Chapter 29: In the Future, Stay Away from Such Places—Aren't You Afraid of Being Drained Dry?

“Hey kid, you don’t even recognize me anymore?”
Su Yifan looked at him, his tone calm.
Hearing this, Lin Ming shook his head, trying to clear his mind and focused his gaze once more on Su Yifan’s face.
The next second—
“You… you’re Brother Fan?”
Lin Ming, half-drunk just a moment ago, suddenly sobered up by more than half.
Seeing his reaction, Su Yifan nodded, chuckling lightly. “Not bad. You could still recognize me like this.”
At these words, Lin Ming’s eyes widened instantly. Realizing it truly was his old friend Su Yifan, he opened his arms and lunged forward to embrace him.
“Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing?”
Su Yifan, quick on his feet, stepped back to dodge.
Lin Ming missed and nearly fell flat on his face.
But he didn’t get angry; instead, he looked astonished. “It really is you, Brother Fan! But I thought you were already…”
“Already what?”
Su Yifan looked at him.
“No, no, that’s not what I meant. I mean, how could you come back without letting your brother know?”
Lin Ming was overwhelmed with emotion.
In his heart, he only ever had one true brother—Su Yifan.
Five years ago, Su Yifan had suddenly vanished. Lin Ming had searched for him for a long time, even over the years he kept sending people out to look, but all to no avail.
“I just got back and haven’t had the chance to find you yet,” Su Yifan said with an awkward smile.
If not for running into Lin Ming here, he didn’t know when he would have remembered this old friend at all.
After all, five years had flown by, and so many things from before had faded from his memory.
Lin Ming didn’t dwell on it. He slung an arm around Su Yifan’s shoulders. “Come on, Brother Fan, I’ll treat you tonight. Let’s go and transcend.”
“Transcend?”
Su Yifan was baffled by the term.
But in the next second, he understood.
“Wait, you mean you want to take me inside there?”
He stopped abruptly, pointing at the club before them. “That’s what you mean by ‘transcend’?”
“Of course.”
Lin Ming snickered. “Don’t worry, Brother Fan. They’ve just brought in a batch of foreigners lately. All kinds of props—guaranteed to send you straight to heaven.”
With that, he continued tugging his friend toward the entrance.
Su Yifan quickly pulled his hand away. “Forget it, that’s not my kind of thing.”
Lin Ming paused, then flashed a sly smile. “Don’t worry, Brother Fan. I guarantee no one will ever find out.”
“Get lost!”
Su Yifan’s face turned serious.
Lin Ming dropped the smile. “Alright, alright, we won’t go in. How about we grab a bite somewhere else?”
Only then did Su Yifan nod in agreement.
Soon, the two of them walked into a small alley.

The alley was lined with all kinds of shops, most of them eateries.
Su Yifan and Lin Ming strolled down the lane and soon arrived at a small shop called “Aunt Li’s Snacks.”
They went inside.
The place was small, barely thirty square meters, and simply decorated. The front had tables for guests, and the kitchen was tucked at the back.
When they entered, the proprietress came out from the kitchen, greeting them as she walked over. “What would you like to eat, gentlemen?”
“Aunt Li, same as usual—two orders,” Lin Ming said with a flourish of his hand.
Realizing they were regulars, Aunt Li’s face broke into a warm smile. “Oh, it’s Xiao Ming! Alright, just wait a moment. Your food will be right up.”
She turned and headed back to the kitchen.
Lin Ming looked at Su Yifan. “Brother Fan, you remember this place, don’t you?”
Su Yifan smiled faintly. “Of course I do. We used to come here all the time.”
“That’s right.”
Lin Ming sighed. “After you disappeared, Brother Fan, I had to come here and eat alone.”
In the five years since Su Yifan had vanished, Lin Ming hadn’t even been able to finish high school.
For those five years, he spent nearly every day shuttling between two places: the club and this alley.
“Alone?”
Su Yifan teased, “You’re in and out of clubs all the time, didn’t you ever bring someone out with you?”
“Come on, Brother Fan, don’t make fun of me.”
Lin Ming replied with a self-deprecating smile. “Going to those places is just for fun, to kill time.”
“You should go less often. Aren’t you afraid you’ll end up drained dry?”
Su Yifan chided him.
From his friend’s words, he could tell Lin Ming hadn’t had an easy time these past five years either.
“Alright, since you said so, Brother Fan, I’ll quit from now on.”
Lin Ming patted his chest in assurance.
He didn’t go to those places just for pleasure; as he’d said, it was mostly to pass the time.
Just then, something occurred to Su Yifan. “Have you heard about anything happening in Cloud City these past couple days?”
Lin Ming shook his head. “Nope. I’ve been eating, drinking, and sleeping at Heaven on Earth these days—haven’t paid attention to anything outside.”
“What’s been going on in Cloud City?”
“Oh, nothing,” Su Yifan replied.
No wonder this guy hadn’t heard about his return—he’d been holed up in the club the whole time.
At that moment,
Aunt Li came over with several small dishes.
“Here’s your food.”
She placed them one by one on the table.
The familiar aroma brought Su Yifan right back to those days five years ago, eating here with friends.
He couldn’t believe it had been five years since he last tasted this food.

“Hey, Xiao Ming, how come your friend looks so familiar?”
Aunt Li set the dishes on the table and, noticing Su Yifan’s face, couldn’t help but ask.
Lin Ming grinned. “Aunt Li, you forgot? This is Xiao Fan.”
“Xiao Fan?”
“Yeah, remember how I used to come here with him all the time a few years back?”
Aunt Li frowned, then, after a moment’s thought, realization dawned. “Oh, now I remember—Xiao Fan!”
She turned to Su Yifan. “If I recall, you haven’t been here in about five years, have you?”
Su Yifan smiled and nodded. “That’s right, Aunt Li. I had some things to take care of out of town. I only just got back a couple of days ago.”
“I see.”
Aunt Li smiled warmly. “Alright, you two eat up. If you need more, just call me.”
With that, she returned to the kitchen.
Su Yifan and Lin Ming nodded and began to eat.
Even though Su Yifan no longer needed food, eating the flavors of his childhood still brought him delight.
After about ten minutes of satisfying their hunger, they’d polished off nearly everything on the table.
“Brother Fan, you done eating?”
Lin Ming asked.
Su Yifan popped the last steamed bun into his mouth. “Just about.”
“Alright, I’ll go pay the bill.”
Lin Ming stood up and headed to the counter.
But just then—
Bang!
A loud slap on the table interrupted them.
Both Su Yifan and Lin Ming turned to look behind them.
Five thuggish-looking men swaggered into the shop.
“If you don’t want to die, get the hell out—now!”
The leader barked at the diners.
The remaining customers, startled by the aggressive newcomers, scrambled to escape, not even stopping to pay.
In no time at all, the place was empty—except for Su Yifan and Lin Ming.
“Boss, there are still two guys over there who haven’t left.”
One of the toughs pointed in their direction.
Following his gaze, the leader tapped the table with his baseball bat and shouted,
“Hey! Are you two deaf or something?”
“What did you say? Screw you!”
Unable to hold back any longer, Lin Ming grabbed a chair, ready to charge forward.