DLRAS Chapter 14

Chapter 14: He did something that hurt me.

The restaurant Lu Chenlong mentioned was called “Wanghai Restaurant.” It was a century-old establishment in Jincheng, passed down from his great-grandfather’s generation.

On Saturday afternoon, when Chen Wengang arrived, his friend was already busy in the kitchen.

Lu Chenlong, wearing a tall chef’s hat, was preparing and marinating various ingredients, planning to wreak some havoc in the kitchen while there weren’t many customers.

He had a muscular build, his chest muscles bulging against his apron. This was an advantage for a chef, giving him strength when tossing the wok.

“Why are you still so skinny? Can’t you get enough to eat living in a rich family’s house?” Chef Lu grinned and gave orders. “Hurry up and wash your hands. After you’re done, come help—pass me that dark soy sauce.”

In front of him, Chen Wengang was also relaxed. “What’s this? Didn’t you say I only needed to bring my mouth?”

While speaking, he rolled up his sleeves and conscientiously started helping him.

Lu Chenlong stirred the meat in the basin. “Tch, you’re blessed but don’t appreciate it. I’m now unreservedly passing on the secret recipe of our old Lu family’s ‘Wanghai Cookbook’ to you, and you’re not even bowing down in thanks? There are so many people outside waiting to steal my techniques.”

“My, my, now that you’re a boss, you’ve got quite an attitude. Where’s your little brother, Xiao Bao?”

“Grandma Zhou next door is watching him. We’ll call them over when it’s time to eat.”

Wanghai Restaurant was located on Jiangchao Street in the old district, surrounded by dense old buildings inhabited by long-time neighbors. Chen Wengang had come by tram, an old-fashioned one with an antenna, a line that was only preserved here in the old district, partly for tourism.

When he first got off, it felt both familiar and strange, but as he walked, all the memories came alive.

The alleys were still paved with bluestone slabs, with staggered steps and houses at different heights, full of the lively atmosphere of a common neighborhood.

His old home was in this area. As a child, he and Lu Chenlong used to run all over the streets and alleys.

Time seemed to stand still in the old district, as if no matter how much time passed, nothing would change.

Wanghai Restaurant had a decent-sized, but not overly wide, storefront. It was located at the end of an alley, with a small courtyard and a two-story building inside.

Chen Wengang wore a white long-sleeved pullover and light blue jeans. His outfit was simple but clean and fresh.

Lu Chenlong squinted, sizing him up, and said sourly, “If you come a few more times, all the waitresses in the shop will be stolen away by you.”

Chen Wengang held up a stalk of celery, smiling as he confronted him. “Don’t talk nonsense and slander my good name.”

“How is it nonsense? All those young girls asked me for your phone number. I only refused because I told them you were already taken.” Lu Chenlong flexed his arm, admiring his firm biceps. “I thought I wasn’t bad-looking either, so how come none of them are interested in me?”

Chen Wengang slapped the celery down in front of him. “You’re the flower, you’re the one who’s taken.”

Lu Chenlong’s home was in an alley behind, where he lived alone with his younger brother.

The neighbors all knew about his family’s situation. It had been truly difficult for him to get to where he was today.

When Lu Chenlong was young, the restaurant was still in his grandfather’s hands and had a bit of a reputation. His father, however, was a disappointment—a gambler, an alcoholic, a rotten person. His grandfather, disheartened, focused on teaching his grandson to chop vegetables from a young age, only thinking of passing this small inheritance to him.

But when Lu Chenlong was in his teens, his family faced a major crisis. His father, in a gambling frenzy, secretly mortgaged the restaurant to someone else, which angered his grandfather to death. To make matters worse, his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, and the family was penniless, unable to even afford the medical bills.

He was the only pillar of support left in the family. He couldn’t continue his studies and went out to be an apprentice, having to borrow money from everywhere.

At that time, whenever Chen Wengang visited, he would secretly hide a stack of cash and then quietly leave.

At first, Lu Chenlong was very angry and threw the money back at him, but he couldn’t just watch his mother die, so he later called him with red eyes. Besides Chen Wengang, he had naturally borrowed from all the relatives he could. A young man in his teens, he would spend his nights under the lamp, writing and calculating his debts.

Unfortunately, after two years, the cancer spread, and his aunt still passed away.

As for his apprenticeship, Lu Chenlong’s fundamentals were solid, and he did well at first. But when his master heard about his family’s situation, he became reluctant to teach him, afraid that teaching the apprentice would lead to his own starvation. He was also afraid that the handsome young man would seduce his wife, so he found an excuse to fire him.

“Seriously, if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be this boss right now.” Lu Chenlong split open a lobster, its meat white and glistening. He had personally picked it from the market that morning. “A couple of years ago, I couldn’t continue my apprenticeship. After getting kicked out, I was wandering the streets and happened to see this restaurant was up for sale again. It’s my family’s legacy, but I couldn’t afford a single cent…”

Chen Wengang listened quietly.

Lu Chenlong lamented indignantly, “Money is really a damn good thing. With money, you can make ghosts turn millstones; without money, even a hero is stumped. Even if you’re not a hero, who doesn’t need to eat and drink? Who doesn’t get old, sick, and die?”

This was indeed a great truth.

Dinner was at Lu Chenlong’s house. The waiters helped bring the cooked dishes over from the restaurant.

Drunken goose pot, stuffed tofu, lobster in superior broth, steamed leopard coral grouper, eight-treasure winter melon soup—a table full of dishes that were perfect in color, aroma, and taste.

Lu Chenlong wasn’t in a hurry to call his brother to eat. He first pulled Chen Wengang into his room and took out a curled-up notebook, which was almost twice as thick from being flipped through so much. The front part listed his family’s old debts, all of which had been crossed out. He continued to use the back for bookkeeping.

He showed this ledger to Chen Wengang. “You paid to buy back this restaurant, so you’re half the boss. I checked the revenue for the first quarter a couple of days ago, and it’s quite ideal. I’ll give you your dividend later. You can go check the front to see if there are any issues.”

Chen Wengang wasn’t concerned. “I’m not in a hurry. Your family has many expenses, and I don’t have much to spend on usually.”

“What’s due must be given. Even between close brothers, accounts must be settled clearly. Don’t make it so we can’t even be friends.”

Chen Wengang went out, not to check the accounts, but to go to Grandma Zhou’s next door to call them for dinner.

The neighbor, Grandma Zhou, was an old lady who ran a sweet soup shop, which had also been in the area for twenty years. Chen Wengang and his friends used to eat sweet soup at her place when they were kids. When they didn’t have enough money, two of them would share a portion; he often shared with Lu Chenlong.

She had closed her shop early, carrying a few portions of the shop’s cooling dessert in her left hand and holding Lu Chenlong’s younger brother, Xiao Bao, with her right.

Xiao Bao was five this year. He still recognized Chen Wengang and happily threw himself into his arms. “Brother, brother.”

The old lady’s children weren’t around, so she was warmly invited to the table. Three adults and one child made for a lively gathering.

Lu Chenlong’s cooking skills were impeccable. He had inherited some of his grandfather’s true skills and had passed the junior chef exam last year.

Grandma Zhou praised him and was happy for him. “Ah Long is a good kid. He helps me out a lot, has a good character, and is capable. He’s finally made it through the hard times. All that’s left is to find a good girl, start a family, and life will get better from now on.”

During the day, Lu Chenlong complained to Chen Wengang that no girls liked him, but now he started shaking his head. “How could I dare to think that far? You all know my family’s situation. I’m not afraid of being laughed at. It’s better not to drag a girl down.”

Xiao Bao wore a bib, drooling. Lu Chenlong fed him a mouthful of rice, but he didn’t eat it, just grinned at Chen Wengang. “Brother, Wengang, Chen Wengang.”

Lu Chenlong stopped him. “Don’t call adults by their full name!”

Xiao Bao was quiet for half a minute, then giggled foolishly. “Old hag, hehe, dead old hag!”

Lu Chenlong got angry and slapped his hand. “Where did you learn that from? I told you not to shout nonsense! Who taught you to swear at people!”

Xiao Bao didn’t listen. He tended to get excited when there were many people around. He spilled soup all over himself, got hit, and started wailing with his mouth wide open.

Mild intellectual disability.

The pleasant dinner table instantly descended into chaos. Chen Wengang tried to mediate, and Grandma Zhou sighed. “He doesn’t understand. Why did you hit him? How many times have I told you not to hit the child? I’m almost done eating. I’ll take him to wash up. You two continue your chat.”

Chen Wengang watched the old and the young leave through the main door.

Lu Chenlong was worried. “It’s still the same, good days and bad days. Sometimes he seems a bit more sensible, but a few days later, he regresses.”

Chen Wengang remembered some things. “Weren’t you guys doing intervention at a rehabilitation center before? Was it not effective?”

“The rehabilitation center where he used to take classes closed down,” Lu Chenlong explained. “I’ve asked about a few new institutions, but the fees are all unusually high. A treatment cycle costs nearly a hundred thousand. I don’t feel any of them are very suitable.”

“Expensive is expensive, but he still needs treatment. If you need money…”

“Stop right there. I didn’t bring this up to ask you for money, really. The money issue can be solved by tightening our belts; we can earn it. But what about other things? On one hand, it’s expensive; on the other, it’s far, and they require a parent to be with him all day. I have to work and take care of him by myself, how can I manage? For now, he’s just temporarily not attending classes. I’ll look for other options.”

Chen Wengang said no more and clinked glasses with him.

His friend was already trying his best. He couldn’t be blamed for not caring enough for his brother.

If others didn’t know how hard it was to care for a special-needs child, he certainly did.

The Niansheng Foundation had funded projects that included promoting special education, and he had come into contact with many similar families. The needs of every child with problems were like a black hole, only ever taking in effort without any guarantee of hope in return. Many biological parents couldn’t even persist.

Then came marital discord, broken marriages, mutual accusations, abandonment of wives and children…

He had seen too much of it.

The last time he casually mentioned to Zheng Maoxun what he would do after leaving the Zheng Corporation, Zheng Maoxun had thought he was joking.

But in reality, Chen Wengang was definitely going to leave, and he had long thought about where he would go in the future.

Chen Wengang poured the last bit of rice wine for the other. “I’ll help you keep an eye out for a suitable institution too.”

“Let’s not talk about unhappy things.” Lu Chenlong looked outside and asked, “Are you going back to see your old home?”

“I’ll go tomorrow.” Chen Wengang looked down, not paying much mind. “It’s been rented out for a long time. It doesn’t really feel like my home anymore.”

Lu Chenlong said, “Oh. Your uncle rented it out, right? That person—” Ultimately, it wasn’t good to gossip about someone else’s elder, so he changed the subject. “It’s just a house. Like my mom used to nag, always saying, ‘Home is where the people are.’ In the future, you can move out with your Young Master Zheng and live on your own. Buy a new apartment. You won’t buy one here anyway, our area is so old-fashioned.”

Chen Wengang said, “Starting a family is something to consider, but not with him. He’s in the past.”

Lu Chenlong looked at him in surprise, unable to find any trace of post-breakup dejection on his friend’s face.

Chen Wengang was resting his chin on his hand, a faint, almost hazy smile on his face, light and inscrutable.

“Really broke up?”

“Really. He did something to wrong me.”

“What did he do—Oh.” Lu Chenlong cursed. “Did he really get with another woman?”

“Not yet,” Chen Wengang said. “But that’s not the only thing he’s done to wrong me.”

Seeing that he didn’t want to say more, Lu Chenlong didn’t ask further, but happily changed his tune. “It’s good that you broke up. When you were together before, I didn’t dare say much. He’s not a reliable person anyway, just has some stinking money. What does that young master think he is?”

Chen Wengang smiled and clinked glasses with him.

There had always been a strange, antagonistic vibe between Lu Chenlong and Zheng Yucheng. Chen Wengang knew this.

Lu Chenlong only accepted Zheng Yucheng for his sake, while Zheng Yucheng couldn’t even stand the existence of Lu Chenlong as a person.

When Chen Wengang was helping the Lu family, Zheng Yucheng had advised him, saying, “Wengang, I know you value friendship, but it’s not wise to mix money and feelings. Your bond is just from childhood; people change as they grow up. Your upbringing environments have been worlds apart these years. Are you sure you still really know him? Are you sure he’s not deliberately trying to please you?”

Chen Wengang didn’t want to argue with him, so from then on, he never mentioned his friend in front of Zheng Yucheng again.

But in his past life, when Lu Chenlong was once again in urgent need of money because his brother was in the ICU, Zheng Yucheng gave him a million behind Chen Wengang’s back, on the condition that he would stop contacting Chen Wengang.

Chen Wengang never knew about this until he was imprisoned. Later, when he was living with Huo Niansheng, he suddenly received a check for a million.

It was only then that he heard that Lu Chenlong’s brother had long since passed away, unable to be saved. Lu Chenlong had sold the old house, scraped the money together, and sent it all back. He then emigrated abroad as a chef through a skilled worker program. He never returned to his homeland for the rest of his life, and the two never saw each other again.

Xiao Bao, with his hands and face washed clean by Grandma Zhou, pushed the door open and ran back in to play.

He was a little calmer, so the two adults in the room didn’t pay him any more mind, letting him struggle with his toys on the sofa by himself.

Chen Wengang brought the copper teapot to the table and suddenly heard Lu Chenlong shout, “You little rascal, what good are you up to now?”

Before he could react, Lu Chenlong had already lunged forward and snatched Chen Wengang’s phone from his hands.

Chen Wengang’s phone had a pattern lock screen. The child had probably seen him unlock it and had somehow managed to figure it out through random attempts.

Lu Chenlong stuffed the phone into his hand. “Quick, check if he touched anything important.”

Chen Wengang looked at the screen. Nothing important seemed to have been touched.

But it was showing the chat interface with Huo Niansheng. Xiao Bao had just relentlessly sent dozens of messages to Huo Niansheng.

Support me on Ko-fi