Chapter 163: Smiling Faces to Welcome Them

Watching Liu Feilong push Yang Zhi to the ground, a dozen or so disciples of the Thieves' Guild exchanged glances. One of them pointed at Liu Feilong and cursed, "He's lost his mind! He's even killing his own wife!"

With that, the man lunged forward.

After killing Yang Zhi, Liu Feilong was instantly overcome with remorse. As the disciples pounced on him, he offered no resistance whatsoever, allowing himself to be trampled straight onto the ground.

Several other disciples swarmed around him.

"That'll teach you to kill your wife!"

In truth, several of these men had been involved with Yang Zhi, and they acted out of fear that Liu Feilong might eventually investigate their own transgressions.

Amidst the chaos, someone drew a knife and stabbed Liu Feilong multiple times.

By the time Xiao Wang shouted and ordered the crowd to back off, the Northern Bandit, Liu Feilong, was already lying lifeless in a pool of blood.

Xu Fei felt that this sudden turn of events had unfolded much too rapidly.

Everything seemed entirely beyond his control.

He let out a soft sigh.

His original intention had simply been to bring these people, who wanted him dead, to justice one by one. Who could have imagined that, through a twist of fate, he would end up single-handedly destroying the most notorious ring of thieves across the North and South.

The remaining dozen or so individuals were handcuffed by Xiao Wang and his men and led away.

Standing at the threshold, Xu Fei cast one last glance back at the three corpses covered in white sheets. At long last, this chapter had come to a definitive close.

Although his potential threats had been resolved, for reasons unknown, a lingering sense of melancholy settled over his heart.

Perhaps...

Could he have prevented all of this from happening?

Perhaps...

Even if he had simply walked away, would this internal strife within the Thieves' Guild still have erupted?

His mind felt somewhat chaotic.

Too many things had transpired during this trip to the provincial capital.

Xu Fei decided it was time to return to Donghai as quickly as possible.

He would resume his ordinary life and tend to his small business.

From this point on, he never wanted to have the slightest entanglement with people of this sort ever again.

An Laosan headed back first to look for Zhang Ze, while Xu Fei accompanied Xiao Wang and the others to deliver the dozen suspects to the local police station.

The rest would be left for the authorities to handle.

Afterward, Xu Fei went to pay another visit to Elder Zhu, who was busy tending to his vegetable garden in the courtyard.

"Well, Xu Fei, can you finally return to Donghai with peace of mind now?"

Xu Fei bowed deeply to Elder Zhu.

"Why are you always being so overly polite, kid?"

After straightening up from his bow, Xu Fei smiled and said, "Elder Zhu, I'll be heading back to Donghai today. I'm not even sure if I'll ever have the chance to visit the provincial capital again."

"What? Are you telling me that during the holidays and festivals, you won't even come to check on an old man like me?"

Hearing this, Xu Fei hastily smiled and nodded, "Of course I'd want to, Elder Zhu. It's just that an ordinary commoner like me worries about disturbing your peace and quiet if I were to show up."

"Get lost!"

Elder Zhu glared at Xu Fei.

"You really do have too much to say, kid. Let me tell you this: no matter where you go, the door to old man Zhu's home will always be open to you."

Xu Fei was genuinely touched.

Who was Elder Zhu?

For someone of his standing to say such a thing meant he truly held Xu Fei in high regard.

Stepping forward quickly, Xu Fei reached out and grasped Elder Zhu's hand. "As long as you don't get annoyed with me, I will definitely come to see you every single Spring Festival and holiday."

"Alright, it's a deal then."

Elder Zhu raised his hand as he spoke.

Xu Fei smiled and slapped his palm against the elder's in a pledge.

The two of them burst into hearty laughter.

...

The train arrived at the Donghai railway station right on schedule.

Waiting on the platform to welcome him were Du Man and Xu Yun.

"Brother, it's so good that you're back."

Xu Yun ran forward with a bright smile.

"Where is Xu Qing?"

Xu Fei glanced at Du Man.

"She left."

"Isn't it still some time before the semester starts?"

"She said this was a place of heartache and she couldn't bear to stay here for even another second, so..."

Xu Fei shook his head.

"It seems she still hasn't moved past that incident."

"Of course not. Deep down, she never really let go of Zhang Xuefeng."

Xu Fei felt a twinge of disappointment.

"Perhaps once she goes away to another city, she'll slowly forget that fellow."

Du Man nodded in agreement.

At that moment, An Laosan stepped forward and asked, "What about Zhang Mingyang and the others?"

Du Man smiled and replied, "They're busy at the shop."

"They've already opened?!" Xu Fei asked, looking rather surprised.

"That's right. After you left, they rented the storefront, and in just over a dozen days, people have been saying their shop is packed to capacity every single day."

Packed to capacity?

Xu Fei found it somewhat amusing.

He never expected that Zhang Mingyang and his friends would actually manage to get this store up and running.

Still, that was for the best.

Accompanied by Du Man, Xu Yun, and An Laosan, Xu Fei walked out of the station.

They hailed a tricycle and, for the price of three yuan, headed straight for Zhang Mingyang's household appliance store.

Located on Zhongxing Street, the most prosperous commercial hub in Donghai.

This could arguably be called the busiest street in all of Donghai.

Shops lined both sides of the avenue.

However, almost all of them were state-run establishments.

Right in the midst of these official institutions stood a newly opened shop with a fresh plaque hanging above its entrance. A massive crowd had gathered outside, forming a queue nearly thirty meters long.

Every person in line held a paper voucher in their hand.

Xu Fei stepped down from the tricycle.

He glanced up at the gold-inlaid characters reading "Brothers" on the plaque.

A knowing smile crossed his lips.

He was the one who had originally come up with that name.

"Brothers—hm, that's a good name."

An Laosan smiled as he looked over at Xu Fei.

"Third Brother, you have a stake in this place, you know."

"Oh, right, right! I almost forgot. You told me to buy in earlier, but I didn't take it seriously. Looking at this now, I suppose I'm just riding on your coattails, aren't I?"

Xu Fei explained, "Third Brother, that's called investing. As a shareholder, every quarter we'll distribute dividends to all the investors based on the shop's profits."

"Every quarter? You mean I'll be getting money every three months?"

"That's right." Xu Fei nodded with a smile.

"Haha, fantastic! Fei, this in-vest-ment thing is truly wonderful. If there are ever any other good opportunities like this in the future, you must remember to include me."

Xu Fei nodded. "Don't worry, we're brothers—we'll make money together from now on."

"Make money together and spend it together!"

An Laosan patted Xu Fei on the shoulder as he spoke.

Chatting amiably, the group walked inside the store.

"Fourth Brother!"

Zhang Mingyang was currently maintaining order in the main hall. Seeing Xu Fei, An Laosan, and Zhang Ze walk in, he broke into a smile and hurried over to greet them.

After exchanging warm greetings all around, Xu Fei smiled and said, "Third Brother, you really operate at lightning speed. To have opened this shop in such a short time—it honestly comes as a big surprise to me."

"Fourth Brother, don't say that. If it weren't for your guidance, I wouldn't have had the brains for any of this. Actually, the credit for getting this shop up goes mostly to my old man as well."

Xu Fei nodded.

In truth, even if Zhang Mingyang hadn't mentioned it, Xu Fei had already guessed as much.

To be able to rent such a prime location on Zhongxing Street—aside from Elder Zhang, probably no one else in Donghai possessed that kind of clout.

The supply and marketing cooperatives managed numerous shops, and while some properties stood vacant, they belonged to the state, meaning money alone couldn't rent them out.

Elder Zhang was different, however. With him stepping forward, who in the supply and marketing system wouldn't give him a modicum of respect?

Besides, leaving large commercial properties vacant served no purpose.

Doing someone a favor by letting them use it was something anyone would gladly do.

While they were talking, Chen Da and Wang Yiming also walked into the store.