Ding dong!
— Not sure how long she had slept, Dong Enyu poked her head out from under the blanket, groggily looking towards the source of the sound.
The doorbell rang.
Ding dong!
— Another urging ring.
Dong Enyu wobbled to her feet, her head aching a bit.
The sun was already setting outside, the orange-red sunset dyeing the entire room.
She stood by the door, not bothering to check through the peephole, and opened it directly.
She was stunned because the unexpected guest standing outside was Luo Ye, who had told her to go back last night.
Dong Enyu felt a wave of frustration and tried to close the door, but Luo Ye was faster, pushing the door open and causing Dong Enyu to stumble back a few steps.
Dong Enyu frowned.
Since Luo Ye wanted to come in, she decided to leave.
With a stern face, she pushed past Luo Ye, intending to walk out.
But Luo Ye, clearly here to cause trouble, wrapped an arm around her waist and dragged her back inside, kicking the door shut in the process.
“What are you doing!”
Dong Enyu wasn’t asking; she was warning her.
Showing up unannounced and barging in.
“Dinner,” Luo Ye said straightforwardly, admitting she was there to mooch a meal.
Dong Enyu stared at her for a moment.
Luo Ye wore a baseball cap, and under the shadow, only her prominent nose was barely visible.
Without saying a word, she pulled out a chair and sat down, as if she were at home.
Dong Enyu couldn’t argue with her, so she rolled up her sleeves to cook.
It was just salted fried rice; she couldn’t help it.
These past few days, Yong Le had been making her restless, and she hadn’t been in the mood to buy groceries.
Even eggs were out, so she had to make do.
She knew Luo Ye wouldn’t complain because Luo Ye never said anything, whether it was good or bad.
Dong Enyu served the salted fried rice on the table and sat across from Luo Ye.
She took out a cigarette, lit it, and started puffing away.
The taste of nicotine cleared her head a bit, but no amount of smoking could clear her mind.
Or maybe she was already clear-headed enough?
Luo Ye quietly ate the fried rice with a spoon, her movements mechanical, one spoonful after another.
Dong Enyu watched as she slightly pulled down her collar, revealing her thin lips and enviable sharp chin.
“Have you been with Yong Le these past few days?”
Dong Enyu exhaled, white smoke rising into the air.
Luo Ye paused her eating and nodded.
“Yong Le has several homes?”
Dong Enyu squinted at the wall, as if talking to herself.
Luo Ye nodded again.
“And she has several treasures too?”
At this, Dong Enyu almost bit her tongue.
The spoon clinked against the plate as Luo Ye nodded.
“You knew all this already?”
Dong Enyu stubbed out her cigarette, turning to look at Luo Ye.
She saw Luo Ye nodding again.
“Stop nodding!
I want to hear you speak!”
The stifling atmosphere was driving Dong Enyu crazy.
She needed someone to talk to her, not just listen to her complaints like a puppet.
Dong Enyu almost shouted, panting, the cigarette in her hand crushed.
She glared at Luo Ye’s eyes hidden in the shadows, her anger flaring up even more.
Luo Ye was an observer.
She knew about Yong Le’s bad habits but said nothing.
Of course, she had her reasons for not telling Dong Enyu, but what bothered Dong Enyu the most was that Luo Ye often lingered around her.
Intentional?
Unintentional?
Dong Enyu didn’t know, but she felt Luo Ye paid a lot of attention to her.
“Tired of it.”
Luo Ye finally spoke, her deep voice like a hammer striking Dong Enyu.
Tired of it…
“She’s tired of playing,” Luo Ye explained, saying Yong Le was tired of the game.
Dong Enyu ran her fingers through her hair, her face haggard, and she was very agitated.
She knew, she always knew, that Yong Le was tired of the love game, just waiting for someone to end it.
“Thank you.”
She didn’t know what else to say, so she simply thanked Luo Ye.
Thank her for the wake-up call?
Dong Enyu wanted to grab the cigarette on the table, but Luo Ye tossed it aside.
“So, are you here to take back the key for her?”
Seeing the cigarette thrown far away, Dong Enyu tapped her fingers on the table and asked.
Luo Ye shook her head, “No.”
Then Dong Enyu didn’t understand why Luo Ye came over.
And she was too lazy to guess.
“I’m going to work, make yourself at home.”
Dong Enyu got up, grabbed her phone and keys, and left the room.
She drove fast along the way, rushing to the Bar, wanting to stay away from Tong Tang’s people, at least for now.
Dong Enyu opened the door and walked into the store.
A Gang was already behind the bar counting bottles, while Zhu Zhu and Xiao Yun had changed clothes and were chatting nearby.
She lowered her eyes, greeted a few people, and then walked into the kitchen.
It was empty and quiet, just right for some peace.
Business was terrible tonight, not a single group of customers…
Zhu Zhu and Xiao Yun squeezed in front of the TV watching a popular idol drama, and A Gang occasionally joked with them.
Just half an hour before closing, something happened.
Dong Enyu came out of the dressing room and heard cursing from the front hall.
She frowned, thinking it was a drunk customer, but when she went over to check, it turned out to be ten thugs with baseball bats, and they had smashed a table.
“Are you the manager?”
The man in the lead rested the bat on his shoulder and beckoned Dong Enyu with his finger.
“Yes, I’m the manager of this place.
Is there a problem?”
She glanced at Zhu Zhu and Xiao Yun, signaling them to step back.
“If you’re here to cause trouble, you might have come to the wrong place.”
“Spit!
This is Han Ge’s place, do you think I’m an idiot?”
The man swung the bat, smashing it hard on the bar with a loud bang.
“Your Han Ge dared to provoke us on our turf, isn’t he afraid we’ll smash his place?
Think Running Goods makes a lot of money, huh?
So arrogant!”
“Sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Dong Enyu calmly looked at the man.
She couldn’t care less where Han Ge went to provoke, but she didn’t want these people causing trouble here.
“No worries, it doesn’t matter if you don’t know.
Once I smash this place, you’ll understand!”
The man signaled with his eyes, and the thugs behind him started wrecking the place.
All the chairs were overturned, tables smashed, curtains torn down, and bottles shattered everywhere, spilling alcohol all over.
“Stop it!
You won’t escape after offending Han Ge!”
Dong Enyu stepped forward to grab one of the thugs’ hands, but he violently shook her off.
“Why the hell should I run!
I want Han Ge to know the consequences of offending our Boss!”
Dong Enyu was stunned.
These men were serious, and whether by coincidence or not, all the guards were called away by Han Ge today, leaving no one to stop these thugs.
Dong Enyu wanted to reason again but was pulled outside by A Gang during the scuffle.
Zhu Zhu and Xiao Yun hugged each other, screaming, both terrified.
She watched as the glass shattered, the lights destroyed, and the newly counted liquor crates smashed on the ground, alcohol seeping through the door cracks.
Dong Enyu stood there, feeling cold all over.
Her store was wrecked, completely destroyed, and just when she thought the violence was over, a lighter was suddenly thrown into the store.
Suddenly, flames erupted!
“You bastards!!”
Dong Enyu screamed.
It’s over, everything’s over…
The fire engulfed the Bar, thick black smoke rising into the night sky.
Dong Enyu sat on the ground, exhausted, watching the bright red flames climb higher, hearing the sirens of fire trucks and police cars.
The perpetrators had long fled, leaving only A Gang, Zhu Zhu, and Xiao Yun outside the store.
After the police arrived and understood the situation, Dong Enyu sat on a stone flower bed, watching firefighters spray water on the Bar.
The splashing water droplets wet her cheek, and Dong Enyu remained expressionless, not knowing how to face this situation.
Until the police came to question her, she said what needed to be said and kept silent about what shouldn’t be said.
Gang fight.
Four words summed up this fire incident.
Dong Enyu was invited to the police station for questioning.
She listened to the police’s continuous questions, responding intermittently.
She was very tired, too tired to care about this matter anymore.
By the time she left the Police Station, it was already five in the morning…
“Sister Dong,” Zhu Zhu hadn’t left immediately.
She saw Dong Enyu come out and quickly approached, “Are you okay, Sister Dong?”
Dong Enyu looked at her, smiled, and nodded, “I’m fine.
I’ll talk to Han Ge.
Are you all uninjured?”
She glanced at them, grateful that someone still cared about her after coming out.
“No injuries, but we might need to calm our nerves.”
Xiao Yun awkwardly laughed a few times, her cheeks blackened by the smoke.
“Yeah.”
Dong Enyu patted her head, “You guys should go home quickly.
This matter won’t be resolved so soon.”
Zhu Zhu and Xiao Yun talked with Dong Enyu for a bit before calling a car to leave.
A Gang had his hands in his pockets, looking at Dong Enyu.
“First it was Master Ming, then Han Ge.
I don’t think that place can stay open.”
A Gang, being the oldest, had more contact with the gang affairs and knew those who came to smash the store were small-time thugs with grudges against Han Ge.
“I think the lack of customers might have something to do with it too.”
Dong Enyu knew the Bar was losing customers badly, but she didn’t expect them to burn the place down this time, making it impossible to do business.
The methods were ruthless, whether it was a big or small store.
If they hadn’t escaped quickly, they might have perished in the fire.
“Those people seemed to be Lord Hong’s men.
I’m not sure, but I recognized a few familiar faces.”
A Gang took out a cigarette and offered one to Dong Enyu.
“It doesn’t matter who they are; it’s not something we can handle.”
Dong Enyu sniffed and then lit the cigarette.
A Gang chuckled a few times and walked down the street with Dong Enyu.
He suddenly said, “Why didn’t Yong Le come today?”
He was a bit surprised.
With such a big incident, the usually high-profile and affectionate Yong Le didn’t show up.
Dong Enyu heard this and looked up at the fish-belly white dawn.
“I don’t know.”
She really didn’t know.
When the bar caught fire, she immediately reported it to Han Ge, but she heard a lot of noise in the background.
“Probably went out for some fun again?”
Or maybe spent the night at some sweetheart’s place.
A Gang noticed something was off but didn’t ask.
He said goodbye to Dong Enyu, and the two of them went their separate ways.
That day, Dong Enyu didn’t go home.
