Chapter 44: Small Business

  Before writing this chapter, a friend asked me to give a definition of brotherhood. I thought about it for half a day but couldn't come up with one. After returning home and sitting in front of the computer, my mind was still repeatedly thinking about this question.

  Maybe it was just in an instant, I remembered this sentence.

  We've been crazy together, played together, fooled around together, and hung out together. What are brothers? This is what brothers are.

  Not considering personal gains and losses, not thinking about what kind of returns can be obtained in the future, everything done is for the brothers to live a better life.

  Can bear a knife for brotherhood, can fight for brotherhood, can sacrifice everything for brotherhood.

  The brotherly love is not something everyone can understand, only those who have truly been through thick and thin together with their brothers can comprehend this feeling.

  Nowadays, there are few people who have such feelings. Many people who call each other brothers on the surface actually have ulterior motives in their hearts. The older you get, the fewer friends you have, and the harder it is to make true friends.

  Lao Wei wrote this book, not just to write a story. Perhaps after reading it, everyone thinks that many parts are nonsense. But every word I wrote comes from the heart, and every emotional paragraph is accompanied by the real experience of that time.

  In the past, when writing stories, I would omit real people's names, but this time, I used all the real names of those people in reality, and the events written were all things that had happened or were happening.

  I can write this true story from a fictional perspective, but some things are hard to fabricate, especially the brotherly love.

  Ye Shaofeng, Peng Xiaofei, and Wang Zheng, the combination of these three down-and-out individuals brought about a complete change in the underworld landscape of Luyang City.

  When Peng Xiaofei said he didn't have money to open a restaurant, Wang Zheng suggested that he go home and borrow money from his father, the atmosphere between the three people underwent some subtle changes.

  Peng Xiaofei felt a little uncomfortable in his heart, and to him, his family seemed to be his greatest pain. On the day he left home, he secretly vowed that even if he died outside, he would not return home to beg his father.

  Yè Shǎo Fēng looked at the two of them and said, "Why don't we partner up to do some small business? Opening a restaurant requires hiring a big chef and running around for business licenses, it's all too expensive and exhausting. It would be better to open a billiard hall."

  "Billiard hall? Isn't that outdated? Which kid plays billiards nowadays?" Wang Zheng said.

  "How about that? I saw a billiard hall at the entrance of No. 8 Middle School, and it's doing pretty well. But for some reason, there's a 'for sale' sign on it. If we can pool our money together, we might be able to buy that place and make some profit," said Ye Shaofeng.

  At this time, Peng Xiaofei slowly raised his head and said: "Can it be reliable? How much money does it need to invest?"

  "It's not clear for the time being, let's go take a look at that billiard hall later and see how the boss quotes the price." Ye Shaofeng said.

  "Hey, after working hard outside for a few years, I've managed to save up some money. It's not a lot, but I can scrape together one or two hundred thousand without any issues, right, Fei Ge?" Wang Zheng chuckled and nudged Peng Xiaofei.

  Peng Xiaofei glanced at him and smiled wryly. These two people often joked around together, and no matter what was said, they wouldn't take it to heart. Although just now Peng Xiaofei's old man was mentioned, and Peng Xiaofei's face couldn't quite hold up, but Ye Shaofeng interrupted like this, and quickly, that awkward atmosphere dissipated.

  But it was Ye Shaofeng's small suggestion that led the three people to take a path that was vastly different from what they had imagined.

  A person's fate is like this, what one thinks of is far from keeping up with the changes. Sometimes the path that one thinks of may lead to a completely different place, not the original destination in mind, but it doesn't mean it's not a good destination.

  After work, at more than 5 o'clock, three Jettas from the Security Department went to No. 8 Middle School.

  The entrance of No. 8 Middle School is a wide four-lane highway, opposite which is a row of two-story commercial buildings, mostly small restaurants, as well as a bookstore, a stationery store and an internet cafe.

  The billiard hall they were looking for was also among them.

  A yellow paper was pasted on the glass door of the billiard hall, with two big black characters "Transfer" written in bold brush.

  Pushing open the door and going inside, the air is thick with smoke, there are still a lot of people, not just middle school students, but also some young people who look like they're from the second tier, unclear what they do, playing pool.

  Occasionally burst out with a few abusive words.

  Ye Shao Feng and the other two walked in. Judging from their appearance, they were obviously more mature than the young men inside, and their physiques were also much stronger.

  Ye Shaofeng has muscles, but the loose clothes cover them up. Peng Xiaofei and Wang Zheng, on the other hand, didn't change out of their security uniforms, which were already a size too small, and looked particularly awkward when they came in, with many young hooligans writing about how ridiculous they looked.

  These second-rate young people appear to be arrogant on the surface, but when they see Peng Xiaofei and Wang Zheng, these two big guys who are intimidatingly fierce, passing by them, they don't even dare to breathe.

  Walking up to the counter, a little girl with a lip ring on her lips was playing on the computer. Specifically what she was playing, Ye Shaofeng and others didn't see.

  Ye Shaofeng politely called out to her twice, but the little girl was too engrossed in play and didn't hear him. Even when he did get her attention, she didn't respond to Ye Shaofeng.

  Peng Xiaofei pushed Ye Shaofeng to the side, went to the front of the bar, and slammed his hand on the table, shouting: "I'm asking you! Where's your boss?"

  The little girl seemed startled and looked up. Peng Xiaofei and Wang Zheng suddenly rushed into her eyes.

  "We don't hire security guards here, there's a bar next door that's hiring, you can go there." The girl replied indifferently.

  Wang Zheng rushed over and said: "Don't you understand what people are saying? We're here for your boss! Who the hell is here to apply for a security job, we're here to take over the store!"

  A few words revealed Wang Zheng's former arrogance and overbearingness when he was one of the Four Young Masters in the capital.

  The voice was very loud and attracted the attention of many people. At this time, a middle-aged man in his 40s turned around from a nearby billiard table, put down the cue stick in his hand, furrowed his brow and walked over.

  "Which of you wants to take over this store?" the middle-aged man asked.

  "We two, come over and ask you about the price." Peng Xiaofei said.

  The middle-aged man nodded, looked up and down at the three of them, hesitated for a moment, then said: "Alright, follow me, let's talk upstairs..."