Chapter 112: The Big Fish Takes the Bait

As the big man was about to splash the oil onto the old man’s face, the old man, perhaps possessing a shred of self-awareness, sighed and turned to walk out the door.

"It’s him! It must be him!"

In that instant, I felt the blood surging through my entire body. Without a word, I gave chase toward the door.

Just as I reached the threshold, I saw a group of young hoodlums armed with machetes storming into the hotpot restaurant in a flurry of chaos. I quickly retreated to the side, only to watch as the group charged straight at the three men from before.

There were at least a dozen of them, each wielding a blade. The three men had no time to react; they were hacked down to the ground instantly.

For the next twenty seconds or so, the attackers fell into a frenzy, hacking dozens of times at the three men. One of them received three blows to the neck and stopped breathing on the spot. This was the very man the old guy had predicted would soon face a violent, bloody fate due to his malevolent aura.

The group of hoodlums seemed to have planned this well; their movements were swift and precise, coming and going like a gust of wind. Once the job was done, they vanished just as quickly.

Inside the restaurant, pandemonium ensued. Dadi and the others stared at the doorway in shock, clearly never expecting that a simple meal would end in such a brutal, gangland-style execution.

The only one in the entire restaurant who seemed oblivious to the commotion was Bai Rushuang, who continued to blithely cook thin slices of meat in the boiling pot.

In my mind, only *he* could possess such profound divination skills, capable of predicting a person’s life and death with such precision.

I immediately ran outside, but by the time I reached the street, he was nowhere to be seen. I scanned the area frantically, but it was as if he had never been there at all—everything felt like a hallucination.

I stood there like a fool, his image still etched in my mind. My heart began to waver. After all, I had witnessed him perish in that great fire years ago; how could he possibly be alive?

Police sirens began to wail as they approached the scene, and our gathering was cut short.

"What's wrong, Dao?" Dadi asked, noticing my dazed expression. "You ran out in such a hurry—did you see someone you know?"

"No," I shook my head, claiming I must have seen things.

"Oh," Dadi replied. He said he and Liu Dong were heading back to the dormitory and told me to go spend some time with my girlfriend. With a mischievous grin, he shoved something into my hand and patted me on the shoulder. "You’re the only virgin left in our dorm, man. Don't be shy. If you don't use this tonight, don't blame me for being ruthless with you, brother."

I opened my palm to see a pack of Durex. I cursed under my breath and tossed it into a nearby trash can without a second thought.

Dadi and the others left, and the police began processing the scene, yet that girl, Bai Rushuang, ignored it all, still stuffing her face.

I walked over to her, completely speechless. "Gluttonous Snake, have you had enough yet?"

Bai Rushuang looked up, puzzled. "Didn't you tell me before we came that I could eat all I wanted?"

I felt a vein throb in my forehead. "Even if you can eat all you want, you should at least look at what's happening around you!"

Only then did she look around with a confused expression. Seeing the three blood-soaked bodies and the swarm of police, she asked me in surprise what had just happened.

I was completely defeated by this girl. Without offering much of an explanation, I pulled her outside.

Once out, Bai Rushuang said she felt a bit bloated, and since I was feeling lightheaded from the alcohol, we decided to take a stroll.

Suddenly, she mentioned she wanted to ride the cable car. I didn't know why she had such a sudden whim, but I didn't think twice and drove us to the city’s only cable car station.

The cable car was decades old, once used for daily transport, but as the city developed, it lost its original utility. The government kept it as a piece of local cultural heritage for tourism.

Below the station lay the iconic Yangtze River Bridge. When night fell, many couples would gather there to walk. After we took the cable car to the entrance of the bridge, Bai Rushuang, moved by some strange impulse, grabbed my hand and started sprinting across the bridge, babbling and shouting something I couldn't quite make out.

At first, I felt incredibly embarrassed, especially with the disturbed couples nearby looking at us like we were idiots. But after running for a while, I suddenly found the sensation of holding her hand and running to be quite pleasant—an indescribable feeling, vague and new.

It took us ten minutes to cross the thousand-meter bridge. Finally, we sat side by side on a large rock by the riverbank, letting the breeze cool us down. Not far away, a few people were night fishing.

Perhaps it was the alcohol, or the cool wind, but my head felt increasingly heavy.

As the saying goes, alcohol emboldens the heart. I don't know why, but as I looked at Bai Rushuang sitting beside me, chin resting on her hand, gazing at the river, a strange thrill surged through me.

Deep down, I wanted to ask her if I could lean on her shoulder, but I was too timid to speak. I caught myself stealing glances at her repeatedly, wanting to ask but never finding the courage.

Eventually, Bai Rushuang seemed to notice my odd behavior. She turned her head, looking at me with confusion, and asked what was wrong and why I kept staring at her.

I panicked. I don't know where the sudden burst of courage came from, but I stammered, "G-Gluttonous Snake, I’m feeling a bit dizzy. Could I... could I lean on your shoulder?"

My heart felt like it was about to jump out of my throat as I said it. It wasn't exactly a confession, but I was incredibly shy when it came to women. I didn't dare look at her, keeping my head bowed, terrified she might slap me and call me a pervert.

She remained silent for several seconds. When I anxiously looked up, I found her staring back at me. Our eyes met, and I panicked again. "G-Gluttonous Snake, I was just joking!"

To my surprise, Bai Rushuang let out a soft laugh. She patted her shoulder generously and said, "Come on, then."

I hadn't expected her to be so straightforward. Seeing her nonchalant expression, I realized I had been overthinking things.

Without hesitation, I rested my head on her shoulder. She smelled wonderful—an intoxicating, indescribable scent—and her shoulder felt soft and warm, making my heart race all over again.

We sat in silence, watching the rolling river in the distance. Bai Rushuang suddenly chuckled. I didn't know what she was laughing at, but I didn't ask; I simply didn't want to move my head from her shoulder.

After about seven or eight minutes, a shout of excitement erupted from an old man fishing nearby. He stood up, gripping his rod and reeling in the line frantically. "Hey! A big one! A big fish is on the hook!"