Chapter 83

Yang Lei swayed the liquor in his glass, thinking about Er Hei’s words.

Seven years. Seven years was enough for many things to change and wear away. Seven years was enough to make all strong and intense things become quiet and settled.

He once thought that some things, once one has made up their mind, were for a lifetime. No matter what was experienced, they could be tested. But at this age, he realized that there were not many things that could be tested in this world. The test itself was a luxury.

Only when one was young, frivolous, and arrogant and ignorant would they easily think about a lifetime. Now that Yang Lei thought back, he also felt that only in those years would he dare to think about a lifetime.

Four years ago, he happily counted the days and looked forward to the time when Fang Yu would get out of prison. When he got Fang Yu to call him privately in prison through his connections, Fang Yu told him that because he was helping someone who was wronged in prison, he took the lead in a group fight and caused trouble, the consequences were serious, so he was sentenced for an additional year.

“What? You…” Yang Lei felt like a basin of cold water had been poured over his head. He was angry, anxious, and skeptical! But this matter was truly like Fang Yu’s style. He was loyal everywhere!

“…Why were you so stupid!! You…” Yang Lei knew that it wouldn’t help to blame Fang Yu. “I’ll take a leave and come back in a few days!”

Could Yang Lei let Fang Yu’s sentence be extended?! But Fang Yu insistently refused.

“No, I have to serve this year. Otherwise, if I go out, I won’t have the face to be a boss.”

Fang Yu’s voice was very calm, but his attitude was very firm.

“Face? You will serve in prison for face? Are you stupid?!”

“I’m quite used to being in prison. Everyone listens to me here. I’m even looking forward to gathering these people together after I go out and do great things. If I go out like this, then I would have gathered people for nothing these years.”

Before, Yang Lei didn’t think that Fang Yu had such an ambition. He also didn’t think that Fang Yu would think about these things. Perhaps the years in prison would change a person’s way of thinking. Yang Lei felt that this kind of Fang Yu was a little unfamiliar.

“You have training and it’s hard to ask for leave. Don’t come back. Even if you come back, I have to serve. Besides, you still have one year until graduation. If I go out now, it won’t be fun to be alone anyway. I’ve already served for three years. This one year won’t make a difference,” Fang Yu said.

In the end, Yang Lei didn’t insist anymore.

He knew Fang Yu. Once Fang Yu really decided on something, he wouldn’t change. He knew Fang Yu’s hard temper. Even if he went back and begged someone to reduce Fang Yu’s sentence, Fang Yu wouldn’t go out. He even knew that Fang Yu didn’t want to cause him any trouble because of his mistakes—Fang Yu was such a person!

Yang Lei ultimately listened to Fang Yu and waited for another year.

During that time, he believed Fang Yu that much. He believed his every word and believed every reason that he gave him.

“Then let’s go out together. According to the time, I’ll come out before you. I’ll go pick you up then!”

One year, Yang Lei thought. He would grit his teeth, and it would be over!

On the phone, Fang Yu paused for a moment and said, “Okay.” This short pause did not attract Yang Lei’s attention at all during that time.

Yang Lei finished his graduation report drill. The day that he got his diploma and left the school, he nearly ran out of the school. There was only one thought in Yang Lei’s mind: return to Jianghai to see Fang Yu. Fang Yu would be released from prison a few days later. He had to bring his diploma to pick up Fang Yu. He wanted to see him and wanted to give him a surprise. He imagined Fang Yu’s expression when he saw him. He wanted to hug him hard and tell how he had passed these thousands of days and nights that dragged by while they were separated…

When Yang Lei walked to the school gates, the guard stopped him and said that there was a phone call for him.

“He says that his last name is Fang!”

Yang Lei was taken aback and stunned.

He left his luggage and rushed to answer the phone…

“After you became a soldier, you didn’t contact the brothers these last few years. Everyone said that you have no conscience. You took the broad and easy path, and you didn’t remember your old brothers.”

Er Hei’s voice was still rambling in the smoke.

“…Think about when we messed around back then. It was so fucking great… Do you still remember? Once with Yu Ge, you brought Chuan-zi, Li San, and the others, and we fought Wu Kun and the others at the Soldiers’ Club. Haha, we fought that Wu Kun until he ran away wearing boxers! Those boxers were even bright red! Made the brothers laugh! Haha! …”

Er Hei seemed to be talking about yesterday’s events. He laughed and couldn’t stop laughing.

“…So fast.”

Er Hei’s smile faded. His face was no longer the youthful face of seven years ago.

“…Now I’m not in the gangdom, and I have money. I don’t know why, but now, I always think about the past,” Er Hei said, drinking again.

At some point, Er Hei had become drunk.

“…I really regret…” Er Hei was already drunk, and his voice was tearful.

“…If it weren’t for me back then… Those things wouldn’t have happened later…!!”

Stimulated by the alcohol, Er Hei was already crying.

“…These years… I haven’t had a single good day…!! …”

Er Hei was completely drunk. He lay on the table, sobbing…

Yang Lei listened to the sound of Er Hei’s crying and smoked silently.

He thought of his past brothers. After the crackdown in 1995, not many people remained in Jianghai. Li San and Chuan-zi were both not in Jianghai. In those years, the brothers each had their own way out, even Ding Wen. When Yang Lei left back then, he even asked Ding Wen. Since Ding Wen knew everything, he asked Ding Wen to help take care of Fang Yu. If something happened, he would take care of him if he could. But right now, even Ding Wen was not in Jianghai. It was said that he suddenly changed his job and went to a company in another place, and he had moved away.

Yan Ziyi’s business was already very big. It involved real estate, building materials, decoration, and catering, not only in Jianghai, but also expanding in various places. Right now, “Yilian Group” was already a key private enterprise in the province and even became famous nationally. Yan Ziyi was the most successful gangdom boss to change careers in Jianghai. There was already no one deeply responsible for being a gangdom boss. At this point, he was a nationally famous entrepreneur.

Yang Lei had gone to see Yan Ziyi. Yan Ziyi even invited Yang Lei to change his job early and work with him again. Yang Lei smiled.

“Da Ge, what talent under your leadership do you lack right now? Do you still need me?”

“You’re different. As long as you’re willing to come, Da Ge will forever keep a place for you here.”

Yan Ziyi treated Yang Lei with sincerity.

“Thanks, Da Ge. But in the future, I probably won’t be in Jianghai.”

“You’re also leaving?”

It was easy for Yan Ziyi to understand other people leaving, but Yang Lei’s family background, being from a distinguished family and the son of an official, what future couldn’t he have in Jianghai?

“After wearing this uniform, I don’t intend to take it off so soon. With a transfer order in the army, I may leave at any time.”

“What’s wrong with Jianghai? There’s nothing that would make you reluctant to leave?”

Yang Lei didn’t reply.

“Everyone is leaving.” Yan Ziyi sighed. “You and Fang Yu, I can’t keep a single one.”

Speaking of Fang Yu, Yan Ziyi thought of Luo Jiu. It had been too long since he recalled the past, and Yan Ziyi sighed.

“At that time, I asked Fang Yu to stay, but he didn’t stay. He drank a lot and just said one sentence. There are too many past events in Jianghai, and when he thinks of them, he would be sad…”