Chapter 434: Chapter 434: Particularly Envious

Liu Zhengyi frowned at his younger brother, opened his mouth to say something, but ended up just giving a single instruction: “Just listen to me, alright.”

Speaking of it, he had only actually met Xiang Kun three times. Once before New Year’s when they had an encounter in Chongyun Village, once when Liu Feibao sent people to make him apologize to Xiang Kun, and the third time was yesterday afternoon when he delivered goods to Xiang Kun’s place.

He could tell that Xiang Kun was a person of great importance, but it wasn’t something he had perceived directly from Xiang Kun himself. If he had just looked at Xiang Kun, there would be only one conclusion he could make — he wouldn’t stand a chance in a fight against him.

As for where Xiang Kun came from, what his strengths were, and his real purpose for coming to Tongshi Town and Chongyun Village, Liu Zhengyi couldn’t figure that out. He didn’t have the ability to investigate like Liu Feibao and Chu Xiuwen could.

However, he had his own way of making judgments and assessment standards. He would use his ability to assess a person as a benchmark for comparison.

For instance, when he first started mixing in society as a teenager, he greatly admired and was in awe of his distant uncle who ran a food stall in town. He thought his uncle knew a lot of people and could smooth over any problem.

That changed one evening when he and his brother were eating at his uncle’s food stall. Liu Feibao and his men happened to come by for a late-night snack. That’s when he saw his usually pompous uncle behaving rather obsequiously and apprehensively towards “Brother Bao”. After Liu Feibao left, his uncle told them many stories of “Brother Bao”‘s deeds and his power in Tongshi Town. It was then that he realized “Brother Bao”‘s power and influence in Tongshi Town far surpassed his uncle’s. His actual experiences in Tongshi Town and more tales confirmed this fact.

That’s why, he hankered to have a chance for him and his younger brother to latch onto Liu Feibao’s coattails, to mix it up with “Brother Bao” and his crew.

Thus, Liu Feibao “Brother Bao” became his new highest standard, replacing his uncle in his mind.

However, after the incident before the New Year, based on everything he saw and heard, including the talks and attitudes between Liu Feibao, Chu Xiuwen, and Liu Caifu towards each other, he had a new assessment of their strengths:

He

He had never actually met Boss Qi of the Haoguo Group, and moreover, he hadn’t seen Liu Feibao again after that night when he made the “apology”. But he could still deduce their attitude from the conversations and recent behavior of people like Liu Caifu and Chu Xiuwen. They all cared a lot about, were wary of, and even somewhat ingratiating towards, Xiang Kun. This level of deference was even greater than how his uncle spoke about Liu Feibao.

He didn’t know the specific reason for this, but he knew his judgment must be correct. Clinging to Xiang Kun could be the best opportunity for him and his younger brother to turn their lives around.

That morning, after they returned from the mountain and went to Liu Caifu’s house to report what they’d seen, Liu Zhengyi instinctively observed Liu Caifu and Chu Xiuwen’s reactions. He also unexpectedly noticed Chu Xiuwen’s somewhat abnormal reaction. This led to some inexplicable and sudden speculations, which was why he had such a strong reaction to his younger brother’s words just now.

However, these speculations seemed preposterous and irrational to him, so it wasn’t appropriate to elaborate them to Liu Gao. Otherwise, he would probably not only fail to convince his brother, but also undermine his authority as the elder brother.

…

Star City.

It was dinner time. Liu Shiling, who had been helping her mom set the table, suddenly heard a piece of news from the TV and paused. She moved in front of the TV, hugging her bowl.

Custard Pie, who was coiled up under the table ready for a nap, noticed that his little master didn’t appear by the table as expected. He raised his head and gave a glance, then yawned and got up, trodded to the living room, and curled up at Little Fatty Girl’s feet to continue his nap.

The news on TV was about the aftermath of the two escaped convicts from Wushu Mountain Prison getting struck by lightning. They were continuously playing a video of the lightning storm, shot and uploaded online by a netizen from their home.

Even though the video was of poor quality and shot from far away, one could still feel the terrifying power of the lightning storm. It had a surreal impact.

Seeing her daughter, who hadn’t paid much attention to the TV in a while, suddenly standing in front of it, Shiling’s Mom, who had just walked out of the kitchen with a dish, couldn’t help but follow her daughter. She stood beside her and watched the news report as well.

The news of the two escaped convicts getting struck by lightning was something Shiling’s Mom had already read about earlier that afternoon on the internet. So she told her daughter: “See, that’s why people shouldn’t do bad things, otherwise, not even the heavens will let it slide. If they had just behaved themselves in prison and served their sentences, they definitely wouldn’t have been hit by lightning. Wrongdoers must pay the price, or they’ll face even greater punishment.”

Liu Shiling quietly said: “It was not the heavens. It was a magician, a very powerful sorcerer who cast the lightning.”

Shiling’s Mom was baffled for a moment, but she soon smiled and nodded, “Oh yes, indeed, a magician. God Himself is the greatest magician. Alright, let’s start eating. We can eat while watching the news. Hey, or… should we switch to some cartoons?”

Liu Shiling nodded, carried her bowl to the table, and waited for her mom to serve her dinner.

Of course, she knew her mom didn’t believe what she had just said. In fact, it was precisely because she knew her mom didn’t believe her that she spoke the “truth”.

She didn’t know that the lightning storm was connected to Xiang Kun, but when she saw the video, she had the intuition that it was caused by “magic”. Because in her imagination, this was exactly what a great wizard’s super lightning magic would look like!

While eating her food, Liu Shiling couldn’t stop thinking about the lightning storm. She felt a surge of envy and even the braised pork her mom had carefully cooked tasted bland. She found herself eating absent-mindedly.

She wondered who the magician behind the lightning magic was, and decided to ask Uncle Bald about it on QQ that night, to see if he knew the magician, or even better, if he was acquainted with him.

Perhaps Uncle Bald was even more powerful than that great wizard?

But since the lightning storm struck two bad guys, the Great Wizard who cast this magic should also be a good person on their team.

…

At this moment, Xiang Kun was parking his run-down pickup truck in the pedestrian street’s car park.

He and Old Xia were meeting Zi Cheng and Chu Xiaoting for dinner tonight, at their usual spot, Youlong Restaurant.

Although they’ve been eating there almost every day recently, they hadn’t gotten bored with it. Because they frequently tasted the new dishes based on Xiang Kun’s new recipes, much beyond just rabbit meat, so the place hadn’t lost its charm. This, of course, applied to Old Xia, Zi Cheng, and Chu Xiaoting who actually tasted the food. Xiang Kun, who was always performing when dining with others, didn’t experience boredom towards the food.

Xia Libing, sitting in the passenger’s seat, was video chatting with Yang Zhen’er, who had just seen the news and learned that the place where the two runaways were struck by lightning was very close to Chongyun village. Curious to know if they had any firsthand news or gossip, she immediately sent a video request to her beloved younger sister.

She just shared some later “rumors” in the village, some information provided by Liu Caifu while talking to Xiang Kun on the phone, and the fact that Liu Brothers reported to the police after discovering their clothes were stolen, all to Yang Zhen’er.

But just these snippets of information were enough to whet Yang Zhen’er’s appetite and she was quite satisfied.

After parking the car, Old Xia was also about to end the video chat with her cousin, when Yang Zhen’er suddenly shouted, “Chef Xiang! Be careful and stay indoors when it rains! With your bald head, you might easily get electrocuted!” Then, somewhat cheekily, she ended the chat, as if she had had the last word.

Xiang Kun and Xia Libing looked at each other, both puzzled: Why was a bald head more prone to electrocute?

But then Xiang Kun dismissed the thought, realizing that Yang Lao San’s thought process and logic were certainly different from theirs.

On the walk from the parking lot to Youlong Restaurant, Xia Libing suddenly said, “Those people should notice this lightning storm, right?” She had slept until noon and was just dealing with Yang Zhen’er’s curiosity on the way. She had also been replaying the events of last night in her mind.

After Officer Zhao and Officer Wang’s unexpected encounter with Mijoe and Zhou Rui on Zi Huan Mountain, Old Xia and Xiang Kun knew that Divine Technology had noticed that the thunderstorm on Valentine’s Day early morning was uncommon. They might even know about the appearance of the “mutated big bird” there.

As the place where the “mutated big bird” and the “invisible insect” had appeared, Wushu Mountain, was not far from the northern mountainous area of Chongyun Village, it was highly possible that they would connect the two storms and come to investigate.

Xiang Kun naturally knew who “those people” Xia Libing mentioned were, and after a nod of agreement, he said, “Don’t worry, I have a plan. I’ll tell you about it after dinner.”