Four-Faced Buddha [To My Shore] - Chap 72

Chapter 72 Jumping Off a Building (Content has been replaced)
2024-10-13 07:29 Category: Four-Faced BuddhaTurn off the lights
Spring breezes are not always gentle; the one you encounter on the thirtieth floor is much more temperamental than the one on the first floor.

A fierce wind was blowing on the 30th floor of the municipal building.

A young man was lying on the sloping railing, one leg over the edge of the building, his foot dangling in the air, swaying back and forth in the wind.

He craned his neck to look at the man behind him, his face not showing the despair and defeat of someone facing death, but rather anger.

“You Shulang, are you satisfied now that you see me like this?!”

You Shulang, who had just arrived, was a little out of breath. He confirmed his identity with the firefighters at the scene, then walked up to Zhang Chen and stopped about three meters away.

You Shulang ignored Zhang Chen’s anger and instead confirmed the safety of his climbing posture. The railing on the cement platform had an outward tilt, so unless one was determined to die, dying wasn’t so easy.

Having confirmed this, You Shulang’s tense nerves relaxed, and he found a fence not too far from Zhang Chen, leaning his heavy body against it.

He shook a cigarette out of the pack, put it in his mouth, lit it with his back to the wind, and then said, “Whatever it is, come down here and we’ll talk it over.”

Zhang Chen scoffed, “I’d like to have a proper talk with you, but why don’t you answer the phone? Do you know how many times I’ve called you these past few days?!”

In just a few days, You Shulang lost even more weight. His cheeks narrowed, his jaw became sharp, and his expression, like the smoke he exhaled, was elusive and seemed about to dissipate in an instant.

With a gentle breeze, his tone was indifferent: “What benefits did Fan Xiao give you? Is it worth risking your life for him?”

Zhang Chen scoffed: “What benefits? What benefits I get is entirely up to you. You Shulang, I really don’t understand, do you dislike Fan Xiao, or are you simply jealous of my success?”

The cigarette ash scattered in the wind, but You Shulang still habitually tapped his cigarette: “Zhang Chen, so many police officers and firefighters have been waiting for you here. Let’s skip this kind of opening.”

He lifted his thin eyelids: “Tell me clearly and concisely what I can do to satisfy you?”

Zhang Chen was indeed waiting for those words, but after pondering them for a moment, he felt something was off.

He had prepared a lot of groundwork but hadn’t used it yet, and You Shulang shouldn’t have been so forceful and decisive.

“I…” Zhang Chen steeled his heart, “Don’t you know what I’m thinking? It’ll lose its charm if we just talk about it.”

You Shulang’s face showed a slight weariness. He beckoned with the finger holding the cigarette: “Even close brothers keep clear accounts, let alone us. Tell me clearly what I need for you to be satisfied.”

Zhang Chen visibly choked up. He glanced at the rescue workers beside him and said hesitantly, “I need to keep my current job.”

“Hmm,” You Shulang exhaled a puff of smoke, the white smoke quickly dissipating but unable to obscure his dim eyes, “You want me to go back to Fan Xiao’s side, help you win him over, get him to hand over his assets for you to invest, and incidentally make your own pockets overflowing. Is that it?”

A self-deprecating smile slowly spread across You Shulang’s face: “Zhang Chen, I don’t have that much ability. This is just a game that Fan Xiao played when he was bored. I am the toy, and you are just a prop in the game.”

“Do you know why he’s still interested in this game?” The cigarette butt had clear teeth marks. “Because he wasn’t the one who pressed the end button first.”

After taking off his cigarette, You Shulang looked at Zhang Chen: “Do you know how he’s going to continue the game? By finding my weakness.”

After a moment of silence, You Shulang said slowly, “Xiao Chen, in this world, you are my only weakness.”

The sky was not bright, but dark and gloomy. The vastness that stretched out behind him seemed about to swallow You Shulang’s lonely figure.

And in that solitude, a longing, like shattered stars, slowly began to take shape: “Xiao Chen, haven’t you always disliked the cold here? How about we leave this city together?”

“Brother Suan, please.”

A gust of wind made You Shulang’s voice tremble, and when it reached Zhang Chen’s ears, it was like a pebble thrown into a still lake, creating huge ripples.

You Shulang’s slightly reddened eyes were strikingly clear in the boundless darkness of the sky. Zhang Chen’s hand gripping the railing trembled slightly, his lips pale, and after a long while, he managed to utter a dry, hoarse sound: “Brother…”

When has this powerful man ever humbled himself to beg anyone? Not even when he was a boy.

Children from poor families naturally mature early. You Shulang was mature beyond his years, always thinking things through and planning meticulously from a young age. Even when he confronted someone, he rarely came out on the losing end. In high school, he was bullied because his overly assertive personality angered the school bullies. He was cornered in a secluded alley by seven or eight people and beaten almost bloody, but he never uttered a single word of begging for mercy.

When Zhang Chen was 11, You Shulang was 14. That winter, their rented house was suddenly reclaimed, and their family was left homeless. The New Year was approaching, and red lanterns illuminated the snow, but Zhang Chen only felt cold. He carried his bundle and followed behind You Shulang, crying and saying, “Brother, it’s too cold here. I want to go somewhere where there is no winter.”

Everyone thought You Shulang would go to Zhang Chen’s adoptive father for help. After all, that was the only person who could be connected to their family.

You Shulang preferred to work at a dumpling restaurant, rolling out dumpling wrappers until his wrists were so sore he could barely lift them. He earned a few coins and arranged for Zhang Chen and his mother to stay in the most basic inn. He didn’t even ask Wei Linming, who was rumored to have bullied Zhang Chen’s mother and was usually willing to give Zhang Chen a few coins.

But now…