Otherworldly Merchant

In the following period, I didn’t come across any dangerous case. Things remained like this until the end of July.

As Li Meng’s summer vacation had just begun, Li Mazi came up with an idea. “Being idle here doesn’t beat taking a vacation with me. What do you say?”

I called Yin Xinyue to ask for her opinion, but before I could even mention the trip, she urged me to pack up my things. We were heading to Sanya, in the Hainan province.

I was surprised. “What’s going on?”

“Li Mazi and Ru Xue invited us to go with them. It’s off-season right now, so I don’t have many things to do. I agreed to their suggestion.”

Is Li Mazi coming to terms with Chu Chu’s death? Will he finally walk out of the darkness and accept Ru Xue?

I felt happy for him, from the bottom of my heart.

There wasn’t much to pack, and I mainly took cash and credit cards before going to Li Mazi’s place. Then, the five of us got into his car and headed toward Sanya.

Thinking about the sky, the blue sea, and the girls in bikini, I began to hate the fact that I couldn’t get to the beach right this instant.

After two days on the road, we finally entered Hainan’s territory.

However, my yearning for the beach was somewhat worn out after the tiresome trip. I just wanted to check into a nice hotel and rest for a whole day before we got back on the road to Sanya.

I booked the hotel rooms through a mobile application, then used the GPS to find the hotel.

Unfortunately, roughly two kilometers away from our destination, Li Mazi got distracted and bumped the rear of a car moving ahead of us.

I immediately had a headache. This was going to be troublesome.

I hurried to alight to check how bad things were.

A man got off the Passat in front of us. He didn’t even look at us or check his car; he simply started yelling, “You bastards! Do you even know how to drive?! This road is so big, how did you even hit my car?! You did it on purpose, didn’t you?!”

His shouting got my blood boiling right away. What’s wrong with him? No one here wanted a car crash! 

 I was already preparing to quarrel with him.

However, before I could start, Li Mazi screamed in surprise, “Qin Yu?! Is that really you?”

It seemed they knew each other.

The man called Qin Yu was confused. He lifted his head and glanced at Li Mazi. Eventually, he recognized him. “Li Dog Balls? It’s Li Dog Balls!”

I was speechless. I never thought that Li Mazi would have such a nickname.

Li Mazi laughed heartily. “It’s really fate that I’ve run into you on such a big road. I guess we wouldn’t have met each other if I hadn’t hit your car.”

“Fate?” Qin Yu seemed to remember something. “Li Dog Balls, are you still in touch with San Bao?”

“San Bao? Oh yeah, I got his WeChat. He did invite me to our class reunion. Is something the matter?”

Qin Yu’s countenance changed after hearing the reply. The thrill of seeing his old friend disappeared. He angrily pointed at Li Mazi and said, “So it wasn’t just a coincidence! It turns out you and that bastard San Bao have joined hands. You’re not my friend anymore.”

He was fuming as he got back in his car. He stepped on the gas and drove away.

We were all dumbstruck. We kept silent for a long time.

Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, I asked Li Mazi, “Does your old friend have some mental problems? What’s just happened?”

Li Mazi also wore a puzzled face as he turned to talk to me. “I don’t know. That dude used to be really down-to-earth…”

“Who is San Bao?”

“Qin Yu’s best friend,” Li Mazi answered. “As to how good their friendship was... They were desk-mate since their school years, and even when going to the toilet, they would go together. After graduating, they joined hands and opened an advertising company. They were really close, and I’ve always wondered if they were gay. However, it seems they aren’t on good terms anymore…”

I was somewhat amused. “All right, leave him be. Let’s go to the hotel and take a nice rest.”

After we got back into the car, I asked Li Mazi more about Qin Yu.

Li Mazi and Qin Yu were classmates at the university. They shared the same dorm room with San Bao, and their relationship was pretty good. They never met after graduation, and today should have been a day to celebrate as they’d bumped into each other again.

However, Li Mazi didn’t expect that Qin Yu would react this way.

Li Mazi was a bit worked up. “Did that dude look down on me? Did he snub me because I’m driving a pickup?”

I comforted him, “It’s all right. You shouldn’t overthink this.”

However, Li Mazi was resolute. “No, I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to get a better car. All things considered, I’m somewhere in the middle-class bracket at this point. It’s not suitable to drive this sort of vehicle.”

As the saying went, enemies walked on a narrow road. We met Qin Yu again after we had checked into our hotel!

I bumped into the tired-looking Qin Yu when I went to the reception desk to ask for the WiFi password. He recognized me, and his rage flared up instantly. “You bastard! I knew it wasn’t just a coincidence! You want my money, right? How bold of Li Dog Balls to scheme against me! I thought you were my brother, but you went and joined hands with San Bao to stab me in the back. I was blind to trust you!”

Hearing the loud cursing, Li Mazi walked out of the room. He looked at Qin Yu, feeling confused. “Qin Yu, are you crazy? It’s okay if you hurl abuse at me, but why are you messing with my friend?”

Qin Yu rolled his angry eyes at Li Mazi. “Li Mazi, you tell San Bao that he shouldn’t covet my money! From now on, I have nothing to do with him. I don’t want to go anywhere near him!” Then, he walked away angrily.

Li Mazi wasn’t the sort of man who would tolerate bullying, and he was infuriated. He didn’t hesitate to catch up with him. The two got entangled and almost started a fight. The hotel security had to separate them.

Qin Yu struggled free from the security personnel’s grip, throwing Li Mazi a fierce glare as he walked out of the hotel.

Li Mazi felt helpless. “What’s wrong with him? Why did he become so hostile?”

Our mood was ruined, and I tried my best to calm down the fuming Li Mazi. “Don’t mind him. He’s not worthy of your time.”

We spent the next several days exploring and enjoying Sanya like crazy. Gradually, we forgot about Qin Yu.

One day, we went to the beach to enjoy some surfboarding. As it wasn’t enough to satisfy us, we decided to camp at the beach at night.

Since everyone agreed, we went to buy two tents. Li Mazi, Li Meng, and I shared one, while the other was for Yin Xinyue and Ru Xue.

After having a delicious dinner on the beach, we lay down and enjoyed the cool sea breeze while gazing at the starry sky above our heads. Every bit of sadness had been blown away; I wished this moment could last forever.

However, that peaceful moment didn’t last long. All of a sudden, we heard someone quarrelling nearby. Moreover, one of the voices sounded very familiar. I immediately recognized the male voice, which belonged to Qin Yu.

Holy crap, how did we bump into Qin Yu again? I cursed under my breath and decided to ignore him.

We didn’t feel like watching the stars anymore. I almost felt as if he was a ghost haunting us.

Li Mazi didn’t take this chance to mock his old friend but sighed instead. “Back in our days at the university, Qin Yu was really brave and righteous. How could he turn into this noisy and whining man?”

Li Mazi told me an old story to prove that his friend had been a person of worth in the past. That year, Li Mazi tried to woo a girl from a criminal gang, which resulted in him being cornered by a group of thugs. Li Mazi was scared and called many people for help. However, only Qin Yu showed up. He hurried to the scene with two knives in his hands.

Of course, both of them were eventually beaten black and blue. After that event, Li Mazi and Qin Yu had become much closer.

I was surprised. Even if society could change people, it shouldn’t change someone so much. I had a vague feeling that there was more to this Qin Yu.

However, I didn’t think too much of it.

I patted Li Mazi’s shoulder. “People change. Perhaps Qin Yu has experienced things that changed him forever.”

Li Mazi sighed, but he was still unconvinced.

Just by looking at him, I knew he wanted to go over there and talk to Qin Yu. I had to remind him we were on vacation, and it was best not to cause trouble.

Li Mazi forced a smile. “Don’t worry! I know my place.”

However, after we got into the tent, Li Mazi kept rolling on his spot, unable to sleep. I knew he was still thinking about Qin Yu.

Half an hour later, Qin Yu was still quarrelling with some people outside. Li Mazi couldn’t stand it anymore. He shot up and said, “I have to take care of this!”

I hurried to pull him back. “What do you want to do? Qin Yu now sees you as an enemy. He doesn’t consider you his brother anymore.”

Li Mazi answered, “The one who’s arguing with him seems to be the campus belle from our generation! I have to know why he’s fighting with all his old friends.”

Then, he pulled his arm away from my grasp and left the tent.

I had no choice but to follow him as I could give him a hand in case a fight started...