No Worries

Jiang Xueming pulled a low stool to the small table in the storeroom and sat down, ready to have a good talk with Boss Ye.

He had had a tough time these past few years and knew the owner of the milk tea shop was wealthy, but he hadn't wanted to call home and ask Ye Bei for help.

"When I left the battery factory to work, I already owed Brother Ye a favor. Later, I went to Hung Hom. Although life was a bit difficult…"

Mr. Ye Bei poured tea and offered water to Jiang Xueming, acting as if he was quite familiar with the situation. He said with a grin, "Then you're being too formal. The moment I saw your face, which is off the charts in terms of looks, I took you as my second son. After you started working in my shop, our customer traffic exploded. Half of the young ladies come here because of you."

"Uh…" Jiang Xueming didn't know how to respond for a moment. Boss Ye had always been a sharp-tongued and eccentric person.

The tea poured into the cup, emitting a light fragrance.

I feel so awkward.

Xue Ming calmed himself and finally asked, "Then who is your first son, Brother Ye?"

"Don't ask about that," Ye Bei replied casually. "That's a very, very long story."

"Okay, Brother Ye," Jiang Xueming got to the main point. "For the next few days, I'll trouble you to look after Bailu. However much she spends here, I'll…"

Ye Bei immediately interrupted, "No trouble at all. Let's not talk about money between us. Talking about money hurts feelings. I don't lack money; I lack feelings."

"Haha. Hahaha." Jiang Xueming rarely laughed out loud, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.

They say that after entering society, it's a blessing if strangers don't try to swindle or harm you. The methods for taking advantage of you and hiring you for free work are endless and bizarre.

Jiang Xueming had seen too many of these scummy dealings and encountered many bad guys who wanted to profit from him—the boss of the braised food shop at the Hung Hom subway station was one of them.

But Brother Ye Bei is different.

Jiang Xueming just felt that Brother Ye Bei was a very peculiar person. He had received a lot of help from Ye Bei. How to get from Pingyang to HK was also arranged by Ye Bei. When Xue Ming mentioned repayment, Ye Bei just kept shaking his head.

He thought of Bailu happily helping out at the milk tea shop and petting cats for the next few days, with Brother Ye and the front desk girls helping to look after her. His eyes immediately lit up, no longer like a block of wood.

Jiang Xueming nodded vigorously. "Thank you, Brother."

"I help you, you help me. That's what people are, two strokes supporting each other to form a character," Ye Bei raised his cup. "There's nothing to thank me for. Let's not use unnecessary words. I don't need your fake smile."

Listening to these words, Jiang Xueming only felt happy.

A long, long time.

It had been a long time since he had communicated with someone like this.

"Brother Ye, you don't know, after I went south, I…"

He had so many things he wanted to say, but he didn't know where to start.

"I met a lot of people, and I was especially scared for Bailu. I was afraid she wouldn't adapt to the unfamiliar city. When I took her to school, I was even driven away."

"I squatted in the villa area on Sanyuan Road, waiting for a school board member to drive out. I begged them, begged them to agree to let Bailu study. Fortunately, that auntie was kind."

"The tuition was paid. When it was time to find a job, I ran back and forth between Zhuqing and Hung Hom. There were many snakeheads luring people. They saw I was young and told me I could go to Canada to be a helper in a Chinese restaurant. I almost got on that pirate ship."

"Later, I found a job at a cooked food stall in the subway station. After much pleading with the landlord, I managed to rent a pigeon coop."

"When Bailu went to school, I was afraid she would have conflicts with other classmates, so I taught her how to protect herself. I'm not good with words, and I couldn't teach her well, but fortunately, she's clever—but every day was spent in trepidation."

"When I left, I said I would give Bailu a good life. I'm sorry, I failed."

Ye Bei raised his hand to interrupt. "Wait a moment, are you sure that school board auntie was kind-hearted?"

Jiang Xueming recalled carefully. "She said that helping students was a good thing. I vaguely remember she asked me to do cleaning work at her house. But she left in a hurry and didn't leave contact information. I couldn't get through the villa area gate, so we lost contact."

Ye Bei frowned, lost in thought. "Hmm."

Jiang Xueming: "Is there a problem?"

Ye Bei covered his mouth and coughed. "No, no, no. No."

"In short, the first thing I did when I returned was to come and see you, Brother Ye," Jiang Xueming said sincerely. "There are many things that are inconvenient for me to tell others, but for some reason, I feel very natural talking to you."

Ye Bei covered his face and gave a wry smile. "Your way of treating me as an emotional garbage can is truly fresh and unconventional."

At this moment, Xue Ming finally seemed to revert to being a twenty-one-year-old young man just entering society.

"Sorry."

"It's okay, it's okay. I'm not scolding you," Mr. Ye Bei patted Xue Ming's shoulder. "You've been through a lot. I don't understand what you've experienced these past few years. After all, I'm not you. I can't empathize with you, I can't use your body to experience your life—I can't say things like 'I understand you.'"

With that, Boss Ye pushed the teacup on the table into Jiang Xueming's hand. "Have some tea, take a breath. Your return home must be a great thing."

"Yeah. Later, Bailu got sick. She had a strange illness, and the doctors said there was nothing they could do. I kept telling my sister, 'Don't be afraid, don't be afraid.' But I felt like I was saying those words to myself. I was afraid I wouldn't do well, that I wasn't good enough, that I would mess things up," Jiang Xueming took the teacup and took a sip.

Ye Bei said with a smile, "You've already done incredibly well, Jiang Xueming."

At this moment, Xue Ming lost himself in thought, his mind feeling exceptionally clear. It was as if a gentle stream was flowing through his meridians and brain, and something was being let go.

The originally cold and dark little storeroom also became warm. He looked at Brother Ye, and it seemed that in an instant, all the bothersome memories disappeared. Like the shop's signboard, they were forgotten.

Ye Bei refilled Jiang Xueming's tea and said slowly.

"What you've done is already amazing. Starting from Pingyang County, there were so many difficulties and troubles along the way, so many obstacles, and you calmly defeated all those bad guys. It's really good. In this era, how many seventeen-year-olds in the world dare to leave their homes and go to a strange place over a thousand kilometers away? Dare to take their sister with them to adventure and strive for a living?"

Xue Ming nodded blankly when he heard these words.

Ye Bei: "You're really amazing."

From these words, Xue Ming felt a continuous stream of courage. The worldly wisdom and broad-minded bravery that the siblings couldn't learn in school were mostly taught to them by Brother Ye through his words and actions, his example in life.

When Xue Ming left his hometown with Bailu, he remembered something Brother Ye had told him.

"Life only has a one-way ticket."

He couldn't regret it for the rest of his life, nor could he let Bailu regret it. With that thought, Xue Ming regained his calm and solemn demeanor, contemplating whether to tell Brother Ye about the underground city and the encounter on the train.

After all, in his eyes, Brother Ye was just an ordinary person. There was no need to reveal this underground secret, which might even bring trouble to Brother Ye.

However, he still told him part of the truth, half-heartedly.

"Brother Ye, Bailu might bring some trouble while she's here. Besides my parents, other strangers have tried to contact her and harm her."

Ye Bei raised an eyebrow. "Oh! You have enemies in Hung Hom? It's normal to have conflicts when you're out making a living."

Jiang Xueming said worriedly, thinking about the Armadillo Hunters, and cautiously instructed, "If anyone tracks us here to harm Bailu..."

"Understood. I'll call some good brothers to hang out at the shop tomorrow. They happen to be on leave, so it'll be a favor," Ye Bei refilled Jiang Xueming's tea. "But still, to be chased all the way from Hung Hom to Hengyin, that's quite a deep-seated grudge."

Jiang Xueming dared not say more.

Ye Bei's eyes seemed to pierce through one's soul, his gaze intense. "It's inconvenient to talk about, right?"

"Xue Ming": "Yes, it's rather inconvenient."

Ye Bei withdrew his scrutinizing gaze. "Then I won't ask."

Xue Ming added, "Brother Ye, aren't you afraid I've done bad things out there?"

As soon as he said that, the cat on the table perked up, inexplicably rubbed against Jiang Xueming, smelling faintly pleasant, then slumped back down as if greatly disappointed.

"I don't have many skills, but I'm quite good at judging people," Ye Bei said with a grin. "And as for whether you're a bad person! My cat master cares more than I do. It's full of mischief and only thinks about wrecking the house all day. If you had that talent, it would definitely stick to you."

"Then I'll entrust Bailu to your care, Brother," Jiang Xueming finished his tea, feeling the whole world brighten up. "I don't have much time and need to handle some things at home, so I'll be going now. I'll call Bailu over."

He was about to walk out to call his sister to identify herself.

"Wait a moment!" Ye Bei held up two fingers, as if trying hard to recall something. "Wait, wait, wait, my memory isn't very good, hold on!"

In less than ten seconds, the eccentric bubble tea shop owner clapped his hands, as if remembering something important. "Oh! I remember!"

Jiang Xueming watched curiously as Ye Bei rummaged in the storeroom.

From behind the cabinets, amidst the piled-up odds and ends, Ye Bei pulled out a brocade box from an old wooden chest. "Xue Ming, didn't you say your enemies might come looking for trouble?"

Jiang Xueming nodded suspiciously. "Yes."

Ye Bei asked again, "Are the enemies you mentioned powerful?"

Jiang Xueming: "I don't know, but they should be quite difficult to deal with."

"Then take this," Ye Bei handed the brocade box to Xue Ming.

Then Ye Bei instructed, "There's no problem with Bailu being here. After the crackdown on crime a few years ago, my good brothers have been idle, constantly worrying about not being able to make a contribution. If the bad guys you mentioned dare to show up, that's great news, but..."

Mr. Ye Bei patted the brocade box, then patted Xue Ming's shoulder.

"If they come for you and chase you all the way to Pingyang county, my good brothers won't be able to get their hands on guns anytime soon-- this is my collection, for self-defense. Remember, if you can't win, run. Hide and call the police. If anything happens, find the People's Police first, then call me, and I'll be there immediately."

The brocade box felt heavy. He didn't know what was inside, probably some kind of craft collection, like a knife.

Xue Ming accepted Ye Bei's gesture. He looked behind him, searching for Xiao Qi, and said to Ye Bei.

"Don't worry, Brother Ye, I have a bodyguard."

"Alright!" Ye Bei said with a smile. "You've gotten capable. If you're in a hurry, you can go ahead! Be careful!"

Jiang Xueming slung the brocade box over his shoulder and walked out, giving a thumbs-up behind him.

"Stay well!"