Chapter 52: The People Are Gone, The House Is Empty

Nothing happened overnight. The next morning, Fan Beibei was left in the care of Aunt Zhao, who had the day off. Zhao Fusheng, accompanying Li Yuan, carried a leather bag and left the house.

Zhao’s father wasn’t home; he had gone out early in the morning, no one knew where.

The two didn’t take the bus but hailed a taxi. In Li Yuan’s words, safety came first.

Holding the bag of money, Zhao Fusheng finally caught on—it seemed his parents and Li Yuan had already discussed this. Otherwise, the money wouldn’t have bypassed the bank. Apparently, while he was away, his parents had withdrawn the cash and handed it to Li Yuan.

“Fusheng, I’m so grateful for you,” Li Yuan said softly, looking at him from the car.

She knew well that without Zhao Fusheng, she and her daughter might now be facing who knows what consequences.

Zhao Fusheng chuckled: “Auntie, you’re too kind. There’s still a long way ahead.”

He meant that after Fan Baobao became famous, Li Yuan would have plenty of time to enjoy life. But to Li Yuan, it sounded like he and Fan Baobao would marry, and they’d have many years together.

So Li Yuan nodded and patted Zhao Fusheng’s hand: “Good child. Baobao is lucky to have you. When she graduates, you two should get married.”

“No, no, no. She has her dreams. I can’t hold her back.” Zhao Fusheng shook his head like a rattle-drum. Marrying Fan Baobao? That would be jumping into a pit of fire!

Li Yuan laughed: “You silly boy, always protecting her. Let me tell you, having dreams is a good thing. But dreams and fantasies are different. I’m her mother—don’t I know her? She’s always dreaming of being a star, but she never thinks it through. With her level, being a fifth-tier star would be overestimating her.”

“Besides, the entertainment world is so chaotic. Why mess around? Graduate quickly, get married, and give me a grandchild. I’ll take care of the baby for you.” Li Yuan happily daydreamed.

She completely missed Zhao Fusheng’s twitching mouth.

“Sis, is this your son-in-law?”

The taxi driver, a talkative fellow, butted in after hearing their conversation.

Li Yuan nodded: “Yes, the two have been close since childhood. After college…”

Perhaps in a good mood, she even chatted with him.

Zhao Fusheng let out a long breath, listening to Li Yuan and the driver chat, watching the cityscape outside the window.

He understood Li Yuan’s mood. Though the money was about to be spent, she was now completely different from her earlier despair. People were like that—with hope came the will to live.

The taxi soon stopped near Hanjia Lane. After paying and getting out, Zhao Fusheng, carrying the suitcase, said to Li Yuan, “It’s just ahead.”

Li Yuan nodded: “I know. I’ve been here once before.”

Hearing this, Zhao Fusheng smiled bitterly. He recalled that Fan Jian had dragged his family down more than once due to gambling. No wonder Li Yuan, his wife, and Fan Baobao, his daughter, were utterly disappointed in him.

Even blood relatives, if disappointed too many times, would grow cold-hearted.

Zhao Fusheng was just an ordinary person. He had no ambition to rule the world. He, too, longed for a peaceful life. If Fan Jian would just disappear quietly, fine. But if he dared to disturb their peaceful days, Zhao Fusheng wouldn’t hesitate to use ruthless means to teach this cheap father-in-law a lesson.

The two walked into the alley together. But just as they reached the entrance of the game arcade, Li Yuan froze in place.

Zhao Fusheng, who had already guessed the answer in his heart, quickly asked, "Auntie, what's wrong?"

"Look, it seems to be closed here." Li Yuan said to Zhao Fusheng with a wry smile.

In Zhao Fusheng's line of sight, a seal was pasted on the door of the original game arcade, clearly indicating that the place was now empty.

Knowing in his heart that this was most likely related to Chen Shijie's undercover work, Zhao Fusheng said nothing, but a look of shock appeared on his face at just the right moment: "This, what do we do now?"

"Yeah, the man's run off, who do we pay the money to?"

Li Yuan was also a bit panicked, mainly afraid of the loan shark's interest rate of nine out and thirteen in, which was truly unaffordable.

"Let me go ask around." Zhao Fusheng comforted Li Yuan and turned to inquire at a nearby restaurant.

Soon, he walked back with a strange expression and said to Li Yuan with a smile, "Auntie, I reckon those people won't be back anytime soon."

"What's wrong?" Li Yuan was puzzled.

Zhao Fusheng smiled and said, "A few days ago, a large group of police came here and sealed the place off. Apparently, the boss has already fled to the border."

"That serious?" Li Yuan said in surprise. It was just a game arcade, no need for such exaggeration.

Zhao Fusheng shrugged: "Who knows? The neighbors don't know either. They only heard that the boss's crime was serious, and all his手下 have disappeared."

"Then we..." For a moment, Li Yuan was at a loss.

Zhao Fusheng thought for a moment: "How about this, let's go home first. There's no solution to this in the short term, and staying here won't help."

Li Yuan pondered and felt that Zhao Fusheng made sense, so the two walked out of the alley.

When they reached the mouth of the alley, Zhao Fusheng unexpectedly saw someone he hadn't thought would be there.

"Dad, why are you here?"

Seeing his own father getting out of a van, Zhao Fusheng blurted out.

"Heh, I was afraid you might run into trouble, so I came to check." Father Zhao had a simple smile on his face, but Zhao Fusheng clearly saw that there were at least five or six middle-aged men about his father's age in the van, all looking calm and expressionless.

If he remembered correctly, they were all his father's comrades-in-arms.

"Nothing much. Those guys were caught by the police, and I heard the boss has fled to the border." Li Yuan repeated the news Zhao Fusheng had gathered. Father Zhao frowned, glanced deep into the alley, gritted his teeth, and said, "Let's go, we'll talk when we get back."

Watching his father turn and get into the van, Zhao Fusheng suddenly felt that he had never truly seen his father clearly before.

In his memory, his aging father liked to nag him about this and that, and back then he always pretended not to care, but now thinking back, it sent a chill down his spine.

Deep in his memory, his father once said to him after getting drunk: "What lies buried beneath the earth is not just human corpses, but also ambition."

Ambition?

Zhao Fusheng now suddenly felt that perhaps, if not for some reasons, his father might have once wanted to accomplish something great.

But by now, the ambition buried deep in his chest might only be to own a fruit shop that could support the whole family.