Chapter 120: Rudeness

Sunday.

The first snow of early winter began to fall flurrying around past four in the morning.

Perhaps it was due to the overcast clouds that had been gathering for days, but this first snowfall was heavy. It quickly covered the land under the night sky with a thick blanket of snow. The unevenly spaced buildings in Pingyang City were all dressed in silver. From afar, the dim yellow lights of the entire city, reflected off the snow, shone upon the fluttering goose feather-like snowflakes. It was like layers of dense, interlaced curtains, exuding an exceptionally hazy beauty in the silent night.

At exactly five o’clock, Su Chunfeng got up on time.

He only wore his autumn clothes and pants, put on his school uniform over them, and then jogged out of the small courtyard where he lived. He ran eastward from the parking lot already covered in thick snow.

Area A of Wantong Logistics Park was now mostly completed, with only simple interior decorations left in the buildings. By “simple decorations,” it meant just smoothing the indoor floors with concrete and painting the walls white with lime. There wasn’t even any putty powder. Everything was kept simple, mainly to cut costs.

Among the row of simple single-story houses on the north side, a light was on in one room. Under the glow of the light, smoke billowed out from the chimney above the door.

On the open parking lot, a total of four rows of lamp posts, spaced according to plan and secured with cement bases, now had several streetlights switched on. They emitted a yellowish-white glow, struggling to pierce through the dense snow curtain and the night, striving to illuminate a bit farther.

Woof, woof woof…

The beast Lulu barked noisily, squeezing out through the cotton curtain of the lit room and darting straight toward Su Chunfeng, who was jogging across the parking lot.

“Get lost!” Su Chunfeng laughed and cursed, kicking it aside.

But the creature was shameless. It shook its head and wagged its tail, happily circling around Su Chunfeng. Only when Su Li walked out from the lit room farther away and shouted, “Come back!” did the dog turn its head, wagging as it scurried back. Su Chunfeng called out toward that direction, “Uncle, go back inside and rest for a while. I’ll keep an eye on things for you.”

“Ah, okay,” Su Li replied. He then turned and said something to the person inside the room before leading Lulu back toward the small courtyard.

These four adjacent rooms served as the office and cafeteria for Hongyun Construction Co., Ltd. at the Wantong Logistics Park construction site. During the day, foremen discussed matters here, and workers ate here. At night, workers stored their tools here. Additionally, there were two night watchmen who used this place to rest after making their rounds.

Since there were night watchmen on the construction site, Su Cheng told his elder brother Su Li that he didn’t need to keep night watch anymore. They weren’t responsible for anything lost on the construction site. With night watchmen patrolling the site, the small courtyard of the agency sales office would naturally be much safer. Besides, there was also Lulu, the good guard dog.

But Su Li was an honest man. Not only did he feel he must do his duty regarding his assigned tasks, but he also took Lulu out of the small courtyard every night to patrol and look around the parking lot.

He thought, “This is my brother’s property now. Not a single mishap can happen.”

No one could talk him out of it, so they let him be.

To the east of Area A of the logistics park, a row of two-story buildings already blocked the view, leaving only an eight-meter-wide road in the middle. This was to connect with Area B in the future when construction began.

Su Chunfeng jogged out from that intersection, then ran north along the compacted dirt path outside, which was made necessary by the construction site. He ran onto South Ring Road, then jogged westward along the roadside. He had been sticking to a daily morning long-distance run of about 5000 meters, followed by cultivating his body through practicing martial arts. However, while others’ exercise would build enviable muscles, he remained just as skinny despite his persistent training. Coupled with his naturally handsome, fair face, he completely lacked the masculine, robust, and brave aura, appearing instead like a weak scholar.

Su Chunfeng did not regret this.

He knew very well that once his cultivation reached the Late Stage of Body Purification, his physique would naturally become stronger than it was now. Although his naturally slim frame meant he wouldn’t look bulky and powerfully built, at least he wouldn’t appear as frail as he did currently.

With his previous life’s experience and his current powerful mental cultivation, if he had focused solely on cultivation in the two and a half years since his rebirth, he probably would have broken through to the Qi Stabilization Realm long ago.

But one cannot have both the fish and the bear’s paw. He could only cultivate steadily without rushing.

After all, the Jianghu of Esoteric Arts had not yet revived and was far from its prosperous era. So occultists were not yet at a point where they could act somewhat recklessly. Plus, Su Chunfeng was low-key and cautious. He shouldn’t be so unlucky as to encounter a powerful occultist who would harm him.

Furthermore…

With his powerful spiritual cultivation, his previous life’s rich experience, and the unparalleled lethality of Esoteric Arts, even though his body had not yet broken through to the Pure Body Realm, he was confident he could handle occultists at the middle or even late stages of the Qi Stabilization Realm.

Braving the fluttering goose feather snow, Su Chunfeng ran several laps around the roads surrounding the logistics park. Then he jogged eastward along South Ring Road, planning to go to the open but remote dirt path east of Area A of the logistics park. There, he would practice a set of martial arts and seize the opportunity to cultivate while the Five Elements Spiritual Energy was plentiful and pure during the heavy snowfall.

However, as he ran to the side of the row of buildings east of Area A and was about to turn south to the remote spot for practicing martial arts and cultivation, the corner of his eye caught the faint glow of two headlights from the west suddenly going out.

Woof woof, woof…

The barking of that dog Lulu also came from far away.

Always cautious and meticulous, Su Chunfeng frowned slightly. He turned and ran westward again along South Ring Road.

When he was about twenty or thirty meters away from the intersection of National Highway 107 and South Ring Road, Su Chunfeng, by the dim light outside the agency sales office and through the layers of snow and darkness, saw a white van parked at the intersection. A faint light was still on inside the vehicle, but he couldn’t make out who was in it.

The people in the van had obviously noticed Su Chunfeng too.

The van immediately started up again. Its headlights came on, casting a glaring beam. The engine roared as it sped past Su Chunfeng, who was jogging toward it.

Su Chunfeng stopped and stepped aside, watching the van drive away.

He didn’t get a clear look at the faces of the people inside, but he saw one person in the driver’s seat and another in the passenger seat.

After thinking for a moment, he didn’t go to practice martial arts and cultivate. Instead, he jogged back and forth along South Ring Road, within the stretch north of Area A of the logistics park, moving east and west at a steady pace.

After jogging for a while, when he ran from west to east again to the side of the buildings east of Area A, he saw in the snowy night a middle-aged man with graying hair, wearing sportswear, jogging against the flow on the south side of South Ring Road from the east. It was as if he, like Su Chunfeng, was just someone getting up early for exercise.

The two passed each other.

Su Chunfeng frowned slightly — Shi Linheng!

Shi Linheng, of course, also knew Su Chunfeng. However, Shi Linheng didn’t know that Su Chunfeng knew him.

Su Chunfeng stopped, as if tired from running. He stood in the heavy snow, moving his limbs and doing stretches while looking curiously toward the spot where Shi Linheng had already disappeared into the snowy night.

Not long after, Shi Linheng ran back.

When he reached Su Chunfeng, Shi Linheng stopped. While stretching his arms, he smiled and casually initiated a greeting, “Hey, young man. Out exercising in such heavy snow? Not bad.”

“Aren’t you too?” Su Chunfeng laughed, not stopping his movements. He chattered on like a chatterbox, “My family lives here. Basically, when I’m home on weekends, I get up early to exercise every day. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before. Did you just move nearby? Or did you run here from far away?”

Shi Linheng paused slightly. His plan to ease into the conversation had to be abandoned. He pretended to be surprised and said, “You live here? Are you the child of General Manager Su from Wantong Freight Forwarding Agency Co., Ltd.?”

“Yes. Do you know my father?” Su Chunfeng also feigned surprise. He didn’t want to beat around the bush with Shi Linheng, so his earlier remarks had already cut off Shi Linheng’s intended roundabout approach. Basically, he meant: Stop pretending. Let’s speak plainly and directly.

“Your company’s logistics park project was contracted by my friend’s company,” Shi Linheng said with a smile.

“Oh, you know General Manager Yan?”

“Yes.”

Su Chunfeng then expressed puzzlement, “Then why are you out running here so early in the morning in the snow? Are you someone new hired by General Manager Yan to watch the construction site?”

Shi Linheng coughed dryly twice. His favorable impression of Su Chunfeng suddenly dropped several percentage points. This child, praised for his exceptional talent, maturity, steadiness, and shrewdness… why was he so poor at conversation? He leaves people no room to express things tactfully… After a moment’s thought, Shi Linheng could only force a kind smile and say, “Alright, to be honest, I came because I heard you have the habit of jogging for exercise every morning.”

“What does that have to do with me?” Su Chunfeng grew even more puzzled.

“Young man…” Shi Linheng smiled. “Actually, I’ve seen you before. I’ve also heard General Manager Yan and Old Secretary Chen Xian mention you. They say you are naturally wise and exceptionally smart…”

“You know my Third Maternal Grandfather too?”

“Ah, yes, I know him.” Shi Linheng really wanted to slap this clueless teenage kid. Could you not interrupt people? Suppressing his displeasure, he decided to get straight to the point, “Chunfeng, you’re clever, eager to learn, and have great natural aptitude. I’d really like to teach you some skills. Would you be willing to learn?”

Su Chunfeng immediately showed a skeptical look, “What skills?”

“Physiognomy! Reading a person’s face to know their fate, examining the Feng Shui of mountains and earth to understand fortune…” Shi Linheng deliberately made it sound mysterious, hoping to pique Su Chunfeng’s curiosity. In his view, teenagers around sixteen or seventeen should be particularly curious about such mystical things and willing to listen further.

Unexpectedly, as soon as Su Chunfeng heard this, he immediately showed a look of contempt. He tilted his head and sneered, “Oh… so you’re that charlatan my Third Maternal Grandfather talked about, the one who wanted to swindle 100,000 yuan from our family, right? I warn you, cut that nonsense out, or I’ll call the police. Hmph!”

With that, Su Chunfeng walked past Shi Linheng with his head held high, even rudely bumping Shi Linheng with his thin little shoulder as he passed.

The Great Physiognomy Master Shi Linheng stood dumbfounded in the goose feather snow under the night sky.

All that maturity, deep composure, unshakeable calm, Feng Shui and physiognomy skills, the demeanor of a Great Master… in that brief conversation with Su Chunfeng just now, it all became worthless and useless. Shi Linheng suddenly felt the frustration of a scholar trying to reason with a soldier — utterly pointless.

This, this…

He never expected that his first encounter with Su Chunfeng would be such a process and result, leaving him both wanting to laugh and cry and feeling particularly vexed.

Who the hell told me that Su Chunfeng was well-raised, humble, and polite?