A Valiant Life

“Master Lin.”

From afar, he could hear somebody shouting his name.

Wang Ming Yang was leading the pack and a group followed behind. Each of them was carrying a flower basket and there were even some performers.

“D*mn, again with the dancing dragons and lions. Didn’t we have enough already?”

Lin Fan had already lost count of how many times Wang Ming Yang had brought lion and dragon dance teams to his place.

“Chief He, Chief Jin, Chief Li, Lady Zhu Zhu…welcome, welcome!” Lin Fan was all smiles as he greeted them. Then, he turned to Wang Ming Yang. “Dragon and lion dance again? Aren’t you tired of it?”

Wang Ming Yang laughed, “This time, they weren’t brought by me. It was by them. These are the Southern Lion Kings. They’re the best in our country. When compared to them, those that I brought before were only little kids.”

“Oh, Southern Lion Kings. That’s courteous of them.” Lin Fan laughed. This was an excellent traditional artform. They were split into two groups. One group was the lion’s head while the other was its tail. Especially with the addition of Southern Kung Fu, the performance had a very masculine feeling to it and it was very impactful.

He Cheng Han smiled. “Master Lin. I saw the show where you went on Shanghai Television. It was a first class, outstanding performance.

Lin Fan waved his hand. “It wasn’t much. I was just sharing some of my thoughts.”

“Master Lin.”

At that moment, a man approached Lin Fan. When Lin Fan looked at him, he was startled. “Chief Chen!”

Chen Li Hao stood in front of Lin Fan with a slightly embarrassed look on his face. He had given Lin Fan a bad impression the first time they met and he was a little ashamed.

Wang Ming Yang patted Chen Li Hao on the shoulder, then said to Lin Fan, “Brother, initially, we weren’t planning to call him this time but he heard from somewhere about your business opening and he insisted to come. Right now, Li Hao has quit gambling. You don’t know this but right now, Li Hao is scared when he even sees a poker card. Sometimes, when we play ‘Fighting the Landlord’, we don’t even have enough people anymore.”

Lin Fan smiled. “That’s good. Gambling is not a good thing. It’s best if you can quit.”

Chen Li Hao nodded. “Brother Lin, thank you so much. But you really made me go crazy that time. Now I’m a little scarred. They told me to go to a psychologist for some consulting but I think I’d rather not. I’ll let this scar remain so that I’ll never think of gambling again.”

“Haha…” Lin Fan patted Chen Li Hao’s shoulder. “Alright, let the past be the past. But if you ever find yourself itching to gamble again, come and look for me. I’ll face you seriously and I guarantee you that you’ll have an even deeper impression.”

“Don’t scare me, Brother Lin. I’m easily frightened. I’m afraid that if I play with you one more time, I’ll fall sick from the shock.” Chen Li Hao was so frightened that he immediately waved his hand. Then, he said seriously, “Brother Lin, I’m really grateful to you for that time. I’ve seen your show on Shanghai Television and it made me respect you even more. With your skills, no one will dare to gamble with you.”

Jin Yun Min smiled. “When I told my friends that I know you, they actually didn’t dare to gamble with me anymore. They said that if I lose money, I might call you over and make them lose their whole family fortunes.”

He Cheng Han said, “That’s nothing. When I told people that I know Master Lin, they started to suspect if the money I won before was because I cheated. When I play cards with my friends now, they don’t even want to bet money. They’re only betting meals.”

“Haha…”

Laughter filled the air.

Lin Fan smiled. “Alright, alright. Today’s our opening so we might not be attentive enough to our guests. Please bear with us. This place is big enough now, please come in and have a seat.”

“Then, please excuse us for troubling you, Master Lin.”

“If Brother Lin is interested, you can come to the commercial street that I run to open a shop. It’ll be free of charge for you.”

Meanwhile, the shop owners outside.

“Goodness gracious, Master Lin is amazing! Those friends of his are all too wealthy.”

“What makes you say that? Do you recognize them?”

“Can’t you see those cars at the street entrance? Look at what cars those are!”

The crowd looked over and was instantly stunned. Each of those cars parked there was a luxurious, high-end car. They were so shiny that they were blinding. But knowing that the Little Boss knew so many powerful people, they were all happy for him. To them, since Master Lin was so powerful, it was only natural for him to have powerful and influential friends too.

Some of the townsfolk who had heard about the opening had arrived at the street. When they saw the cars, they were all shocked. They wondered who were the ones opening the shops, to be able to attract so many people who drove luxurious cars.

Moreover, in front of them, along Cloud Street, the lion dance performance was spectacular as well. They had earned the crowd’s applause.

In the shop.

Wu You Lan, Fraud Tian, and Zhao Zhong Yang were acting as the attendants, serving tea and pouring water for the guests.

He Cheng Han stared at Wu You Lan, then laughed, “Master Lin, you really are lucky. Your girlfriend is beautiful.”

Wu You Lan, who was wearing tight shorts and had some light make-up on, gave a slight laugh confidently. She didn’t feel embarrassed at all.

Lin Fan smiled. “Don’t talk nonsense, her father is just sitting there. You have to be careful with your words. If this was Lianzhou, you all would not be allowed to leave.”

Wu Tian He was sitting there when he started laughing, “Master Lin, you’re making fun of me.”

He Cheng Han and the rest laughed as well and couldn’t help but shoot a few glances at Wu Tian He. They felt that this old man had a strong presence. As for Master Lin’s words, they were half suspicious and half believing.

Lin Fan waved his hand. “Alright, don’t be too worried. This is Shanghai, we’re not gonna eat you up or anything.”

“Haha…”

The crowd started laughing again and didn’t think too much of it. They were all Master Lin’s friends and this old man was one of Master Lin’s people, hence, they were all on the same side.

“Master Lin…I’m late…”

At that moment, another person came.

Wu Yun Gang!

Lin Fan went forward immediately and said, “Chief Wu, you came here from Beijing? Don’t tell me you’re just here for my shop opening!”

Wu Yun Gang smiled. “Master Lin, don’t you see me as a friend? You didn’t even give me a notice about such a big event. If I hadn’t been following your Weibo, I really wouldn’t have known. I booked a plane that very night and came here in the morning.”

Lin Fan replied, “It must have been hard. Come, please sit.”

Wu Yun Gang leaned slightly towards Lin Fan’s ear. “Master Lin, Sun Lian Ming has fallen head first.”

Lin Fan nodded, then patted Wu Yun Gang on the shoulder. “We’ll talk about this later.”

…

He Cheng Han said, “Chief Wu, you’ve honored us with your presence. We humbly arrived just a little earlier.”

Wu Yun Gang smiled. “You guys have run into luck.”

Jin Yun Min was curious. “Brother Wu, what do you mean?”

Wu Yun Gang, “You’ve gotten to know Master Lin. Isn’t that a lucky thing?”

When the crowd heard that, they started laughing, “Right, right. We have run into luck…”

Lin Fan was laughing in his heart. The first time he opened his shop, no one had been there to support him. This second time, there were so many people around to support him. If he could continue to develop and open another shop, how would that turn out?

“Brother Lin…”

At that moment, yet another silhouette appeared.

Wu You Lan, who was busy working, heard that voice and her hands came to a halt. Then, she looked outside and a slightly surprised expression appeared on her face.

Wu Huan Yue!

The two ‘Wu’s clashed and crossed swords once again.

Wang Ming Yang said softly, “You all should be careful. These two’s feelings for Master Lin are not normal. Don’t make fun of them. If you do, and they scold you, then I won’t be able to help you.”

The crowd nodded. They understood.

With their status, which girl would dare to scold them?

But these girls were with Master Lin, so the crowd didn’t dare to do anything.

The feeling that Master Lin gave them was getting more and more mysterious. Even Wang Ming Yang had to privately whisper to them.

“I introduced my brother to you all because I see you as my friends but if any of you dare to mess with this friend of mine, don’t blame me for turning my back on you.”

Of course, Wang Ming Yang only said this quietly to them but all of them who heard it knew very clearly what he meant. If they played around with him, then they won’t be friends anymore.

Lin Fan looked at the situation before him and felt a little helpless. However, at that moment, numerous townsfolk had surrounded the entrance outside, looking in curiously.

“This is the Master Lin shop that’s been talked about on the Internet?”

“I think so.”

“I heard their scallion pancakes taste very good. I don’t know if it’s true though.”

“We’ll just have to try to find out.”

…

Lin Fan decided not to say much to the two girls. “Quick, attend to our guests.”

Wu Huan Yue and Wu You Lan said in unison, “Coming…”

He Cheng Han and the rest looked at each other. The situation really seemed a little tense.