Luo Lie's face was grim. He lay on the ground, slammed his fist on the floor, jumped up, and leaped over me with a spinning kick aimed straight for my chest. I stretched to the side and grabbed his ankle with one hand. Then, at the same time, I hooked his supporting leg with my foot, knocking him down again.
Luo Lie fell to the ground, slamming his fist on the floor. This time, however, he charged headlong at me. Enraged, he moved much faster. I missed his fist, and when I dodged to the side, I didn't have time to react. His fist grazed my shoulder. I smiled, and instead of retreating, I advanced, slamming my shoulder into his chest. At the same time, I leaned forward, causing Luo Lie to lose his balance. I seized the opportunity, grabbed his clothes, lifted him up, and easily tossed him aside.
Snap!
This is the third time I've taken Luo Lie down. In just three short exchanges, I've knocked him down three times, which makes it clear that there's a significant difference in skill between us.
To be fair, this kid's skills aren't bad, but he started training too late—only three years ago. Anyone who practices martial arts knows that to achieve something, you must start training from a young age! Because a person's bones and ligaments are basically fixed by adulthood, starting training at that point will only be twice as inefficient and half as effective!
Luo Lie's skills are far inferior to Xi Luo's. If we were in our circle, he would only be considered above average in the former auto repair shop gym.
After falling three times, even though I didn't hit him hard, the three falls were enough to make anyone dizzy. Luo Lie got up from the ground for the third time, breathing heavily. With a whoosh, he pulled a folding knife from his pocket. It was the kind of small knife commonly used by gangsters. It seemed that he was quite skilled at using this kind of folding knife. He skillfully twirled it in his hand, his eyes fixed on me.
I sighed. If he had used something else, it wouldn't have been so bad, but to play with a knife in front of me…
You should know, my dagger skills were taught by Old Cat, the top assassin in the Big Circle. And in the end, I personally killed Old Cat with a dagger!
Luo Lie seized an opportunity, lunging forward to stab at me. I easily dodged, then grabbed his arm with one hand. Luo Lie was quite stubborn; despite the pain in my hand, he refused to loosen his grip on the knife. However, I used my right knee to push upwards, striking his wrist. This time, he could no longer hold the knife; it flew through the air, but I caught it with one hand. Before Luo Lie could struggle, the gleaming blade was already against his neck.
Luo Lie's face was ashen, but I flicked my wrist to put away the knife, and then with a light punch, I sent him flying. Luo Lie fell for the fourth time, this time landing on his back. He groaned, but struggled a few times before getting up.
I sighed: "Is it necessary to be so stubborn? You are no match for me. I have no intention of killing you. You can leave now."
"No!" Luo Lie got up from the ground, his eyes gleaming with a light that seemed strangely familiar to me... A thought stirred within me, as if a string deep within me had been gently plucked...
Luo Lie gasped for breath and lunged again. This time, I punched him in the lower back. He winced in pain but stubbornly held on, instead lashing out with a palm strike towards my throat! I raised my arm to block it, and with a sharp twist, I pinned his hand behind his back. The kid winced in pain, but it was as if he were fighting desperately! In that position, I had his arm pinned down; if he twisted hard, I could even break it. But he didn't care at all; his other hand was already reaching for my eyeball!
He doesn't want that arm anymore?!
I frowned, gave him a push, and hooked him with my foot, sending Luo Lie flying again. This time he crashed to the ground and couldn't get up for a long time. He had been fighting me desperately with his arm twisted, and now, after this fall, his arm was probably dislocated. When he finally stood up, his arm hung limply at his sides. He was clearly in so much pain that his forehead was covered in cold sweat, but his eyes were still fixed on me!
I frowned: "I told you, I don't want to kill you. You can leave now."
"No!" Luo Lie gritted his teeth. "I'm taking Duoduo with me!"
His eyes were filled with unwavering determination, his face contorted in pain, yet his eyes shone brightly. He looked at me and said, word by word, "Brother Huan asked me to protect his daughter! I promised Brother Huan! So no matter what, I will bring her back safely!"
When those words reached my ears, I suddenly felt a jolt!
Looking at the young man before me, at his limp arm hanging down, at the sweat pouring down his face, at the determination on his face, and the unwavering resolve in his eyes…
And that line... "I promised Huan-ge..."
This scene seems...familiar...
The young man before me, with his stubborn demeanor, vaguely reminded me of myself that night years ago, running wildly through the dark streets with a little girl in my arms… The image overlapped with mine…
I don't know what happened. Suddenly, my heart ached, and then, as if some unseen voice was reminding me, I looked at this young man, this young man who looked so much like myself back then. I looked at him, my voice softening involuntarily, and then I sighed and asked him:
Is it worth it?
Is it worth it?
When I said those words, I really felt an urge to laugh. But that laugh felt stuck in my throat, bringing no joy whatsoever, only an indelible bitterness!
Is it worth it?
Is it worth it, Luo Lie?
Is it worth it? ...Xiao Wu?
"It's worth it!" The young man in front of me stared intently at me. There was some blood at the corner of his mouth, probably from when he fell to the ground. He wiped it with the back of his hand and gritted his teeth, saying, "It's worth it! I promised Brother Huan, and I'm going to keep my promise!"
Suddenly, I felt a sense of powerlessness. This feeling was so intense that my clenched fist involuntarily loosened.
Faced with this young man who was as fierce as a tiger cub, I simply couldn't muster any fighting spirit towards him anymore.
I waved my hand: "You can go... take Duoduo with you, I won't stop you."
Luo Lie was stunned; he stared at me in surprise.
"You hate me, don't you?" I smiled. "I heard everything you two were talking about. I know you must hate me... Yeah, being used as a substitute must feel really bad. Actually, I understand you." I shook my head. "Oh, right, maybe you'll be upset if I say this. But I still have to say... in some ways, you really are a lot like me, a lot like me back then. Don't misunderstand, I think you're pretty good, a great young man, very brave, very driven... but..."
I looked at him with a smile and said, "In this world, there are many things that can't be achieved simply by being willing to work hard. I was just as impulsive as you back then, but there was once a very smart person who asked me a question when I was acting rashly: 'Is it worth it?' Now, I'm telling you that question. In the future, when you impulsively go all out, ask yourself this question first: Is it worth it?"
The young man was still staring at me, and I didn't know if he had heard what I said, or if he had remembered it. I just felt a sense of weariness after I finished speaking.
Seeing that I lowered my hand and took two steps back, Luo Lie breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that I didn't intend to make things difficult for him. He carefully lowered his fist: "You're really letting me go? Letting me take her back?"
"Well, keeping you here means nothing to me, and... Duoduo... I think she's still a child, and one day she'll understand."
Luo Lie hesitated for a moment, then suddenly whispered, "...Thank you."
Then he went to help Ni Duoduo up.
Suddenly, Ni Duoduo got up on the ground and screamed, "Don't come any closer!"
She was awake; Luo Lie had knocked her unconscious. He hadn't dared to hit her too hard, and Duo Duo had woken up in a short while. She sat on the floor, staring at me with a complicated expression: "You...you still don't want me anymore. Don't you?"
I took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing my soft heart, and said with a stern face, "Duoduo, you have to understand, I have never... Back then, I risked my life to protect you only to keep a promise. So you don't need to have any illusions about me."
"No!" Ni Duoduo gritted her teeth and screamed, "That's not how it is!"
Luo Lie tried to pull her away, but she screamed like a madwoman, "Get away! Get away! Don't touch me!"
As she spoke, she suddenly pulled a gun from the ground! It was the same pistol that I had knocked away with my dagger earlier, but Duoduo, who had been sitting on the ground, had picked it up. Holding the gun, she pointed it at Luo Lie: "Don't come any closer!"
Luo Lie's expression changed, then he said softly, "Duoduo... come back with me."
"No!" Ni Duoduo's face was covered in tears. Then she suddenly turned the gun towards her own head and shouted, "Don't come any closer! I don't want to go back! If you come any closer, I'll die in front of you!"
Luo Lie's face was grim, and a hint of panic appeared in his eyes: "You...you put down the gun!"
Ni Duoduo ignored him. Turning to look at me, she said sadly, "Chen Yang...you would never have abandoned me before...but why don't you want me now...I just love you, I love following you. Following you, I'm not afraid of anything. You said you would protect me no matter what, right!"
I took a deep breath and looked into her eyes: "Yes, I did say that. But time has passed, Duoduo. Now your father will protect you, and you don't need me by your side anymore."
Ni Duoduo's voice choked with sobs: "I...I know, you think I'm disobedient. Right? I...I...I'll listen to you from now on! I'll listen to everything you say! I'll listen to everything you say! I won't skip school, I'll go to class obediently! You don't allow me to dress up, so I won't dress up, you tell me what to wear, so I'll wear whatever you tell me to wear...I won't go out to play, you tell me to stay at home, so I'll stay at home every day, okay...Chen Yang, I beg you, you can't leave me, okay..."
Looking at the girl in front of me... that little delinquent from back then, that heavily made-up girl, that little delinquent I forcibly carried out, I remembered how I took care of her back then. I coaxed her to change into normal girl clothes, coaxed her to change into a neat hairstyle, and transformed her from a rebellious girl who liked to race cars and cause trouble into a slightly more normal girl...
Her current hairstyle is the same one I told her to cut. She's not wearing any makeup anymore, simply because I said it wasn't good. She's sitting on the ground now, pointing a gun at herself, begging me not to abandon her…
Are you soft-hearted?
Yes!
After all, I personally rescued this girl from a living hell! I carried her on the run, traversing most of China, protecting her life! When she was scared and helpless in the dead of night during our escape, it was I who held her in my arms and comforted her…
Once upon a time, there was that little girl who followed me around with a small bundle in her hand and a panicked look on her face!
I sighed and slowly walked towards Ni Duoduo, my voice softening: "Duoduo, put down the gun."
“No…no…” Ni Duoduo was still crying, her tears dripping down her chin, but she gripped the gun tightly: “You promised you wouldn’t abandon me.”
"Okay, I promise you." I looked at her calmly, then took a few steps closer: "Will you listen to me?"
"I...I'll listen to you, I'll listen to whatever you say." Ni Duoduo burst into tears. I sighed, walked closer to her, gently squeezed her wrist, then took the gun, first unloading the magazine and the bullets from the chamber, and then breathed a sigh of relief.
Ni Duoduo suddenly hugged me and burst into tears in my arms. Her tears soaked the front of my clothes. I held her small body, sighed, and gently stroked her hair.
Yes, that's right, that's the position. Back when we were on the run, at night in those run-down little hotels, she was often too scared to sleep, or she would wake up crying from her sleep. I think this is how I held her.
I felt my eyes getting hot. I felt an urge to cry, so I forced a smile and said, "Duoduo, I have a question for you."
"What?"
“Do you know... me, Chen Yang…” I looked down at her small face, my tone suddenly turning cold: “One day, I might kill your father with my own hands! That’s a fact, and it can’t be changed.”
"Ah! You lied to me, you just said..." A hint of fear flashed in Ni Duoduo's eyes, but before that fear could fully develop, it vanished quickly. She closed her eyes, her head lolled to the side, and she fainted.
"Yes. I'm sorry, I was lying to you." I slapped the back of her neck and sighed softly. I picked her up and handed her to Luo Lie: "Take her back, keep a close eye on her next time... And, please tell Ye Huan... the day we meet again won't be too far away."
Luo Lie looked at me with a complicated expression. Then he took Ni Duoduo. He stared at me for a few seconds, then bowed deeply. When he raised his head, he said proudly, "That bow was to thank you for letting me take her back. But next time... I will work hard to improve my skills, so that when I meet you again, I won't lose to you so easily!"
After saying that, he picked up Ni Duoduo and strode out the door.
I shook my head, walked to the side, took out my phone, dialed a number, and whispered into the other end, "Someone's coming out... Don't stop them, let them go."
After saying that, I hung up the phone and tossed it onto the sofa.
I walked over to the sofa and sat down, feeling very tired.
A pair of soft hands gently rested on my shoulders from behind, then carefully massaged them, and gently stroked my head, gently massaging the top of my head.
"Chen Yang," Fang Nan said softly from behind, "Aren't you...aren't you being too cruel to this little girl?"
"Is it heartless?" I savored the bitterness in my mouth. "She's Ye Huan's daughter. Hey! She's Ye Huan's daughter. If I keep her, what will I do when I deal with her father? It's better to end it quickly than to suffer a long, drawn-out pain..."
Fang Nan hesitated for a moment, then said in a low voice, "There's something I've always wanted to say, but I was afraid you'd be angry... Well... actually, I don't think there's any irreconcilable hatred between you and Ye Huan. He did wrong you back then, but so much time has passed. And now, there's no real conflict of interest between you two... I think... and I know you're actually a very sentimental person. Although you hate Ye Huan, it's actually because your feelings for him are so deep... so..."
“There’s no ‘so’ to it.” I coldly interrupted Fang Nan. “Don’t say anything more. You wouldn’t understand these things.”
Fang Nan was startled by my cold voice. She didn't dare say anything more, only sighing softly, "Sigh, you... but seeing you in so much pain... I really feel that you've brought this to the point where it's a matter of life and death, like this, like this..."
"What you're trying to say is, 'Is it worth it?' right?" I sighed softly and then closed my eyes. "I've asked myself this question many times, but I don't know the answer myself."
Perhaps, that chubby guy with the hearty laugh was actually the one who saw through everything.
Was it worth it, or not? He probably knew the answer to that question in his heart. Unfortunately, that person was already dead.
"Fatty, oh Fatty, you died too young... You couldn't help me answer these headaches. Without you, who am I supposed to ask? Hahahaha..."
In the dark room, I closed my eyes and smiled softly.
I dared not open my eyes, because I was afraid that if I did, tears would flow uncontrollably.
Part Three: The Pinnacle, Chapter 124: Emerging from the Water
Fang Nan still finds it hard to understand why I handed Ni Duoduo over to Luo Lie to take back. Perhaps it's because she's soft-hearted.
However, the next morning, Wu Gang's men escorted us back to Shanghai, and Fang Nan followed me all the way back. Yang Wei, who stayed in Shanghai to wait, gave me a hard time, because I had abandoned her and run off to Nanjing.
However, the meeting between Yang Wei and Fang Nan was quite dramatic. One was a powerful businesswoman who had worked her way up in China for many years and single-handedly built Deep Blue Entertainment into a giant in the entertainment industry. The other was the most outstanding talent of the current generation of the North American Clover family, the successor of the Yang family whom I had recruited. The meeting of these two powerful women from the East and West immediately left me behind.
Yang Wei was deliberately angry with me and wouldn't speak to me, while Fang Nan... although this woman was deeply affectionate towards me, she was, after all, a strong woman who had made her way in the business world. She knew very well that, emotionally speaking, Yang Wei had been a constant presence in my life during the years I spent abroad. In my heart, Yang Wei probably held the most special place, because she was not only the woman I loved, but also my greatest asset in my career. Therefore, after Fang Nan met Yang Wei, she was very polite. Clearly, she hoped that their first formal encounter would leave a good impression on both sides.
The result was... after the two women finished talking, they simply left me aside.
Now that my identity had been exposed in Nanjing, I decided to make a public appearance. Suddenly, everyone who stayed at the club owned by Old Man Qiao in Shanghai—Yan Di, Qiao Qiao, Mu Tou, A Ze, and other friends—came to meet me. And I officially moved into Old Man Qiao's club… oh, no, I should say, now it's a property under my name.
Of course, my faking illness caused Qiao Qiao and Yan Di a lot of resentment. Especially Qiao Qiao, who immediately grabbed a fruit knife and chased me all over the house... Damn, when Miss Qiao gets angry, she really will kill someone!
There was no press conference. No media meet-and-greets; it was very low-key. It was just a meeting between friends from the same circle. Qiao Qiao's father introduced several influential figures in the domestic business world. We sat down for tea, and he officially put me in the spotlight, announcing that the shares of this club had been transferred to me. As for Old Man Qiao, he simply continued to hold the title of honorary director.