Golden Leaves Adorning the Entire City

It's just that Zhao She, this guy...

Lin Yu had a bit of a headache. When it came to Zhao She, Lin Yu genuinely felt wary of him deep down.

On the surface, Zhao She seemed nothing but grateful toward him, without any ill intent. Yet, asking for his help still left Lin Yu feeling uneasy.

The main issue was the overwhelming sense of intimidation he exuded.

Zhao She gave off the vibe of a dangerous venomous snake—whether you were his enemy or his friend, you had to stay a hundred percent alert around him. The moment you let your guard down, he might sink his fangs into you, injecting lethal venom, leaving you to die in some dark, forgotten corner.

So unless he was truly desperate, Lin Yu really didn’t want to turn to Zhao She for help.

As for the third female lead, Qing Mo...

If she wanted to resolve this matter, she’d probably have the easiest time out of the three.

"Money makes the world go round"—that saying wasn’t just empty words!

After some thought, Lin Yu decided to first try the route involving the Black Blood Gang.

After all, it was free labor—getting them to act wouldn’t cost him anything.

If that didn’t work, he could always ask Qing Mo. Getting her to step in shouldn’t take much effort...

Well, maybe a little effort...

And if even that failed, then he’d have no choice but to seek out Zhao She.

There really weren’t any other options.

Stretching lazily, Lin Yu let out a long yawn.

Yesterday afternoon, he hadn’t even made it to bed after getting home before the police called him in—first dealing with the motorcycle assault incident, then answering questions about the hotel fire. By the time all the messy business was settled and he got back home, it was already dark.

And now, at noon, Tang Manman’s nonsense had woken him up again.

He hadn’t slept enough.

Standing up, Lin Yu looked out the window at the snow-covered ground outside. He decided to go home and catch up on sleep—after all, it was Sunday, and there wasn’t anything else to do.

Turning around, he headed to the counter to pay.

But just as he lifted his foot, he paused.

Glancing back at the two nearly untouched cups of coffee on the table, Lin Yu thought for a moment before picking up his own cup and downing it in a few gulps.

After finishing his coffee, adhering to the principle that waste was shameful, he also polished off Tang Manman’s cup, which seemed completely untouched.

Now thoroughly waterlogged, Lin Yu finally left, satisfied, to settle the bill at the counter...

...

As evening fell, the golden sunlight gradually retreated from the room, surrendering the tiny rented apartment—and the entire world—to the darkness.

Lying on his warm little bed, Lin Yu witnessed the entire process of the light fading away.

The sun set, and darkness descended.

In the pitch-black room, Lin Yu lay wide-eyed, bloodshot pupils glaring into the void as he mentally cursed his past self from noon—along with those two damn cups of coffee...

...

On their way home from school, a slightly chubby teenager turned to his best friend and brought up the hottest topic of recent days.

"Hey!"

"Have you heard?"

"Apparently, the most beautiful, youngest, and richest woman in H City has taken a liking to some delinquent with bleached hair from Third High!"

"Now she parks her supercar outside the school gates every day just to talk to that guy!"

"She’s even worse than a hopeless romantic!"

His thick-browed friend scoffed in disbelief, mocking the idea.

"You actually believe that?"

"A wealthy CEO falling for a poor guy is one thing."

"Since when do wealthy CEOs fall for delinquents with bleached hair?"

"Go scroll through any novel app—even fiction doesn’t write stuff like that!"

Seeing his friend’s skepticism, the chubby teen in his school uniform grew flustered, his soft cheeks trembling as he insisted,

"It’s true!"

"That woman’s car is probably still parked outside Third High right now!"

"If you don’t believe me, I’ll take you there to see for yourself!"

With that, he reached out to grab his friend’s arm, ready to drag him to the school gates as proof.

"I’m not going!"

The leaner, thick-browed teen dodged the outstretched hand and retorted irritably,

"I’m not wasting my time on something this stupid!"

Turning away, he naturally walked into a nearby barbershop. Left with no choice, the chubby teen sighed and followed him inside.

As they entered the shop one after the other, the chubby teen eyed his friend’s already-short hair and asked curiously,

"Your hair isn’t even long. Are you really getting a cut now?"

"Temperatures are dropping soon—don’t catch a cold."

In response to his well-meaning reminder, the thick-browed teen rolled his eyes and snapped,

"Who said I’m getting a haircut?"

"Boss!"

"I want a dye job!"

He turned to the barber lounging on the sofa and pointed at his short black hair.

"How much to dye this thing yellow?"

The barber glanced up at the uniformed teen, then went back to scrolling on his phone.

"600."

"Huh?!"

The thick-browed teen’s jaw dropped in shock.

"Single-color dyes are 150! Since when is it 600?"

The barber held his phone in one hand while using the other to tap the cigarette between his lips against an ashtray. Taking a drag, he exhaled smoke and said flatly,

"Other single colors are 150. Yellow is 600."

"Why?!"

"That’s way too expensive! Can’t you make it cheaper?"

The thick-browed teen complained, his pockets far from deep.

"Expensive?"

The barber’s voice rose a pitch as he snorted, cigarette still dangling.

"Yellow dye is sold out citywide right now. My 600 is already a steal."

"That’s the price. No discounts."

"So? You doing it or not?"

Beside him, the chubby teen frantically signaled with his eyes, urging his friend not to be a sucker.

The thick-browed teen shot him a reassuring look before turning back to the barber and declaring firmly,

"Do it."