Chapter 5: Linghu Chong's Misfortune

  The door opened and Qiao Feng leaned against the door frame, humming a sound from his nose: "Have all those bastards in your class run away?"

  Linghu Cong was taken aback, Qiao Feng's words were not kind, as if he had a grudge against someone. As he spoke, Qiao Feng also sneered coldly, pulling up the corners of his mouth. In the several months that Linghu Cong had known Qiao Feng, this was the first time he had seen him sneer like this.

  "Good heavens, help!" Linghu Chong exclaimed.

  "Guo Jing, go!" Qiao Feng patted Guo Jing on the back, and only then did Lin Huong see that Guo Jing had also gone out for a stroll with Qiao Feng and returned.

  Someone as energetic as Guo Jing naturally didn't say a word, took off his outer garment and rolled up his sleeves to move the tables and chairs. While Qiao Feng was still leaning there: "Wait for me to smoke a cigarette first."

  "Are you slacking off too, boss?"

  "Hey," Jue Feng hummed, pointing at Guo Jing who was moving chairs with great enthusiasm. "Why do you want me and Guo Jing to help you clean up? What does it have to do with us?"

  Linghu Chong was at a loss for words.

  "You're also a naive and romantic fool." Qiao Feng concluded.

  "Lend me your classmate for a bit." A sweet and gentle voice came from the darkness behind Qiao Feng.

  This sentence had the same effect on Qiao Feng as if someone had said "hot water is coming" behind his back, and he almost jumped up in fright. Perhaps it was because A Zhu's black velvet dance shoes were really soft, or perhaps it was coincidental that she didn't make a sound. She was like a light and agile little cat, and before Qiao Feng could react, she had already quietly appeared behind him.

  The result was that Qiao Feng, although not jumping up, suddenly straightened his body and with his tall stature, he heavily bumped into the door frame beside him, almost swallowing the cigarette in his mouth. A Zhu couldn't stop laughing.

  Qiao Feng had originally prepared a lesson for Linghu Chong. However, this lesson must be based on the premise that no one in Linghu Chong's class is willing to accompany him to do chores. But the problem is that A Zhu came back, why did this girl run away and come back? Qiao Feng thought that after mixing with Bian Da for more than two years, he had already seen through everyone's faces.

  "Hey, Ah Zhu, Ah Zhu," Linghu Chong exclaimed excitedly, "come and help."

  "It's free delivery, just in time to catch this little guy," Qiao Feng let A Zhu pass by, restored his cool demeanor leaning against the door smoking, "Girl, you're stupid enough."

  A Zhu was now standing on the table, going to pick up the colored ribbons on the lamp. She swung her long hair back and turned around: "Chairman, you don't have to stand either, there are so many light bulbs left. With more people, it will be done in no time."

  Linghu Cong said: "Wow, our Director Duan is a man of action! He's the green shoots growing out of the grave mound of our ancestors."

  "Cut the crap!" Ah Zhu glared at him and said.

  Linghu Cong now really admired Qiao Feng's composure. Generally, when a girl coaxed a boy, he would immediately go to work with joy. But Qiao Feng was an extraordinary person, he didn't do anything, just changed to a more comfortable posture leaning against the door frame smoking, and looked up at Ah Zhu who was high above. She was trying hard to stand on tiptoe, picking those purple wrinkled paper strips from the fluorescent lamp tube.

  That year A Zhu was eighteen years old, really youthful. The cigarette ash accumulated very long, finally burning Qiao Feng's fingers.

  Four people finally finished picking up all the paper strips and moved the tables and chairs back to their original positions. Qiao Feng said, "Let's go out and have a good rubdown?"

  Linghu Chong immediately said: "Old Big Brother! Are you saying this in accordance with the spirit of international humanitarianism?"

  Qiao Feng laughed and patted him on the back: "Come on, I'm treating you, feed that little belly of yours."

  "The wind is strong, the boss helps to close the door." Linghu Cong was blown by the cold wind outside the door and shivered. The restaurants in a lane outside the south gate of Bian generally did this, although they were poorly decorated and had poor sanitation, but their cheap prices won the love of the masses - here the concept of the masses included migrant workers and students.

  "There are many old men here," Ah Zhu sat on one side and laughed, "Which one are you actually calling?"

  As soon as the words fell, Guo Jing had already slipped out and closed the door to come back. Qiao Feng poured wine while arguing with Linghu Chong: "You say you want to fight Jin Country, how do you plan to fight? What will you use to fight? You must have a plan, right?"

  Linghu Cong said, "Isn't it just a matter of the Jin country? We'll send 100 dare-to-die troops, each carrying a pack of gunpowder to Huanglong Street in front of the imperial palace, and directly ignite the fuse. Anyway, we have plenty of men, one life for one life is enough, two lives are a profit."

  Qiao Feng said you're really ruthless, fortunately you're not an emperor, if you were an emperor, even my mother would have to be trained by you into 007.

  Linghu Cong said that such a great position would be better for me to come personally, I don't know if Jin Guo has any beautiful female spies.

  Qiao Feng said: "If it wasn't for calling you to eliminate the beautiful female spy, what if I let you go to Huanglong Street to pull a bomb package and blow it up?"

  Linghu Cong said that in terms of organization, it's really about me, I didn't say anything, just hoping that in the future when listing the names of martyrs, please write "Linghu Cong", not "Jinhu Cong", to give our old Linghu family a long face.

  Qiao Feng said: "I know you're ruthless enough, but where can I find the other 99 dare-to-die troops? Why should everyone be as reckless as you?"

  Linghu Cong's intoxication was getting the better of him, and this time he was truly enraged. He slammed his fist on the table: "Damn it! You're always so submissive and yielding, do you think that won't kill people? In rural areas, every year they have to hand over so much grain, and the local officials are just like emperors, how many people die each year do you know or not? It's better to die with me by blowing up the Huanglong Mansion!"

  A guy at the next table immediately raised his glass: "Damn it! The Huanglong Mansion is going to be blown up! Which day are you going to take me there?"

  "Stop arguing," Ah Zhu hastily said, "it's not too late to explode in a few years."

  Qiao Feng was taken aback for a moment, then spat out a mouthful of wine and burst out laughing. He reached across the table to pat Linghu Chong's shoulder: "You little scamp will probably get yourself into trouble with that temper of yours sooner or later."

  "What's wrong?" Linghu Chong took a big gulp of beer.

  "You're just too reckless," Qiao Feng said, "Don't drag the Huanglong Mansion so far away. Not even a single person is willing to follow you to sweep the floor, who would really go with you to blow up the Huanglong Mansion? Captain, it's my fault for bringing you to this point."

  "Isn't it a different story?"

  "To be honest with you, and you too," Joe said to Ah Zhu beside him, shaking his cup. "This class committee thing is just a formality, as long as it can satisfy the higher-ups, don't waste your energy on some useless activities. Do you think this is high school? Everyone's attention is scattered, who really takes you guys seriously? Focus on studying for your major, and in the future when you go abroad to find work, it'll be easier."

  "Big brother, you're being too calculating!"

  With Qiao Feng's temperament, others would have glared at him by now. But this time, Qiao Feng was unusually calm and cursed in Linghu Cong's local dialect: "Young whippersnapper! Do you know how Yue Fei died?"

  "How did he die?" Linghu Chong still had some awe for the name Yue Fei.

  Qiao Feng slowly took a sip of beer: "Torturing myself to death."

  Guo Jing also had a few drinks, at this time his face was slightly red: "Not..."

  "Never mind," said Chao Feng with a wave of his hand. "I only ask you one thing: do you know why the Emperor killed him?"

  "Wasn't it later rehabilitated?"

  "Do you know how many people really wanted to follow him to Huanglong Fu that year?"

  Guo Jing was stunned for a moment, and Linghu Chong also became stupid.

  "No one," Zhao Feng laughed, "can pull off something like that by himself. He's just too damned idealistic!"

  A moment of silence, Qiao Feng took a sip of wine. The person next to him raised his cup: "For his mother's death being too idealistic, let's have a drink..."

  "Boss, settle the bill," Qiao Feng stood up, "Seriously, it's for your own good."

  At that time, Linghu Cong and Guo Jing were stunned by a new idea, only A Zhu's thoughts were different, she just saw Qiao Feng speaking at that time really very vicissitudes of life, and a bit more tragic and helpless.

  Out of the small restaurant, looking around in dismay.

  "Azhu said: 'It's so late, I'm going back alone and it's scary.'"

  She said this while looking up at Qiao Feng. Qiao Feng had not yet reacted, a gust of cold wind blew by, and Linghu Cong's intoxication receded somewhat. Linghu Cong was still clever, and at this moment, Ah Zhu's very special gaze made his mind stir, and he suddenly realized.

  "Want to go pee together?" Linghu Chong said, putting his arm around Guo Jing's shoulder.

  "I kind of want to go..."

  "Let's go together!" Linghu Chong stumbled and ran as fast as a rabbit. The silly Guo Jing had not reacted yet, but was already dragged into the small alley by his arm.

  Only Chor Hung was left, Ah Chu still quietly watching him.

  About four months later, Linghu Chong heard that Qiao Feng had a girlfriend, who was their class monitor, A Zhu.

  "Let's go, let's go," Linghu Chong excitedly grabbed Qiao Feng.

  "It can't be helped." Qiao Feng smiled wryly, seemingly perfunctory, yet with a hint of sincerity.

  A dance party brought about a romance that delighted Linghu Chong. Delighted, he didn't have any extra thoughts to think about what Qiao Feng said in the restaurant, and it wasn't until much later that he realized he had missed out on the experience Qiao Feng had left for him, unfortunately, he no longer had the chance to make up for it.

  I think Linghu Cong was a very innocent person at that time. Although he worked hard to organize activities, but in vain, being resented and even scolded by others, yet just because he facilitated someone else's romance, it made him feel happy from the bottom of his heart and forget about the injustices he suffered. He didn't think about what Guo Jing's love had to do with him, or why he should be happy about it?

  That naive, or rather foolish child!