Chapter 38: Luoshan Stone Pagoda

  In the evening, the sunset sank to the west, and the fiery clouds merged into one piece, stretching across the sky. The two bright moons couldn't wait, jumped up into the sky, and the bright moonlight poured down like liquid silver.

  Half moonlight, half daylight.

  Every summer dusk, under such a scene, red leaves are dancing, the creek is winding, high above, clouds are flowing for thousands of miles, forming a beautiful landscape of Luoshan City.

  Night falls, the entire city of Los Angeles is lit up with millions of lights, the roads are crowded with cars and horses, and hovering cars whizz by in mid-air. In the sky, spaceships keep appearing, heading towards the interstellar airport, and thousands of spaceships take off, sailing into the vast starry sky.

  Waaah...

  A squadron of aircraft sliced through the sky, this was the military and government security bureau's aerial patrol team. In the city, hundreds of giant spotlights lit up, beams of light piercing the night sky, casting shadows of these aircraft circling around.

  It was an ordinary summer evening in Los Angeles.

  The city of Luoshan is divided into 50 districts, with wealthy areas, commercial areas, industrial areas, and old urban areas. However, the city of Luoshan has a district that is vastly different from many cities, which is the first district of Luoshan - Shita District.

  Luoshan District 1 - Shita District, also known as Luoshan Tower District, is located in the very center of the city.

  A huge stone pagoda stands there, with its body piercing into the clouds. It is said that before Luoshan City was built, this stone pagoda already existed and now it has become a symbol of Luoshan City.

  The Shitower District does not allow anyone to live there, and all aircraft and spacecraft are prohibited from approaching, except for the maintenance workers who repair the stone tower every day. On ordinary days, however, there are a large number of sightseeing tourists who come here in an endless stream.

  Ding ding ding!

  Sizzling!

  At night, at the bottom of the stone tower, repair workers were doing maintenance work, and the sound of hammering and welding was heard from time to time, extremely clear in the quiet night.

  The repair work of the stone tower is tendered by the government every year to various large companies. Although this project is a losing business, the major companies in Luoshan City are eager to get it. Because after getting the repair project of the stone tower, the government will correspondingly relax the application for other projects of the company.

  This year, the repair project of Luoshan Stone Tower was won by Yulong Group through bidding, and then its subsidiary company, Lingzhi Company, sent maintenance personnel to be responsible for the repair work of the stone tower.

  Finally, these workers finished their work for the day, one by one putting down their tools and wiping away sweat, starting to curse the scorching summer sun. Among these maintenance workers was a figure that stood out - Sun Xiao.

  Put the tools one by one into the toolbox, Sun Xiao sat on the steps, frowning, his right hand unconsciously covering the lower part of his right ribcage.

  A bald middle-aged man rushed over: "What's wrong, Old Sun? Is your liver hurting again?" He took out a bottle of water and handed it over, "Come on, drink some water. Your body was never good to begin with, on such a hot day I told you not to come. What are you working so hard for?"

  Next to him, several other workers also gathered around, one of whom was a tall and thin young man who said: "Yes, yes. Brother Sun, your body is not good to begin with, on such a hot day it's easy to get exhausted, tomorrow you should take a break and not come."

  "Yes, Old Sun, don't be so arrogant. Also, stop drinking excessively, this habit of yours is caused by excessive drinking. If you continue like this, it will truly put your life in danger."

  "It's like this, Brother Sun, it's not me saying you. Once you start drinking, it's as if you're throwing your life away, and even the strongest body will collapse."

  Colleagues chattered incessantly, yet their words were filled with concern.

  Sun Xiao didn't say a word, gulped down a bottle of water, let out a refreshing breath, raised an eyebrow and shouted: "Who are you talking about? Am I the kind of man who can be knocked down by heat? Besides, every time we drink, which time wasn't it me sending each of you back home? Is this how you treat someone who's done favors for you?"

  A group of people shook their heads in dismay, having worked together for many years and being well aware of Sun Xiao's temperament, knowing that saying more would be futile.

  The bald middle-aged man patted Sun Xiao's shoulder, sighed, and suddenly thought of something. He asked, "Old Sun, today is the last day of the mid-term college entrance exam, right? Your kid is also a third-year student, I wonder how he did on the exam today?"

  "Ha! You're talking about that little rabbit!" Sun laughed, "That little rabbit's grades have always been at the bottom of the class. I just hope he doesn't get a zero on every subject, and can smoothly get his graduation certificate. That would be enough."

  The tall and thin young man shook his head and said, "Sun Ge, how can you say that about your own son? Ah Yan is not good at martial arts, but I think he's still very smart. He did well in the cultural courses of the graduation exam and scored high enough to get into a regular college. In the future, when he comes out, he'll easily find a job and will be much better off than us."

  "Yes, yes! My kid is going to be in third grade next year too, and her grades are just so-so, it's really worrying!"

  "Alas, we toil and labor, isn't it all for the sake of our sons and daughters? Pitiful parents' hearts, hoping they'll make a name for themselves!"

  Watching his colleagues talk about their children, Sun Xiao smiled slightly, lowered his head, and a deep and melancholic look flashed in his eyes as he murmured: "Yes... The sorrow of all parents..."

  "Huh?"

  Sun suddenly lifted his head, sniffed hard with his nose and said: "This is the aroma of wine. How can there be the aroma of wine? This flavor is mellow and fragrant, it's really good wine!"

  Everyone stopped talking, and one by one, they stared at Sun with strange looks. A bald middle-aged man shook his head and sighed, "Old Sun! Stop thinking about drinking all day long. Your body can't take it, you must quit drinking."

  Just then, the tall and thin young man also sniffed his nose and exclaimed: "No, it's really wine fragrance! This scent is really fragrant!"

  The evening breeze blew by, and the fragrance of wine wafted over, playfully entering everyone's nostrils, stirring up the wine bugs in these repair workers' bellies. This wine aroma was rich and strong, more intense than any wine they had ever drunk.

  A bald middle-aged man stood up, took a deep breath through his nose, closed his eyes and sighed: "Heaven! If I could just take one sip of this wine, what a wonderful thing that would be."

  "Damn it! Which bastard is drinking here?"

  "Isn't it Director Park?"

  "How is that possible? Director Park has already gone home at this time. Do you think he would really supervise us until the end of work?"

  A group of people stood up involuntarily, facing the evening breeze, desperately inhaling the aroma of wine. Even if they couldn't drink it, taking a few more sniffs to satisfy their craving was also a kind of enjoyment.

  As they were savoring the wine against the wind, footsteps came from under the trees at the end of the road in front of the stone pagoda, and a figure slowly walked over.

  The bright moonlight shines down, and a young man appears in front of him. His short hair is neatly trimmed, his eyes are bright, and his figure is slender. It's Sun Yan, he's holding two bottles of wine in his hand, one of which has no cork, and the fragrance of wine is wafting from there.

  Seeing Sun Xiao and others, Sun said with a smile, holding up two bottles of wine, shouting from afar: "Old dad, Lin Shu, Feng Ge, look what I've brought!"

  "Ah Yan!"

  "What's this kid doing here?"

  A group of people were stunned, and their attention was quickly drawn to the two bottles of wine. Pairs of eyes widened in unison, as if they wanted to swallow the two bottles whole, along with the bottles themselves.

  A bald middle-aged man took three steps in two strides and rushed to Sun Yan's face, "Ah Yan, you little devil haven't been seen for a while, got more handsome!"

  "Uncle Lin, good evening!"

  Before the words were finished, Sun Yan felt a lightness in his hand, and the two bottles of wine had already been taken by the bald middle-aged man. Lin Shu quickly covered one bottle with his hand and said painfully: "You little devil, how can you not even plug the cork? It's easy to spoil the flavor of the wine."

  Sun Yan curled his lips, his father's colleagues were all of a kind, all drunkards, seeing good wine and unable to move. Today he got a large sum of money, thinking about it, he bought two bottles of high-end wine and brought them over to celebrate with his father.

  At this time, others also rushed over, with Sun Xiao's speed being the fastest. He rushed to Lin Shu's front, snatched a bottle of wine from his hand, and stared at Sun Yan, "You little brat really don't learn well, where did you get such good wine? At such a young age, you're already so mischievous, how did I usually teach you?"

  As he spoke, Sun Xiao had already skillfully opened the bottle cap. It was strange to say that Sun Xiao's martial arts skills were extremely poor, not even a first-level warrior. However, his fingernails were exceptionally agile, and with a light flick, the half-foot-long bottle cap jumped out.

  "These two bottles of wine were bought by me," Sun Yan said.

  "Buy?"

  A group of people were stunned, and then burst out laughing. Lin Shu held the wine bottle with both hands, took a big gulp, and smiled with his eyes narrowed: "Alright, alright! Ah Yan, from now on if Old Sun bullies you, just come to me, I'll take care of you."

  The tall and slender young man took the wine bottle, also poured a mouthful, spat out a breath, feeling that all the pores on his body had relaxed, and said in a daze: "This is really good wine!"

  These drunkards don't care where these two bottles of wine came from, as long as they have wine to drink, that's enough. As for what happens after drinking, that's a matter for when the wine wears off.

  Looking at Lao Die's crazy drinking posture, Sun Yan frowned and reached out to grab the bottle of wine.

  "What are you doing, you little brat?" Sun Xiao's eyes widened in anger. "Are you trying to provoke your old man?"

  Handing the bottle of wine to Uncle Lin, Sun Yan said with a pout: "Dad, drink less for now and focus on recovering your health. If you want good wine later, I'll buy it for you."

  "Are you buying me off?" Sun Xiao looked his son up and down, and said with a knowing tone: "You little scamp is quite something! So filial to your old man, always trying to curry favor without any reason. You're either cheating or stealing! I know your character all too well. Speak up, what have you done now? Is it those exams these past few days? Did you sleep through them again? Don't even think about telling me you just didn't show up, or else your old man won't let you off the hook!"

  Bald middle-aged Lin Shu heard this, couldn't help but laugh, belched, and said: "Give up the exam? Old Sun, you're also underestimating your own son. Come, Ayan, tell your Uncle Lin how the exam went?"

  "It's okay, it's okay." The tall and slender young man downed three cups of wine and stood beside Sun Yan, "Xiao Yan, tell your brother Feng, do you have the confidence to take the entrance exam for a higher college?"

  Sun Xiao snatched the bottle of wine back and shouted, "What are you guys doing, making a ruckus? This kid is my seed, don't I know his character? Ah Yan, speak up, how did he do on the exam?"

  Sun Yan scratched his head and said in a low voice: "Actually, I was admitted to Emperor Feng Academy?"

  One sentence left this group of drunkards stunned, everyone looked at each other, and then burst into a fit of laughter.