Chapter 973 Looking for the old intention

After the SUV drove into the central city, Cheng Zitong looked around. He had returned to the central city for business many times in the past few years, but this time he felt obviously different.

In his impression, Central City was a prosperous yet chaotic place, with a large number of non-citizen immigrants gathering here. Street violence, gang conflicts, trafficking of illegal drugs and implants, organ smuggling, arms trade by private armed groups, corporate conflicts, etc. were happening every day.

But now, on the way into the city, I rarely hear gunshots or conflicts. The number of city patrol vehicles is still frequent, and you can see one every once in a while. But there is a sense of order, and it is no longer as messy and lazy as before.

The news on the screen of the world is refreshed from time to time. Most of them are about the news that the skyline will be connected soon, and the promise of city patrols to ensure the safety of citizens. In addition, a new biotechnology park is being established in Hongsheng District. This old district is undergoing a new round of renovation and will absorb a large number of employed people.

He sighed, "Central City is not the same as before." He clicked on the Netherworld Passport, found an address and sent it to Chen Chuan, "Xiao Chuan, come here and take a look first."

Chen Chuan looked at it and saw that the place was in the Shenwei District. He nodded and said, "Okay, teacher."

The SUV first went up the viaduct, and after more than half an hour, it turned into the Shenwei District. Cheng Zitong then pointed to a place.

"Xiao Chuan, do you see that rooftop? My teacher used to often practice boxing there alone. There were no distractions here, and only some drug dealers would occasionally come out at night."

Chen Chuan looked over and saw that it was a dilapidated building more than ten stories high, covered with ivy. However, the view was good. If he stood there, he should be able to see tall buildings in the distance. There were no tall buildings around, and he could see a simple football field nearby.

He said, "I remember the teacher once said that you lived in Wuding District?"

Cheng Zitong nodded, "I have been trained by this old man along with my fellow disciples since I was a child. I have not received any special treatment. Otherwise, people who are not familiar with me would not know that I am his biological son. I eat and use the same things as my fellow disciples. If I don't train well, the old man will come up and beat me with his whip without mercy.

I don't blame him. All the brothers are the same. They train together and each relies on their own abilities.

But the old man has always looked down on me, always feeling that I am not as good as he was when he was young. I thought it was because I was not diligent enough and not working hard enough, so I often came here alone to practice. Here I don’t have to think about other things and there are fewer restrictions. But no matter how hard I practiced, I could not catch up with my fellow disciples, and instead I was getting further and further behind.

And those kids from families that inherited the martial arts tradition always secretly made fun of me and laughed at me from behind.

The old man was looking forward to me at first, but then he was disappointed, and finally he simply stopped paying attention to me. I also felt that it was my own fault and I didn't blame the old man. Seeing that several junior brothers who were similar to me couldn't practice anything and had resigned and left, I also thought that I shouldn't embarrass the old man, so I said I wanted to resign and go out to make a living on my own.

The old man didn't keep me, and without saying a word, he just waved his hand and let me go."

He chuckled, "I was probably fifteen or sixteen at the time, about the same age as you, Xiaochuan, when you entered school. I hadn't really decided what to do when I left school, but I just got carried away and decided to do this on impulse.

It just so happened that after I got out, I saw someone commissioned to solve a ghost story. I had been fascinated by this for a while. I had studied it secretly and thought about it in my mind, but I had never tried it. I didn't know where to go at the time, so I took this commission. I didn't expect that I would actually solve it.

After this time, people came to me again, and every time I solved the problem beautifully. Maybe I have a talent for this. I can always think of a solution that others can’t think of. "

He pointed to his head and said, "At that time, I was able to solve problems that others could not solve by relying only on my brain, without any physical force."

Chen Chuan nodded. Many strange stories needed to find the crux of the matter, which really could not be accomplished by relying solely on force. He had handled some strange stories with force in the past. After careful study, if he found the right approach and had enough time, there might be other ways to solve them.

"It was then that I realized that my talent might not lie in martial arts. Back when I was still with the old man, even though I was young, I was able to arrange everything in an orderly manner, including what my fellow apprentices ate, what they used, and everything else they did when they came in and out. Even if it was a messy and trivial matter, I never had to worry about it. What others found a headache, I could sort out at a glance.

Later, I got into the commissioned company and was in charge of logistics support. Over the years, not only did I not encounter any problems, but I also helped them optimize processes, save a lot of expenses, and solve some business problems. Gradually, I became famous.

Teacher, it took me three years to finally save up some money. I went back home and paid the old man's tuition. It was exactly the money that the old man had given me for spending money on me. I stayed up all night to save up the money, but I didn't expect the old man to take it without saying a word and said that I finally understood something.

Hey!"

Cheng Zitong slapped his thigh and said, "I wanted to piss off the old man, but I didn't expect that he would get pissed off by me. I was really pissed off.

The old man also said that since I have grown up, he will no longer care about me, so I should not bother him and make my own way if I have the ability.

Chen Chuan smiled after hearing this, slowed down the car, and asked, "Teacher, did you go to Yangzhi later?"

"Not yet," Cheng Zitong shook his head and said, "After all, I've lived in Central City for nearly twenty years, and I never thought about running so far away. At that time, I didn't even think about the world outside Central City.

Later, when I came out, I felt more and more frustrated. I had to fight for this pride. Where you fall, you get up there. I contacted a few fellow apprentices who had resigned and used the remaining money to set up a martial arts gym and recruit students to teach. I didn't believe that if this old man could teach good students, I couldn't?

Chen Chuan thought about the time Cheng Zitong had lived in Yangzhi. It was at least more than 20 years. It seemed that this job would not last long.

"I didn't expect that after only a month of opening the martial arts gym, the old man sent someone to the door, asking all my fellow disciples to leave. He told me to learn the rules and that if I couldn't make a name for myself, I wouldn't be able to teach others and wasn't worthy of doing so."

Cheng Zitong folded his arms and said, "I really don't agree with that. I can't practice well myself, but I know how to teach. Later, I even competed with the old man. When my fellow apprentices were not around, I taught by myself. But I changed several places. Even if I taught people privately without tuition, there would always be brothers who came to me and used various methods, both overt and covert, to prevent me from doing this.

The old man even said that as long as I was his son, I had to follow his rules. My fellow apprentices were just like him, and they advised me not to bother with this anymore. Hey, this place…” He patted the back of the chair, “Xiao Juan, stop by the roadside…”

Chen Chuan slowly pulled the car to the side of the street and saw an ordinary-looking residential building in front of him.

Cheng Zitong took off his sunglasses, looked at it and said, "Well, after about half a year, I finally compromised with the old man. I couldn't beat him, so I picked up the job of cleaning up the ghost stories again.

This was the place I rented at that time. I lived here for more than half a year. I’m not afraid of being laughed at by you, a student, but I met the first girl I liked here. She said that she was not liked by her family, so she ran away from home.

At that time, she was my assistant, and we worked together very well. She had some spiritual talents and had learned martial arts, so she could sense some dangerous situations in advance. Together we solved many anomalies and gradually gained some reputation.

It was only later that I discovered she was from a wealthy family, and that she was just angry with her family and wanted to take risks and experience life. I don't know why, but I was very angry at the time and had a big argument with her..."

As he spoke, he felt somewhat melancholy, shaking his head and saying self-deprecatingly, "My pride, that's what I regretted after the argument. I waited for a month but she didn't show up, so I simply left Central City and went back to Yangzhi's hometown, where I got a job at Wuyi College."

He pointed upwards and said, "Look, I lived in the last room on the east side. There were three rooms in it. I lived in the outermost one and she lived in the inner one."

Chen Chuan asked, "Teacher, do you want to go down and take a look?"

Cheng Zitong shook his head and said, "It's been so many years, there's nothing to see anymore, let's go."

Chen Chuan drove Cheng Zitong all the way to the designated location. It was a two-story blue brick building with a grape trellis outside. Judging from the style, it was still a very old building before the Great Development. Although the location seemed a bit remote, the environment was not bad.

The two men got out of the car and walked towards the small building. At this time, a middle-aged man carrying a bag came out from inside.

Cheng Zitong took a look and said, "Flathead, is that you?"

The middle-aged man was a little unhappy when he heard this name. He looked him up and down, then suddenly opened his eyes wide, a little surprised, and pointed at him and said, "You, are..."

Cheng Zitong took off his sunglasses and said, "It's me, Cheng Zitong."

"Brother Tong?"

The middle-aged man suddenly became a little excited. He ran up a few steps, looked him up and down, grabbed his arm, and said excitedly: "Brother Tong, it really is you. It's been so many years, you're back?"

Cheng Zitong smiled and said, "Yes, I'm back."

The middle-aged man became even more excited and said, "It's good to be back, it's good to be back. Hey, I say, why are you so...well-off?"

"Really?" Cheng Zitong touched his face, "Why do I feel like I've lost weight recently?"

"Brother Tong, it seems that you are doing well in Yangzhi?"

"It's okay."

The middle-aged man nodded. "That's right. It's far from the central city, so there are fewer worries. Brother Tong, seriously," he said seriously, "you're not planning to leave this time... right?"

Cheng Zitong tapped his sunglasses twice in his hand, put them back on, raised his head, and said with a smile: "I'm coming back this time to stay for a while. I want to walk around, see some things, meet some people from the past, and sort out the past."

…

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(End of this chapter)