In 1992, a small village owner became the richest man in the village by owning a car.

Chapter 412 Before the Storm

"I stewed it for two boils, and you know what? It was so tender! Incredibly tender! The chicken vendor was such a connoisseur; he was the one who told me that chickens like his are best for stewing with soft-shelled turtle."

Yu Dawei spoke for a while, and saw that Erdan was listening attentively and even nodded in agreement.

Helpless, Yu Dawei stretched out his chopsticks again and put a chicken butt into Jiang Erdan's mouth. Then he looked at him with a smile and said, "Brother, you should try it. The boss said that this chicken is one of the few in their family that lays a lot of eggs. If it weren't for the fact that I'm an outsider and like this kind of food, he probably wouldn't have killed it and sold it to me."

"Uh, the chicken is good, but I don't like eating chicken butts." Jiang Erdan looked at the chicken butt in the bowl, his face full of hesitation.

“Brother, you don’t understand.” Yu Dawei filled Erdan’s glass with wine. “The chickens that lay a lot of eggs have the best-tasting tails! They’re so tender and smooth to chew…”

"In our village, quite a few uncles and elders love this kind of food, so don't try to be nice after getting a good deal."

Jiang Shang smiled upon hearing this, as if the people in his village were really like that: "Alright, it won't hurt to try it."

Yu Dawei raised his glass with a smile, watched Erdan silently eat the chicken butt, and hurriedly clinked glasses with him.

Yu Dawei couldn't hold his liquor; he could only drink half a cup at most. But Jiang Shang was a master drinker, downing two ounces of liquor in one go.

"How's it going?"

"Hmm, the taste is indeed not bad."

Well, you still didn't understand.

----

After a few more drinks, Yu Dawei's head started to throb; he had never been a big drinker.

Before he time-traveled, he would only drink about one or two ounces of alcohol when he got older.

Nowadays, due to frequent social engagements, my alcohol tolerance has unknowingly increased considerably.

But compared to the drunkard in front of him, he was still far inferior, and Yu Dawei thought it over and over and decided that he couldn't just end it like this.

I should at least give Brother Erdan a proper reminder before I fall into a deep sleep.

All that's left now is a small bowl of turtle soup on the table.

Yu Dawei thought for a moment, then, after having a drink with Erdan, he picked up the other man's bowl and ladled him a bowl of turtle soup: "Erdan, this is my first time making turtle soup. It's not very good, so please make do with it."

"What's the big deal? This stuff is a treasure trove of flavors. It tastes great even with just turtle and nothing else." Erdan's cheeks were a little red at this point, and he didn't forget to slurp it up after he finished speaking.

"Mmm, delicious!" Erdan felt that Yu Dawei was being modest; this turtle soup was clearly very tasty.

"Logically speaking, the turtle should be skinned first, as it has a layer of skin on its shell." Yu Dawei also served himself a bowl.

"I know this."

Yu Dawei glanced at Erdan Ge, who was eating chicken, and then said, "That's right, I didn't clean the outer skin properly when I was processing it, so you can see that even if I make soup, the taste is just so-so."

"No way!" Jiang Shang picked up the bowl again, took a sip of the turtle soup, and then smacked his lips. "I think this turtle soup is more fragrant than turtle stewed with chicken."

"Even though you praised this turtle and chicken stew to the skies, I still think this turtle soup is delicious."

Yu Dawei secretly rolled his eyes. Well, hopeless!
"Alright, as long as you think it tastes good." Yu Dawei sighed inwardly, and then the two chatted for a while while drinking.

After three rounds of wine, five flavors of food.

The two had drunk quite a bit; Jiang Shang had finished more than half of the two bottles of baijiu, while Yu Dawei had only drunk less than half a bottle.

Later, Jiang Shang felt he hadn't had enough, so he went to a nearby convenience store and bought a bottle of Niulanshan liquor. He poured a little for Yu Dawei and a lot for himself.

In the end, he was quite tipsy and his face was flushed.

At this moment, Yu Dawei had no other thoughts. Under the influence of alcohol, all he could think about was sleeping, and he wished he could just lie on the ground and never get up again.

He must have drunk at least half a liter of 50-proof liquor. He was fine after finishing the first two bottles, but the last bottle of Niulanshan made him feel unwell.

"Brother, the biggest impression I got from coming to Shenzhen this time can be summed up in one word: chaos, utter chaos." Yu Dawei wiped his face with both hands, picked up a piece of water spinach, and put it in his mouth.

"Things are much better now. When I first came here, I had to be careful and on guard at every turn." Jiang Shang sipped his wine. "Dawei, do you know where I feel safest?"

Jiang Shang pointed to the ground: "This is the place. When I first came here, there was a guy from Northeast China who was a barber. He rented this place and opened his own barbershop."

Yu Dawei opened his bewildered eyes, realizing that there was more to this barbershop than met the eye.

“The guy from Northeast China took pity on me and kindly took me in.” Jiang Shang pointed to the wall behind him. “I slept under that wall every day, with a straw mat on the ground.”

“Brother, you know how humid this place is, but that’s how I slept.” Jiang Shang bit his lip and slumped his head. “Back then, I worked on construction sites during the day and asked a Northeastern guy for advice on hairdressing at night. Although it was tough, I think that period was the most fulfilling time of my life.”

"And then what happened? What happened to the big brother from the Northeast?" Yu Dawei looked up curiously. "Big brother..." Jiang Shang raised his head and looked at the old wooden chair against the wall at the far end of the room, his eyes filled with a dazed and complicated expression. "Big brother died later because he was trying to save his useless younger brother."

Yu Dawei was stunned for a moment, not expecting it to be such a sad story.

“Before he left, this guy from Northeast China handed the barbershop over to me, and I kept it until I had the money to buy it outright.” Jiang Shang pointed to the partition behind Yu Dawei. “The kitchen behind you wasn’t touched, but I added the partition myself later.”

"Because there's a draft as soon as you open the door, my brother from Northeast China always told me that sleeping there would blow my scalp at night, so I made a partition and hung a curtain next to it, so that the whole north wall area can be blocked out." Jiang Shang withdrew his gaze and drank the white wine in his glass in one gulp.

Yu Dawei didn't say anything, but drank the wine in his glass with Erdan. By then, all three bottles of baijiu were finished.

Yu Dawei has given up on hinting at Jiang Erdan's idea; let things take their course.

Perhaps it wouldn't be bad if Erdan Ge reached the pinnacle of his life from now on, even if he's a little green on the head. But for men, green is healthier.

Yu Dawei, in a daze, propped his chin up with his right hand, muttering words that were inaudible to others.

"Dawei, Dawei?" Jiang Shang found it amusing to see Yu Dawei looking drowsy, so he suddenly called out to him, startling the man so much that he sat up abruptly.

"What are you doing?" Yu Dawei stared at Jiang Shang.

"Isn't there a bowl of vegetables with dipping sauce on the ground next to your feet?" Jiang Shang glanced at Yu Dawei, pointed at it with his chopsticks, and said, "We've almost finished eating the other dishes, so we can clear them away now."

"Okay." Yu Dawei nodded, removed the water spinach and the green leafy vegetables from the side, and placed the vegetables with dipping sauce on the table.

Yu Da couldn't eat anymore and could only watch Jiang Shang eat slowly and carefully.

"You know what, after being away from home for so long, the most unforgettable thing is still this dipping vegetable dish." Jiang Shang took a big bite, and the scallions and bok choy had a strong, fresh aroma in his mouth. "It's really delicious."

"I think only those who have been away from home for many years know that all the delicacies on the table are not as good as the most inconspicuous dipping vegetables on the ground," Jiang Shang said with a sigh, shaking his head.

When he tried to lift his head to say something to Yu Dawei, he found that Yu Dawei had already fallen asleep on the table.

Jiang Shang smiled wryly: "With your drinking capacity, you're easily tricked, especially by honey traps. You can't avoid them even if you want to."

He ignored Yu Dawei, lowered his head and ate several mouthfuls of the dipping vegetables by himself. Only when all that was left in the bowl were some green radishes did Jiang Shang stop what he was doing and pat his somewhat round belly.

"Go to bed, brother." Jiang Shang murmured to Yu Dawei, then, with his arm around Yu Dawei's strong arm, he gritted his teeth and lifted him onto the bed, before pulling the curtain of the cubicle closed.

Turning around and coming to the table, Jiang Shang stared at the table full of "lush greenery," and only then did his expression truly turn ugly!
He stared at it for a while, then walked out of the barbershop, locked the door, and headed straight for the First Hospital.

The night was exceptionally quiet, and the dim yellow lights on both sides of the road seemed to be flickering on and off due to unstable voltage.

A cold wind blew across Jiang Shang's slightly tipsy profile, and he couldn't help but recall his elder brother's words from back then.

"Second brother, stop thinking about escaping. Life isn't something you can just do however you want."

"You can choose an ordinary life, choose to lie down or retreat, that's how I live."

"But when fate doesn't let you rest, you must stand up immediately and retaliate in the most vicious and cruel way!"

"You must have a belief in your heart: You are a fierce tiger descending the mountain!"

"Fearless and undaunted! Unrestrained and without taboos!"

----

In a ward at Shenzhen First People's Hospital.

Claw sat beside Zhao Yi's hospital bed, looking haggard and exhausted: "It's over, Brother Yi. Those guys from Yantian, led by Jin Song, have swallowed up many of our projects, and they've even taken away our sand and gravel jobs."

“The excavator that was fixed before broke down today too. It’s obvious they tampered with it; I saw it right away.” Claw’s body was hunched over, his dark face full of grievance.

Although my second brother had agreed to participate, he insisted on waiting until after the wedding.

I'm afraid we won't be able to wait until then...

"Brother Yizi, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry to the brothers." As Claw spoke, his eyes reddened, and he gripped the bedsheet tightly with both hands, his knuckles turning white from the force.

Back when my eldest and second eldest brothers were still alive, who in this city would dare to bully us poor guys from Northeast China? They never bullied men or women; we always made money together.

But some outsiders didn't think that way... Later, all those outsiders became puppets of Yantian.

All of them...

"I hate myself for being so useless..." Claw lowered his head, gritted his teeth and growled, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Claws, why are you crying?"

(End of this chapter)