Tang Manman tentatively lifted her downcast head and glanced at Lin Yu, pursed her delicate lips, and with an odd expression, she pointed towards Lin Yu's face, saying:

"Lin Yu, your face..."

"My face?" Lin Yu immediately asked, filled with impatience.

"What's wrong with my face?"

Manman began to explain but stopped midway, her head falling silent once more. Lin Yu chose not to press her again, deciding instead to rush to the bathroom and see for himself what was going on with his face.

Standing in front of the restroom mirror, he first chuckled at the sight of the comical reflection, but the smile quickly faded from his lips. Staring at his own bizarre countenance for several seconds, he took a deep breath to steady his trembling body, embarrassed.

Now he understood why the delivery guy had given him such a strange look at noon and why Tang Manman had laughed and avoided looking at him outside the door. His face! He could go join the circus as a two-faced clown looking like this, anyone would laugh!

Ripping off the bandage from his forehead, Lin Yu hastily combed down his yellow hair again, concealing half the face that was almost as pale as Tang Manman's. Looking at his now half-tanned normal face, he finally let out a shaky sigh.

Damn it.

Such embarrassment.

Too mortified to continue scaring Tang Manman, Lin Yu took out all his cash, totaling over eleven hundred yuan, and gave it all to her as payment for the medicine before sending her away.

Sitting alone on the bed, it took a good while before the heat of humiliation subsided from his cheeks. It seemed he couldn't cut his notorious yellow locks right now, not with half his face white as a sheet. How could he venture outside looking like that?

Rubbing his temples in vexation, and considering he still had to parade around with that ridiculous hair, Lin Yu felt strangely choked up. But for now, that was the only option.

Sighing, he continued browsing on his phone, waiting for his takeout...

Time flew by swiftly, and before he knew it, Lin Yu had been lying at home for a whole week. That week, he went nowhere, merely staying home all day ordering takeout, watching videos, feigning sickness, waiting to extort more money from Li Yuan.

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But to Lin Yu's surprise, he didn't have to ask;

the money came to him voluntarily.

Receiving the address on his phone, Lin Yu arrived at a small tavern called "The First Encounter." The decent interior surprised him, prompting Lin Yu to turn to Heihu, the Black Blood Gang's second-in-command, with a look of disbelief and ask:

"Brother Hu, are you sure Uncle has given me a ten percent share of this tavern?"

"Yeah, you're one lucky kid!" the rugged-looking Heihu laughed, raising his hand as if to give Lin Yu's head a familiar pat as a sign of affection. But recalling Lin Yu's bloodied face, he held back, concerned that the wounds on Lin Yu’s head might not have fully healed, and said with an attempt at restraint, "Now you're a shareholder of this tavern."

Hearing Heihu's words, Lin Yu raised his eyebrows in surprise, not expecting Li Yuan to be so generous. He wasn't sure of the exact revenue of the tavern, but a place like this could mean a lowest monthly dividend of at least ten thousand yuan for him!

Lin Yu’s eyes brightened.

Could this be the solution to all his college fees and living expenses?

Fortune had come without effort!

Feeling overjoyed, Lin Yu was glad he had shown mercy back then and hadn't let the Scorpio gang members kill Li Yuan outright, or else he would've missed out on this windfall.

Indeed, a good deed pays off!

"Come, let me introduce you, this is Deng Song, who's been looking after the place. Just call him Brother Deng," Heihu gestured towards the burly man with an unmistakable rogue's air about him, introducing him to Lin Yu. Lin Yu nodded slightly in acknowledgement to the tall man with the air of a ruffian about him, giving him a cursory greeting.

Heihu continued to introduce:

"Lin Yu, once Deng Song heard about your exploits, he's been full of nothing but admiration for you!" Upon hearing Heihu's words, Lin Yu glanced at the seemingly tough, streetwise Deng Song, noting his excited gaze, which indeed reflected admiration.

"Lin Yu, just keep up with your studies for now, and drop by here sometimes after school or on holidays, learn the ropes," Heihu suggested, "Who knows, maybe one day Brother Yuan will give you this whole tavern."

Lin Yu, showing gratitude on his face, inwardly scoffed at such a promise.

Once he graduated from high school, he’d be off to college—why would he bother staying in some outdated tavern barely making a profit of ten thousand a month?

But then again,

could an ordinary college graduate even earn ten thousand yuan a month?

Lin Yu felt unexpectedly defensive.

Unsure of the value of a college degree in this world, he reckoned that even if the standards were high, it wouldn't be easy for an ordinary university graduate to find a job paying over ten thousand a month.

What a dilemma!

Feeling the urge to stay, Lin Yu mentally wrestled with the idea.

But life in the underworld, with one hundred in, not one good end—working a nine-to-five might be tough, but at least it offered a stable life.

At least no worries about being chased and sliced up while enjoying skewers by the roadside.

With this in mind, Lin Yu went back to waiting for his takeout...