Fang Yuan walked alone along the road back to the Outer City. Wind and snow lashed his face, the cold biting to the bone.
Yet his mind was clearer than the weather.
It seemed Senior Brother Wang's situation within his family was not nearly as easy and carefree as he made it appear.
He recalled how Wang Pangzi had gone from brimming with confidence to restless and embarrassed at Zui Xian Lou, finally forcing himself to keep up appearances. Understanding dawned on him.
A legitimate son on whom the family had pinned great hopes, one who should have been the heir, had his position shaken by a cousin who had burst onto the scene as a business prodigy,
and was now caught in a struggle for inheritance rights.
The slight he had suffered today was likely not directed at an insignificant nobody like him. More than that,
it was Third Master's invisible rebuke and cold indifference toward his less-than-promising cousin.
It seemed Senior Brother Wang's life was not as comfortable as Fang Yuan had imagined. Fang Yuan gained a little more understanding of this ever-smiling senior brother.
As his thoughts churned, he had already passed through the Inner City gates.
The lights of the Outer City were noticeably sparser and dimmer, while the wind and snow ran even wilder.
Just as he was about to turn into the alley leading home, his gaze casually swept over a familiar figure hurrying ahead.
The man wore a long green-cloth robe, dressed like a scholar. His frame was somewhat thin, and he staggered slightly through the wind and snow.
"Brother Chen?" Fang Yuan called out tentatively.
Hearing him, the man stopped and turned around in puzzlement.
Under the dim yellow glow of a lantern, a face Fang Yuan recognized came into view. It