“A bowl of shredded pork noodles.”

“A bowl of large intestine noodles.”

“A bowl of braised beef noodles with large intestine, vegetarian chicken, shredded pork, egg, dried tofu, and noodles.”

“…”

The three of them found a seat in the noodle shop. The location of the noodle shop was very remote, far from the main road, and the sign was tattered. However, the aroma of the noodles could be smelled from a distance.

It was already past ten o’clock at night, and the entire noodle shop only had one table, which was occupied by Lin Qiye and his companions. They chose to sit at a small table at the entrance of the noodle shop, rather than inside the dimly lit storefront.

In the quiet and dim alley, the faint light from the kitchen mixed with the colorful neon lights from the adult store next door, casting a glow on the gray-green tabletop. In this bustling city, it had its own unique charm.

“Are you saying we came to a place like this to eat noodles?”

Baili Pangpang looked around and leaned in to whisper to Lin Qiye.

“With our current situation, can I take you to a fancy hotel?” Lin Qiye rolled his eyes. “We have to choose a place like this corner where no one comes, so we can have a peaceful meal.”

“I see. You’re thinking ahead.”

“And my money is only enough to treat you guys to noodles here.”

“Don’t worry, although the storefront doesn’t look great, the noodles are absolutely top-notch,” Lin Qiye added.

Before long, three steaming bowls of noodles were placed on the small table. In the late night, the rich aroma of the noodles seemed so plain yet so amazing.

“Boss, how much is it in total?” Lin Qiye took out his wallet.

“Shredded pork noodles are 10 yuan, large intestine noodles are 12, and this young man’s… 42 yuan, a total of 64 yuan,” the boss said with a smile, reaching out his hand.

Lin Qiye’s hand suddenly paused in mid-air.

“He’ll pay for his own.” Lin Qiye took out a twenty and two one-yuan coins from his wallet, handed them to the boss, and then pointed at Baili Pangpang.

Baili Pangpang was taken aback. “Qiye, didn’t you say you were treating me…”

“I changed my mind.”

“… Can you guys accept credit cards here?” Baili Pangpang hesitated.

In the end, Cao Yuan took out a crumpled fifty-yuan note and paid for Baili Pangpang’s noodles. In exchange, Baili Pangpang would cover his food and accommodation for the next few days.

It wasn’t that Lin Qiye was stingy. He had only brought fifty yuan with him on this trip, thinking it would be enough for noodles. He didn’t expect…

Slurp!

As they buried their heads in the noodles, they discussed the battle they had just experienced.

“So, you were ambushed directly? They accurately blasted the 90th floor?” Lin Qiye frowned after listening to their descriptions.

“Yeah, can’t you see I’m still wearing a bath towel?” Baili Pangpang pointed to the tattered towel, feeling both amused and distressed. “But they must have used some kind of large-scale psychic power, not conventional weapons.”

“To cause that kind of power, they must be at least at the ‘Chuan’ level. Your strategy of jumping off the building to escape was correct. Once they catch sight of you, you won’t be able to escape and will only be drawn into the instructors’ battle,” Lin Qiye analyzed.

“You’re too conspicuous. Staying in a hotel like that requires registration, and anyone with ill intentions can easily find out your whereabouts,” Cao Yuan interjected.

“I… I’m just used to it. When I was in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, I stayed in even better hotels,” Baili Pangpang mumbled.

“This is Cangnan, not your Baili family’s territory.”

“But I’ve been through assassination attempts a thousand times, at least eight hundred times. This level of assassination is nothing,” Baili Pangpang waved it off nonchalantly.

Cao Yuan shrugged. “It seems that being a rich young man is not that easy.”

As they were talking, four more people walked in from outside.

“Brother Shen… we’ve had noodles for two meals in a row. Are we having noodles again tonight?”

“What do you know? Noodles are a specialty of Cangnan. It’s rare to come here, so we have to have a few more meals,” Shen Qingzhu said as he walked in with Deng Wei, Li Jia, and Li Liang, acting all high and mighty. Even before they arrived, they were already speaking loudly:

“Boss, four bowls of clear soup noodles.”

“Oh, it’s you guys again? You’ve had clear soup noodles for two meals in a row, and you’re having it again?” The boss was surprised to see the four of them.

“Yes.”

Shen Qingzhu walked to the storefront and, upon seeing the three people sitting at the table enjoying their noodles, he was taken aback.

“You guys?”

“Oh, the big shot is here for noodles too?” Baili Pangpang greeted Shen Qingzhu with a mouthful of noodles.

Lin Qiye and Cao Yuan also nodded in greeting.

Although they didn’t have much interaction on regular days, they were still comrades who had gone through six months of hell together.

Shen Qingzhu grunted and sat down at the table next to Lin Qiye, then looked at the fragrant noodles in front of them and licked his lips.

Gurgle.

Someone swallowed hard, the sound particularly clear in the quiet alley.

Shen Qingzhu turned to look at the three followers, who all lowered their heads in silence. He seemed to have thought of something and turned to look at Lin Qiye. “By the way, are you okay from the injuries you sustained in the car earlier?”Lin Qiye shook his head, “It’s nothing.”

Shen Qingzhu hummed in acknowledgment, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke up, “Back then… thank you. If you hadn’t blocked those fragments, we all would have been injured.”

“When did you become so polite, Brother Zhu?” Baili Pangpang asked with suspicion.

“Fatso, I’ve always been clear about debts of gratitude and grudges. How is that being polite?” Shen Qingzhu glared at Baili Pangpang and then turned to Lin Qiye, slowly saying,

“I know this vacation is definitely not going to be simple. If you have any difficulties, you can tell me. Considering our comradeship, I’ll definitely help if I can.”

Lin Qiye’s eyebrows raised, and a thought suddenly surfaced in his mind.

“In that case, I do actually have a business proposition to discuss with you,” Lin Qiye said.

“What?”

Lin Qiye pointed at Baili Pangpang and said, “During the vacation, protect him closely.”

Everyone present, including Baili Pangpang, was taken aback.

“Him?” Shen Qingzhu’s gaze fell on Baili Pangpang, his eyebrows slightly furrowing.

“As an exchange, he will pay you a protection fee of one thousand yuan per day. How about that?” Lin Qiye revealed his next sentence.

Shen Qingzhu’s body shook, he stared into Lin Qiye’s eyes, pondering something…

After a long while, he slowly said:

“Deal.”

Then, he pointed at his three followers, “But this deal only includes me; the three of them are not part of it.”

“Agreed.”