If You Like It, Eat More

It was the weekend, and instead of going to North Suburb Park, Jiang Nan returned to Qixia Mountain for weighted training.

Today, he increased the load to 150 kilograms. Sure enough, after several days of reaction training, weighted training finally worked again. His combat power only increased by one point, but at least he had gained something.

Weighted training burned an enormous amount of energy, so after showering, Jiang Nan went to his usual noodle shop to eat.

The moment he entered, Jiang Nan noticed something unusual. The room was full of men covered in dragon and tiger tattoos, clearly not a friendly bunch. They looked like members of that bullshit Flying Dragon Gang Boss Li had mentioned last time.

"Oh, Nan. Um, we're closed today." Boss Li stammered and shot Jiang Nan meaningful looks, hoping to keep him out of this mess.

Jiang Nan pretended not to understand Boss Li's hints and joked, "You're a funny guy, Boss. Turning away paying customers? No way, no way. I'm starving. Just make my usual. Don't worry, you'll get every penny!"

"Nan, you-" Before Boss Li could say any more, Jiang Nan grinned and ushered the family of three into the kitchen. Then he looked around. Spotting the man with tattoo sleeves who seemed the most arrogant, he walked over.

Jiang Nan casually sat in the empty chair across from the tattooed man. The man frowned and folded his arms. "Hey, buddy. That seat's taken!"

Jiang Nan sprang to his feet in apparent shock. He looked back at the empty chair, then at the tattooed man, and exclaimed, "But there's nobody here! Can you see ghosts or something?"

As he spoke, Jiang Nan even reached out and felt around above the empty chair, as though checking for an invisible ghost.

The whole room of thugs laughed at his words. The tattooed man's face alternated between pale and livid. He slammed the table, jabbed a finger at Jiang Nan's nose, and cursed, "You little shit! Do you want to die-aaaargh!"

Before the tattooed man could finish his threat, it turned into a scream. Jiang Nan had casually grabbed his wrist. With just a gentle squeeze, the man's wrist caved in.

The other thugs realized something was wrong. The closest man, wearing a floral shirt, cursed and grabbed a stool to smash over Jiang Nan's head. Li Xiaomei, hiding in the kitchen with only her head peeking out, shouted, "Watch out, Brother Nan!"

Jiang Nan calmly slapped the man in the floral shirt. As though someone had hit his sleep switch, the man dropped without another word.

Seeing things turn ugly, A-Hao whispered to the lackey beside him, "Go get backup!"

The lackey stood and ran for the door. Jiang Nan plucked a chopstick from the holder on the table and threw it. The chopstick pierced straight through the lackey's calf. He stumbled to the floor, clutching his leg and rolling around in agony.

In just a few seconds, Jiang Nan had intimidated everyone present.

Jiang Nan sat down at his leisure. With his wrist still trapped in Jiang Nan's grip, the tattooed man had no choice but to kneel beside him. It was the only position that eased his pain.

Boss Li was stunned too. He knew Jiang Nan spent his days exercising instead of working, but he had never imagined he was this formidable. A casually thrown chopstick could pierce someone's leg bone-how much strength did that take? No wonder he ate so much!

Now reassured, Boss Li called his wife over to help cook Jiang Nan's noodles.

At this point, A-Hao worked up his courage and said, "Friend, could you do me a favor and let my buddy go?"

"Oh?" Jiang Nan smiled. "Why should I?"

A-Hao choked. The man had a point. Why would someone like him owe A-Hao any favors?

But seeing that the tattooed man's arm would be ruined if this went on much longer, A-Hao gathered his courage and said, "We work for Brother Fei! Even if you won't show me any respect, you should at least show him some."

At that, Jiang Nan released the tattooed man's hand. Drenched in cold sweat, the man scrambled behind the others.

"How about this? Call your A-Fei over. Let me see just what kind of big shot deserves my respect," Jiang Nan said unhurriedly.

On the second floor of the West Street Arcade, Tang Fei, leader of the Flying Dragon Gang, was fast asleep with two delinquent girls in his arms after spending half the night hard at it. Woken by his ringing phone, he answered irritably.

When he heard someone was causing trouble on East Street, Tang Fei flew into a rage. He cursed into the phone, then started getting dressed, ready to see what blind fool dared cause trouble on his turf.

Having slept all morning, Tang Fei had yet to eat. Recalling that A-Hao had said they were at a restaurant, he figured he could fill his stomach there too.

The two delinquent girls woke up as well and got dressed to go with Tang Fei, eager to admire his imposing figure as he beat someone up.

With his arms around the girls, Tang Fei went downstairs and called over a few capable fighters. The group marched toward East Street in force.

A little over ten minutes later, Tang Fei reached the entrance of Li's Beef Noodle Shop. He deliberately coughed a few times. Normally, his lackeys would hear him and hurry out to greet him, but today, not a single one came out. Outrageous!

Clueless idiots!

Tang Fei swaggered into the noodle shop as though he owned the world, only to immediately notice something was wrong. First, he saw his cleverest lackey sitting against the wall, clutching his leg and howling. Then he saw A-Sheng, normally his bravest fighter, holding his arm and gritting his teeth through the pain. A sense of foreboding rose in Tang Fei's heart.

Taking a closer look, he saw a man in a white short-sleeved shirt sitting with his back to him, head lowered as he wolfed down his food. But unless Tang Fei was mistaken, the beef noodles were in a basin, weren't they?

Still, Tang Fei prided himself on having seen it all. How could he let this scene scare him? He looked at A-Hao and asked, "What happened?"

A-Hao stammered, "The boys accidentally offended this... this gentleman."

Tang Fei felt a flicker of anger. Gentleman, my ass. Aren't I your boss? He glared at A-Hao, then walked over and sat across from Jiang Nan.

Only now did Tang Fei see Jiang Nan's face. He was just a young man in his twenties and didn't look like anything special.

Somewhat reassured, Tang Fei said with a gangster's swagger, "Friend, I'm Tang Fei, leader of the Flying Dragon Gang. If my men have offended you in any way, please be generous and let it slide, out of respect for me."

Jiang Nan's mouth gleamed with grease as he ate. The enormous porcelain basin made the corner of Tang Fei's eye twitch.

"Your lackey just told me to show you, Brother Fei, some respect too. I wondered who could possibly be such a big shot." Jiang Nan lowered his chopsticks and looked up at Tang Fei, whose combat power was only nine. "Turns out it's just some two-bit punk!"

Tang Fei narrowed his eyes. "Big words, friend. Careful you don't choke on them. If I'm not mistaken, you're pretty good in a fight, right?"

Jiang Nan merely smiled, watching Tang Fei with interest.

"I just wonder which is better-your fighting skills..." Tang Fei paused, then abruptly pulled a black pistol from behind his waist and pointed it at Jiang Nan. "...or my gun?"

Jiang Nan smiled helplessly. It really was like being handed a pillow just when he wanted a nap, or a stage just when he wanted to perform. They were determined to make him show off in a big way today!

Seeing Tang Fei draw a pistol, the delinquent girls who had come to watch the fun squealed with excitement. Boss Li's heart clenched, and he prepared to call the police.

Then everything blurred. Somehow, the gun in Tang Fei's hand ended up in Jiang Nan's, its dark muzzle pointing straight at him. Terrified out of his wits, Tang Fei hurriedly raised both hands. "Buddy, don't fool around! Someone could die! I give up, I give up! Don't-don't shoot! Don't let it go off!"

At that moment, Tang Fei recalled his older cousin's words: against a true expert, a gun was less useful than a brick.

Clearly, the young man across from him was precisely the sort of expert his cousin had meant!

Under Tang Fei's despairing gaze, Jiang Nan disengaged the safety and pulled the trigger at his head without hesitation.

Bang!

The gunshot exploded, flame bursting from the dark muzzle. A gleaming golden bullet shot out of the barrel and flew toward Tang Fei's forehead like the scythe of death.

The bullet sliced through the air and effortlessly pierced the skin of Tang Fei's forehead. Just as it was about to penetrate his skull, two fingers suddenly appeared and pinched the scorching bullet between them.

The instant Tang Fei saw the muzzle flash, he thought he was dead. But the searing pain in his forehead reminded him that he was still very much alive.

In that split second, Tang Fei had taken a trip to death's door.

"Still a little hot!" Jiang Nan casually tossed the bullet onto the table in front of Tang Fei, as though it were any ordinary object.

Tang Fei felt utterly drained. He had never expected a place like this to harbor a hidden expert like Jiang Nan. He hastily stood and bowed, then signaled A-Hao with his eyes, ready to flee with his tail between his legs.

"Don't leave just yet!" Jiang Nan spoke up.

Tang Fei stopped dead in his tracks and gave an awkward smile. "Boss, is there anything else you need?"

"You've been busy all morning. Haven't eaten yet, have you?" Jiang Nan asked with concern.

Tang Fei smiled ingratiatingly. "Not yet. No need to trouble yourself, Boss. I'll take the boys back and get something to eat."

"How could I let you do that? Boss, cook some noodles! Tang Fei's paying. Right, Fei?" Jiang Nan looked at Tang Fei questioningly.

"Of course, of course!" Tang Fei hurriedly agreed.

Jiang Nan smiled, and Tang Fei suddenly felt his life hanging in the balance.

"Give them the same portion as mine!" Jiang Nan added.

Boss Li and his wife bustled around the kitchen while Li Xiaomei carried bowl after bowl of noodles to the tables. The shop didn't have enough basins, so Boss Li made ten bowls of beef noodles per person.

Looking at the ten bowls in front of him, Tang Fei's face turned green. The two delinquent girls looked even more despairing. They couldn't finish that much even if they ate themselves to death.

Jiang Nan crossed one leg over the other and grinned. "Don't just sit there. Dig in. If you don't finish, I'll break your legs!"