"Opportunity comes only once, I can guarantee that one of you will not have to suffer."
The children showed no reaction, only incessantly rubbing their little hands, bruised and darkened by the ice and snow, and their little feet pressing onto the icy surface. Among the twenty-three children, not one understood what the bald, short man was exactly saying, except for the associates with knives hanging from their waists.
Being able to follow this Seventh Uncle is a blessing not achievable in several lifetimes!
Among these twenty-three children, one was destined to stand out, because Seventh Uncle was here, this was the common thought in the hearts of all the associates present.
But not a single child moved, except for the one who fainted.
"Since no one is speaking, we’ll just wait here. Without anyone volunteering, we can only wait for the survival of the fittest."
Thus, Seventh Uncle, wearing a fox fur coat whiter than snow, stood with a group of children stripped of their clothes in the snowy field, and savored watching each child faint one by one, his pair of iron balls constantly twirling in his hand. Although playing with jade stone balls was all the rage, he still favored these iron balls made from solid cast iron.
Until the iron balls in his hands warmed up from the heat of his hands, and among the children lined up in front of him in the snow, only one child was still standing.
As soon as the words were spoken, the only standing child immediately fell to the ground, inspected by someone, left with only a cold body and a nearly stopped heartbeat.
Liu Zhiming, the first disciple of Seventh Uncle, was said to be his closed-door disciple.
Whether he was actually the closed-door disciple, no one knew for sure. Anyway, Seventh Uncle suddenly died when Liu Zhiming turned of age at eighteen, leaving behind a mess and an unfinished grand undertaking.
Seeing this pale-faced college student standing before her, even though Zhang Ling’er was infuriated, she certainly wouldn’t unleash it on him.
The person who provoked her anger was those big men with beards, not the spectacled college student in front of her.
"Are you going to move or not?"
Liu Zhiming pulled out a business card from his pocket and said, "I am Liu Zhiming, if fate wills it, I will surely visit the mountain in the future."
Seeing that Zhang Ling’er did not accept the card, Liu Zhiming handed it to the little monk. The little monk looked bitterly at it, glanced at Zhang Ling’er—since she couldn’t accept it, he definitely couldn’t either—but considering the bespectacled benefactor seemed like a gentle person, perhaps not the same kind as those men.
The little monk was quite conflicted.
However, there happened to be someone in the crowd who wasn’t conflicted at all.
"Wow, turns out you are a manager. If I ever run into trouble, I’ll rely on you, and then Manager Liu better cover for me."
It’s no wonder that outsiders’ opinions about Ye Tian revolved around the phrase "no shame," as this guy’s attitude toward people and matters was consistently unilateral, not leaving any leeway; seeing him wrap his arm around the man’s neck as if they were truly good friends.
Liu Zhiming didn’t mind and smiled, saying, "Sure thing, sure thing. We’re brothers, my phone number is on the card, just give me a call when needed."
Ye Tian squinted and smiled, "Indeed a straightforward person."
It was just a brief encounter, and while the eight or nine men behind him were glaring menacingly at the little monk and Zhang Ling’er, it was clear that they were quite fearful of the person in front of them, not just because of a slap.
Liu Zhiming waved to the group behind him, then bowed to Ye Tian and the little monk, seeing that Zhang Ling’er didn’t turn back, he led his men away without further ado. As the onlookers saw the scene dissipate, they all scattered, many feeling disappointed for not having witnessed a fight.
"How can you be so foolish! He curses at you and you don’t curse back; you really are foolish to death!"
Zhang Ling’er saw the crowd disperse, flicked the little monk’s head, apparently not fully satisfied, then flicked his smooth head a couple more times. The little monk grimaced in pain but did not dodge, making Zhang Ling’er shake her head and glare at him.
"Sister, the clothes over there are almost sold out."
Zhang Ling’er no longer bothered with the little monk and, with another glare, hurriedly ran back to a stall to haggle with the stall owner.
"Hey, it turns out this little monk really knows how to cherish fragility."
The little monk watched as Ye Tian approached with a playful smile, sudden redness coloring his cheeks, unable to speak. He thought his eloquence was far inferior to his sister and even more so compared to Ye Tian, who had fought alongside him before. He simply kept silent.
Seeing the monk silently chanting Buddha’s verses, Ye Tian also found it dull. Watching his embarrassed expression, he couldn’t bear to tease him further, only looking around to see if there was something interesting elsewhere. While looking, he inadvertently spotted the matron of Two Zen Temple.
Since it was a temple fair, naturally, one would visit the temple. However, for this family, who had been at the temple since childhood, they were already too familiar with these things; they didn’t think the earthly temple was much more impressive than their Grand Hall. Whether seeking marriage fortunes or wealth fortunes, the results were minimally effective at best, and at most, it was farmers praying for good crops. But Zhang’s Mom didn’t think it was worthwhile running from the mountain to the foot of the mountain for this. In her heart, the Earth God should stick to his soil, her family’s small garden of one-third of an acre was in the backyard of that temple on the mountain; if praying was required, it should be directed to the Mountain God.
In fact, with the incense money left over, the mother and daughter were just waiting to buy some clothes for themselves.
This little calculation really couldn’t escape the simple-minded little monk. When Ye Tian asked about the two women, the little monk only smiled without speaking, making Ye Tian almost think the monk was cleverly pretending to be foolish, only realizing later when he saw the monk paying for the incense himself, that the guy was genuinely foolish.
Meeting with Zhang Liang was when Ye Tian passed by the temple gate of the Earth God Temple.
Dressed neatly in a Zhongshan suit, he did look a bit heroic. However, in Ye Tian’s eyes, it was merely a destiny of a chess piece; when the time came, it naturally had to be discarded. No one would place a useless chess piece on their chessboard, as it wastes space, effort, and time. The best strategy would be to discard it.
Thinking so, Ye Tian even felt somewhat sorry for him, constantly putting the national interest at the highest priority, but in the end, it was all for naught.