Not Chewing Loudly in Front of the Hungry Was Also a Kindness

"Master Fang."

From far away, the restaurant manager's cloyingly sweet voice carried over.

Fang Xuan's brows furrowed slightly as he looked at the restaurant manager with a cold expression.

In an instant, the restaurant manager halted. He first looked at Lu Ying, then nervously glanced at Fang Xuan, silently withdrew his foot, and retreated again.

"Hm?"

Lu Ying gave the restaurant manager a strange look, then looked at Fang Xuan, whose expression remained unchanged. Confused, she asked, "What's wrong with that restaurant manager? Why does he look so afraid of you?"

"No, does he? Sister Lu Ying must have seen wrong." Fang Xuan smiled.

Now that they had met an old friend again, Fang Xuan only wanted them to interact in the simplest, purest way. He did not want too many impurities between them.

If he told Lu Ying that he was now the master of the entire East City, never mind how Lu Ying would see him—she would probably even eat her meal cautiously, as if treading on thin ice.

That sort of showing off was far too low-class.

"Is that so?"

Lu Ying raised her brows, then shook her head and did not think much more of it. She led Fang Xuan upstairs to a private room.

"Brother, you're here?"

Fang Lan had been picking up broad beans with her chopsticks. The moment she saw Fang Xuan arrive, her eyes lit up.

"Brother Xuan!"

Water Monkey was also in the private room. He stood and nodded to greet Fang Xuan.

Water Monkey, who normally traveled surrounded by attendants and dressed in splendid silks, had specially changed into a set of blue short clothes unique to fishermen today.

Fang Xuan nodded slightly at Water Monkey, then turned his gaze toward the innermost part of the private room.

A lean man, his skin dark and rough from years of fishing, stood up somewhat awkwardly to welcome him. "Y-you're Xiao Xuan, right? Xiao Ying has mentioned you before. Y-you... hello."

The lean man wanted to exchange a few polite words, but even after stammering until his face turned red, all he could manage was, "Eat well and drink well."

"Good-for-nothing!"

Lu Ying glared at the lean man, then turned to Fang Xuan and said, "Xiao Xuan, your brother-in-law is an honest fellow. He only knows how to fish and doesn't know how to socialize. He can't say any pretty words, so don't take offense."

"It's fine. I actually dislike people who boast endlessly and have tongues as slick as a reed," Fang Xuan said with a smile to Lu Ying.

"Then sit down, Xiao Xuan. I don't know what happened. I invited those childhood friends who grew up with us in the Bamboo Raft Houses to eat together. But when they heard you were coming today, each one got scared like mice seeing a cat. They had agreed so readily before, yet now they all made excuses and refused."

Lu Ying muttered as she arranged for everyone to take their seats.

After several rounds of wine, by the time dinner ended, it was already the hour of Xu.

During the meal, Lu Ying spoke of the bitter and sweet hardships of her life over the years.

When she mentioned that she could now earn five hundred coins every month, her face was filled with heartfelt pride.

"Xiao Xuan, back then, your family had the worst conditions in our Bamboo Raft Houses, and you still haven't started a family. Don't force yourself to hold on. I know you must be having a hard time now. It's all right—if there comes a day when you can't keep going, come tell your sister. I may not be rich or powerful, but I'll definitely help however I can. At the very least, your brother-in-law and I can give you a meal to eat."

"Ah, Xiao Xuan, the adults always used to tell us that only by enduring the bitterest of hardships could one rise above others. But why is it that we can endure hardship so well, yet there is still endless hardship to endure?"

"Xiao Xuan, when do you think we'll finally be able to live a little more easily?"

Lu Ying became drunk before long. With bleary eyes, she spoke in disjointed, rambling fragments.

"Everything will get better." Fang Xuan nodded gently.

Fang Lan and Water Monkey merely listened silently from the side.

Fang Xuan had taught them a principle long ago.

Sometimes, not chewing loudly in front of the hungry was also a kind of kindness.

Once they had eaten and drunk their fill,

Fang Xuan and the others rose to take their leave.

"Wife, why do I feel that your little neighbor brother isn't some ordinary person?"

Inside the private room, the honest lean man spoke softly.

For some reason,

he always felt that Fang Xuan was not as poor and destitute as Lu Ying had described.

A poor and destitute person could not be as composed and unruffled as Fang Xuan. Especially those restaurant waiters who served the dishes midway through the meal—the fear in their eyes whenever they looked at Fang Xuan simply could not be concealed.

When Fang Xuan walked out of the Happiness and Fortune Restaurant,

"Master Fang, the Gang Leader requests your presence."

Uncle Rong from the gang had somehow already arrived at the restaurant entrance and was quietly waiting there.

Behind him stood several dozen hooligans, silently standing in the night.

On the bustling and clamorous Ten Li Long Street, everyone else had already scattered like birds and beasts.

"Xiao Lan, go back first. And Monkey, find time tomorrow to make a trip to Anhong City. See whether Sister Lu Ying needs any help, and help her in secret if she does."

After Fang Xuan finished speaking calmly, he looked at Uncle Rong and smiled.

"So late at night, yet Uncle Rong had to bring so many people to find me? The Gang Leader truly is impatient."

Uncle Rong said nothing. He merely gave Fang Xuan a deep look.

"I must trouble Master Fang."

"Please!"

In the darkness of night, Fang Xuan strode away with the group of hooligans.

By the time Fang Xuan arrived at the Black Whale Courtyard, it was already the hour of Zi.

The moment Fang Xuan stepped into the Black Whale Courtyard, he saw Long Huaxing's face as dark as water. The prayer beads he normally clutched in his hand had long since been crushed apart under his grip and casually tossed aside.

"Wow, the Gang Leader's temper is quite fiery today?"

Fang Xuan glanced at the prayer beads that had shattered from excessive force, then looked at Long Huaxing with a cheerful smile.

"Fang Xuan!!!"

Long Huaxing suddenly smashed the teacup on the armrest viciously onto the floor. Staring fixedly at Fang Xuan, he roared,

"Fang Xuan, you have some nerve!"

"Why is the Gang Leader so angry?" Fang Xuan stepped back a few paces and brushed the splashed water from the hem of his clothes.

"Why am I so angry? Do you dare say Xiang Chengjiang wasn't killed by you last night?" Long Huaxing said coldly.

"So the Gang Leader is angry over this?" Fang Xuan raised his brows, then smiled unconcernedly. "Gang Leader, didn't you say I was allowed to deal with Xiang Chengjiang? Now that I have dealt with him, why are you so furious?"

"Yes! I said you could deal with Xiang Chengjiang, but is this how you dealt with him? You went straight to his door and exterminated his entire household?" A low roar rose from Long Huaxing's throat. In his clouded eyes burned an anger he could not restrain.

"Do you know that the elders you killed yesterday were all veterans of our Black Whale Gang? Fine, you killed Xiang Chengjiang—but why did you kill them too?"

At that, Fang Xuan pulled over a chair and sat down. He glanced at Long Huaxing, his smile unchanged as he said,

"Gang Leader, they had colluded with Xiang Chengjiang and were clearly standing with Zheng Juexiong. If I didn't kill them, was I supposed to wait for Zheng Juexiong to return, then let them join forces to deal with me?"

"You're wrong! They were merely fence-sitters who swayed whichever way the wind blew. Once Zheng Juexiong was dealt with, they would naturally stand by our side again! And now? You killed them all to your heart's content. If you keep killing like this, no one else will need to make a move—our Black Whale Gang will crumble and collapse on its own, existing in name only!"

Long Huaxing slammed the table heavily and shouted, "You are so bloodthirsty—will there come a day when you kill even me?"

Fang Xuan said nothing. After a moment of silence, the smile on his face slowly faded.

He raised his head and gave Long Huaxing an indifferent look, then suddenly said calmly,

"Gang Leader Long, no wonder Zheng Juexiong no longer takes you seriously. You truly have grown muddleheaded with age."