It's Still Happy to Be a Good Person

Young Master Cao was leaving.

The news spread like wildfire…

Even the neighborhood committee got involved.

Several aunties came to inquire about the situation. Though the folks in Jiangbei didn’t hold any official positions, Cao Cheng was their "spiritual leader" after all.

A true hero among men.

Naturally, he drew more attention.

Later, they learned he was only going to Zhonghai for the New Year and would return—though no one knew exactly when.

At that, the aunties stopped prying.

Still,

Young Master Cao was a man of principle.

He made sure to inform everyone he knew, including the mahjong-playing aunties.

He even visited his newly adopted grandmother twice.

Not that he had sought this out—last month, during the old lady’s birthday celebration, her children and granddaughter Lingling had returned, and Cao Cheng was invited. The old lady, overjoyed, insisted on adopting him as her grandson.

And so,

Against his will, he gained a grandmother and a little sister.

(Snort—I know what you’re thinking, but a true hero—yours truly, Ah Cao—won’t allow such dirty thoughts. Pfft!)

Before leaving, he also bid farewell to Director Li.

The people of Jiangbei relied on his support.

That’s the kind of meticulous person Young Master Cao was—he covered all his bases.

He even found an excuse to visit Kuang Long and Meng Hu at their turf and beat them up again.

Kuang Long was numb at this point.

After finally recovering for a month, just as the trauma was fading… here we go again?

They’d been thrashed so many times these past months.

By now, Kuang Long had given up on his dream of apprenticing under Cao Cheng—the man clearly wanted nothing to do with them.

"Bro!!"

"When will this end?!"

Meng Hu lay on the ground, whimpering.

Beside him, Kuang Long sprawled out, staring blankly at the chandelier overhead.

The crystal lights were beautiful.

But Kuang Long wondered why they wouldn’t just fall and put him out of his misery.

Damn it…

Sure, he was a thug.

But did that mean he deserved this humiliation?

Even he had rights!

He’d considered calling the cops for protection more than once.

In all the novels he’d read, even the cannon fodder didn’t suffer this much.

Just kill me already, will you?

Why the torture?

Oh, because you’re the protagonist? Big deal!

"Bro…"

"Let’s just leave. We can make it anywhere. Getting beaten up every other day, changing hideouts twice—we don’t even get a word in. I’ve had enough." Meng Hu sat up, fuming, though his eyes betrayed his cowardice.

Kuang Long stayed silent.

Meng Hu pressed on, "Bro, they say a change of scenery brings new life. If this keeps up, even if we don’t die from the beatings, we’ll end up with incurable mental issues."

Yeah.

Why not leave?

A spark of hope flickered in Kuang Long’s eyes.

He jerked upright, hissing at the pain in his ribs.

"Where do we go?"

"How about Zhonghai?"

"Why Zhonghai?"

"Our uncle’s there, right? At least we’d know someone. Plus, Zhonghai’s developed—full of foreigners. I heard the clubs there are packed with foreign babes. Bro, I wanna ride… horses. You in?"

"You little—"

Kuang Long smacked the back of his head. "Damn it, now you’ve got me excited too."

"Heh—"

The brothers sat on the floor, grinning like idiots.

Finally…

Kuang Long declared, "Let’s go! You handle the prep—you know what to do?"

Meng Hu nodded. "Sell what we can, pack what we need. Any underlings who wanna come, bring ’em. The Kuang Long-Meng Hu Brotherhood will conquer Zhonghai! Bro, you’ll be Xu Wenqiang, and I’ll be Ding Li!"

Another smack. "Ding your ass! You plotting to betray me? Steal my Feng Chengcheng?"

"Nah, bro, that’s just the drama plot. I mean we’re gonna strike it rich!"

"You better mean it. Otherwise, blood or not, I’ll beat you too."

"Bro… can you rub some ointment on me first? It hurts."

After their seventh beating, the brothers finally resolved to flee Sanjiang City—far from that "demon."

As the saying goes:

The sky’s vast for birds to soar; the sea’s wide for fish to leap.

With wings spread, the eagle conquers miles; the mighty carp rides the waves.

The Kuang Long-Meng Hu Brotherhood—growing stronger, reaching new heights!

……

……

February.

The New Year approached.

Every household bustled with preparations.

Meanwhile, Cao Cheng shouldered his bag, stepped onto the platform, and embarked on his journey—alone.

Lingling saw him off.

Though reluctant, she’d wanted to join, using Ren Yuege as an excuse.

But with the holidays nearing, a long trip was out of the question.

Before boarding, they embraced.

Lingling buried her face in his chest, secretly inhaling his scent.

Big bro’s smell.

As intoxicating as ever!

Cao Cheng patted her back.

Then quickly pulled away.

What’re you sniffing?

I’ve only got so much scent to go around. You take it all, what’s left for others?

Greedy little thing.

"Bro, after New Year’s… come visit me in the capital if you can." Her bright eyes shimmered with hope.

"Definitely." Cao Cheng ruffled her hair, agreeing without hesitation.

Before, such promises were empty.

Now, with their bond as family, it was different.

Besides, he might actually have business in the capital.

Once he cashed out from the stock market, Cao Cheng planned to start companies, invest, even dabble in film—plenty of reasons to travel.

Goodbyes.

Departure.

As the train pulled away, the city flickered past, stirring an indescribable homesickness in Cao Cheng’s heart.

……

Not far from the soft sleeper cabin, in the hard sleeper section…

Kuang Long had his lackeys stow their luggage.

The group crowded onto the lower bunks,

packed shoulder-to-shoulder.

Eight underlings had chosen to follow the brothers on their "great venture."

Meng Hu gazed out the window, watching the city recede, a grin spreading across his face.

Finally, freedom.

No more beatings!

Damn it—

This was all Ms. Zhou’s fault! If not for her, would they have crossed paths with that monster?

Without that, would they have gotten pummeled monthly?

Sniff… last month alone, three beatings.

The guy’s insane!

His freshly fixed teeth were already loose again. One more hit, and his front teeth would be gone.

"Bro!"

Meng Hu beamed. "We’ve escaped the devil’s den!"

Kuang Long didn’t quite agree with "devil’s den"—after all, they’d only been beaten, not actually harmed.

If Cao Cheng had wanted them dead, it’d have been easy.

So really,

it felt more like… a twisted game.

Still,

he didn’t correct his brother.

Secretly, though, he felt relief—and a tinge of regret.

He’d genuinely wanted to learn from Cao Cheng, to master his "arts."

How often does life offer such chances?

Missing this, he’d regret it in old age.

But alas,

the man wanted nothing to do with small-time thugs like them. Getting beaten was practically a privilege.

Kuang Long recalled a line from a novel: Fate denies me!

"Uh, excuse me… I think that’s my bunk." A man with glasses eyed the rowdy gang.

A group of ten thugs instantly turned their gazes toward him.

The man with glasses knew better than to cause trouble. "It's all yours now!" he said before turning to leave.

"Hold on."

Kuang Long stood up. "Bro, this lower bunk is yours. We’re just sitting here for a bit—we’ll give it back soon."

When you're away from home, it's best not to stir up trouble.

The man with glasses nodded. "Thanks, thanks."

"No problem. When you're out in the world, folks ought to help each other out."

Kuang Long felt his mood lift instantly—doing a good deed really did brighten the day.

Turns out, being a decent person felt pretty damn good.

"Bro, why even bother being polite with him? I’d just knock him out with one punch—"

Whack!

Kuang Long smacked the back of his little brother’s head. "You dumbass! What the hell’s wrong with you? Don’t you know how to keep a low profile when you’re outside?"

He then glared at the rest of his crew.

"Listen up—when we get to Zhonghai, all of you better stay in your damn lanes. Until we’ve made our mark, keep your heads down and don’t go causing trouble."

"Got it? If any of you screw this up, don’t expect me to go easy on you."