Leisurely mountain village

When Ye Huan met Pi San, he immediately cowered upon seeing her, grabbed a tattered suitcase, and left, saying, "I'm sorry, I didn't know you knew Little Mute."

"Okay, don't bully him anymore. He's still a child. I'll protect him from now on." Ye Huan didn't say she really wanted to do anything to Pi San. People like him are very clever and shrewd.

"I understand." Pi San said sensibly and left.

"We can't live here anymore," Ye Huan said, frowning as he looked at the damp, dark, and musty-smelling shed.

"You'll get used to it," the little mute said nonchalantly.

Suddenly, Ye Huan thought of someone, "Come with me, I've thought of something you can do."

The little mute boy's eyes lit up, and he nodded. He ran into the shed, pulled something out of nowhere, put it on his person, and followed Ye Huan.

At his friend's car wash, Ye Huan was talking to the owner: "Xiao Qiang, thank you."

“We’re old brothers, it’s no fun talking about this now.” The tall, strong young man laughed. His name was Gao Xiaoqiang, a local. He was Ye Huan’s classmate in junior high school in the town. They were classmates for three years and had always had a good relationship. Moreover, there was no one in the whole town who didn’t know the name Ye Wuju.

After graduating from junior high school, he failed the high school entrance exam and simply stopped studying to make his way in the world. He went astray and in the year he was admitted to university, he was imprisoned for three years for intentionally injuring someone. After he came out, his parents passed away. His grandfather was still living in the countryside, but he had nowhere to live and the old man refused to leave home.

So he settled down and turned the ground floor of the street-facing house his parents left him into a car wash. Now that his economic situation has improved and there are many cars in the town, his business has been doing quite well in recent years.

Since he was a tough guy before, no street thugs dared to cause trouble for him, and he is now considered a small business owner in the town.

Ye Huan thought of him. When he was released from prison, Ye Huan picked him up. Ye Huan borrowed 10,000 yuan from his grandfather to set up the car dealership. Although it wasn't much, Ye Huan himself didn't have much money at that time and hadn't graduated yet.

"Little mute, what's your name? I really don't know." Ye Huan called him over.

"I don't have a name. My grandma calls me Gousheng, and other people call me Little Mute." He shook his head, not knowing.

Ye Huan and Gao Xiaoqiang exchanged a glance and shook their heads. "You should at least know your last name, right?"

"Grandma said my parents were beasts, so I don't know that Grandma's surname is Wang," the little mute boy said.

“Alright, from now on you’ll be called Wang Ye. I’ll have someone get you an ID card later. Today you’re 16 years old, so if anyone asks, just say you’re 16, understand?” Ye Huan said.

"Yes, thank you, brother," said the little mute, Wang Ye.

"Isn't that too much trouble? How about I go to the station and ask Da Guo? He's a police officer now. It'll only cost a little money." Gao Xiaoqiang asked.

"Okay, you can ask him. If it's inconvenient for him to help, just let me know and I'll find someone to handle it." Ye Huan didn't give any guarantees. He didn't know if Cao Zhi from the National Security Bureau could handle this, but he figured it shouldn't be a problem, right?

"In addition, you will take care of his food and lodging, and give him 200 yuan for pocket money each month. As for the rest, you can save it for him," Ye Huan said to Xiao Qiang.

Xiao Qiang nodded, and the mute boy, who had also heard this, nodded as well. He knew that Ye Huan was doing this for his own good.

"When you encounter a problem, don't rush into it. Talk to me first, understand? Rushing into it won't solve anything," Ye Huan said to Gao Xiaoqiang.

"Yeah, I'm all grown up now, I understand. Don't worry, I won't be so stupid anymore. Back then, wasn't it all because of so-called brotherhood? But what happened? I refused to betray them no matter what, and as a result, my name appeared 75 times on 19 interrogation records. Haha, when I got out of prison, only you, my brother, came to pick me up and even lent me 10,000 yuan."

Gao Xiaoqiang laughed and said that he was too young and foolish back then. He was the one who hurt the other person, but he took the blame in the end. Others betrayed him and ended up in jail, while the other person was detained for a few days and got away with it.

"Have they come looking for you in the past few years?" Ye Huan asked. He knew about what happened back then. Gao Xiaoqiang didn't talk to others, but he had nothing to hide from him.

“When I first started out in this line of work, I came here. Do you remember Scarface? The kid who used to follow me around like a shadow. If it weren’t for me, he would have been killed by the other guy that time. Now he’s a big boss, he runs a gambling den in town and has a dozen or so thugs under his command.”

“Scarface? I remember, he ran a gambling den?” Ye Huan asked.

"Yes, I had just opened my car wash back then. He came to me with some people and asked me to watch the place for him. I didn't go, so he left. I saw him again after that, but we never spoke again." Gao Xiaoqiang nodded.

“Okay, don’t worry about what he’s doing. Just do your job well. If he comes looking for trouble, tell me and I’ll have someone take care of him,” Ye Huan said.

"Okay." Gao Xiaoqiang didn't ask any questions. He and Ye Huan had a good relationship. You could say that from the day Ye Huan picked him up from prison and lent him money to start a car wash business, Ye Huan was like an older brother to him.

"Are there still a lot of thugs in town?" Ye Huan asked.

"It's alright, much less than before. They can't even afford to eat, let alone make a living. That blond guy you kicked into the Ping'an River before, I heard he took a few guys and went south. He came back once, and it seems he got involved with that stuff," Gao Xiaoqiang said in a low voice.

"You're asking for it. Ignore them. Just focus on your business and make sure you have enough to eat. If you really can't make it anymore, just tell me. I'm doing alright now." Ye Huan didn't care about anyone else, whether it was drugs or gambling, as long as they didn't mess with him.

"Yeah. We're not on the same wavelength. He got quite close to Scarface when he came back that time," Gao Xiaoqiang nodded. "Also, there's Hu San, the guy Tiger saved from the watermelon knife back then. He runs a barbecue stall now, and business is pretty good. I heard Tiger's with a big boss?"

"Yeah, it's alright. I heard that the boss's business is pretty big. I called Tiger back after I got back and asked him, but he didn't ask who it was." Ye Huan nodded.

"Tiger learned a few tricks from your grandfather, enough to get by in society. Just be careful and avoid trolls," Gao Xiaoqiang said.

"What? Are there people in town who play with toxic trolls?" Ye Huan asked in surprise.

“Those big thugs almost all have them, but they usually don’t dare to show them off,” Gao Xiaoqiang nodded.

Ye Huan was speechless. "Stay away from these people."

"Don't worry, I've already figured it out." Gao Xiaoqiang grinned.

"Okay, that's settled then. I'm heading back now. Come over for a drink sometime." Ye Huan glanced at the weather; it was getting late, so she prepared to go home.

"No, let's have a drink here tonight. You have nothing to do when you go back anyway," Gao Xiaoqiang said, rarely seeing Ye Huan in town.

"Okay, I'll call home and let them know." Ye Huan picked up the phone and walked to the side to make the call.

There are three other car wash workers in Gao Xiaoqiang's shop. One of them is older, about 40 years old, and also comes from the mountains. He doesn't know how to do anything. He went to construction sites, but they wouldn't take him if he didn't know anyone there. Later, he fainted from hunger on the street and met Gao Xiaoqiang, so he came to get his car washed.

Second update. Could you please give me a five-star review to dilute my points? Thank you, bro.