Is he still alive?
Su Hang crouched down and poked Yin Long's head, "Why did you suddenly crawl out of your room at dawn?"
"Go to the balcony," Yin Long said weakly, continuing his crawling forward. "Look, at the stars."
Su Hang's lips twitched as he asked, "You have something on your mind too?"
"Hold head high."
"Then I'll lend a hand."
Su Hang made an epic maneuver around Yin Long's back, rolled up his sleeves, grabbed Yin Long's feet, and pushed him hard like a wheelbarrow.
"Hey? Hey? Hey! Stop, stop now!" Yin Long panicked, his hands reaching forward uncontrollably. With a thud, his head made intimate contact with the balcony wall, and he instantly felt dizzy.
"Are you crazy, Exalted Emperor?"
Yin Long, clutching his throbbing head, scrambled to his feet. "I'm going to accuse you of premeditated murder."
Su Hang teased, "Aren't you much more sober now?"
Yin Long straightened his silver mask, rolled his eyes, and said, "Sober my ass, I'm starving to death."
Su Hang glanced at her sideways and said, "Isn't this all your own fault? If you had returned the coins to my sister, would things have come to this?"
Yin Long declared righteously, "Don't even think about it! I swear I'll never return the coins!"
Su Hang asked, puzzled, "You're not short of money, so why are you so fixated on a single coin?"
Yin Long curled his lip and said, "I naturally have my reasons."
Tell me, what's the reason?
Yin Long covered the back of his head with both hands. "I'm not telling you."
Su Hang's lips curled into a smile, and with a flick of his wrist, he magically produced a packet of spicy instant noodles. "If you tell me, this packet of instant noodles is yours."
Yin Long's eyes lit up instantly, and he drooled all over the place. He hadn't eaten for nearly four days and had been surviving on sugar-free Sprite. Now that food was readily available, how could he not be excited?
"Make a deal!"
Yin Long pounced and reached out to snatch it.
Su Hang, however, held the instant noodles high and said calmly, "Finish what you need first, then I'll give it to you."
Yin Long was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. "Because I'm naturally greedy and stingy, I don't want to return the coins. Okay, okay, brother, you're my own brother, hurry up and give me the instant noodles."
The word "brother" struck a nerve with Su Hang, and he lowered his hand.
Yin Long immediately snatched the instant noodles, sat cross-legged on the ground, tore open the packaging, and began to eat them in large bites. The salty, sweet, and crispy texture of the noodles brought tears to his eyes. "Delicious, so delicious!"
Su Hang sat against the wall, opened a can of sugar-free cola, and handed it over, saying, "Eat slowly, don't choke."
Yin Long took the money and gulped it down, invigorated. " Exalted Emperor, I, Yin Long, will remember your kindness today. When the training contract expires and we leave this hellhole, I'll give you 100,000—no, I'll give you 100,000!"
Su Hang rested his chin on his hand and tilted his head, saying, "If you're willing to give me a whole fortune, why won't you give my sister a mere coin?"
"That's different," Yin Long said, chewing on his instant noodles. "The coins are money I earned myself, and the 10,000 is pocket money my family gave me."
Su Hang asked suspiciously, "Is there a difference?"
"The difference is huge," Yin Long said seriously. "I can spend the allowance my family gives me as I please, but I can't spend the money I earn myself."
"Why?"
Yin Long's body trembled, and suddenly he fell silent.
After a moment, he slowly took a bite of his instant noodles. "Have you read 'The Adventures of Little Carp'?"
"This animated film has been out for almost twenty years, hasn't it?" Su Hang nodded. He still remembers the main characters, such as Carp Bubble, Seahorse Aku, Turtle Double-Faced Turtle, and the main villain, [ Rascal Snake ].
"There's an episode called ' Golden Toad Paradise,'" Yin Long whispered. "The plot is roughly this: Golden Toad dreams of becoming a real dragon, and the villainous Rascal Snake promises it that if it hands over 1,000 gold coins, he'll turn it into a real dragon."
"A man once told me that if I could earn 1,000 yuan through my own efforts without relying on my family, he would turn me into a real dragon."
Su Hang frowned. "You're the Golden Toad, so that man is the Rascal Snake?"
Yin Long, munching on instant noodles, said, "I am the Golden Toad, but that man is a real dragon."
Su Hang frowned even more deeply. "What do you mean?"
"We all understand that the Golden Toad can never become a real dragon, after all, they are different species, but there is a special way for Jackie Chan."
Su Hang asked doubtfully, "What special method?"
"To become family with the True Dragon, to establish a kinship relationship," Yin Long said, his eyes gradually dimming. "For example, the True Dragon would be willing to become the Golden Toad Toad's half-brother, with no blood relation whatsoever."
Su Hang suddenly realized, "In other words, that man promised you that if you earned 1,000 yuan through your own efforts, he would become your older brother?"
"Yes." Yin Long continued eating his instant noodles. "I thought earning 1,000 yuan would be easy, but it turned out to be harder than climbing to heaven."
"I went to work as a waiter at a hotel, and my family just bought the hotel. The boss was all smiles and obsequious to me. He not only didn't give me any work, but he also paid me an exorbitant salary."
"When I started my own gaming team, my family invested hundreds of millions of yuan in me and hired a professional management team, allowing me to be a hands-off boss."
"After experiencing all of the above, I became disheartened and realized that I couldn't earn 1,000 yuan through my own efforts."
Su Hang was speechless, feeling like Yin Long was in Versailles.
Yin Long continued, "The turning point came when I found some coins on the side of the road. That day, I suddenly had an epiphany, and unexpected wealth fell from the sky. My family couldn't interfere, so I started traveling all over the country, picking up money in major cities."
Su Hang suddenly realized.
The truth has come to light, and the facts have been revealed.
How much money did you find?
Yin Long shook the packaging bag and glanced at it. "Exactly 1000 yuan, no more, no less."
Su Hang joked, "Once you've earned enough money from Jackie Chan, you can go find that man and fulfill your brotherhood promise."
Yin Long tossed the bag of instant noodles aside and said, "It's too late."
"Too late?"
Yin Long let out a burp. "I used to really want to be his younger brother because he was so powerful, so powerful that he was respected by tens of millions of people. He was like an emperor with divine right of kings; even if he called a deer a horse, no one would doubt him."
Su Hang caught a glimpse of a word from the past, "So what are you like now...?"
"I don't want to be his younger brother." Yin Long stood up and shook his head. "I've become strong enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with him, respected and revered by tens of millions of people. I no longer need him to shield me from the wind and rain."
Su Hang couldn't help but chuckle and said, "Wow, you've grown up."
"Thank you for your hospitality, Your Exalted Emperor."
Yin Long patted his belly, satisfied, and said, "Although I'm still hungry, it's much better than before when I was starving."
Su Hang stood up and said, "If you want a full meal, you should consider returning the coins to my sister."
"I'll say it again," Yin Long said arrogantly, arms crossed, "I have no money, but you can take my life!"
Su Hang chuckled, "I'm becoming increasingly curious about your true appearance beneath that mask."
"Then go ahead and be curious," Yin Long said smugly. " The El Toro Fuerte never takes it off..."
Before he could finish speaking...
Snap! The sound of the strap breaking rang out.
A silver mask fell to the ground with a thud.
"Mask."
Su Hang stared at Yin Long, his eyes wide.
"What the heck???"