Chapter 266: Pride Comes Before a Fall
Seeing Jiang Longcheng appear before him, Li Yi was somewhat surprised.
Although this guy’s injuries weren’t life-threatening, if they were sent to the relevant authorities for evaluation, they would certainly be classified as severe.
Especially that slash on his arm—it had nearly pierced right through.
Luckily, the man was big and burly, with thick arms; otherwise, the blade might have gone right through.
Plus, he’d lost a fair amount of blood last night, so Li Yi estimated that the guy would need at least ten days to a fortnight of rest at home before he could even think about going out.
Regardless of whether he wanted to or not, if he tried to check himself out of the hospital, he probably wouldn’t even get past his own mother.
“What are you two doing here?”
Li Yi then fixed his gaze on Jiang Longcheng and said again, “Especially you—aren’t you afraid of long-term complications if you don’t stay in the hospital and recover properly?”
Jiang Longcheng looked a bit pale, but he still grinned and said, “It’s fine, just some superficial wounds. Nothing serious!”
“Those ‘superficial’ injuries sure are deep—they’ve stained my clothes red and got me locked up at the police station for a whole night and half a day!” Li Yi retorted.
Jiang Longcheng said sheepishly, “It’s my fault…”
“Come on, it’s all in the past. There’s no point dwelling on it now!”
Li Yi continued, “Since you’re here, don’t just stand around—come inside and let’s talk!”
“Alright!”
After that, the group walked into the courtyard together!
After opening the door, Li Yi told Dongzi and the others to go back to their own rooms, while he led Jiang Longcheng and Ye Jianhua into his own room.
Once inside, Li Yi pointed to the small stools on the floor and said, “It’s a bit cramped, but you two can make do for now!”
Ye Jianhua didn’t mind and simply found a stool to sit on, but Jiang Longcheng was a bit hesitant.
He had a wound on his abdomen—though not deep—and sitting on such a small stool might cause it to reopen.
“I… I’d rather just stand!”
Li Yi immediately understood and said, “Why don’t you sit on my bed? It’s a bit higher over there!”
Once the two had settled down, Li Yi added some charcoal to the stove, then filled the large iron teapot with water and placed it on top.
Noticing how awkward the two looked, Li Yi said casually, “Go ahead. Acting all timid like this isn’t like you two at all!”
“Um… Brother Li…”
“Don’t do that. I’m not older than you—calling me ‘Brother Li’ just made me feel ten years older!” Li Yi said with a laugh.
Jiang Longcheng immediately grinned and said, “Brother Li Yi, I really want to thank you for what happened last night. If it weren’t for you, I might have actually lost my life at the hands of those bastards!”
“Aren’t you afraid I’ll team up with those guys to set you up?”
Hearing this, Jiang Longcheng felt incredibly awkward.
His first instinct last night had indeed been that Li Yi was in cahoots with those thugs, but when he saw with his own eyes Li Yi beat those three guys to a pulp—even breaking two of their legs—he knew he’d been wrong.
Even Zhou Yu beating Huang Gai wouldn’t have been this brutal.
Besides, those thugs had already been arrested, and after interrogation, it was confirmed they had nothing to do with Li Yi.
“It was I, old brother, who judged a gentleman by my own petty standards. Please don’t take this to heart, Brother Li Yi. I formally apologize to you here—it was I, Jiang Longcheng, who failed to recognize a great man!”
Li Yi glanced at him and said, “Do you know why those thugs had it in for you?”
“Rumor has it they were after money!”
“It was about money, no doubt. But with so many people on the street, why did they single you out?”
“Well…”
Before he could answer, Li Yi continued, “It’s because you’re too flashy!”
Hearing this, Jiang Longcheng fell silent instantly.
Actually, ever since he woke up today, he’d been pondering the same question: why was he so unlucky as to run into those thugs, nearly losing his life in the process?
He’d also been trying to figure out where exactly he’d gone wrong.
However, there were some things he just couldn’t quite grasp. After Li Yi pointed it out, he seemed to understand a little better.
Meanwhile, Ye Jianhua, standing nearby, frowned and said, “I think Old Jiang’s fine. Among us who grew up together, he’s actually the low-key one—there are plenty of people who are way more arrogant than him!”
“Heh, have you ever heard that saying?”
“What?”
“Heaven punishes the arrogant; man brings disaster upon the arrogant!”
Li Yi continued, “He’s the perfect example. If he hadn’t gone out of his way to show off for no reason, those thugs never would’ve targeted him.”
“Besides, even a fool knows a wise man doesn’t take a loss when he can avoid it. Ask him what he did.”
Ye Jianhua turned to look at Jiang Longcheng, only to see the latter’s face flushed red, wearing an awkward smile.
“Old Jiang, what jaw-dropping thing have you done now?”
Jiang Longcheng instantly lowered his head and said, “Can’t you ask me later? You had to ask right now!”
Li Yi chuckled and said, “Young Master Jiang was absolutely badass last night. Facing three knife-wielding thugs, he didn’t flinch at all—he even lectured them with total swagger. If he’d backed down just a little and handed over the money quietly, they wouldn’t have gone so hard on him!”
Ye Jianhua’s eyes widened like copper bells, and he stared at Jiang Longcheng, saying, “You’re really a tough guy, aren’t you? Those were three knife-wielding thugs, for God’s sake. Weren’t you afraid they’d really stab you to pieces?”
“Uh… I had a few drinks yesterday…”
“Ah, now I get why Brother Li Yi told you to keep a low profile. With a temper like yours, something like this was bound to happen sooner or later!” Ye Jianhua said.
Jiang Longcheng grimaced and said, “It won’t happen again. Damn it, last night was terrifying. I almost got sent to meet the Grim Reaper. I’ll definitely keep a low profile from now on!”
Ye Jianhua, meanwhile, stared at Li Yi intently, then asked, “Brother Li Yi, do you really know how to read people’s faces?”
“No!” Li Yi replied decisively.
“Uh… I’m asking in all seriousness…”
“Whether you ask or not, you’re destined for prison. If you don’t fix that womanizing habit of yours, not only will you be the one to suffer, but you’ll drag your whole family down with you.”
Li Yi knew full well that many members of the Ye family had been dragged down by his reckless behavior.
Ye Jianhua fell silent at that moment!
He wanted to argue with Li Yi—sure, he wasn’t exactly faithful in his relationships, but he wasn’t exactly a womanizer, was he?
Besides, the Ye family wasn’t exactly a minor clan in Beijing; surely they could handle a little scandal like this.
But when he thought about what had happened to Jiang Longcheng, it all seemed a bit mysterious.
Before today, who could have imagined that anyone would dare to target him, Jiang Longcheng, right here in the capital?
However, just as the two of them stood in silence, the door suddenly swung open, and Qiangzi walked in with a delighted expression on his face.
Paying no heed to Jiang Longcheng and Ye Jianhua’s presence, he addressed Li Yi directly: “Brother Yi, we just checked with Uncle Wen. He knows a workshop director at that foundry. Why don’t we ask Uncle Wen to pull some strings for us?”
Li Yi was taken aback for a moment, then asked, “Did Uncle Wen really say that?”
“Yep!”
“That’s great news. Let’s have Uncle Wen set it up and invite that workshop manager out for a meal together!” Li Yi said.
“Sure!”
As Qiangzi turned to leave, Jiang Longcheng spoke up!