Chapter Thirty-Seven Hero

  Wang Ke stopped in his tracks, and Cheng Rongjie's words made him feel a surge of excitement. Although he had true energy to ward off the cold, being drenched from head to toe was still quite uncomfortable. He hesitated for a moment, looking at Cheng Rongjie who had also stopped running, and asked uncertainly: "You lend me your spare clothes to wear, what about you?"

  Cheng Renjie heard Wang Ke's words and suddenly showed joy on his face, quickly saying: "There are other brothers' clothes prepared in the Baoning Pavilion, I can wear theirs! Although it's not that cold today, the icy river water is still uncomfortable if you don't change your clothes soon! Brother Wang Ke, come with me!"

  Wang Ke thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Then thank you."

  "No need to thank me, it's what should be done!" Cheng Renjie's face lit up with a brilliant smile, as if Wang Ke had agreed to his suggestion and given him the greatest honor.

  Soon, Wang Ke followed Cheng Renjie to the security booth 100 meters away from the big bridge. At this time, there was only one middle-aged security guard in the security booth, who was smoking a cigarette and holding a newspaper, looking at it with a leisurely expression. Seeing Cheng Renjie and Wang Ke walking in, the middle-aged security guard threw the newspaper on the wooden table, took out the cigarette from his mouth, and asked in surprise: "Little Cheng, what's going on? You jumped into the river to take a bath on such a cold day? Wasn't someone supposed to jump into the river? How did it become you jumping into the river? And this little brother, who is he?"

  Cheng Renjie smiled and quickly told the story, then swiftly pulled out a bag from under the wooden table and handed it to Wang Ke. He laughed and said: "Wang Ke big brother, our builds are similar, just that I'm slightly shorter than you. Try on my clothes and see if they fit?"

  Wang Ke nodded at the middle-aged security guard, then casually closed the iron door of the security room, took off his wet clothes and changed into Cheng Renjie's clothes.

  "It's still okay, it's still suitable." Wang Ke changed his clothes and smiled with a curled lip.

  Cheng Renjie also quickly changed his clothes, and when he heard Wang Ke's words, he picked up a cigarette from the table, pulled one out and handed it to Wang Ke, but was refused by Wang Ke.

  "It was right here, I just saw them running in, absolutely no mistake."

  A voice came from afar, and by the time it faded away, he had already run out of the security booth.

  Wang Ke's hearing was extremely good, and faintly he heard countless footsteps rushing over from a distance, getting clearer and clearer.

  After staring at Cheng Renjie, Wang Ke turned around and pulled open the small iron door of the security booth.

  The crowd of people who had been watching Li Hui jump into the river just hundreds of meters away, were now surrounding Li Hui, who was still dripping wet, as well as his wife and children, and quickly rushing towards the security booth. Meanwhile, outside the security booth, a young man in his twenties was smiling and staring at Wang Ke and Cheng Renjie.

  "What's going on?" Cheng Renjie stared blankly at the large crowd running over and asked the young man outside the door.

  "That young man smiled and said: 'What else? You two are today's big heroes, people have come to thank you!'"

  Wang Ke and Cheng Renjie exchanged a glance, then a bitter smile appeared on their faces. They didn't rescue people to show off their heroism, whether they were thanked or not was none of their concern. With so many people surrounding them, the two felt very helpless.

  Under the crowd's gaze, Li Hui, drenched from head to toe, rushed to the small iron gate outside the security pavilion and knelt down with a "thud" in front of Wang Ke and Cheng Renjie, while his wife and children also knelt down straight behind him.

  "Thank you, both of you benefactors! Thank you for saving me! Previously, I was confused and made a thousand mistakes, it's all my fault. Your great kindness and virtue, I, Li Hui, will remember in my heart. I don't have any money or goods, but if you need anything from me..." Li Hui knelt down in front of Wang Ke and Cheng Renjie with a face full of gratitude and shame, saying loudly.

  However, before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Wang Ke, who had walked out of the security booth: "Stop, stop, stop, Li and others. Don't be like this, hurry up and get up. We don't need you to do anything, saving you is just not wanting to see a good person bury their life. If you really want to thank us, then live a good life in the future, take care of your family, and if you want to collect antiques or artifacts, be careful and don't overdo it. If you have money, you can play around, but if you don't have money, just live a stable life."

  Cheng Renjie also quickly walked out, helped up Li Hui's wife and children, and smiled: "Wang Ke big brother is right! Making a living is the most important thing. How many people can catch the pie that falls from the sky? If you want to make money, you have to be down-to-earth. Brother Li, don't worry if the money is gone, you can earn it again in the future. But if you lose your life, you won't care about anything anymore, but it will be miserable for your wife and children."

  Li Hui, with a face full of shame, was persuaded by Wang Ke and Cheng Renjie's couple, and said bitterly: "Before, I didn't think about the consequences either, it just felt like the sky was falling down, so I had the idea of taking my own life. Just now, my elders and neighbors advised me, and I also came to understand that there is no hurdle that can't be overcome. From now on, I won't have any more thoughts of taking my own life again, thank you all, it's you who gave me a second life."

  Cheng Renjie laughed and waved his hand, saying: "Don't thank me, if you want to thank someone, thank Wang Ke big brother! I didn't save you, although I wanted to, but I don't know how to swim! I was saved by Wang Ke big brother myself, today is really embarrassing, it's a big joke!"

  "Haha......"

  The crowd around, almost everyone saw the previous scene, and when they heard Cheng Renjie's words, they all burst out laughing. There was no mocking gaze in anyone's eyes towards Cheng Renjie's lack of self-awareness, but rather a respectful look, not for anything else, but because he could jump into danger to save others without regard for his own life safety. Not to mention his abilities, just his noble character is worthy of respect.

  Then, Li Hui said a few more words of gratitude. After most of the people around had dispersed, he spoke up and said: "Two young brothers, no matter what, I owe my life to you both. A thousand words can be summed up in one sentence - thank you! I hope you'll give me a chance to thank you properly, please do me the honor of coming to my home for a meal. Although I've lost all my money, I can still afford a meal; just don't look down on the poor food."

  "Won't happen, won't happen. I just have something else to attend to, so let's forget about eating for now! And don't worry about what happened today either. Even if we hadn't jumped in, there would probably be many others who would have done the same to save you. We just happened to get there first."

  Cheng Renjie quickly said: "Yes! Forget about eating, I still have to be on duty, besides, I've already missed lunch, so I won't go join in the fun anymore."

  Li Hui hastily shook his head and said, "No way, today you two are my benefactors. Unless you look down on me and think I'm ungrateful, how could you not let me express my gratitude? Consider it a request from me, give me the chance to thank you, or else this feeling of mine won't pass!"

  "Xiao Cheng, you can go! Today you are considered to have seen justice and been brave. I'll give you half a day off." The middle-aged man in the security booth walked out with a satisfied smile on his face.

  "This..."

  Wang Ke and Cheng Renjie exchanged a glance, both seeing the bitter smile and helplessness in each other's eyes.

  He nodded slightly and Wang Ke smiled bitterly: "Alright then! Let's go with Liu to grab a meal."

  Li Hui's face showed a look of surprise, and he quickly nodded and said: "Okay okay, let's go now! My place is not far from the antique market. We can get there in about 10 minutes by walking south from the east gate. Xiumei, hurry up and buy some good wine and food, we'll wait for you at home."

  Li Hui's wife nodded quickly, her husband was alive, which was better than anything else. She was grateful to Wang Ke from the bottom of her heart, and of course, she was also very grateful to Cheng Renjie who had jumped into the river to save her husband.

  A dilapidated old house with a unique courtyard, it looks like it's been around for some years. The vermilion iron gate is covered in rust spots, and the two large iron gates are each missing one of their door handles.

  Following Li Hui into the courtyard, it was swept relatively clean, and all the miscellaneous items were neatly arranged. The simple tile house, after the black wooden door was opened, Wang Ke and Cheng Renjie followed Li Hui into the main hall.

  The old sofa, eight immortals table, and various wooden furniture are arranged in a very regular manner.

  "Two young brothers, please sit down quickly, I'll make you a cup of tea." Li Hui said politely after entering the house.

  "Li Dage, you don't have to bother anymore." Wang Ke said with a hint of politeness.

  Li Hui just smiled, then quickly made tea for the two of them and placed it on the tea table in front of them. He sat down in a wooden chair opposite them, sighing bitterly: "Today I can be said to have walked through the gates of hell, now that I've figured it out, my heart is also filled with regret! If I had died, my wife and child would have suffered afterwards. It's all because of my greed, I shouldn't have listened to that deceitful scoundrel's nonsense about a genuine magical artifact. That thing was just a worthless fake."

  With a disgruntled tone, his gaze fell on the copper Buddha statue on the Eight Immortals table.

  Wang Ke followed Li Hui's line of sight, and when his eyes fell on the bronze Buddha statue, he suddenly felt a movement in his heart. He smiled and asked: "Brother Li, if you don't mind, can I take a look at that bronze Buddha statue? Although I'm not particularly familiar with antiques, artifacts, and ritual objects, sometimes I can still tell whether they're genuine or not!"

  Li Hui had previously bought the copper Buddha statue and then found several master-level figures, who all said that the copper Buddha statue was fake. He wanted to sell it, but no one wanted it, so he also lost hope and didn't hold any expectations.

  He stood up, grabbed the bronze Buddha statue and handed it to Wang Ke, then smiled bitterly: "Several owners of antique shops said that this thing is fake. There's an old friend of mine in the antique trading market who has been in the business for most of his life, I also asked him to take a look, he said it was fake too. Alas, I'm so unlucky! From now on, I must not believe others' words easily."

  Cheng Renjie smiled and said, "Li brother, although I'm not yet twenty years old, I've been working in the antique trading market for almost two years now. In these two years, I've seen too many people who have lost everything because of their obsession with treasure hunting. Those people are pitiful, but also very annoying. Antiques are a rich man's game, and scams happen every day, so you'd better not get involved in that stuff again, it's not reliable."

  "Alas, it's not like that! From now on, even if I were to die, I wouldn't have the idea of buying and selling antiques or artifacts again. You're right, working hard and earning money with your feet on the ground, living a stable life is the real deal. Without the fate of getting rich, one can't have the dream of getting rich." Li Hui nodded and sighed.

  Wang Ke took the copper Buddha statue in his hands and observed it at close range. At first glance, he felt that this copper Buddha statue was fake, but after careful observation for a few minutes, his eyebrows slowly furrowed.