Volume 1, Chapter 56: Youth is a Fleeting Dream

Chen Bao's territory was located around the back alleys of the bustling old district in the county town. It was a notorious melting pot filled with bathhouses, saunas, and bars of all kinds.

After waiting for Lin Manru to finish her mahjong game, Lin Xiaoxu drove them straight there.

"Xiaoxu, why are you bringing me to a bar?" Lin Manru hopped out of her Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon after parking it in a space right in front of a modern-looking bar called Queen's Bar.

She asked Lin Xiaoxu with a puzzled look on her face.

Lin Xiaoxu gently patted the back of her head. "Manru, as for what you said this morning about wanting to be my second wife, I'll just assume you were temporarily out of your mind to utter such foolish words.

This bar is owned by someone I once saved, and I trust him completely.

Instead of running around looking for a job everywhere, you might as well just come and work at his bar.

After all, with me looking out for you, no one will ever dare to give you trouble again. I'll also tell him to offer you a higher salary."

Lin Manru's eyes turned red, and the bridge of her nose began to sting slightly. Being a young woman, her pride was delicate, and having her dignity publicly bruised by Lin Xiaoxu like this, she exercised immense self-control to keep from crying out loud.

Suddenly, memories flooded Lin Manru's mind—the wonderful days during those nine years in elementary and middle school when she, Lin Xiaoxu, and Wu Yingying went to school and came home together.

Back then, the three of them were inseparable, carefree, and shared a deep bond.

However, after graduating from middle school, they reached a watershed moment in their lives.

Lin Xiaoxu was admitted to the county's top key high school, but his parents were tragically killed by a drunk-driving rich second-generation heir;

Wu Yingying was the daughter of village chief Wu Deshun. Her mother could no longer tolerate Wu Deshun's philandering ways and resolutely divorced him, subsequently leaving Taoyuan Village with Wu Yingying. Word had it that they moved to the city to continue high school there.

As for Lin Manru herself, someone had slipped a laxative into her food during the entrance examinations, causing her to miss one subject and fall short of the scores needed to enter a key high school. Right around that same time, Lin Guohua broke both his legs at a construction site, and she entered a vocational school shrouded in a gloomy mood.

Youth is a fleeting, beautiful dream; when you wake up, it has long since vanished without a trace.

"Xiaoxu, I'll listen to your arrangements. From now on, I will definitely work hard so that I can become worthy of you." Lin Manru swallowed the bitter lump in her throat and put on a nonchalant front.

That's right, what era is this anyway? Had her brain short-circuited or something, to actually entertain the thought of being Lin Xiaoxu's second wife?

Just then, the tightly shut doors of Queen's Bar abruptly swung open.

A group of burly men in suits, with cold expressions and an imposing aura, walked out in an orderly fashion, lining up in two rows with their hands behind their backs on either side of the bar entrance.

A figure slowly emerged from the bar. With a vigorous stride, rugged features, and sharp eyes, and bearing tattoos of a green dragon and a white tiger on his respective collarbones, he looked utterly majestic. It was none other than Chen Bao, whose brain disorder had been cured by Lin Xiaoxu!

Who could have imagined that just a few days prior, Chen Bao was suffering from a terminal illness with only a month or two left to live? At this moment, he looked like an entirely different person compared to before.

"Lord Bao!" the two rows of suited men roared in unison.

"Could this Lord Bao be Chen Bao?" Hearing that name, Lin Manru couldn't help her slender body from trembling. Although she was not part of the underworld, she had certainly heard of Chen Bao's formidable reputation.

It was said that Chen Bao was a ruthless and vicious figure who single-handedly founded the Black Panther Society, boasting hundreds of members, every single one of whom had tasted blood on the blade. Anyone mixing in the underworld had no choice but to bow and address him respectfully as Lord Bao.

In Jinchang County, there were three terrifying forces: the Xu family, the Black Panther Society, and Chen Bao himself!

Just as Lin Manru was tense and panic-stricken, Chen Bao had already walked up right in front of her. She clenched her back teeth, fighting to control her rapid and uneasy breathing, but what happened in the next second was something she would never forget for the rest of her life.

"Bao'er pays respects to the Divine Doctor Lin, Chairman Lin! This Queen's Bar is the stronghold of the Black Panther Society. Please, Chairman Lin, step inside so we may speak."

Lin Manru was completely dumbfounded!

The dignified and fearsome Chen Bao of the underworld actually had his arms pressed straight against the outer sides of his thighs, bowing at a ninety-degree angle toward Lin Xiaoxu while speaking the aforementioned words with utmost respect and sincerity.

Lin Manru's mouth hung wide open as she stared in sheer disbelief at the scene unfolding before her eyes. Her gaze slowly shifted from Chen Bao, who was still maintaining his ninety-degree bow, to Lin Xiaoxu, who was dressed in a washed-out, faded shirt. For a moment, she even wondered if she was hallucinating because she hadn't eaten lunch.

Divine Doctor? Lin Xiaoxu possessed remarkable medical skills, so Chen Bao calling him a divine doctor was something Lin Manru could still wrap her head around. But why on earth did Chen Bao also address him as Chairman Lin? What did that even imply? Could he possibly be the chairman of the Black Panther Society?

"Bao'er, stop putting on such a stiff act. Let's go inside and talk.

And from now on, don't call me Chairman Lin anymore, lest outsiders mistakenly think I'm mixed up in the underworld."

Lin Xiaoxu reached out and made a lifting gesture through the air.

Chen Bao smiled and said, "Understood, Bao'er will obey the Divine Doctor Lin in everything."

A few days prior, after being treated by Lin Xiaoxu, Chen Bao had run to several hospitals. Following thorough examinations by multiple professional neurologists, the doctors all confirmed that he did not suffer from cerebral arteriosclerosis at all.

Chen Bao was overjoyed!

He could also feel that all his bodily functions had returned to their peak state, to the point where saying he had grown a dozen years younger was no exaggeration.

Chen Bao had long wanted to visit Lin Xiaoxu in Taoyuan Village, but lacking a proper excuse, he didn't dare to go rashly for fear of displeasing Lin Xiaoxu.

Chen Bao felt a deep-seated admiration and gratitude toward Lin Xiaoxu, and he desperately wanted to forge a solid friendship with this divine doctor. Having him around meant that if he ever caught any illness or suffered any ailments in the future, it would be equivalent to having an extra talisman of protection.

...

Lin Xiaoxu and Lin Manru followed Chen Bao all the way into a top-tier VIP private room inside Queen's Bar. The interior was luxuriously decorated with a strong modern aesthetic, leaving both of them secretly startled.

"Serve the food!" Chen Bao instructed the bald man after Lin Manru and Lin Xiaoxu took their seats.

Soon, beautiful female waitresses walked in carrying steaming dishes in their hands.

Scallion-braised sea cucumbers, abalone in oyster sauce, crispy fragrant prawns, Beijing roast duck, braised swamp eels...

There were nearly twenty dishes in total, dazzling to behold.

Lin Manru's eyes widened to the size of saucers. Having skipped lunch today, the sight of such a lavish spread placed right before her left her not only astonished, but also unconsciously drooling a few drops.

Lin Xiaoxu, however, merely glanced at it casually. In his view, these dishes didn't even taste as good as the home-cooked meals made by his sister-in-law Shen Yulian, especially since his sister-in-law had promised to cook a big rooster for him tonight.