Light Fortress
Chapter 96 - 88 Crow

Chapter 96: Chapter 88 Crow

Song Ci was quite familiar with the map of the old alleys in the Da Du district, and within ten minutes, they had arrived at a modest noodle shop.

Xu’s Beef Noodle House.

The owner was thin and tall, with a white towel hanging around his neck. Seeing that it was Song Ci who had come, he greeted him with a smile, "You’re here."

"Brought a friend with me."

Song Ci smiled amiably and greeted the owner, saying, "Two large bowls, extra meat, extra egg, extra braised dry."

He lowered his voice and said, "I’ve lived here for over twenty years, and this noodle house has been open just as long, this place serves generous amounts of beef and the flavor is authentic, unchanged for twenty years."

It was hard to find such a decrepit shop in Da Teng City, let alone in Da Du.

In the bustling downtown where land is worth its weight in gold, all you could see were brand-new signs, uniform franchises, centrally supplied food that could be heated up in a minute, fast food. The pace of this era is getting faster and faster, and not many people would sit in an old shop waiting ten minutes for the chef to hand-pull noodles. Everyone preferred fast food, mechanically prepared, industrial flow, clean and hygienic.

"I like this place."

Gu Shen said earnestly.

In this shop, he saw a side of the city lost to the glowing tide of time.

After arriving in Da Du, the reason he got used to running alone in the alleys at night was because he loved the lingering scent of life in this massive mechanical city.

People are the essential parts that compose a city.

This web of intertwining alleys was the only place in the cold city that slowed down.

Sitting here, Gu Shen felt his mood settling down...

"Seriously, why did you run?" Song Ci raised an eyebrow and asked curiously, "Your previous reason was too lame, even if you were lying to me, you could have come up with something better."

"Just made a deal with a guy in Huazhi Building, worried he might back out," said Gu Shen. "Whether they were coming for me or not, better to run first."

At this, Song Ci paused, then couldn’t help but laugh, "Then you’re right to run, there are no good people in that building, they may look harmless, but in reality, they’re ruthless... those who deal with them often don’t end up well."

"Actually, I’m okay, I definitely scammed him good," Gu Shen chuckled, "It’s possible he really sent a team to look for me, but backing out now is pointless."

"Wow..." Hearing this, Song Ci became interested, he ordered two bottles of ’Big Green Stick’ and handed one to Gu Shen, "Go on, tell me more?"

"There’s not much to it, that’s all there is."

Gu Shen shook his head and said, "However, the people in that building, they’re all wealthy business magnates who frankly don’t care about these trivial losses... more likely than not, he’s already forgotten about it by now."

Then he asked, "What about you? Why did you run?"

"What I said earlier was true," Song Ci responded seriously. "They chase me, I run; there’s no special reason."

Gu Shen disdainfully extended a middle finger, "Pfft."

"If I really had to give a reason... it would probably be because some big shot wanted to meet me, and I don’t want to see her right now, so running away was my only option," Song Ci scratched his head and grimaced, "But you know, running away is only a temporary solution. Da Du isn’t that big, where can I really run? At most, I run to the next alley to eat a bowl of noodles, eventually I’ll have to face whoever it is I need to meet."

"Big shot, huh, how big?" Gu Shen chuckled and changed the subject, "First time we meet, don’t want to exaggerate too much huh."

Song Ci, who had run away and then invited Gu Shen to eat, initially seemed like a tough guy who wanted nothing to do with anyone, and Gu Shen had planned to part ways after the running was done. However, after a brief conversation, Song Ci turned out to be incredibly friendly.

Chatting casually along the way, they found themselves familiar with each other surprisingly fast.

Gu Shen and Song Ci, it seemed their backgrounds were quite similar; both were orphans, one from Qing River and the other from Da Du, both making their own way.

Perhaps it was this similarity that evoked a strange feeling in Gu Shen’s heart.

Perhaps... Song Ci could become his friend?

He didn’t want to pry into the secrets of Song Ci, nor did he want to gather information from someone who might become his friend.

"Big shot, really big."

Song Ci narrowed his eyes, his chin propped on his hands as he stared earnestly at Gu Shen, "Wanna hear about it?"

"Not interested."

Gu Shen waved his hand and asked with a smile, "If I said I just scammed Cui Zhongcheng big, would you believe me?"

"That’s nothing but hot air," Song Ci couldn’t help but laugh and look at Gu Shen helplessly, "If you’re going to brag, at least make it believable. The whole of Da Du knows that Cui Zhongcheng is not one to suffer a bad deal, anyone who can scam him hasn’t been born yet."

Gu Shen chuckled sheepishly, "Sorry, sorry, didn’t sell that well huh. Just arrived in Da Du, quote unquote ’ill-informed’, of all the influential people in Huazhi, I only know Cui Zhongcheng."

Song Ci sighed and said, "Well, I don’t know what to tell you... here’s our noodles, let’s eat first!"

The owner came with two bowls of noodles, and while setting them down, he asked with a smile, "Crow, last time you said you’d bring Xiao Lu to eat noodles with you, hasn’t she come back yet?"

Crow?

Gu Shen raised an eyebrow, "Is this Song Ci’s nickname?"

He noticed a hint of melancholy flash through Song Ci’s eyes when he heard "Xiao Lu," but it vanished almost instantly.

Song Ci took the noodles, beaming with a smile, "Next time, next time. Xiao Lu is too busy, I’ll eat more on her behalf!"

The owner turned and left, sighing softly, his voice low, "It’s been several years since I’ve seen Xiao Lu... I wonder how she’s doing..."

"Tsk, tsk, there’s a situation."

Gu Shen sized it up a bit, leaned in, and gossiped, "Brother Crow, if I may ask, who is Xiao Lu?"

"My childhood friend, with a pretty and smooth personality."

Song Ci proudly raised his eyebrow, blew on the hot steam from the noodles, and intentionally raised his voice.

Then he quietly put up a finger, signaling Gu Shen to keep it down.

Song Ci’s voice grew awkwardly quieter, "I’ve been secretly in love with her since childhood, but actually, it’s been a long time since we last met... We grew up together in this area, but then she wasn’t in Da Du anymore. Every time I come to this noodle place, the owner keeps asking me when Xiao Lu will come, when will Xiao Lu come. Once when I was drunk, I bragged and said Xiao Lu was my girlfriend and that I would bring her back to Da Du next year."

Gu Shen exchanged glances.

"Next year and the next... so many next years..." Song Ci covered his forehead, looking almost in tears, "I’m starting to regret making that boast now... What if she really comes back, what then?"

"Fear nothing, just say you like her!" Gu Shen blurted out the first two words loudly, but noticing the sudden change in Song Ci’s face, quickly lowered his voice, "Since you’re childhood friends, why not go after her boldly."

"..."

Song Ci sighed deeply, downed an entire bottle with a thud, forcefully wiping his mouth.

Bitter liquor hit his throat, paining his heart.

He was starting to think, the more he saw Gu Shen, who was a stranger, the more he seemed the right fit, "Actually, I’d rather she didn’t come back to Da Du... Maybe I should tell the owner we broke up?"

"Don’t do that," Gu Shen couldn’t help but laugh, "What’s the matter? You don’t like her anymore?"

"It’s complicated, can’t be explained in just a few words." Song Ci opened his mouth, then hesitated, and said with a bitter smile, "Also... Crow is a nickname, forget it, it’s unlucky."

"You know, I’m an orphan..." he ate a big mouthful of noodles, mumbling, "Back then, I grew up on food from different families, kind neighbors would occasionally take me in, giving me food every day. But suddenly one day they stopped feeding me, because someone said I was a disaster bringer, that I caused the death of my parents and now I would bring disaster to those feeding me... Later, someone started calling me Crow, and gradually it spread, everyone just started calling me Crow."

Crow, a harbinger of bad luck.

"But... a name is just a label, after all. When I was a kid, I secretly wiped away countless tears over this, but now I don’t care anymore." Song Ci swiftly finished his entire bowl of noodles, burped satisfyingly and laughed, "A child who grows up being pointed at tends to be stronger, not caring about those gossip and rumors, right and wrong. The world is vast, but having a full stomach is what matters the most."

After a pause, Song Ci sneakily glanced at the shop’s owner by the doorway, then carefully added to Gu Shen, "Actually, Old Xu is a really good guy, it’s just that habits are terrifying. Everyone calls me Crow, so it’s awkward calling me Song Ci..."

He scratched his head, "If one day I come here to eat noodles and he doesn’t call me Crow, he must have Alzheimer’s."

Watching Song Ci’s tender gaze mixed with a hint of nostalgia, Gu Shen was stunned.

Song Ci gave a wry smile, "What’s with that look? Overwhelmed by my broad-mindedness?"

Gu Shen was silent for a little while, he slightly backed away.

Across the table, he sized up Song Ci from head to toe once again.

A sharply buzzed haircut, a fierce face, and that flamboyant shirt, along with those ancient flip-flops stuffed into the cracks with mud.

If one had to summarize the image of this tough guy in two words.

It would be most fitting to say: slovenly.

"Never would have guessed..."

Gu Shen clicked his tongue, his expression complexly filled with amazement, "Before meeting you, I couldn’t imagine that someone could hide such a delicate and tender heart beneath such a rugged and ferocious exterior."

"You flatter me..."

Song Ci humbly smiled, then suddenly his expression shifted, looking distressed, "Ah, I drank too much, I need to pee bad."

Gu Shen began to second-guess his judgment of people.

This Brother Song just can’t stay serious for more than three seconds?

With an apologetic face, Song Ci pointed at the bottle, "Brother Gu, today we clicked right away, let’s drink another three hundred rounds later... but you’ll have to wait for me, I need to hit the restroom, haha."

Gu Shen helplessly waved his hand.

As if pardoned, the person clutched his crotch and ran off gracelessly.

And then...

he never came back.