Chapter 9 Wood from Northeast China

"Let's give it our all!"

He carefully lay down on his side, close to Li Hanzhou, and stretched out his slender arms to try to wrap around the other's broad, cold body.

"Brother Li, hang in there! Tiezi's coming back right away!" Fang Che, acting as a human heater, kept nagging in Li Hanzhou's ear, "We're real men, what haven't we seen? This little injury is nothing! Once you're healed, I'll take you to Portland Street to pick up money... I mean, to do something big!"

Li Hanzhou seemed to sense the heat source and unconsciously moved closer to him, his hot breath tickling Fang Che's neck.

Fang Che froze, inwardly screaming, "Holy crap! The big shots are getting close! Is this supposed to strengthen their bond? Wang Tiezhu, wake up! This is brothers keeping warm! Pure revolutionary friendship! Don't get the wrong idea!"

He tried his best to clear his mind of distractions and focus on being the heater.

Perhaps he was too tired, or perhaps he was relaxed, but as he listened to Li Hanzhou's breathing gradually steady, he also drifted off to sleep.

After an unknown amount of time, the warehouse door was gently pushed open.

Cheng Tieniu, carrying the anti-inflammatory drugs and injections he had obtained, tiptoed in, and froze upon seeing the scene before him.

In the dim light, inside a broken seafood crate, the cold and ruthless Boss Li was being tightly embraced by Fang Che, who was as beautiful as a porcelain doll. The two were sleeping soundly, leaning against each other... in an exceptionally "harmonious" way.

Cheng Tieniu nearly dropped the medicine in his hand, his mouth agape wide enough to fit an egg.

"My goodness..." he murmured, "Isn't this progressing too fast? Does Boss Li really have this kind of taste?"

Fang Che, still asleep, had a silly yet smug smile on his lips as he mumbled something indistinctly:

“Brother Li… listen to me… Portland Street… is safe… from now on… we’ll be… the best of brothers…”

Fang Che slept very soundly.

He dreamt that he returned to his hometown in Northeast China, where he was eating skewers and drinking Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor), bragging to his brothers that he had met a super awesome big brother in Hong Kong and that he would take them to Portland Street to roam freely.

In my dream, he was full of vigor, eight feet tall and with a waist of eight feet, a true burly man from Northeast China!

Then, he felt someone patting his face, quite hard, and it smelled of the sea.

"Che! Wake up! It's dawn! If you keep sleeping, Boss Li will be strangled!"

Fang Che opened his eyes groggily, and the first thing he saw was Cheng Tieniu's honest-looking face that seemed to say "I know everything".

He blinked, his gaze shifted downwards, and then—

"Holy shit!"

He found himself clinging to Li Hanzhou like an octopus!

His head was still resting on the other person's uninjured left chest!

Li Hanzhou had woken up at some point, and those phoenix eyes were looking at him, devoid of warmth.

His face was still pale, but his eyes had regained their sharpness and unfathomable complexity.

Fang Che was terrified and frantically tried to break free, but forgot that he had injured his ankle. With a thud, he fell back onto Li Hanzhou with a scream, his forehead hitting the other's chin.

"Hiss—" Li Hanzhou frowned and groaned.

"I'm sorry, Brother Li! I didn't mean to!" Fang Che apologized hastily, his face as red as a boiled shrimp.

My inner voice screamed: "It's all over! We haven't even built any brotherhood yet, and I've already been groped and headbutted by the boss! Where's my dignity as the advisor?!"

Cheng Tieniu clicked his tongue beside him: "Oh my god, this is so sweet... Che, but this injured person can't handle your fiery enthusiasm."

Fang Che: "..."

He tried to kill the fellow villager who was talking nonsense with his eyes, but unfortunately, his charming eyes had no killing power; instead, they looked like he was flirting.

Li Hanzhou rubbed his chin, his voice hoarse from the fever, but commanding: "Help me up."

"Okay!" Fang Che immediately forgot his embarrassment, endured the pain in his foot, and carefully helped him sit down next to the pile of clutter with Cheng Tieniu.

Cheng Tieniu handed over water and the medicine he had obtained: "Boss Li, the medicine is here, absolutely clean!"

Li Hanzhou took the medicine, swallowed it without even looking at it, and then focused his gaze on the injection.

“This, you do it,” he said to Cheng Tieniu.

Cheng Tieniu was stunned: "I...I've never had an injection..."

"Subcutaneous injection, just find the right spot and push it in."

Fang Che looked at the needle, his calves felt a little weak, but he still tried to remain calm: "Brother Li, shall I do it?" He wanted to salvage his image.

Li Hanzhou glanced at him, his eyes clearly saying: You? You can't even take care of yourself.

Finally, under Li Hanzhou's guidance, Cheng Tieniu nervously completed the injection.

After the wounds were treated and the medicine was applied, the atmosphere quieted down.

Only the faint sound of ship horns from the distant dock could be heard.

Fang Che felt it was time to demonstrate the value of "Master Fang".

He cleared his throat, trying to put on a confident and composed expression, even though his baby face made him look like a child pretending to be an adult.

“Brother Li,” he leaned closer and lowered his voice, “when you were unconscious, I sensed something again.”

Li Hanzhou didn't speak, but gestured for him to continue with his eyes.

Cheng Tieniu also perked up his ears.

Encouraged, Fang Che became even more enthusiastic: "It's about Portland Street! I 'see' that there will be a major development there soon, and land prices will rise! Securing it now is a sure thing! And..."

He paused deliberately, "I also 'saw' someone plotting against you in that area! There's an ambush! We need to prepare!"

He spoke while observing Li Hanzhou.

Unfortunately, the big shot's facial expression control was perfect; apart from his deeper gaze, it was impossible to tell whether he believed it or not.

“Portland Street…” Li Hanzhou repeated softly, recalling Fang Che’s words in his sleep, “You seem very certain.”

"Absolutely!" Fang Che slapped his thigh, only to hurt himself. Grinning, he continued, "Brother Li, trust me! My 'intuition' is sometimes accurate and sometimes not, but it didn't let me down at the crucial moment! Yesterday's fire at the funeral hall... well, although it was a bit too big, at least it helped us get out of trouble, didn't it?"

When the fire in the mourning hall was mentioned, Li Hanzhou's eyes darkened almost imperceptibly.

Cheng Tieniu was completely bewildered, but that didn't stop him from praising her: "My goodness, Che, I didn't know you had this ability? You can even pull out real estate information while performing a shamanistic ritual? Amazing!"

Fang Che proudly raised his chin: "That's right! This is a family heirloom... a metaphysics combined with a modern business perspective!"

He quickly swallowed back the phrase "Northeast shamanistic ritual".

Li Hanzhou remained silent for a moment. Just as Fang Che thought he didn't believe him and was about to offer some more "substantial information," he spoke up: "The Dong Sheng Society is also vying for Portland Street."

Fang Che's eyes lit up! There's hope!

“Let’s fight it out!” He immediately switched into “advisor” mode. “Brother Li, we can outsmart him! I have an idea…”

He explained his plan, which combined the original work with modern business thinking, in a mix of Northeastern dialect and broken Cantonese.

Li Hanzhou listened quietly without interrupting.

Cheng Tieniu was dumbfounded, feeling that the villagers' minds were more complicated than fishing nets at the dock.

When Fang Che finished speaking and looked at Li Hanzhou expectantly, Li Hanzhou simply said, "The idea is good, but too idealistic."

Fang Che immediately deflated.

But Li Hanzhou added, "Once the injury heals, we can go see him."

Fang Che instantly came to his senses! Although he didn't adopt everything, he was given the opportunity to "go and take a look"!

Master Fang's path has begun, taking its first step!

He was so excited he almost slapped his thigh again, but stopped himself in time and nodded vigorously instead: "Don't worry, Brother Li! I'll definitely devise an even more perfect plan! I guarantee to achieve the greatest benefit with the least cost!"

Seeing his excited, flushed face and bright eyes, Li Hanzhou's lips seemed to curve slightly, but it was so quick it was like an illusion.

“The most urgent thing is to leave here.” Li Hanzhou looked at Cheng Tieniu. “Brother Tieniu, could you please do me another favor and contact someone…”

He gave the name and address of Chen Bo, a hermit from Temple Street.

Cheng Tieniu made a note of it, then patted his chest and assured him, "Leave it to me! I'll go right now!"

After Cheng Tieniu left, only two people remained in the warehouse.

Fang Che took care of the wounded, asking them if they were thirsty or hungry.

Li Hanzhou mostly kept his eyes closed to rest, only occasionally responding with a word.

When Fang Che brought water over again, Li Hanzhou suddenly opened his eyes and looked at him, asking, "Why are you helping me like this?"

Fang Che was taken aback for a moment, then straightened his chest and blurted out the answer with utmost sincerity: "Because you're my older brother! Aren't we best brothers?"

Li Hanzhou: "..."

He looked into Fang Che's clear, peach-blossom eyes, which were filled with unwavering sincerity and pure devotion.

My best...brother.

Li Hanzhou slowly closed his eyes and sighed almost inaudibly.

That sigh contained a complex mix of emotions that Fang Che, this blockhead from Northeast China, could not possibly comprehend.