Chapter 545: Drowned, Chicken

Ten minutes later.

Chen Ling walked down the stairs unhurriedly, holding a sticky note filled with characters.

At this moment, Kong Baosheng was sitting at the table with a pale face, his hands clenched tightly on his knees, looking somewhat restless.

Seeing Chen Ling come down, he stood up immediately and said earnestly:

"Mr. Lin, I don't think this will work... Should I go to the dance hall and explain it clearly to Boss Li? Boss Li has too much influence on this street. If he really targets us, I'm afraid we won't have a single customer, and then how can we do business?"

Chen Ling put the sticky note back into his pocket and smiled slightly: "You don't need to worry about this."

Kong Baosheng wanted to say something more, but Chen Ling spoke again:

"By the way, do something for me."

"What?"

Chen Ling leaned over to him and whispered something. The latter nodded repeatedly and said, "Okay, I'll go right now."

As Kong Baosheng hurried away, Chen Ling looked at the sky, dragged a rocking chair from the backyard to the entrance of the opera house, sat down leisurely, and squinted in the sun like an old man.

About a few minutes later, two fierce-looking young men carrying baseball bats and rusty iron pipes walked out of the Great World Dance Hall and headed straight for Jinghong House.

They saw Chen Ling basking in the sun at the entrance and asked viciously:

"So you're the boss of this opera house?!"

Chen Ling didn't even lift his eyelids. His body swayed slightly with the rocking chair, and he was bathed in the sunlight, looking indescribably comfortable.

Seeing Chen Ling ignore them directly, one of the young men, who had a fiery temper, immediately picked up an iron pipe and was about to smash it toward Chen Ling, but was pulled back by his companion, who lowered his voice and said:

"Did you forget what the boss said? Keep a low profile recently, especially don't attract the police... Let's just follow the boss’s wishes and keep guarding here to ensure no one goes in."

The young man holding the iron pipe glared at Chen Ling, who was ignoring them. After a long time, he snorted coldly, put down his weapon, and sat down directly on the side of the road at the entrance of the opera house.

Both young men, whether in terms of their clothing, appearance, or the weapons in their hands, looked extremely terrifying. Sitting at the entrance of the opera house like two living Yama kings, they glared at everyone who passed by, scaring almost all pedestrians into walking around this section.

Chen Ling squinted his eyes, taking in this scene, but didn't care at all, as if the two of them were air.

This indifference made the two young men extremely unhappy. They had been hanging out with Li Ruohong for so many years; who on this street didn't see them like they were seeing a plague god? Don't look at this opera house boss acting all calm and unafraid of them now; in two days, when he still couldn't open for business, they didn't believe this boss wouldn't beg for mercy... At that time, wouldn't he be at their mercy?

And when Kong Baosheng came back carrying large and small bags of ingredients, he was clearly frightened by the two of them, his face pale. In the end, it was Chen Ling who took the initiative to come forward and lead him, so he could return to the opera house without incident under their threats.

Seeing Kong Baosheng’s reaction, the two of them felt much more pleased.

That's right, this reaction is normal!

"Mr. Lin, they..." After entering the house, Kong Baosheng pointed at the two and seemed to want to say something.

Chen Ling shook his head, signaling him not to worry. "Go cook. Let's have something fragrant today."

"...Okay."

As Kong Baosheng went into the kitchen to get busy, Chen Ling also walked slowly to the entrance of the opera house.

He looked up at the sunny sky and said leisurely, "The weather isn't very good... It looks like a heavy rainstorm is coming."

As he spoke, he moved the rocking chair at the entrance back into the building. Seeing this scene, the two "door gods" sneered.

"Rain? There isn't even a cloud today. Where would the rain come from?"

Chen Ling ignored their laughter as if he hadn't heard it. Just as he moved the rocking chair back, the bright sunlight gradually dimmed, and a dark cloud drifted from nowhere, pressing down gloomily overhead.

The smiles of the two young men suddenly stiffened.

[Time: Afternoon, 13:00]

[Heavy Rain is Coming]

The strong wind blew the wind chimes on the eaves of the opera house, making them jingle. Chen Ling returned to the rocking chair inside the house unhurriedly and sat down, a playful look appearing in his eyes as he looked at the two people outside the door.

The rain clouds in the sky became thicker and thicker, and the sky seemed to have turned completely black. Households on both sides of the street hurriedly collected their clothes and closed their windows. When the first drop of rain fell on the face of the young man holding the iron pipe, a sense of ominous foreboding suddenly rose in his heart.

Boom—

With a low rumble of thunder flashing across the clouds, a dense downpour suddenly descended. Large raindrops pattered on the streets and windows, and a misty water vapor drowned the world.

In just a few seconds, the two young men became drowned rats. They immediately retreated under the eaves of the opera house, but the howling wind continued to smash raindrops onto them, and there was no way to avoid it!

Their faces were extremely ugly. One of them was about to walk into the opera house to hide from the rain, but the other immediately pulled him back.

"The boss has already made his threats. If you go in now, won't the boss have to change his last name?"

"Then... then what should we do??"

"What else can we do?! Just hide here!" He looked up at the sky and said firmly, "This rain comes fast, and it should go fast... I guess it won't be long before it clears up."

"Makes sense."

The two looked back at the opera house and saw Chen Ling still sitting leisurely on the rocking chair, as if he were enjoying the rain, or as if he were enjoying the two fools in the rain. The corners of his mouth curled up slightly, and no matter how you looked at it, it had a provocative meaning.

Seeing this, the anger in their hearts burned fiercely, and they became even more determined... Even if they were rained on and froze to death outside, they would never step into this opera house!

……

Two hours later.

The rain fell harder and harder. The torrential rain was like a basin of water poured down, crazily drenching the two of them, making them wet from head to toe and shivering with cold.

Just as the two were almost physically numb, a seductive aroma drifted out from behind. They turned their heads with difficulty and saw that inside the opera house, Kong Baosheng was holding a steaming pot of chicken soup, placing it on the table in front of Chen Ling, his fingers being scalded and blowing air to cool down.

"Mr. Lin, this is the Huadiao chicken I cooked specially with Huadiao wine. It's very fragrant and tender."

"Oh? Let me try..."

Chen Ling picked up a piece, tasted it carefully, and raised his eyebrows in surprise. "It's really good."

"Mr. Lin, have a sip of this soup. It's very flavorful and can also ward off the cold."

"Hmm... It's still a bit hot, let it cool down more."

Gulp—

A sound of swallowing saliva came from the entrance. The two cold figures were now like souls hooked by that bowl of chicken soup. Reason told them to look away, but their bodies wouldn't listen.

The conversation inside the opera house came out again:

"Mr. Lin, it seems I made too much Huadiao chicken. What should we do if we can't finish it?"

"Can't finish it..."

Under their eager gazes, Chen Ling thought carefully,

"If you can't finish it, just pour it down the toilet."

Their faces instantly turned deathly pale.