Chapter 51 - He’s Just Teasing You

The light in the basement had grown much dimmer. Out of the dozen torch lights they found, only one or two remained working; the rest had gone out a long time ago. Shen Chen looked up, only to see Ye Xiaoyu and Guo Yuan sleeping soundly against the wall in a corner.

Shen Chen was a little taken aback. He got up hurriedly and stared at the room full of broken wooden boxes. The whole basement was filled with the overpowering aroma of ginseng. He was surprised by the sheer amount of ginseng he had consumed. Well, actually, Shen Chen had no idea how much ginseng he had really consumed.

Possibly because she heard noises, Ye Xiaoyu’s eyes cracked open, and she glanced at Shen Chen. Her eyes widened as she leapt up in excitement. “Brother Shen Chen! Brother Shen Chen!”

Shen Chen watched as Ye Xiaoyu jumped and hopped about like a little bunny, eventually running into his chest. The fragrance of the young girl mingled with that of the ginseng made for a rather pleasant combination.

Shen Chen was stunned for a moment, his hands frozen in the air awkwardly. But he let Ye Xiaoyu hug him tight, and he said kindly to her, “Okay, okay. Relax. I’m all right now.”

Guo Yuan was awoken by the commotion. He blinked at the sight of Ye Xiaoyu reveling in Shen Chen’s embrace, then slowly broke into a smile and gave them a thumbs-up!

Shen Chen didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He knew that Guo Yuan was thinking dirty thoughts, but it should have been pretty obvious that he and Ye Xiaoyu hadn’t quite advanced to that stage yet!

After staying in his embrace for a long time, Ye Xiaoyu finally peeled herself away from Shen Chen. She looked up at his resigned smile with a blush on her face, just like a startled little kitten. Ye Xiaoyu then took a few steps backward and asked shyly, “Are you doing better now?”

Guo Yuan couldn’t hold in his laughter anymore. He snickered. “He was feeling much better before you hugged him tight!”

Ye Xiaoyu’s face was now as red as a pomegranate. She jumped back as if she had been electrocuted. With a raise of her eyebrows, she then asked, “Guo Yuan, are you teasing me?”

But before Guo Yuan could answer, Ye Xiaoyu quickly grabbed hold of Shen Chen and asked worriedly, “Did I really hug you too tight?”

By that point, even Shen Chen couldn’t hold it in anymore. This girl might be smart, but she was endearingly silly sometimes.

“It’s all right. Ignore Guo Yuan. He’s just teasing you!” Shen Chen said while ruffling her hair.

Ye Xiaoyu immediately turned as red as a beetroot. She nodded silently, a pout on her face.

Seeing that both Ye Xiaoyu and Guo Yuan were looking exhausted, he asked, “What time is it now?”

“It’s already 9 p.m!” Ye Xiaoyu replied after taking a look at her watch.

“Nine?” Shen Chen was surprised. He remembered that it was only one in the afternoon when they had arrived at the warehouse. That meant the absorption of the evolution fluid had taken eight frigging hours!

He couldn’t believe that it had taken this long. No wonder Ye Xiaoyu and Guo Yuan looked so tired. Anyone would be fatigued after spending eight hours in this setting.

Shen Chen smiled apologetically and beckoned them. “It must have been hard on you guys! It’s getting late. We should head back soon. Otherwise, Pan Di and the rest will be worried.”

Guo Yuan nodded and replied with relief in his voice, “Boss, I’m so glad that you’re fine now. Shall we go then?”

“How about all these boxes of ginseng?” There were still about half remaining, and Ye Xiaoyu felt it would be a waste to leave them behind.

“Bring some of them back with us, then,” Shen Chen replied. “Let’s take with us as many boxes as we can manage. But, frankly speaking, I hope I won’t ever need this stuff again.”

The three of them took about forty boxes of ginseng, as the rest of the boxes wouldn’t fit in their car. While leaving, Ye Xiaoyu looked at the warehouse with some regret, seemingly reluctant to leave the ginseng behind.

“Silly girl. We can always come back here, since we know about this place now,” Shen Chen said reassuringly.

Ye Xiaoyu finally let it go and nodded in response. Guo Yuan had already turned on the engine and driven the car over to Shen Chen and Ye Xiaoyu. He popped his head out from the car window and said to them, “Hop in!”

Ye Xiaoyu got in at the back of the car with a sigh, while Shen Chen opened the car door next to the passenger’s seat, just stopping short of getting in. His brows furrowed, and he cocked his head, as if trying to hear better. Seeing that both Guo Yuan and Ye Xiaoyu were looking at him questioningly, he slowly shut the car door and told them, “Wait for me here. I’ll be back in a jiffy.”

Ye Xiaoyu and Guo Yuan nodded and didn’t ask any questions, simply watching as Shen Chen disappeared in the dark.

…

There were a couple of people outside one of the warehouses nearby. Two youths who looked like hooligans, and two elderly people who looked weak and frail.

“What the f*ck, old men? You’ve been out the whole day and that was all you managed to catch? Two measly fish? Are you trying to starve us?”

The old men, who looked to be at least seventy years old, were then viciously shoved to the ground by the youngsters.

The old men were caught unawares and didn’t manage to break their fall in time. As they fell, so did the fish basket they were holding. A few carps escaped from the basket.

The hooligans got even angrier. One of them picked up a broom and started whacking the old men with it. “F*ckin’ old men, why did you lose your grip on the fish basket? Did you do it on purpose so that we wouldn’t have anything to eat?”

The broom hit them across their faces, and the two old men braved through it all with gritted teeth, holding onto each other.

The other hooligan looked at the bloodied old men with some worry in his eyes. He tried to persuade the first hooligan to stop, saying, “Ming, don’t kill them. If you kill them, no one will get us fish!”

The old men were pretty skilled at fishing. Had the hooligans not come across them by chance, they probably would have starved to death or been eaten by zombies, so there was no way they were letting go of the old fellas!

The hooligan referred to as Ming finally put down the broom begrudgingly. “If not for the fact that these old geezers know how to fish, we would have thrown them out by now,” he griped.

Ming then said to the other hooligan, who had a head full of bleached hair, “Little Tian, bring them out to catch more fish. Tell them if they don’t come back with at least ten kilos of fish tonight, they won’t get to eat anything tomorrow!”

Little Tian acknowledged what Ming said and watched as Ming walked into the warehouse with the two fish. He then turned to look at the old men, who remained dignified despite the abuse and humiliation.

“Ptooey!”

His spit landed on the old men. With a hateful expression on his face, he said to them, “D*mn it! You made me lose face in front of Ming. Looks like you guys haven’t suffered enough today!”