Chapter 40: Stolen Phone
Chen Xue Wen led Li Er Yong and the others to a well-known restaurant in the city. The four of them found a private room, sat down, and ordered a feast of dishes.
Li Tie Zhu was engrossed with his phone, only lifting his head when it was time to order. “Got any pork knuckles?”
Li Er Yong rolled his eyes. “I already ordered for you!”
“And I even got you three pounds of beef. You’ll be eating your fill tonight!”
Satisfied, Li Tie Zhu nodded and went back to fiddling with his phone.
After finishing the order, Chen Xue Wen thought for a moment and then looked at Li Er Yong. “Er Yong, give Wu Li Hong a call.”
“The nightclub hasn’t opened yet, so she should be free to join us for dinner.”
Li Er Yong nodded enthusiastically. “I was just thinking the same thing.”
“Hong Jie cooks for us all the time. She works hard, so she deserves a treat.”
Lai Hou smirked as he glanced at the phone box beside Chen Xue Wen. “You don’t even need to think about it. Wen Ge already planned ahead.”
“Didn’t you see? He even bought a phone!”
Li Er Yong finally noticed. “Damn, Wen Zi, that phone is for Wu Li Hong?”
“Are you into her or something?”
Chen Xue Wen shot him a glance. “What do you mean, into her?”
“This phone is just to thank her for helping me. That’s all.”
Li Er Yong leaned in closer. “Wen Zi, to be honest, Wu Li Hong is a good girl.”
“She treats you well. You… you’re not looking down on her, are you?”
Chen Xue Wen’s expression darkened. “What kind of nonsense are you talking about?”
“I have no such thoughts about her, so there’s no question of looking down on her.”
He sighed. “After everything I’ve been through… I lost even my parents.”
“Now, I won’t trust women again. I won’t love anyone ever again.”
Seeing his gloomy expression, Li Er Yong could only sigh and take out his phone to call Wu Li Hong.
It didn’t take long before Wu Li Hong arrived, dressed stylishly, her presence lighting up the room.
“How’d you know I hadn’t eaten yet?”
“I was just about to have instant noodles with my girls when you called. Looks like I got lucky tonight!” she said with a bright smile.
Li Er Yong’s eyes lit up. “You were with your girls?”
“Damn, why didn’t you bring them along?”
Wu Li Hong rolled her eyes. “Oh, please, quit drooling!”
“Look at yourself—hobbling around like that, and you’re still thinking about women?”
“How about you heal up first?”
Li Er Yong scoffed. “So what? My hands and feet are broken, not my third leg. Why shouldn’t I think about women?”
Lai Hou burst out laughing. “Come on, man, you broke an arm and a leg. How are you supposed to go all out?”
“What, you planning to hop around?”
Li Er Yong was speechless. Wu Li Hong giggled behind her hand.
Chen Xue Wen took out the phone and handed it to Wu Li Hong. “This is for you.”
She blinked in surprise. “What is this?”
Chen Xue Wen explained, “We just went to a phone shop and each bought a new phone.”
“I saw this model and thought it suited you, so I grabbed one.”
“Check if you like the color.”
Wu Li Hong froze, staring at the box in his hand, her eyes shimmering with emotion.
Li Er Yong nudged her. “What are you waiting for?”
“Wen Ge picked this out for you himself. It’s way nicer than ours.”
“Take it already!”
Snapping out of her daze, Wu Li Hong quickly took the phone box, her eyes filled with gratitude.
Chen Xue Wen shot a look at Li Er Yong. “I just bought it casually, didn’t put that much thought into it.”
“Just a small token of appreciation for all your help lately.”
Wu Li Hong smiled. She opened the box and gasped at the sleek design of the phone inside.
Holding it gently, she whispered in awe, “This… this is the latest Motorola! It’s beautiful!”
“It must’ve been expensive…”
“I mean… I could’ve just used my old Xiao Ling Tong, you didn’t have to get me something so pricey.”
Chen Xue Wen shrugged. “It wasn’t that expensive.”
“Compared to the favor you did for me, this is nothing.”
“Oh right, I also got you a SIM card. Try it out!”
Wu Li Hong beamed with joy as she took the SIM card, inserted it into her phone, and tested the signal. It was excellent.
She held her phone, unable to hide her excitement, and quickly saved the phone numbers of Chen Xue Wen and the other three. She carefully labeled everyone’s names, except for Chen Xue Wen’s—his contact name was simply “Wen!”
As they chatted casually, Wu Li Hong’s phone suddenly rang.
She was stunned. She had just gotten this phone with a brand-new number—who could be calling her?
Looking at the screen, her expression immediately changed. “Li Tie Zhu, you big dumbass!”
“We’re sitting right across from each other. If you have something to say, just say it! Why the hell are you calling me?”
Chen Xue Wen and the others burst into laughter.
Li Tie Zhu was just messing around!
Soon, the food arrived.
Tonight, Chen Xue Wen had ordered a lavish spread—after all, this was a victory feast.
Wu Li Hong was so happy that she called her manager and took the night off.
Even though Zhou Jing Hui had treated them earlier, Chen Xue Wen hadn’t really eaten much, and Lai Hou had been so nervous that he couldn’t even taste the food—his stomach was still empty. As for Li Er Yong and Li Tie Zhu, they had been guarding the place and hadn’t eaten at all.
The moment the dishes hit the table, everyone dug in with gusto.
Especially Li Tie Zhu—his eating habits were like a whirlwind sweeping through the feast.
A whole pork knuckle had been specially ordered for him. He grabbed it with both hands and, within a few slurps and bites, gnawed it completely clean.
Not stopping there, he even smashed the bone to suck out the marrow.
Then came three pounds of beef—he alone devoured two.
If not for Li Er Yong and Lai Hou’s quick reflexes in grabbing some for themselves, Li Tie Zhu would have finished it all.
Half of the other dishes also ended up in his stomach.
On top of that, he downed an entire bowl of rice before finally leaning back, fully satisfied.
Chen Xue Wen was shocked, his perception of Li Tie Zhu’s appetite completely redefined.
They had eaten together many times before, but back then, Li Tie Zhu had at least held back a little.
Tonight, he had gone all out!
Li Tie Zhu alone could eat as much as four or five grown men!
Lai Hou ate so much he had to loosen his belt. Eventually, he even went to the restroom just to make room before coming back for more.
After a while, Li Tie Zhu suddenly spoke up, “Lai Hou, why does your phone have a woman’s voice?”
Lai Hou froze. “The hell are you talking about? My phone doesn’t have any woman’s voice.”
Li Tie Zhu insisted, “I swear! I heard a woman saying, ‘The number you dialed is powered off.’”
“Oh, and she was speaking English too. Since when did you start hanging out with educated women?”
Lai Hou scoffed, “Bullshit. You must’ve dialed the wrong number—”
As he spoke, his hand instinctively reached for his waist.
The moment he touched his belt, his face froze.
His phone pouch was empty.
Completely empty.
Lai Hou jumped up in shock. “Shit!?”
“Did… did someone steal my phone!?”
Chen Xue Wen and the others exchanged looks, speechless.
Lai Hou, a seasoned thief himself, had just gotten his own phone stolen?
Was this a case of the mighty dragon getting washed away by the tide?
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation