Especially Envious
Liu Zhengyi frowned at his younger brother, opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end only said, "Just listen to me."
To be honest, he had only met Xiang Kun three times: once before the Lunar New Year when he was involved in a staged accident on the road in Chongyun Village, once when Liu Feibao sent people to arrest him and make him apologize to Xiang Kun, and the other time was yesterday afternoon when he delivered something to Xiang Kun's door.
He could tell that Xiang Kun was someone important, but that wasn't something he could tell directly from Xiang Kun himself. If he only looked at Xiang Kun, he could only conclude that he couldn't beat him.
As for Xiang Kun's background, abilities, and true purpose in coming to Tongshi Town and Chongyun Village, he couldn't tell directly, nor did he have the investigation channels of Liu Feibao, Chu Xiuwen, and others.
However, he also has his own standards for dealing with people and making judgments, and he will use objects that he can actually judge as reference standards for comparison.
For example, when he had just dropped out of school in his teens and started working in society, the person he admired and respected the most was his distant cousin who ran a food stall in town. He felt that his cousin knew a lot of people and could handle anything.
One evening, while he and his younger brother were eating at their uncle's food stall, Liu Feibao happened to arrive with some people for a late-night snack. He saw his uncle, who he usually thought was arrogant and domineering, bowing and scraping before "Brother Bao," appearing extremely fearful and obsequious. After Liu Feibao left, his uncle told the two brothers many stories about "Brother Bao's" exploits and influence in Tongshi Town. He then realized that "Brother Bao's" status and power in Tongshi Town far exceeded that of his uncle. His subsequent experiences in Tongshi Town, and the many stories he heard, confirmed this.
That's why he always wanted to find an opportunity to get close to Liu Feibao and follow "Brother Bao."
Thus, in his mind, Liu Feibao "Brother Bao" became the new highest standard of judgment, replacing Uncle Dai.
However, after the incident before the Lunar New Year, based on what he heard and saw, including the conversations and attitudes between Liu Feibao, Chu Xiuwen, Liu Caifu, and others, he formed a new assessment of their strength:
He himself << his cousin << (Liu Feibao Liu Caifu ≤ Chu Xiuwen <Qi Haoguo) <<Xiang Kun
He had never met Qi Haoguo, the CEO of Haoguo Group, nor had he seen Liu Feibao since that night's "apology." However, he could still deduce their attitude from the conversations of Liu Caifu, Chu Xiuwen, and others, as well as their recent behavior—that they were all very concerned, wary, and even somewhat ingratiating towards Xiang Kun. This level of concern far exceeded the attitude his uncle had shown when discussing Liu Feibao in private.
He didn't know the specific reason, but he knew his judgment was probably right. Clinging to Xiang Kun's coattails might be the best chance for the two brothers to turn their lives around.
This morning, after returning from the mountains, Liu Zhengyi went to Liu Caifu's house and told them what they had seen. Liu Zhengyi instinctively observed Liu Caifu and Chu Xiuwen's attitudes and unexpectedly noticed that Chu Xiuwen's reaction was somewhat abnormal. As a result, he had some inexplicable and sudden guesses, which is why he reacted so strongly to his brother's words just now.
He himself found these conjectures absurd and illogical, so he naturally couldn't tell Liu Gaoshang directly. Otherwise, he might not only fail to convince his younger brother, but also undermine his authority as the older brother.
Star City.
It was dinnertime, and Liu Shiling, who was helping her mother set out the dishes, suddenly heard the news on TV. She paused for a moment, then moved to the TV with her bowl in her arms.
Egg Pie, who was curled up and dozing under the dining table, noticed that its little owner hadn't come to the table as expected. It raised its head, glanced at her, yawned, got up, wandered into the living room, curled up at the Little Chubby Girl's feet, and continued to doze off.
The news on TV was reporting on the aftermath of the two escaped prisoners from Wushu Mountain Prison being struck by lightning, repeatedly showing a video of a lightning storm filmed and uploaded online by a netizen.
Although the video quality is poor and the distance is far, it still conveys the terrifying power of the lightning storm, creating a surreal impact.
Shiling's Mother, carrying dishes out of the kitchen, noticed that her daughter, who hadn't paid much attention to television in a long time, was suddenly standing in front of it again. Curious, she followed her daughter and watched the news for a while.
Shiling's Mother saw the news of the two fugitives being struck by lightning online that afternoon, and said to her daughter, "That's why it's best not to do bad things, otherwise, even God won't let you off the hook. If they had just stayed in prison and served their sentences honestly, they certainly wouldn't have been struck by lightning. You have to pay the price for doing wrong, or you'll face even greater punishment."
Liu Shiling whispered, "It wasn't God, it was a magician, a very powerful Great Mage who released the lightning."
Shiling's Mother was taken aback for a moment, but then immediately smiled and nodded, "Yes, a magician! God is Great Mage! Alright, come and eat. You can watch the news while you eat. Oh, or... how about turning around and watching cartoons?"
Liu Shiling nodded, picked up her rice bowl, walked to the dining table, put it down, and waited for her mother to serve her food.
She knew, of course, that her mother didn't believe what she had just said; in fact, she only told the truth because she knew her mother didn't believe her.
She didn't know that the lightning storm was related to Xiang Kun, but after seeing the video of the lightning storm, she had a gut feeling that it was caused by "magic"—because in her imagination, Great Mage's super lightning magic should be like this!
Liu Shiling ate her meal, her mind kept wandering to the lightning storm. She felt incredibly envious, and even the braised pork her mother had carefully prepared tasted bland to her. She ate absentmindedly.
I wonder who that magician who cast the lightning spell is. I'll have to secretly ask Uncle Baldy on QQ tonight to see if he knows or recognizes him.
The bald uncle must be more powerful than that Great Mage, right?
However, since that lightning storm struck two bad guys, the Great Mage who cast the spell must also be a good person and on their side.
At that moment, Xiang Kun was parking his beat-up pickup truck in the pedestrian street parking lot.
Tonight, he and Lao Xia are going to have dinner with Zicheng and Chu Xiaoting. Of course, the place for dinner is still "Youlong Restaurant".
Although they ate at "Youlong Restaurant" almost every day during this period, they often tried out the new dishes made by You Meng Xiang Kun's new recipes, and the ingredients were not limited to rabbit meat, so they didn't get tired of the food so quickly. This naturally refers to Lao Xia, Zi Cheng, and Chu Xiaoting. Xiang Kun, who was always putting on an act when eating with others, had no chance of getting "tired of the food".
Xia Libing, in the passenger seat, was video chatting with Yang Zhen'er on her phone. The latter had just seen the news and knew that the place where the two fugitives were struck by lightning was very close to Chongyun Village, so she immediately sent a video request to her dear little sister, wanting to see if they had any first-hand news (gossip).
Xia Libing naturally wouldn't tell her cousin that she and Xiang Kun were in the eye of the thunderstorm, and that the two fugitives were turned into charcoal right in front of her.
She simply told Yang Zhen'er some of the "rumors" that later circulated in the village, some information that Xiang Kun and Liu Caifu provided when they called each other, and the story of how the Liu brothers discovered their clothes had been stolen and then called the police.
However, Yang Zhen'er was already quite engrossed and satisfied with this information.
After parking the car, Lao Xia was about to end his video call with his cousin when Yang Zhen'er suddenly shouted, "Chef Xiang! Don't go out in the rain! Otherwise, your bald head will probably conduct electricity easily!" Then, unusually, she ended the video call on her own initiative, as if she had gained an advantage.
Xiang Kun and Xia Libing exchanged bewildered glances, both wondering the same thing: Why are bald heads good conductors of electricity?
But Xiang Kun immediately dismissed the question, because he knew that Yang the Third's thought process and logic were definitely different from theirs.
On the way from the parking lot to the "Youlong Restaurant", Xia Libing suddenly said, "Those people should notice this thunderstorm, right?" She didn't wake up until noon, and while dealing with Yang Zhen'er's curiosity on the way, she was actually reviewing the events of last night.
After Officer Zhao and Officer Wang encountered Mi Qiao, Zhou Rui, and others at Purple Huan Mountain, Lao Xia and Xiang Kun knew that "Shenxing Technology" must have noticed that the thunderstorm at Purple Huan Mountain in the early hours of Valentine's Day was unusual, and might even know that the "mutant bird" had appeared there.
The area around Wushu Mountain, where the "mutated bird" and the "invisible insect" appeared, is not far from the Chongyun Mountain Region north of Chongyun Village. It is highly likely that they linked the two thunderstorms together and came to investigate.
Xiang Kun naturally understood who Lao Xia was referring to when he said "those people," and nodded, saying, "Don't worry, I have plans. I'll explain in detail after we finish eating."