'Squeak...'
The prison gate is slammed shut.
'Whew...' I took a deep breath, feeling the cold air, and roared in my heart, 'I'm out, I have finally got out!'
My name is Lu Yan. When I was 15 years old, my buddy Hei Zai got into a knife brawl, and I willingly took the blame for him. That night, Kong Ci cried the entire night, saying that she would hate me for her entire life...
After five years, I finally saw the sunlight again. I still remember the boss in the prison whipped my head and said, "Xiao Ba, once you're out, the boss won't be with you anymore. You must remember, endure everything. You have been in jail for five years, and you have no idea what happens outside. So don't trust anyone."
'What about Kong Ci and Hei Zai?'
Hearing these names, the boss merely laughed and said nothing.
I always thought that Hei Zai was my brother for life, and Kong Ci was my woman for life, but I never thought that they would...
To be honest, the moment I was released from prison, I felt much better. I remember when I went to prison five years ago, Hei Zai said they would welcome me back with the highest honors.
I later heard that they become powerful men in the Coastal City, destroyed the Triad, and have since moved to other cities for expansion. Hence, starting from three years ago, Hei Zai and Kong Ci have never visited me.
But I still remember their promise, to welcome me back home with the highest honors!
However, I waited for a long, long time. On this road leading to the prison gate, not a soul showed up...
'I'll wait a bit longer, they will come, they definitely will!'
I clenched my fist tightly, thinking...
But I waited until the night, and still, no one came.
"Hey, look at that guy over there, just got out of prison and he's not hurrying away. He's not getting too fond of this place, is he?"
"Ah, don't spout nonsense. I bet he's waiting for someone to pick him up!"
"Hah! What a laugh! Probably got stood up!"
'Got stood up?'
I let a faint smile play on my lips. My gang wouldn't stand me up!
...
At last, at midnight, I leave, dragging my weary body away.
In my pocket, there's 800 bucks the gang leader managed to scrounge up prior my release. I initially refused to take it, saying my bro, Blackie, now a big shot in the city, is flushed with cash!
Even now, I believe Blackie has just lost track of the time. The release date was fixed three years ago, and he's always been careless with details. This time wouldn't be any different...
I checked into an unremarkable hotel, shelling out 150 bucks for a room.
After a hasty bath, I lay in bed, reminiscing periods of carefree life I had with Blackie and the rest five years ago.
Ha!
Five years. At last today, I could finally bid farewell to my solitary existence!
Picking up a card from the bed, I dialed a number at random.
'Hello ~ Sir, what service can we provide for you?'
A charming voice came over from the other end of the phone.
"I want the full service!"
Too lazy for a lengthy conversation, I told her my location and hung up the phone…
‘Click!’
The lighter ignited.
‘Hiss......’
I took a deep puff of my cigarette, lying comfortably on the bed. Muttering under my breath, ‘Third Brother, you always boast about your capabilities, huh! Guess what, I tasted a woman before you did, haha!’
Inside the prison, I had seven elder brothers, cough cough...... To be honest, if it weren't for their parental-like care these five years, I would've been killed by those murderers.
‘Ding-dong!’
At that moment, the doorbell rang.....
Damn it, my little brother instantly stood up tall, as though saluting the beautiful lady at the door!
"Heh! You’d better salute well later, don't you dare shame me!"
Wrapping myself in a towel, I made my way to the door with a big grin.
Five years, damn it! I hadn't been with a woman in five years. My heart was almost pounding out of my chest at the time; I couldn't wait to rush to the door and press that woman on the bed!
Don’t ask me why I had 800 bucks and wanted to spend it all at once!
"I believe that tomorrow, I'll be able to find my brothers. They'll help me stand at the peak of the world!
What's this eight hundred bucks to me!
And so, I opened the door...
"Babe, I've missed you!"
The moment I finished these words, I felt entirely bewildered.
Suddenly, my heart felt as if it were cut with a knife, all the earlier happiness vanished like smoke in thin air!
That familiar face. Seeing her in front of me, my hand started to tremble!
She...She is my sister, Lu Yao!
My sister...my sister...how could she do something like this?!
Hei Zai! How could you handle things in such a manner?!
"What's wrong, sir? Please come in~"
Lu Yao didn't recognize me, because I hadn't shaved or fixed up...
My eyes reddened instantly. Hei Zai promised me, promised to take care of my family, insisted that they would never be harmed, but what about now?!
'Swish!'
The cigarette loosely held in my hand fell to the ground, and I felt entirely paralyzed.
'You...... you......'
Lu Yao seemed to recognize me.
With red eyes, I walked up to her, "Yao Yao, I'm sorry... I'm sorry, it's my fault. I didn't take good care of you!"
Upon hearing these words, tears streamed down from Yao Yao's eyes, marking all the hardships she had endured over the past five years!
During these five years, I had always thought she was doing well, assuming that Hei Zi and Kong Ci had taken care of everything for me!
But now...
'Brother!'
Yao Yao cried out and, weeping, she rushed into my arms.
'Brother, you don't know, after you were taken to the police station that year, Hei Zi and Sister Kong Ci...they...'
'Stop!'
Disbelieving Yao Yao's words, I thought she was just overwhelmed. So I stroked her smooth back, murmuring, 'Yao Yao, don't be afraid, brother is here. As long as your brother is here, no one will dare to bully you...'
'Brother, I miss you. They wouldn't let me see you, I...'
Tears had soaked my clothes. Yao Yao was violently venting all the grievances of the past five years.
We, orphans, considered each other as part of our being. All along, I was Yao Yao's strongest support, but when I was jailed, she lost that pillar!
Without the help of Hei Zi and the others, I can't even begin to imagine how Yao Yao made it through these five years!
"Yaoyao, come, tell me what has happened over these five years?"
I wiped the tear streaks from Yaoyao's fair face with my hand.
Finally, her emotions calmed down a bit. She sat on the bed, eyes red, and told me shocking, heart-wrenching things!
"After your imprisonment, brother, Heizi and Magou unified the Highland Street. Kong Ci always followed Heizi. Afterward, their power grew until three years ago, when they defeated the largest gang in the coastal area, the Triad Society. Since then, I never saw Heizi again..."
I furrowed my brow, Yaoyao didn't mention how Heizi had treated her during these five years.
"Yaoyo, Heizi promised me that he would take good care of you."
On hearing these words.
"Hehe..."
Yaoyao couldn't help but laugh, "Brother, you're too naive. Heizi...Heizi didn't care about me at all, you know? He is the one who led me down to this path!"
"What?!"
The moment I heard this, every cell in my body began to boil!
"Brother, you didn't know. Only later did I discover that your imprisonment was a trick by Heizi and that despicable woman, Kong Ci! I appealed many times in court later, but Heizi was too powerful and influential-- I was helpless against him!"
My hands were shaking uncontrollably.
"Yaoyao, this...you're not telling the truth, are you?"
I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe Heizi would do this to me!
"I gave up so much for him, and this is how he repays me?"
Tears fell once more from Yao Yao's eyes: "Brother, we've been played by them..."
Just at this moment!
'Bang!'
The room door was suddenly kicked open, and a young man wearing a black vest appeared at the door, pointed at me and shouted, "You punk, how dare you get a room with my girlfriend, are you asking for trouble?"
I abruptly lifted my head to look at the boy, three words flashing through my mind, 'Honey trap?'
