"A brother's getting out of prison today," Zhou Kai said with a smile. "I'm planning to pick him up and give him a warm welcome. What do you think?"

"Take it!" Lin Chuan immediately handed over the keys to him.

Zhou Kai took the keys, overjoyed.

Jiangbei City Prison, located in the suburbs of the Western City District, is quite remote. It's not easy to find a cab driver willing to go there, after all, it's a chaotic place. That godforsaken prison is simply unbearable, eerily gloomy.

Zhou Kai drove to the prison; Liu Cheng was his childhood playmate who is three years his senior. They were close friends. A few years ago, Liu Cheng was sentenced for a robbery and had been in prison for five years. Now, five years have passed, and Jiangbei City has changed dramatically. Skyscrapers now stand tall, and many routes have changed drastically.

Arriving at the prison gates, Zhou Kai glanced at his watch—it was almost nine o'clock, Liu Cheng should be out soon.

Just then, the prison doors opened, and Liu Cheng, wearing a grey jacket, walked out, carrying an old canvas bag. No one was there to meet him, he looked around at the gate, his eyes filled with a lonely, weathered look.

"Liu Cheng." Zhou Kai walked over.

"Zhou... Zhou Kai?" Liu Cheng was taken aback, and a smile finally surfaced on his otherwise expressionless face.

"Damn, you're finally out!" Zhou Kai went up to him and bumped him hard with his chest.

"Heh, you're still a true brother," Liu Cheng let out a sigh.

"What about Liu Xi and ladle-spades?" Zhou Kai asked.

"Who knows." Liu Cheng smiled: "Maybe they've long forgotten about me."

Zhou Kai chuckled and said, "Yeah, it's been five years, those feelings from five years ago have long vanished. But no worries, you still have me, right? Now that you're out, I'll treat you to celebrate your release!"

"Thanks, bro." Liu Cheng's eyes were a bit moist.

Five years had passed, and he never thought that a brother he didn't care much for back then would still remember him, even coming early to the prison door to wait for his release and welcome him back to the outside world. Liu Cheng couldn't help but feel touched.

"Get in the car," Zhou Kai said with a smile.

After getting in the car, Zhou Kai found a street-side food stall, and the two reveled over drinks. After a hearty meal, Liu Cheng patted Zhou Kai on the shoulder and said, "Bro, you've been the best to me in this world, so I've decided to share my fortune with you. A windfall."

"Ah?" Zhou Kai was taken aback, "What windfall?"

"You'll know once you follow me," Liu Cheng said with a grin.

After the meal, out of curiosity, Zhou Kai followed Liu Cheng to Changlin Community, where they stopped under a big locust tree. Liu Cheng turned around, took an entrenching tool from Zhou Kai's car, and quickly started digging under the old locust tree.

"Liu Cheng, what are you doing?" Zhou Kai asked.

"The windfall's right here," Liu Cheng dug vigorously.

Soon, a rusty metal box emerged, which surprised Zhou Kai: "Damn, since when was there a treasure hidden here?"

"Heh heh, a treasure from before," Liu Cheng grinned.

He swiftly put down the shovel, hurriedly scooped away the dirt, and lifted the rusty metal box out. Opening the box, it was wrapped in a thick waterproof cloth, revealing a look of astonishment on Zhou Kai's face.

Liu Cheng quickly removed the waterproof cloth, revealing a stack of mobile phones inside. The oldest Nokia phones, the most popular Nokia "brick" phones from five years ago.

"See, each of these phones could sell for three thousand," Liu Cheng wiped his nose, "Damn it, there are over fifty phones here, totaling one hundred and fifty thousand. All we need to do is find a place to offload them, and we can make over a hundred thousand right away. Tell me, isn't this a windfall."

"Bro..." Tears welled up in Zhou Kai's eyes.

"Don't...don't be so grateful," Liu Cheng laughed, "After all, we are brothers. We'll spend the money together, chase girls together."

"Bro..." Zhou Kai couldn't bear to burst his bubble, so he just sat down under the old locust tree.

"What's up?" Liu Cheng asked, "Aren't you interested?"

"Bro, back in the day, you stubbornly refused to disclose the whereabouts of the stolen goods, which landed you a five-year sentence. If you had handed over the stuff, it might have been just two or three years," Zhou Kai said with a bitter smile. "So... what was the point?"

"Five years in hell, a hundred and fifty thousand, it's worth it," Liu Cheng said, taking a deep drag on his cigarette.

"But... the key now is that these aren't even worth one thousand five hundred, let alone one hundred and fifty thousand," Zhou Kai said, exasperated.

"What do you mean?" Liu Cheng asked.

At this moment, Zhou Kai urgently pulled out a brand-new Apple phone from his pocket and said, "Bro, technology is advancing, and the times are progressing. Nokia is almost out of business, what's in vogue now is the Apple phone, see? This beautiful phone doesn't even have a single button, it's all touchscreen..."

Liu Cheng was dumbfounded for a moment, then looked down at the fifty Nokia brick phones that filled the iron box.

"Wow..." Right there and then, the guy burst into tears, **** it, five years in prison only to end up with a pile of junk. If only he had confessed from the beginning, he could have reduced his sentence, and his prime years wouldn't have been wasted like this. Now he was over twenty, just out of prison.

"Alright, alright, there's no point in crying, big guy. What's that look for?" Zhou Kai patted Liu Cheng and said, "Now that you're out, just quietly stick with Brother Chuan."

"Which Brother Chuan?" Liu Cheng looked up and asked, his face a mess with snot and tears.

"That's Lin Chuan from our factory." Zhou Kai smiled and said: "Now at least we've got our own turf. We started a transportation company, carrying sand, and even snatched the transportation market from Long Wu. Heh heh... Liu Cheng, you've missed quite a bit."

"Long Wu?!" Mentioning Long Wu shocked Liu Cheng: "Someone dares to mess with Long Wu?"

"Not just that," Zhou Kai grinned and said, "We even beat up the people from the Thirteen Grand Protectors."

Sss...

Liu Cheng was flabbergasted. Back in the day, the Thirteen Grand Protectors had a well-known reputation in the underworld. Everyone knew about them, and the power of the Thirteen Grand Protectors was absolutely unrivaled. Now, someone had actually dared to cross the Thirteen Grand Protectors? That was like moving the earth from under the gods' feet.

"This Lin Chuan… didn't he disappear back then?" Liu Cheng was no fool, Lin Chuan had already been missing for over two years by the time he was incarcerated.

"Yeah, he's been back for several months now." Zhou Kai said with emotion: "To think, within just a few months, our lives and destinies underwent such drastic changes. Life… isn't it unpredictable?"

"Alright, I'll hang with you guys from now on," Liu Cheng eagerly nodded in agreement.

.........

With the car borrowed by Zhou Kai, Lin Chuan had to walk to work.

These days, Long Wu was down on his luck, having had his transportation market taken away, and his own transportation business was dwindling day by day. This deeply frustrated Long Wu. A while ago, he had finally convinced Feng Taibao to make a move against Lin Chuan, but to his vexation, Feng Taibao was actually intent on recruiting Lin Chuan for himself. That irritated Long Wu for a good while. Afterwards, he thought if he could have Lin Chuan on his side, it would have been bearable, since they'd be on the same team and it would be easier to negotiate.

However, Lin Chuan didn't appreciate the offer, not only refusing but also beating up Feng Taibao's top enforcer.

Now that his business was struggling, he could only sustain his expenditures with the revenue from two bars on bar street, which clearly wasn't enough. Long Wu had lavish spending habits, with a bunch of fair-weather friends usually joining him for a round at Qinghua Pool, and a single round could cost tens of thousands. Moreover, with intense competition on bar street, income was low. The annual management fee of several hundred thousand from the transportation market was gone, and with the sand market open, he was simply no match for the competition. Long Wu could only start eating into his savings.

Eight Horses Tea House.

Long Wu sat in Feng Taibao's tea room, as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. However, Feng Taibao was unhurried, carefully showing off his tea-making skills. After completing the process of making tea, Feng Taibao smiled and said, "Long Wu, what brings you to see me today?"

"Taibao, that Lin Chuan…" Long Wu said awkwardly, "doesn't wish to join you. He even gave Feidao a beating. Aren't you... Aren't you a bit upset?"

"Upset. Of course, I'm upset." Feng Taibao smiled and said, "But what's the use of being upset?"

"Taibao, I can't keep my business going anymore." Long Wu decided to be straightforward and laid it all out: "I'm at my wit's end with this Lin Chuan."

"Why?" asked Feng Taibao.

"Lin Chuan took over my territory, disrupted the rules of the Eastern City District. I'm running at a loss and can't hold out any longer." Long Wu said indignantly, and occasionally touched his shiny bald head that gleamed like a mirror.

"Is that all?" Feng Taibao scoffed, "You're this worked up over such petty matters?"

"He's ruining my livelihood." Long Wu was getting desperate.

"A real man has things he does and things he doesn't do," Feng Taibao said, holding his priceless tea cup, "Here, have a sip of tea, cool off."

Long Wu was all respect.

"We'll deal with Lin Chuan sooner or later," Feng Taibao smiled, "However, I heard that the North-Eastern Tiger has quite a deep grudge against him too. Some time back, the North-Eastern Tiger sent people to forcefully demolish Changlin Factory, but Lin Chuan led his people to stop it. The North-Eastern Tiger was so furious, he personally went to sort things out with Lin Chuan, and it seems like they parted on bad terms."

"You mean to say?" Long Wu eagerly leaned in.

"Let the tigers fight it out." Feng Taibao smiled, "I know the North-Eastern Tiger's temper. Anyone who hinders his interests meets only one fate. Lin Chuan is arrogant and overbearing, and the North-Eastern Tiger can't stand to have sand in his eyes. Hmm hmm... when two tigers fight, at least one will get injured. Then..."

"Brilliant, Taibao, brilliant!" Long Wu was immediately overjoyed.

.........

Feng Taibao had been scheming in the underworld for so many years, always cunning and calculating. After all these years, although Feng Taibao's power was not as strong as that of the North-Eastern Tiger, they had managed to maintain a relatively peaceful coexistence. Even though the North-Eastern Tiger wielded extensive power, he dared not mess with Feng Taibao. In Jiangbei City, aside from the Eastern City District keeping two tigers in one mountain, other city districts basically had only one leader holding sway.

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