Old Fox Friends from the Past

The staircase echoed with the footsteps and laughter of the young boys and girls. Lin Mo followed behind them, looking at their backs as a strong sense of déjà vu welled up in his heart.

He remembered that on this exact day in his previous life, at this very time, he had also followed Fang Jun up this somewhat dim staircase.

Therefore, he knew exactly who would be on the roof.

The entrance to the rooftop was an iron door, which was currently ajar, leaving a narrow gap.

"Huh?"

Fang Jun stopped in his tracks, his brows instantly knitting together. "Who left the door open again?"

Muttering to himself that he needed to add a lock here later, he pushed the iron door wide open.

The rooftop of the self-built house was quite spacious, as it needed to serve the function of drying goods and clothes in the sun.

On the other side of the rooftop, four boys were sitting in a slouching manner.

A few plastic stools, a floor littered with sunflower seed shells, and several bottles of drinks that didn't look very cold made up their crude base for watching the dragon boats.

The noise from the iron door brought their idle chatting to an abrupt halt.

Four pairs of eyes shot over in unison.

Sure enough, it was those familiar faces. Lin Mo's eyes remained calm and unrippled.

He had already seen them with his divine sense while coming up the stairs just now.

However, seeing them with his own eyes now still felt somewhat different.

The gazes of the four boys first landed on Fang Jun and An Yuexin, who had opened the door. After a brief pause, their eyes bypassed the two boys and accurately locked onto the three girls behind Lin Mo.

Especially Chu Miaomiao, who was following beside Jiang Yunlu.

Today, Chu Miaomiao was wearing a loose pink shirt over a pure white T-shirt. Her original intention was to cover up a bit, but unfortunately, the fabric of the T-shirt was ultimately too honest.

Although white wasn't particularly figure-hugging, the T-shirt was still propped up high, revealing an eye-catching curve.

The expressions in the four boys' eyes instantly changed, shifting from simple observation to undisguised aggression.

They exchanged glances with each other. One of them, a tall, skinny boy with a somewhat mischievous appearance resembling a Monkey, stood straight up from his stool.

He lazily stretched his back and spoke to Fang Jun, who was at the very front, his voice carrying a hint of slickness.

"Bro, do you guys live here too?"

The words were directed at Fang Jun, but his restless eyes kept sweeping back and forth over the girls behind Lin Mo, lingering heavily on Chu Miaomiao a few times.

This sticky, leering gaze made Jiang Yunlu, who bore the brunt of it, furrow her delicate brows slightly, a trace of displeasure surfacing on her face.

However, she didn't lash out; she merely subconsciously shifted half a step toward Lin Mo.

With him around, she felt an inexplicable sense of security.

Meanwhile, Chu Miaomiao shrank half her body behind Jiang Yunlu, her small hands tightly gripping the hem of Jiang's clothes, her knuckles turning somewhat white.

As for Xie Yuling, she never bothered to hide her emotions, especially toward this kind of person. She directly raised her eyes with a cold face, her icy glare meeting theirs like a knife.

"I am the landlord."

Fang Jun took a step forward, blocking most of their line of sight. He raised his chin, his eyes turning cold, and the interrogative aura of a landlord instantly emanated from him.

"You guys, which floor and what room number?"

Lin Mo's eyes remained completely placid, but the memories of his previous life surged forth like a tide.

Zhao Dezhu, nicknamed Zhuzi, also known as Monkey, was the most active one among these four.

In his previous life, when these guys saw the solitary trio of Lin Mo and his two friends, they hadn't caused any trouble. Instead, they warmly invited them to watch the dragon boats together, and that was how they had gotten to know each other.

Lin Mo remembered very clearly that these people had all come to Yangcheng to make a living. They talked a big game about building a successful career, but in reality, they were just drifting through life.

And it was from the moment he met these people that he began his step-by-step descent into degeneracy.

Or rather, these guys were the very first bad influences Lin Mo had ever befriended.

He had gradually mixed with them and slowly fallen into ruin.

From playing billiards and eating late-night snacks at the beginning, to later following them in and out of those dimly lit foot massage parlors, wasting his time in smoke-filled private rooms.

A large part of his youth, the years he should have spent striving, was ruined at the hands of these so-called friends.

Of course, he himself was also at fault.

To put it bluntly, among all his bad companions, these four people in front of him were the ones who led Lin Mo down that path.

At this moment, upon hearing Fang Jun's "I am the landlord," the slick smile on Zhao Dezhu's face faltered slightly, catching the dissatisfaction in the other party's tone.

He stiffened his neck and spread his hands in a matter-of-fact manner. "I'm the tenant of room 301. I assume the rooftop isn't off-limits, right?"

These words carried a bit of a sting, clearly implying his belief that Fang Jun had brought a few pretty girls up here with the intention of monopolizing this prime spot.

Fang Jun was so angered by his attitude that he laughed.

Heh, quite arrogant, aren't we?

He wasn't in a hurry to lash out. Instead, he slowly took out his phone, unlocked it, and opened a memo app.

"The tenant of room 301."

He muttered to himself as his finger scrolled across the screen, looking exactly like someone going door-to-door to check the water meters.

After all, rent, electricity, and water bills weren't things you could just ignore once the money was paid.

Proper procedure required giving people a receipt.

The atmosphere froze for a moment. The three buddies behind Zhao Dezhu also became a bit restless; they hadn't expected the other party to actually have a tenant list.

"Found it."

Fang Jun lifted his eyelids, the light from the phone screen illuminating his face.

"Zhao Dezhu, Mr. Zhao, right?"

Zhao Dezhu's face looked a bit ugly, but he still bit the bullet and nodded.

"That's me. What about it?"

"Nothing." Fang Jun put away his phone and said in a flat tone, "The rooftop is indeed a public area, and tenants can certainly use it. However, first, pay attention to safety and don't get too close to the railing. Second..."

He paused, his gaze bypassing Zhao Dezhu to land on the mess they had made on the ground.

"Mind the hygiene. Please take your littered trash with you when you leave."

Following Fang Jun's line of sight, everyone looked over.

Around those few stools, sunflower seed shells and peanut shells were scattered all over the floor. Leaving it like that really wasn't very appropriate.

Zhao Dezhu took a deep breath and didn't retort. He simply nodded. "Fine, we'll clean it up."

Fang Jun nodded and led his group toward the other side.

However, those few guys still turned their heads to stare at Lin Mo's group.

This was the advantage of the rooftop being large enough. Standing at a high vantage point, the crowds and the dragon boats down in the river creek could be seen clearly.

"How about it? I told you this was the best viewing platform."

Xie Yuling actually took the rare initiative to speak up.

"Indeed. If it were a spot by the river creek, it would be very hard to grab."

Jiang Yunlu looked at the dense crowd of heads on the ground and the dragon boats being prepared at the other end of the river creek.

She couldn't help but ask, "So rowing dragon boats is this lively? This is actually my first time seeing it. Lin Mo, look, that bridge is packed with people. Won't it collapse?"

"Don't worry, that's an old bridge. It's very sturdy." Lin Mo's memory could confirm that the bridge was indeed very solid.