Chapter 14: It’s You Who Seeks Death

“Hmm, why didn’t he answer the call? It’s already past noon, time for lunch. My father usually rests during the renovation at noon, but he should have answered the phone,” Luo Feng muttered. He tapped the ‘Phone Location Tracking’ function on his phone screen. Soon, a map of Yangzhou City appeared, with a red dot indicating Luo Feng’s current location, and a green dot showing the location of his father’s phone.

“Not too far from me.”

Luo Feng immediately recognized his father’s location and couldn’t help but smile. “I’ll go personally and tell Dad the news that I’ve become a Probationary Warrior.”

Without hesitation, Luo Feng followed the map on his phone and quickly headed toward his father’s location.

…

In the Yian District, Tian Du Garden Community.

“Hurry up! Move the stuff faster. You can rest and have lunch after finishing. We also need to go eat,” urged Zhang Haobai, wearing a white T-shirt and white trousers, standing in the private courtyard of a townhouse. Beside him stood three cold-faced bodyguards.

“Sir, don’t rush. These are precious furniture pieces; we must handle them carefully. Come on, guys, let’s put in more effort!” Outside the courtyard, a truck was parked on the community road, loaded with well-packed wooden furniture.

In this era, wooden furniture was extremely expensive, a luxury for only a few.

This was because humans lived in base cities where planting trees was rare, mostly for aesthetic purposes. Outside the base cities, although trees grew in abundance, so did monstrous beasts. The cost of fighting these beasts for timber harvesting and transportation was unimaginable.

Most households nowadays used plastic or, at best, glass furniture.

Wooden furniture was a luxury most couldn’t afford.

“Be careful.”

The employees of the decoration company carefully carried the heavy furniture from the truck to the ground. Then, the three workers cautiously moved the furniture into the private courtyard.

“Be careful,” Zhang Haobai reminded them with a frown. “This is solid wood furniture, made from premium timber. If you damage it, your boss will definitely hold you accountable.”

“Phew, phew.”

The three workers carried the furniture with great care. The furniture was well-made and extremely heavy, weighing over a thousand jin. The workers struggled under its weight.

“Guys, let’s stop here for a moment. We’ll carry it into the house all at once,” said the worker at the front. “Carefully place the furniture here, slowly and gently.” The three workers carefully set the furniture down on the courtyard ground, then straightened their backs and sighed in relief.

“Old Luo, I’m starving,” said a tall worker, stretching his limbs.

“After this set, there are two more sets left. Once we finish, we’ll all go eat together,” Luo Hongguo said cheerfully to the other two workers. He casually wiped the sweat from his head with his shirt. It was July, and nearly one o’clock at noon—the hottest time of the day.

Carrying over a thousand jin of expensive furniture was indeed hard labor.

“Hurry up!” Zhang Haobai urged impatiently.

“Alright,” Luo Hongguo bent down and grabbed the furniture. “Guys, let’s put in some more effort and get this set inside.”

“One, two, three, lift!”

Together, Luo Hongguo and the two others lifted the furniture and carefully climbed the steps one by one. Soon, they entered the house and came out again. As Luo Hongguo and his two coworkers passed by Zhang Haobai and his men, the strong odor of sweat spread. Zhang Haobai couldn’t help but frown.

“Poor people are just poor. Doing such hard labor, they’ll always remain laborers,” Zhang Haobai thought to himself.

His father was a wealthy man, and Zhang Haobai had been born into a rich family. Naturally, he looked down on the lowest class of society—the laborers. In his eyes, those who willingly did hard labor lacked ambition and deserved their miserable lives.

“Careful, don’t hit the front door.”

Luo Hongguo and the other two carried the furniture forward step by step with great care. Their clothes were soaked in sweat, beads rolling down their foreheads and dripping into their necks.

“We’ll rest outside the house for a moment.”

Luo Hongguo and the others carefully set the furniture down again to catch their breath.

“Go, one, two, three, lift!”

Although tired, Luo Hongguo and his coworkers had been doing this for twenty or thirty years and had grown accustomed to it. They knew their limits and rarely made mistakes.

Soon, Luo Hongguo and his coworkers went to carry the last set of furniture.

“It’s so hot today,” Zhang Haobai looked up at the sky. “Brother Wang, let’s go to the nearby restaurant for a meal afterward.”

“Thank you, young master,” the three bodyguards replied cheerfully.

Zhang Haobai glanced at the three renovation workers carrying the last set of furniture and couldn’t help but snort in disdain. He naturally despised these poor laborers. Suddenly, his eyes fell on the marble paving stones in the courtyard, one of which had a crack. That crack had been caused a few days ago when he was sparring with his bodyguards.

“Hmm?” Zhang Haobai’s eyes lit up. “I’ve been short on pocket money lately. This is a good opportunity!”

At that moment, Luo Hongguo and the others were carrying the third set of furniture.

Suddenly—

A mobile phone ringtone rang out. Luo Hongguo’s heart leapt with joy: “It must be Xiaofeng calling.” However, he was in the middle of carrying furniture and couldn’t answer the call. He decided to wait until they set it down before calling back.

“Let’s rest outside the house first. Place it gently, slowly,” Luo Hongguo and the others carefully set the furniture down.

Luo Hongguo took out his phone from his pocket. Seeing the caller ID was indeed his son, he smiled and prepared to call back.

“What’s going on with you people?”

“Ahh, I told you to be careful. How could you mess up like this?” A furious voice suddenly shouted.

Luo Hongguo and the other two workers were startled and turned around. Zhang Haobai’s face was dark with anger as he pointed at the marble path beneath the furniture.

“How could you do such a careless job? Look, you’ve damaged my path! These are Nanshan marbles, specially brought from outside the base city. Each piece costs hundreds of thousands of yuan. Can you afford to pay for it?!”

Luo Hongguo and the others looked down.

Indeed, there was a small crack in the marble beneath the furniture.

“Hmph, I’ll call your company’s boss and ask what’s going on,” Zhang Haobai said angrily. “Brother Wang, do you have the decorator’s phone number? Call them and get their boss over here! Talking to these people is useless.”

“I have the decorator’s number,” the bodyguard named Wang immediately took out his phone and began dialing.

Luo Hongguo and the others exchanged glances.

“This isn’t right,” the tall worker immediately said. “This crack was already there. I saw it before.”

“Still arguing? What’s the use of arguing?” Zhang Haobai sneered.

Luo Hongguo frowned. As an experienced worker, he knew such disputes were always complicated. Moreover, the company valued its reputation highly. If they were scammed and couldn’t prove the crack wasn’t caused by their employees, the company would usually end up paying compensation.

If the company paid, the three workers responsible for carrying the furniture would definitely have their wages docked.

“Guys, let’s carry the furniture inside first,” Luo Hongguo suggested, preparing to lift the furniture again.

“Carry it inside?”

Zhang Haobai stepped forward and shoved Luo Hongguo aside, glaring at the three workers. “Don’t try any tricks! The furniture pressing on the marble is evidence! You think you can carry it inside and deny everything? Hmph, I’ve seen your little tricks too many times. Wait for your boss to come first.”

“Old Luo, Old Luo!”

The other two workers rushed to help Luo Hongguo, who had been pushed to the ground.

“It’s okay,” Luo Hongguo rubbed his shoulder.

“Why did you push him?”

“This crack wasn’t necessarily caused by us. Why did you push him?” the other two workers angrily shouted. These laborers feared nothing, and if provoked, they wouldn’t hesitate to fight. Even if they ended up in the police station, they had no money to pay fines, so the police usually had no choice but to release them.

“Don’t get tough with me!” Zhang Haobai swiftly kicked the two workers in the stomach.

Thud! Thud!

The two workers were sent flying and fell to the ground.

“Hmph, don’t you know where you are!” Zhang Haobai sneered. His family had strong connections in the Yian District. Beating up a few laborers was nothing to him.

“Old Tian, Da Hou. Are you okay?” Luo Hongguo was anxious.

“Young man, how could you do this?” Luo Hongguo shouted angrily.

Zhang Haobai caught the smell of sweat from Luo Hongguo and frowned, waving his hand. “Brother Wang, teach them a lesson and make them quiet down.”

“Yes, young master,” the bodyguard named Wang handed Zhang Haobai the phone.

“Hello, this is from Tian Du Garden. Let me talk to your boss surnamed Hou. Mr. Hou, what’s going on with your delivery team today? They’re so clumsy that they’ve cracked the marble path in my courtyard. Hurry up and come here to deal with it! If this isn’t resolved, you won’t get the final payment for the furniture!”

Before he finished speaking—

“Stop!” a loud roar came from outside the courtyard.

At that moment, Luo Hongguo and his two coworkers were cornered in the courtyard by the three tall bodyguards, their bodies covered in footprints.

“Hmm?” The three bodyguards and Zhang Haobai turned their heads.

A blurred figure rushed into the courtyard. Zhang Haobai immediately recognized him and shouted angrily, “Luo Feng, you dare come to my house. Get him!”

“Damn it!” Luo Feng immediately saw his father, drenched in sweat, crouching in the corner with his stomach in his arms, his body covered in footprints. His eyes turned red. All these years, his father had been doing such hard labor, enduring disdain. And today, this happened.

One of the three bodyguards, a slightly short and fat man, sneered and stepped forward.

“Get out of my way!!!” Luo Feng roared furiously and swiftly delivered a heavy kick. The short and fat bodyguard tried to block with his right arm.

“Bang!”

The heavy kick sent the short and fat bodyguard flying backward for four or five meters before he fell. The other two bodyguards were shocked.

“Luo Feng, you dare come to my house and beat my men!” Zhang Haobai glared and roared, “You’re asking for death.”

“It’s you who’s asking for death!!!” Luo Feng’s eyes glared with fury as he clenched his teeth and roared.