Chen Fan's angry roar was deafening.
Many of the people present couldn't help but cover their ears.
The street vendor, however, didn't find it noisy; the moment her eyes met Chen Fan's, tears streamed down her face uncontroll-ably.
"Brother, is it really you?" the street vendor asked, her voice trembling with disbelief.
"Chen Yi, of course it's me. Don't you even recognize your brother anymore?" Chen Fan's eyes were also red.
"Brother!" Chen Yi cried out, rushing over and throwing herself into Chen Fan's embrace.
Although she hadn't yet explained what had happened to their family in the past three years, Chen Fan could already tell from his sister's current situation that they hadn't been living well.
Three years ago, Chen Yi was admitted to the most prestigious music academy in Dragon Nation; if nothing unexpected had happened, she should be pursuing advanced studies there now.
After graduation, her future would have been limitless.
Given Chen Yi's talent in music, she could very well have become a musician.
However, the reality was that the once promising Chen Yi was now selling goods at a night market to earn money; in the biting autumn wind, her formerly flawless hands were covered in cracks, her face was incredibly gaunt, and a few strands of white hair could even be faintly seen on her head.
"I'm sorry, it's all my fault for not taking good care of you."
Chen Fan's heart ached as he looked at his sister, who had been ravaged by life.
This was his most beloved younger sister!
Three years ago, Chen Fan had gone to prison because he had severely injured a drunken rich second-generation heir in a fit of rage while protecting his sister from being bullied.
"Brother, it's not your fault, it's my fault, wuwuwu…" Chen Yi wept loudly, all the pent-up grievances in her heart pouring out at that moment.
Just then, the thugs who had recovered their wits walked over and surrounded Chen Fan.
"Heh heh, so it's you, the prisoner, who's back. I heard you were sentenced to ten years; why are you back after only three? Oh, I understand, you must have escaped from prison, right?" The leading thug, Liu Qi, chuckled.
Upon hearing his words, Chen Yi immediately panicked.
"Brother, did you really escape?" Chen Yi asked worriedly.
"Of course not. I rendered meritorious service while serving my sentence and was released early," Chen Fan explained.
Meritorious service?
Even Chen Yi was skeptical of this reason.
"You, meritorious service? What kind of useless talent do you have, come tell us, make us laugh." Liu Qi feigned curiosity.
"It's nothing big, just helped catch a few wanted criminals and saved a few people, that's all," Chen Fan said lightly.
"Hahahahaha…"
Liu Qi and his subordinates burst into unrestrained laughter.
"You really can boast. If you had that kind of ability, would you have been caught in the first place?" Liu Qi said disdainfully.
"I think this kid has been in there too long and developed delusions."
"He's fantasizing about being released after serving his sentence, so he escaped. That makes sense."
"This idiot is just here to be funny…"
"…"
Several thugs mocked him one after another.
Chen Fan then suddenly blurted out, "Do all of you live in Dunhuang?"
"What do you mean?" Liu Qi didn't immediately understand Chen Fan's meaning.
"Lack of culture is truly terrifying. I'm saying you all must live in Dunhuang, otherwise, why would each of you have so many B-words (Bìhuà - murals/wall paintings, a pun on 'bullshit')?" Chen Fan said coldly.
Upon hearing his words, the onlookers couldn't help but cover their mouths and laugh.
The Dunhuang murals are a World Cultural Heritage site and are very famous in Dragon Nation.
Even these small-time thugs like Liu Qi now understood that Chen Fan was using a homophone to insult them.
"Damn it, you dare to curse me! I'll f*cking kill you!"
Liu Qi was furious and rushed forward, throwing a punch at Chen Fan.
Chen Fan shielded his panicked sister behind him, then swiftly grabbed Liu Qi's wrist, rendering him immobile.
"Just now, that dirty hand of yours touched my sister, so you won't be needing it anymore."
Crack!
With a chilling snap, Liu Qi's arm was forcibly broken.
"Ah!" Liu Qi screamed, but still showed no remorse, threatening, "Kid, you're finished! I'm from the Poisonous Snake Gang, and our boss won't let you off!"
Bang!
Chen Fan couldn't be bothered to listen to his nonsense, directly kicking him away, causing him to spit blood and collapse.
"Everyone, go together, kill him!"
The other thugs rushed forward with their weapons.
Bang bang bang—
With a few punches and kicks, Chen Fan knocked them all to the ground.
The onlookers were incredibly shocked; Chen Fan's movements were as fast as lightning, they didn't even see how he attacked, and these thugs were already lying on the ground, unable to get up.
Liu Qi finally realized he had messed with a tough opponent this time and dared not utter another sound.
"This is just a warning. If anyone dares to bully my sister again, I'll take your lives!"
As Chen Fan spoke, he grabbed a leaf falling with the wind and flicked it out.
Whoosh!
The leaf, sharp as a knife, grazed past Liu Qi's scalp!
Liu Qi touched his head; his hair was gone, and there were specks of blood on his scalp, instantly wetting his pants out of fright.
Injuring with a leaf!
If not for the crowd in the night market, this leaf would have taken his life!
"I won't dare again, I won't dare again…"
Liu Qi ignored the pain in his arm, leading his subordinates to kneel and apologize.
"Scram!" Chen Fan spat out a single word.
Liu Qi and his subordinates crawled and scrambled away.
Amidst their shock, the onlookers all applauded Chen Fan.
Clap clap clap—
Especially the small vendors in this area, who often endured bullying.
Chen Fan pulled his dazed sister and quickly left the area.
"Miss, that person just now seems to be the divine doctor from the prison."
The fight in the night market attracted the attention of many people, and a woman in green pointed in the direction Chen Fan had left and said.
"Oh?" Luo Qianning looked over, just catching Chen Fan's receding back, and couldn't help but nod, "It really is him."
Out of curiosity, Luo Qianning asked the people around if anyone knew the Chen family siblings.
Soon she learned about Chen Fan being wrongly imprisoned three years ago, and the tragic plight of Chen Yi and their parents.
"What a pitiful person, but learning skills in prison can also be considered a blessing in disguise," Luo Qianning said with emotion.
"Miss, should we help him?" Even the maid couldn't help but feel compassion.
"Let me think." Luo Qianning began to ponder.
At this moment, for some reason, she greatly anticipated meeting Chen Fan again.
...
Before long, Chen Fan brought his sister home.
But this was no longer the over-hundred-square-meter house he had lived in three years ago, but a rental room of less than thirty square meters.
"Chen Yi, why are you living here? Where are Mom and Dad?" Chen Fan asked, puzzled, as he applied medicine to his sister's cracked hands.
The Chen family wasn't actually short of money; though not extremely wealthy, they were comfortably well-off.
Since Chen Fan could remember, their family had never worried about food, clothing, or shelter.
But now, their home was bare.
"After you went to prison, Brother, to compensate the other party, our family house was already sold, but it still wasn't enough, so we borrowed a lot of money and have been paying it back."
"A while ago, Dad contracted some strange illness, and his condition worsened day by day. Mom has been taking care of him in the hospital."
"Yesterday, the hospital already issued a critical illness notice, Brother. Since you're back, hurry and go see Dad. It might be the last time…"