But Zhao Guanghui didn't dare to be presumptuous with him, hastily taking the cigarette with both hands and smiling: "Haodong, you came over without even saying hello, I'll arrange a good room for you, how did you end up running into this unpleasantness outside?"

  Ye Haodong pointed at the long-haired young man: "Do you know this kid?"

  Zhao Guanghui scratched his head and introduced: "Ma Lao Wu's son Wen Yu, how can I not recognize him as an uncle? This kid has always been hanging out at the Baoyin Temple, he must not know you. If he wants to offend you, just beat him up, leave some breath for me to pass on to Fifth Brother."

  Ye Haodong understood as soon as he heard it, and it turned out that he was still a descendant of a family with a deep foundation. He turned his head to smile at Bao Lijiang, and spread his hands: "It's over, the flood has destroyed the Dragon King Temple, it seems you don't have a chance to show off."

  Zhao Guanghui cleverly called out to Ma Wenyu: "Mosquito, haven't you come over to apologize to your brother Haodong? I've told you many times, if there's nothing going on, don't stir up trouble, and if there is something going on, don't be afraid of it. With the little bit of virtue you have, you dare to fool around all day long. Sooner or later, you'll run into someone who can't be trifled with and they'll deal with you. Luckily today, Haodong has some connection with me and your dad, otherwise, with your character, at the very least, you'd lose a finger."

  Ye Haodong detected a different tone from the old man's words, but he didn't mind. Anyone who can make a name for themselves on this path has their own temper, and this old uncle is still reminding himself that he's not afraid of trouble at over 40 years old.

  Ma Wenyu had long heard of Ye Haodong's reputation, but in his opinion, someone like Ye Haodong would be playing at the Hongqun Hotel or eating at Du Yi Chu in the old city district. He never thought that today would also be an unlucky day for him to run into this infamous figure from the underworld.

  "You must be Hao Dong Ge, my sixth uncle has often mentioned you to me, I've always wanted to meet you. I'm really sorry about earlier, today I was too arrogant, please feel free to scold me."

  Ye Haodong: "As Zhao Shu said, I won't hit you, but there are a few things that must be said to you."

  Ma Wenyu: "Please go ahead and speak, I will definitely listen to you."

  Ye Haodong: "It's not easy to get to this point by mixing and mingling on the road, face is given by everyone, but losing it is done by oneself. Friends gather together to talk about righteousness, when in trouble, they support each other, and when there's an opportunity to make a fortune, they pull each other up. This is the purpose of mixing. Pointing fingers at relying on violence and killing to gain notoriety, colluding with a group of rascals to bully good people, tease women, and forcing young girls to find objects, that's not called mixing, that's called hooliganism, the target of government crackdowns, even in prison, they're treated like worthless scum."

  Ma Wenyu nodded repeatedly in agreement.

  Ye Haodong's five classmates were already petrified at this point. They never could have imagined that the Ye Haodong who used to be so studious, talkative and righteous would end up like this in just over two years after leaving school.

  Two hours later, on top of the teaching building of No. 19 Middle School High School Department.

  Baoli was playing soccer with a few others on the playground, while Ye Haodong and Mu Yongqiang sat on the edge of the rooftop, chatting.

  Sitting on the top of the teaching building built halfway up the mountain, looking from near to far, underfoot is a group of gray buildings in the old industrial area, and white smoke is rising from the chimneys of the steel mills in the distance. The sky, which seems to be pressed down very low, makes people's emotions unconsciously depressed. The parents' generation flowed with sweat in this city, and also left their mark on this city. The character of the city has influenced generations of steel city people, and generations of steel city people have injected new blood into the continuation of this character. The efforts of three generations witnessed the former glory of the old industrial city. Now, the parents' generation is also gradually getting older, just like this city that once symbolized the iron and steel spirit of China. Occasionally, the sound of explosions can be heard from the direction of the new urban area, where construction is in full swing. The rise of the new urban area has become a necessity. The mark left by the parents' generation is gradually fading away, whether it is the city or the people in the city, are all suffering from the pain and change brought about by reform.

  This is an era of change, yet it is also an era that remains unchanged. This is a beautiful and happy era, yet it is also an era where ugliness and evil run rampant. People are walking on the road to heaven, while others are walking on the road to hell. Everyone thinks we have no choice, but in reality, we do have a choice.

  Sitting there, facing his classmates from elementary school to high school who had always been distant, Ye Haodong was filled with emotion and asked Mu Yongqiang passionately: "What is your choice? Don't ask about mine, I'll tell you right now. I chose the road that leads to hell, but I made that choice so that more people can live in heaven. What about you? What will you choose?"

  Mu Yongqiang: "What you said is really profound, but I barely understand what you mean. In my family, I'm the only boy, and I have two sisters. In the future, I'll be the pillar of the family. I think I'll just wait for job assignment. My family has already started making arrangements recently."

  Ye Haodong: "Have you made up your mind? I'm not a violent thug who wreaks havoc on society. Being with me doesn't mean you have to become a lawless rascal who's fair game for anyone to attack. I'm still running a legitimate business."

  Mu Yongqiang shook his head firmly: "No, I still want to go my own way. I don't care about how great my future achievements will be. I just want to protect my family well. If I follow you, I'm worried that one day I'll implicate them."

  Ye Haodong was melancholic and had mixed feelings, with both regret and gratitude.

  "It's okay, maybe one day I won't even have a friend to talk to, at least I can still come find you."

  "By then, I'll definitely invite you to play pool and have barbecue."

  "It's settled in one word!"

  Nong Junting was half-reclining in her chair, narrowing her eyes as she listened to Assistant Yu Feng's report on the investigation results of Ye Haodong over the past few days. Finally, she nodded in satisfaction: "If all this is true, then this guy really is a character."

  Yu Feng sat opposite Nong Junting, stretched lazily and bent down to massage his calf: "Qian Jin was the political commissar of the detention center where he was detained, Xiao Wen was the police officer in charge of handling his case after he committed the crime, and Li Tengyu was his boss when he first started working. The words of these people should be reliable."

  Nong Junting gave her a white eye: "Sister, you can't just rely on your ears to see people. Are you ready for the things I entrusted to you?"

  Yu Feng's mouth was pursed into a straight line, with an obviously disgruntled expression. Finally, he let out a sigh: "Alas... you're so stubborn and have a mind full of tricks. If you like someone, just go for it; if not, then forget it. Why make things so complicated? You haven't even gotten to the first stroke of the eight characters yet."

  Nong Junting gently stroked her belly: "You have a ghost in your belly, I have a baby in mine."

  Yu Feng reached out and gently scratched her nose: "Unmarried but having a child miss, do you know what it means to be shy?"

  Nong Junting: "I don't know now, but I will in the future. Sooner or later, I'll also meet a man who makes my heart skip a beat like you love my brother, and when I see him, my heart will be racing with excitement."

  Yu Feng: "Then I'll have to ask you to hurry up, our unit leader has finally shown great mercy and given me two months off, at this rate, my entire two-month wedding leave will be spent on you."

  Nong Junting curled her lip: "I'll let you go back now, and in two months you can reunite with my brother? Take a look at your work, husband and wife sometimes don't even dare to recognize each other when they see each other. Three hundred and sixty-five days a year, every day is acting, I still don't understand which sentence is true and which sentence is false. What's the fun in being together, how do you judge if the other person has true feelings for you?"

  Yu Feng pretended to be angry: "You this little mouth will always be so vicious, let you marry for a lifetime, you don't understand, we call it revolutionary friendship forged in blood and fire, truly loving is extra romantic!"

  Nong Junting sneered, "Romance my ass! Two people with tasks on their backs wandering the world, plus endless waiting, what's so great about that? This girl can't get married and still have children, just this one point you can't match even if you try."

  Yu Feng fell over: "You this fierce little girl, where are you from? With a temper like yours, if I say one more word, I'll run into your brother outside."

  Ye Haodong arrived at Jiang Wei's home with a large pile of things.

  Jiang Wei is not at home, Qi Xin is busy preparing for the wedding, and only Jiang's mother is at home. Recently, Jiang's mother's illness has alleviated a bit, she is not a madwoman, but just a melancholic fool who misses her children dearly. When Ye Haodong arrived, she even made a rare phone call to Jiang Wei's unit. Originally, Ye Haodong planned to drop off the things and leave, but now that Jiang Wei is rushing back, he can only wait for a while longer.

  Jiang Wei heard that his mother had called, thinking that something urgent had happened at home. As it happened, he was near home handling a case and hurried back in no time. As soon as he entered the door, he saw Ye Haodong sitting in the living room, and on another sofa, his mother was actually peeling an apple for this kid. Jiang Wei couldn't even remember when his mother had last peeled an apple for him and his siblings by hand. Unexpectedly, today he saw the old lady peeling an apple for Ye Haodong, could it be that she really liked her future son-in-law?

  Jiang Wei felt a bit jealous and somewhat depressed, his tone very cold: "You've come, sit down, no need to get up."

  Ye Haodong's butt was stuck between the sofa and the seam, sitting steadily: "Lanlan called me to come and see Auntie, she has been calling home these days, you and your sister are not there, she is worried about Auntie."

  Jiang Wei said with a sense of guilt: "I've been too busy these days, and Qixin is also busy preparing for the wedding. Women consider those things to be the most important in their lives, so I didn't have the nerve to ask her to spend more time with mom."

  Jiang Wei rarely showed such humility in front of him, and Ye Haodong couldn't help but criticize with a hint of complacency: "Being busy is no excuse, am I not busier than you?"

  Jiang Wei flew into a rage: "I'm busy because of you bunch of hoodlums! You, and that Er Xinzi, what do you think you're doing? Do you know that the recent shootings are all related to Er Xinzi...?"