"Besides, your Wang family is already in decline! My father said it himself, someone is already investigating your father! It's uncertain if the Wang family will even exist in the future!"
"Hurry up and leave, don't implicate me!"
Wang Hexian walked the streets in despair, clutching the money. The twenty yuan he used to despise, he now held tightly in his hand.
How ironic.
Just as Wang Hexian was feeling dejected, someone patted him on the back. "Brother Wang, what are you doing here?"
"Li Qiang, what are you doing here?" Wang Hexian turned around and saw a former acquaintance, his expression changing slightly.
After all, Li Qiang used to be someone he bullied. Wang Hexian looked at Li Qiang warily.
"Just passing by!" Li Qiang glanced at Wang Hexian and said casually.
"Brother Wang, the restaurant has new dishes you like. Come on, I'll treat you to a meal."
"Li Qiang, don't you hate me?" Wang Hexian looked at Li Qiang, who was still fawning over him as before, and was stunned.
"Hate you? Why would I." Li Qiang shook his head. "If it weren't for you, Brother Wang, introducing me to opportunities, I wouldn't be where I am today."
"Look, the watch I just bought. That thing you introduced me to before, it made me a fortune." Li Qiang's eyes lit up, and he patted Wang Hexian's shoulder.
"I've heard about the Wang family's affairs. Don't worry, Brother Wang! As long as I have a meal, you'll have a meal too." Li Qiang's words deeply moved Wang Hexian.
Everyone else wanted to cut ties with him, his best friends treated him like a plague, yet Li Qiang remembered his past kindness.
Li Qiang took Wang Hexian to the state-run restaurant and ordered a table full of delicacies, just like before.
Wang Hexian quickly stopped Li Qiang. "Things are different now. This is enough."
"How can that be? Brother Wang, you used to order at least ten dishes. How can three be enough..." Despite Wang Hexian's protests, Li Qiang insisted on ordering ten dishes.
Wang Hexian was touched. He looked at Li Qiang, who seemed just like before. When the dishes arrived, Li Qiang picked up the first morsel and offered it to him.
"Eat up, Brother Wang!" Li Qiang said with a smile to Wang Hexian.
"You eat too, you eat too..." Wang Hexian felt immense guilt for how he had treated Li Qiang back then. Now that he was down and out, not only was Li Qiang not bullying him, but he was being so kind.
As Wang Hexian was silently moved, Li Qiang, after finishing his meal, wiped his mouth and smiled at Wang Hexian. "Brother Wang, I'll go pay the bill, you continue eating."
"Okay," Wang Hexian nodded and continued eating.
After waiting for a long time and not seeing Li Qiang return, Wang Hexian couldn't help but look up, only to find Li Qiang gone.
Wang Hexian's face changed.
As he got up to sneak away, the waitress, seeing Wang Hexian heading for the door without paying, shouted angrily.
"Catch him, he didn't pay, he's trying to dine and dash!"
"I'm not, I didn't." Wang Hexian's face turned pale as he was grabbed by a few people.
"My friend said he already paid, that's why I'm leaving," Wang Hexian quickly explained.
"Which friend? When did he pay?" the waitress demanded.
"The comrade who came in with me just now. He ordered ten dishes and said he was going to pay!" Wang Hexian hastily explained.
"Nonsense, that comrade said you would pay, that's why I let him go!" the waitress said angrily.
"Trying to dine and dash and then escape? Send him to the police!"
"No, no! I really didn't," Wang Hexian panicked. He quickly fumbled through his pockets. Fortunately, he still had twenty yuan. He quickly handed it to the waitress.
"Hmph, here's your change!" The waitress took the money and finally released Wang Hexian.
Holding the two yuan change in his hand, Wang Hexian's heart turned cold.
Outside the state-run restaurant, he saw Li Qiang leaning against the wall. Wang Hexian's face darkened, and he walked over.
"Li Qiang, how could you do this to me!" Wang Hexian gritted his teeth. "Do you know I was almost sent to the police station!"
"I know!" Li Qiang curled his lips, unconcerned.
"I was waiting here for them to send you to the police station. I didn't expect you to still have money to pay, what a shame."
Li Qiang cast a cold glance at Wang Hexian. "Did you really think that after how you treated me before, after bullying me, I would still fawn over you like I used to?"
"Li Qiang, if it weren't for me, you wouldn't be where you are today..." Wang Hexian roared angrily.
"If it weren't for you, my sister wouldn't have left her home and disappeared."
"If it weren't for you, my father wouldn't have suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and become paralyzed for life."
"If it weren't for you, my mother wouldn't have been so frightened that she lost her sanity."
"Wang Hexian, you owe my family three lives. Did you really think I would let you off the hook? I endured humiliation and stayed by your side for so long, just waiting for the day I could see you fall so I could avenge my family."
Li Qiang looked at Wang Hexian, his eyes like sharp blades, stabbing Wang Hexian piece by piece.
He wished he could skin him alive.
"What do you want to do! Killing is against the law!" A chill ran through Wang Hexian's bones, and he couldn't help but take two steps back.
Li Qiang, however, pressed forward, a cold smile on his face as he approached Wang Hexian...
Li Qiang reached Wang Hexian. Wang Hexian felt that Li Qiang was serious and truly wanted to kill him, so he turned and ran in terror.
Li Qiang let him escape with a cold laugh, only chasing closely behind him.
Wang Hexian ran desperately for a long time, hiding in a deserted alley. After waiting for a while and hearing no sign of Li Qiang, he collapsed on the ground.
Just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief...
"Not running anymore?" Li Qiang's voice sounded right beside Wang Hexian.
Wang Hexian opened his mouth to scream, but Li Qiang raised the brick in his hand and smashed it hard onto Wang Hexian's head.
Wang Hexian instantly fell unconscious.
Li Qiang propped Wang Hexian up, one arm over his shoulder, as if he were a drunk Wang Hexian and he was taking him home. He led Wang Hexian out of the dark alley.
When Wang Hexian woke up again, he found himself in a forest, his clothes stripped off, and his hands tied and hanging from a tree.
Li Qiang was sitting not far away, his body moving rhythmically.
Wang Hexian heard a sound like sharpening a knife. Once he confirmed it was the sound of a knife being sharpened, his face turned deathly pale with fear.
"Li Qiang... I apologize to you, I'll kneel for you, okay? Don't do anything rash! If you kill me, you won't get away with it either!" Wang Hexian begged Li Qiang for mercy.
"When you took advantage of my absence and bullied my sister, did you ever consider the consequences of acting rashly?"
Li Qiang chuckled, his knife-sharpening motion unwavering.
"After you bullied my sister, my father went to your place to discuss it. You had someone beat up my father and verbally insulted him, enraging him to the point of a cerebral hemorrhage. Yet, you abandoned him there without a second thought..."