[097] An Apology with Powers

"Ping... Brother Ping..." Little Blondie's mind was completely blank. Seeing Wei and the others ordering food, with that "Brother Chang'an" still waiting for his spicy hotpot to cook, he finally realized he had to seize this precious moment. He stammered and asked Brother Ping, "That Brother Chang'an... who is he?"

Brother Ping sat at the round table, glanced at him, lifted his chin with a touch of pride, and whispered, "Even Brother Wei has to call him 'brother.' What do you think?"

Little Blondie was terrified, desperate for help, but his mind was still a blank slate. He hadn’t read much, and nothing like this was taught in books. All he could think of were scenes from movies and TV where some lackey offended a boss and ended up with a miserable fate.

Wang Ke carefully carried her spicy hotpot over. Little Blondie shuffled far aside the moment he saw her, forcing an awkwardly friendly, even ingratiating, smile onto his face.

Brother Ping also hurried to put on a smile. Spotting a stool by the corner, he quickly crouched over and moved it aside for her.

Wang Ke was startled by his sudden gesture. Fortunately, she knew he recognized Fang Chang'an, so she wasn't worried he meant any harm. Only then did she see he was actually moving the chair for her.

She felt both puzzled and amused, but kept a straight face and softly murmured, "Thank you," before taking her seat and sneaking another glance at Brother Ping, then lowering her head to eat.

Brother Ping settled back down, not daring to look at the pretty girl again. Turning his head, he finally noticed Little Blondie's odd expression and asked, "What's wrong with you?"

"I..." Little Blondie was on the verge of tears. "I just now cursed at... at Brother Chang'an..."

Brother Ping's eyes went wide, nearly swearing aloud. Little Blondie, face ashen, continued, "Brother Chang'an's... grandpa..."

"Are you out of your mind?" Brother Ping hissed. "Are you looking to die? Even Brother Xu got beaten up by him and had to ask Brother Wei to apologize for him. And you dared to curse his grand..."

He cut himself off, realizing he was being disrespectful to Brother Chang'an by going on. After a deep breath, he said, "Just wait and see how Brother Wei deals with you."

"I..." Little Blondie had wanted help. Instead, he was terrified. Hearing that even Brother Xu got beaten and still had to beg Brother Wei for help, his legs nearly gave out. "I didn't know!"

He saw Brother Wei and the others finishing up their orders and panicked even more, pleading, "Brother Ping, please help me..."

"How am I supposed to help you? Even Brother Wei might not be able to fix this—what could I possibly do?" If it were anything else, Brother Ping wouldn't mind showing off his connections. But in this situation, he knew his own limits and had no intention of getting involved.

Little Blondie wanted to say more, but Liu Yan and Zhao Xu were already walking over. Afraid they'd overhear, he fell silent.

Little Flathead sat at the round table, restless and uneasy. He quickly stood up and greeted, "Brother Xu, Brother Yan..."

Little Blondie didn’t dare sit anymore. Little Flathead wanted the two closest to Brother Wei to sit with them, hoping they’d help steady things and share the pressure.

But since Brother Chang'an was eating with a pretty girl, Zhao Xu and Liu Yan, being tactful, greeted them and sat at the next table instead.

More boys arrived one after another, all deliberately avoiding the innermost, emptiest round table, as if arranging a seating chart.

Chang Wei, after all, was the boss. Even in front of his underlings, he cared about appearances. Having spent more time with Fang Chang'an recently, he wasn't as stiff around him as before. He made a show of offering to bring a bowl to Fang Chang'an, who declined with a smile, so he simply came over himself.

The three round tables were filling up, but the innermost one was empty. Chang Wei knew perfectly well why. He, too, felt a bit uneasy, but he couldn't show weakness in front of so many subordinates.

Under their watchful eyes, he maintained his dignity as the leader and walked over. Noticing Wang Ke sitting on one side, he deftly changed course and headed toward Little Flathead, politely asking, "This seat taken?"

"No, not at all." Little Flathead quickly scooted over and glanced at Little Blondie.

By now, Fang Chang'an had brought his bowl over. Little Blondie felt like a condemned man awaiting sentence—a torment worse than death, sure his fate was sealed.

Fang Chang'an could easily guess what Little Blondie was thinking. He truly didn't care about the incident; his mind was more occupied with comparing skin tones with Wang Ke and, despite chiding himself, wondering which part Zheng Lili had almost mentioned earlier.

A little intimidation was enough, but Fang Chang'an didn’t mind letting the guy stew a bit longer. As he passed, he shot him a cool glance and sat down beside Wang Ke.

Liu Yan's table was getting crowded. Liu Cheng hesitated in the middle for a couple of seconds; just then, the two girls who’d arrived first at Fang Chang'an’s table finished and left, so he came over and sat down.

Chang Wei felt awkward just sitting there, as if it highlighted his unfamiliarity with Brother Chang'an. He tried to ease the tension with a light, joking tone, "Brother Chang'an, you ordered two bowls of noodles? Can you finish that much?"

Fang Chang'an smiled. "Normally, maybe not. But after PE, playing basketball for half the period, I'm starving."

Chang Wei’s eyes lit up. "You play basketball, Brother Chang'an? We should play together sometime. I have a ball."

"Not really. Today was my first time. I just joined in for the exercise."

Chang Wei agreed, "Yeah, all that sitting and reading—you need to move around. Especially with the PE test coming up for the high school entrance exam."

Fang Chang'an, eating his slightly overcooked noodles, smiled. "Brother Wei, you’ll ace it without even trying. But I really need to work out; otherwise, it'll be embarrassing if I can't even keep up with the girls."

Chang Wei thought he was just joking and laughed. "No way, you could never be worse than the girls!"

If it were just Fang Chang'an, Liu Cheng, knowing his temperament, might have joined in the banter. But with Chang Wei present, he mostly stayed quiet, now joining in the laughter as the others joked around.

At the next table, Brother Ping, Zhao Xu, Liu Yan, and the rest, whether or not they found it funny, laughed along as well—not out of flattery, but to show they were part of the group, to distinguish themselves from the outsiders at other tables.

It was a subtle sense of camaraderie and belonging.

Fang Chang'an nodded, laughing along too.

Wang Ke and Zheng Lili both glanced up at him, then at each other, suppressing their smiles, graciously refraining from exposing him.

As the group chatted happily, Little Blondie was at a loss—unsure where to sit or what to do with himself, afraid to laugh, but even more afraid not to. He managed a grimace that looked closer to tears than a smile.

"Sixty-seven! Order up!" The boss's wife called out, rescuing Little Blondie from his awkward predicament. The order numbers were written on the baskets, not called sequentially, so he was up next.

Little Flathead went with him to the counter, waiting and whispering, "What are we going to do?"

"How should I know?" Little Blondie never imagined that a casual complaint while eating, showing off with foul language and daring to curse the teacher, would land him in such trouble. He was fuming inside.

The two were on equal footing, so Little Flathead wasn’t afraid of him. Seeing his bad attitude, he nearly retorted, but quickly realized it wasn’t the time. He whispered, "Maybe we should apologize together later. There’s no way to avoid it forever."

Little Blondie knew that too. It was hard to swallow his pride in front of so many, but thinking of even Brother Xu getting beaten up and needing Brother Wei to plead for him, apologizing didn't seem so unbearable after all.

Little Flathead’s food was still cooking. Little Blondie took his bowl first, bracing himself as he returned to the innermost round table. He stood there, bowl in hand, glancing at Fang Chang'an, who was focused on his meal. The pretty girl beside him, though, looked his way.

Her clear, beautiful eyes held no mockery or malice, but Little Blondie felt his face flush even hotter. He quickly looked away and, in that awkward moment, found himself thinking of those gangster movies where even the toughest bosses had a beautiful, kind-hearted woman by their side...

Chang Wei was surprised at his discomfort, but assumed he was just intimidated by the whole "Brother Chang'an" thing. It eased his own nerves, so he waved and said, "Sit, sit."

"Yeah." Little Blondie mumbled, setting his bowl on the table but not sitting, instead looking at Fang Chang'an. After struggling a moment, he finally said in a low voice, "Brother Chang'an, just now... I'm sorry. I was wrong."

Chang Wei paused, glancing at Fang Chang'an. Fang Chang'an calmly finished chewing his greens. Wang Ke and Zheng Lili both looked up. Chang Wei realized what was going on, turned his head, and seemed about to frown, asking, "What's the matter?"

Little Blondie’s voice was so quiet that Liu Yan and the others hadn't noticed, especially with the low hum of conversation. This was a public place, and Chang Wei consciously kept his voice down, too.

All of this made Little Blondie feel much better. Right now, he wished he could develop some superpower to make everyone disappear, so he could apologize to Brother Chang'an in private.