Chapter Ten The Grandchild of an Old Friend

After leaving Pearl Mountain, Zhang Xiao walked back to the city. Tianhe City was divided into five districts; the Yunshui Estate he had visited earlier was in the southern district, but now he was heading toward the Tiexi district.

On his way past a bank, Zhang Xiao withdrew a thousand yuan to keep on him. Compared to the southern district, filled with villas, Tiexi was far more rundown. This was the old part of the city, home mostly to the working class and migrant laborers. Development had always lagged here, and most buildings were two or three decades old, if not older.

Zhang Xiao didn’t walk quickly; he stopped often, pausing to take in his surroundings. Eventually, he flagged down a taxi by the roadside. Once inside, he asked, “Excuse me, do you know how to get to Wolong Lane?”

The driver glanced at him in the rearview mirror and chuckled, “Wolong Lane? What brings you there at this hour? Besides, you don’t sound like a local.”

Zhang Xiao smiled. “I’m not from around here. I’m just visiting an old friend at Wolong Lane.”

The driver’s expression turned odd. “Sounds like you haven’t been in touch with your friend for a while, eh?”

Zhang Xiao was puzzled. “What makes you say that?”

The driver replied, “These days, almost all of Wolong Lane has been demolished. Nobody lives there anymore.”

A look of realization dawned on Zhang Xiao’s face. He hadn’t expected Wolong Lane to have been razed, but he nodded. “I see. Still, would you mind taking me there?”

The driver, never one to turn down a fare, agreed and stepped on the gas.

About ten minutes later, the taxi stopped not far from a wasteland of ruins. As the driver had said, the area was a demolition zone, with hardly a building left standing.

Zhang Xiao paid the fare and got out. Alone, he walked into the heart of what used to be Wolong Lane, now unrecognizable beneath the scars of demolition. Rubble from torn-down houses lined both sides of the street. Zhang Xiao frowned, beginning to wonder if his journey had been entirely in vain.

Just then, he noticed that there was still a single old house left standing, untouched amid the devastation. A large character, meaning “demolish,” was scrawled across its wall, and the rest of the wall was smeared with irregular patches of red paint.

As Zhang Xiao approached, a girl of about seventeen or eighteen stepped out. She had delicate, clear features and a slender frame, but her legs were long and graceful, lending her an unexpected charm.

Zhang Xiao greeted her politely. “Excuse me, do you happen to know someone named Chen Xiaoguang?”

At first, the girl hadn’t noticed him. When she heard his voice, she reacted as if startled, grabbing a shovel that had been left by the door and watching him warily, like a frightened rabbit.

Zhang Xiao was taken aback. Was this girl really so timid?

The girl sized him up, glancing behind him as if to check for others, then demanded, “Who are you? Why are you looking for my grandfather?”

A look of delight lit up Zhang Xiao’s face. He had searched high and low, only to find it here by chance. He smiled. “Chen Xiaoguang is your grandfather?”

She nodded. “That’s right. I’m his granddaughter, Chen Yue. But you haven’t answered my question. Who are you, and what do you want with my grandfather?”

As she spoke, she kept the shovel between them defensively.

Zhang Xiao replied with a gentle laugh, “My name’s Zhang Xiao. Chen Xiaoguang was once my grandfather’s comrade-in-arms. They fought together in the war and saved each other’s lives. As I was passing through Tianhe, my grandfather asked me to pay a visit to his old friend.”

Hearing this, Chen Yue’s expression grew distant. The shovel slipped from her grasp, and suddenly she crouched down and began to weep.

Seeing this, Zhang Xiao’s face fell. A sense of foreboding welled up within him.

Sure enough, after a while, Chen Yue managed through her sobs, “Grandpa… has been gone for over ten years now…”

Sadness flickered in Zhang Xiao’s eyes, and his fists clenched involuntarily, but he quickly regained his composure. He stepped closer. “Is it just you living here now?”

Chen Yue, now calmer, stood and wiped at the tears on her cheeks, looking heartbreakingly fragile. In a choked voice, she said, “My parents have been gone for years too. I have an older brother, but after our parents died, he said he was going off to build a career. I haven’t heard from him in years. So now, I’m all alone.”

Zhang Xiao sighed, his tone full of sympathy. “I still arrived too late,” he murmured.

He then noticed that all the other houses had been demolished, leaving only Chen Yue’s home standing, its walls splattered with red paint. There must be a reason for this, so he asked, “Why is your family the only one still here?”

Chen Yue glanced back at the old house, a flicker of resentment in her eyes. “The developer here is using brute force. They’re offering a price several times below market value, and they hire thugs to make trouble. The neighbors couldn’t stand it and were forced to sign and move out. I’m the only one who hasn’t signed. They’ve cut off my water and electricity, tried to scare me, but I won’t give in!”

Zhang Xiao nodded approvingly. There was a stubborn strength to this girl.

Chen Yue lowered her head. “Really, I only stay because I’m afraid my brother won’t be able to find his way home if he ever comes back... He’s all I have left.”

At that moment, the roar of engines sounded in the distance. Chen Yue’s face filled with terror. Zhang Xiao turned to see a group of men, armed with clubs and shovels, approaching with a bulldozer in tow, heading straight for the house.

“They’re back!” Chen Yue cried. “You should go. These people are unreasonable. I’ll just hide inside—they won’t dare do anything to me.”

Zhang Xiao shook his head. “As long as I’m here, there’s no reason for you to be afraid.”

Chen Yue realized he was likely standing up for her out of respect for their elders’ friendship, but she knew these demolition thugs were ruthless. Interfering could only spell trouble for Zhang Xiao. She tried to push him away, but he didn’t budge; instead, he gently patted her head and smiled. “Your grandfather once took a bullet for mine on the battlefield. I owe him my life. So today, I’m not leaving. Don’t worry, I can handle this.”

Seeing Zhang Xiao determined to stay, Chen Yue had no choice but to lead him inside. She reasoned that, at worst, those thugs would only try to scare her. With people inside, surely they wouldn’t dare bulldoze the place in broad daylight and risk taking a life.

Inside, Zhang Xiao saw a small shrine with a memorial tablet and photo of Chen Xiaoguang; below it were the tablets and photos of Chen Yue’s parents.

Staring at Chen Xiaoguang’s image, Zhang Xiao fell silent. The house was simply furnished with old wooden furniture, evidence that the family had never known much comfort.

They had barely been inside when the demolition crew and bulldozer arrived outside. The leader was a burly man in a black vest, brandishing a baseball bat, who shouted arrogantly, “Little girl from the Chen family! Be smart about this. Yours is the last house left in Wolong Lane. I’ll give you five more minutes. If you’re not out by then, we’ll start tearing the place down!”

Chen Yue looked out the window at the fierce faces of the mob, her hands trembling with fear, but she mustered her courage. “Stop threatening me! You abuse your power, bullying and bribing people to force them out. That’s a crime! I haven’t signed the agreement, so you have no right to demolish my house!”

The man spat on the ground and sneered, “You’d rather drink from the cup of punishment than the cup of kindness? Do you even know who’s behind this Wolong Lane project? If I don’t tear down your house today, then my name isn’t Zhao Dan Niu!”

Zhang Xiao, having heard everything, turned to Chen Yue. “How can these people be so lawless?”

Chen Yue explained, “They’re from King International—the Zheng family. Their CEO, Zheng Yin, is known as ‘Tiger Zheng’ in Tianhe. He got rich through forced demolitions, then built his business empire. People say he’s got ties to the underworld, and he’s always thrown his weight around here in Tiexi.”

Zhang Xiao gave a noncommittal grunt and fell silent, sitting back to see what would happen.

Noticing no movement inside, Zhao Dan Niu’s eyes flashed with malice. He barked at the man on the bulldozer, “Tear it down! Bury that uppity brat alive for me!”

The man started up the bulldozer and headed straight for the house.

Chen Yue, seeing this through the window, went pale with fright. She hadn’t expected them to go so far as to risk a life.

Just then, a figure dashed out and blocked the bulldozer’s path, shouting furiously, “Let’s see who dares touch my house!”

When Chen Yue saw the man’s face, she burst into tears. Zhang Xiao rose, glanced outside, and murmured with a wry smile, “So it’s him?”

The newcomer was none other than the soldier king, Chen Wei, whom Zhang Xiao had sent flying with a finger at the Jiang family’s place.

As it turned out, Chen Wei was Chen Xiaoguang’s grandson—Chen Yue’s long-lost brother.

But Chen Wei’s face was deathly pale, his steps unsteady. Though he stood tall, it was clear that something was wrong with him. Zhang Xiao knew all too well that the seemingly casual tap he’d dealt Chen Wei had actually destroyed his martial foundation. At this moment, Chen Wei was little more than a cripple.