Old Deng awakens: He starts by eliminating the yoga pants in the county town!

One, two, three.

Five or six phone calls came in one after another, the ringing was so annoying.

Lin Dawei's patience had been completely worn away, and he finally answered the phone in frustration.

"Lin Dawei, you've gotten quite bold, haven't you?"

Li Ying's voice exploded as soon as the call connected, filled with barely suppressed anger.

"Who gave you the audacity to hang up on me?"

"Can't you hear me? Now you dare not answer my calls? Have you grown wings and think you're all that?"

Lin Dawei held his phone further away, his brows furrowing even more.

Then he suddenly smiled with relief.

The woman was still the same as before, still with that familiar condescending air.

If he didn't get what he wanted, he would get angry and lecture people; he had been lectured for decades.

"Just say what you mean, stop with the nonsense."

"You dare talk back?!"

Li Ying's voice trembled with anger on the other end of the phone, as if she wanted to leap out of the phone.

"Lin Dawei, you get back here right now!"

"Jianjun and I are waiting for you downstairs in your apartment complex! You have to give us an explanation today!"

Chen Jianjun?

Lin Dawei's eyes turned cold the moment he heard the name.

Yesterday, Chen Jianjun not only knelt on the ground to apologize to him, but also faces the prospect of being fired by the factory director.

He ran back to Li Ying and cried.

Lin Dawei could almost picture Chen Jianjun's face, his face twisting the truth and exaggerating the facts.

He probably wanted to tell Li Ying that he was only able to act powerfully by being a lackey of rich people, so that Li Ying could come forward and control him.

"wait for me?"

Lin Dawei's tone revealed undisguised contempt.

"What's wrong, Director Chen? Didn't you have enough to drink yesterday? Now you want to come here for more drinks?"

Li Ying on the other end of the phone was stunned for a moment.

She didn't know the specific details of the dinner party, but Chen Jianjun must have only mentioned that Lin Dawei had caused trouble outside and caused him to lose his job.

"Stop being sarcastic!"

Li Ying spoke with righteous indignation.

"Jianjun was trying to help you out of kindness, but you offended some important people and dragged him down with you! Not only are you ungrateful, you've made things even worse!"

"Get back here right now! If you don't apologize to Jianjun today, this isn't over!"

Lin Dawei's smile widened; people can really laugh when they're speechless.

"Since you all enjoy waiting so much..."

Lin Dawei exhaled his last smoke ring.

"Then just stay here in the stairwell, I'll go back now."

Click.

Lin Dawei hung up the phone again and then turned it off.

He turned his head and looked at Lao Ma and A Qiang, who were both in a daze.

"Let's go, brothers." Lin Dawei put his arm around Lao Ma's shoulder.

"I'm hungry, let's go for a drink."

"Didn't you say you were going back?" Old Ma asked, looking confused.

"Ha, they're just kidding. Nothing's more important than eating," Lin Dawei said with a broad smile.

"Let them wait patiently!"

The three of them chatted and laughed as they leisurely arrived at Zhang Dahai's stir-fry shop.

Zhang Dahai, with his pregnant belly and the familiar pink apron around his waist, was peeling garlic at the shop entrance.

Seeing Lin Dawei and the others coming over, he quickly threw the garlic cloves in his hand into the basin, wiped them haphazardly on his apron, and went to greet them.

"Brother Lin! Uncle Ma! Qiangzi!"

"Come on in, sit down. It's air-conditioned inside, nice and cool!"

Zhang Dahai, all smiles, pulled over a few plastic stools and diligently wiped them clean with a rag.

Lin Dawei sat down.

"Dahai, Sister Wang is giving out money today. We brothers are all broke, so bring out all the best stuff from your shop and two bottles of Niulanshan liquor."

"Alright, Brother Lin, you guys sit down, I'll go to the kitchen to prepare right away."

Zhang Dahai turned around to get the teapot.

Lin Dawei leaned back in his chair and took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and swiped it around.

While lighting a cigarette, he glanced at Zhang Dahai's back a couple more times.

Fatty's acting a bit strange today.

Zhang Dahai returned carrying a large plastic teapot. As he poured water, the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up, unable to suppress his smugness.

As a result, his hand trembled, and the scalding hot tea overflowed from the cup, spilling onto the greasy tabletop.

"Oh my god!"

Old Ma quickly pulled his leg back and patted the water droplets off his trouser leg.

"Fatty, what are you thinking about? Lost your mind? You almost scalded my old, calloused legs!"

"Sorry, Uncle Ma, my hand slipped, my hand slipped."

Zhang Dahai hurriedly picked up a rag to wipe the table, but his eyes darted nervously to the side, not daring to meet Lin Dawei's gaze at all.

While wiping the table, my phone, which was in my apron pocket, suddenly vibrated.

Zhang Dahai reacted as if he had been electrocuted.

Lin Dawei flicked the cigarette ash onto the ground.

"Dahai, how's business lately? Are you managing all by yourself?"

"That's great, Brother Lin. Thanks to you for helping me out before, I have a lot of repeat customers now, and I can earn a thousand or so yuan a day from my hard work."

Zhang Dahai stammered a reply and quickly made an excuse to slip away.

"Um... I'll go to the kitchen to cook. You guys chat first."

Watching the fat man hurriedly disappear into the kitchen, Lin Dawei frowned slightly but remained silent.

Soon after, stir-fried pork kidneys, dry-fried pork intestines, and braised pork ribs were served one after another.

With two bottles of strong liquor, the three grown men began to drink swiftly and heartily.

Old Ma wasn't a good drinker; after two cups of Niulanshan liquor, his face turned bright red.

He slammed his fist on the table and began reminiscing about his glorious days running through Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan, while A-Qiang joined in the commotion.

The meal lasted until it was completely dark, and most of the individual customers in the stir-fry restaurant had left.

Lin Dawei glanced at the clock on the wall.

"Alright, that's enough for today. I have to drive tomorrow."

He took out a few red bills and placed them under his beer glass.

Old Ma let out a loud burp and was helped to his feet by A-Qiang.

"Old Lin, let's head back first. You should go back and get some rest too."

"Drive carefully."

I watched as Lao Ma and A Qiang, supporting each other, disappeared into the night.

Lin Dawei did not leave.

He pulled over a clean plastic chair, sat down at the kitchen doorway, and lit another cigarette.

The sound of water being used to scrub pots and pans came from the kitchen.

After a while, Zhang Dahai took off his pink apron and came out. He was clearly stunned to see Lin Dawei still sitting there.

"Brother Lin, didn't you go back with Uncle Ma and the others?"

Lin Dawei exhaled a puff of smoke and tapped his fingers heavily on the table twice.

"Come here and sit down."

The tone left no room for argument.

Zhang Dahai stiffened, dragged over a stool, and carefully sat down opposite Lin Dawei, his hands fidgeting restlessly on his thighs.

"Tell me, what exactly happened?"

Lin Dawei stared at the 30-year-old fat man in front of him and got straight to the point.

"My phone vibrated while I was pouring water, and I was completely stunned. Has something been wrong lately?"

"No...no, Brother Lin, you're overthinking it."

Zhang Dahai's eyes darted around, and he didn't dare to look at Lin Dawei at all. He stammered, trying to brush it off.

Lin Dawei's eyes darkened.

"I could guess eight or nine parts of it even if you didn't tell me."

"Is it that woman contacting you again?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Dahai broke out in a cold sweat.

He suddenly raised his head, his face filled with undisguised panic.

"No... Brother Lin... really not..."

"Zhang Dahai!"

Lin Dawei suddenly raised his voice and slammed his hand heavily on the table.

The empty wine bottles on the table were shaken and bounced up, making a crisp clinking sound.

"You're still hiding that little thing from me? Don't you think you've been fooled enough already?"

Zhang Dahai trembled with fear.

Her eyes instantly welled up with tears, and her defenses completely crumbled.

"Brother Lin, don't be angry, listen to me..."

Zhang Dahai was sweating profusely and hurriedly tried to explain himself.

"She did contact me, but she explained it to me on WeChat yesterday."

"She was also scammed by the boss of that franchise company back then; there was nothing she could do."

Zhang Dahai became more and more excited as he spoke, as if he had found a perfect excuse to convince himself.

"She even asked me how I was doing and how the restaurant business was, saying that she always felt sorry for me."

"Brother Lin, she told me to wait for her for a while, and that she would return the franchise fee to me as soon as she made money."

"She's definitely not that kind of scammer. Why would a scammer reach out to me and offer me comfort?"

Looking at this fat man weighing over 170 pounds, he was so foolishly moved to tears by a few cheap green tea words.

Lin Dawei really wanted to slap this pig's brain.