Urban Martial Saint

Xiao Qing’s words, when heard by any other man, would sound like a clear invitation to commit a crime. But for Ye Qing, it was truly a threat.

”No, no, no!” Ye Qing quickly waved his hands, hastily preventing Xiao Qing from doing so, and turned his head to the side.

Seeing Ye Qing react this way, Xiao Qing couldn’t help but smile secretly, feeling somewhat relieved. Wrapping the towel around herself, she said, ”Ye, if there’s anything you need, just wait until the two of them come back, and I’ll immediately have them do it for you. For now, you rest for a bit and don’t hurry!”

”I... I just need to go to the bathroom,” Ye Qing said awkwardly.

”To the bathroom?” Xiao Qing hesitated a bit, as that kind of thing really couldn’t wait.

”Can’t you wait just a little?” Xiao Qing asked.

”I really can’t wait any longer.” Ye Qing’s face turned bright red as he said, ”Think about how long I’ve been lying in bed; how could I wait?”

”That...” Xiao Qing hesitated for a moment, then said, ”Then let me help you over there!”

”Help me to the bathroom?” Ye Qing said urgently, ”You’re not planning to follow me in, are you? Besides, I haven’t even dressed properly!”

”You can get up wrapped in the blanket; I’m not going to let you go in there alone!” Xiao Qing said, ”Ye, you decide. Either I help you over there, or you just lie on the bed and take care of it yourself, and I’ll just help you wash the bedding or whatever!”

As she spoke, even Xiao Qing couldn’t help but let out a laugh. Ye Qing, however, was utterly dejected. After thinking for a while, he said, ”Then, you help me over there. Wait a moment, I’ll wrap myself in the blanket.”

Ye Qing wrapped himself up in the blanket before standing up. Seeing him swaddled tightly like a rice dumpling, Xiao Qing couldn’t help but laugh again. She walked over and helped Ye Qing, laughing, ”Ye, you’re quite a character. Such a grown man, yet still like a child, feeling shy?”

Ye Qing didn’t say anything. Just as Xiao Qing’s hand grabbed his arm, he suddenly reached out and caught Xiao Qing’s wrist. Before she could react, Ye Qing yanked off the blanket from his body and wrapped it around Xiao Qing, completely enveloping her in the fabric.

Xiao Qing, who had seen Ye Qing so securely wrapped up before, thought he wouldn’t play any tricks. She hadn’t expected Ye Qing to pull such a stunt on her. It was too late to resist or take off her clothes; Ye Qing had her wrapped in the blanket, rolled it up, and bundled her tightly in the middle. Then, he took the bedsheet and, not caring about Xiao Qing’s loud screams from inside, tied up the blanket securely, binding Xiao Qing within.

Of course, once Xiao Qing was rolled up in the blanket, regardless of how loudly she screamed, the sound that came out wasn’t very loud. Having done all this, Ye Qing immediately went to the bathroom and searched, but still could not find his clothes. It seemed these girls had already hidden his clothes away.

Without clothes, Ye Qing was not discouraged. He tore off the bed cover, wrapped it around himself, and made sure he could walk out. He then patted Xiao Qing, who was bundled up in the blanket, and laughed, ”Miss Xiao Qing, I’m taking my leave now. We’ll meet again when I’m free!”

Xiao Qing, trapped in the blanket, was itching with rage. She was bound so securely she couldn’t even struggle and could only emit bursts of angry shouts. Ye Qing, however, paid her no mind and directly opened the door and left.

Luckily the two girls were out and busy, and no one was there to stop Ye Qing. He walked through the corridor, just about to look for the staircase when he was met by a man with a similar build to his own, who was swaggering along on his phone, loud as can be, clearly a showy kind of person.

When he saw Ye Qing wrapped in the bed cover, he clearly froze for a moment, staring at Ye Qing for quite a while before exclaiming, ”Wow, is this performance art? Buddy, with your looks and playing performance art? I’m not trying to be rude, but you should shave, comb your hair a little, you know, make yourself look neater. And when’s the last time you washed your face? You look so filthy. It’s performance art, not dirty art; can’t you put on some makeup before you come out? Like this, you’re really letting the viewers down. What are you looking at? I’m saying this for your own good, and you’re still staring? What, you want to fight? I’ll have you know, I’ve learned Wing Chun, I...”

Then came a few screams, and after that, the shouting ceased abruptly. Not long after, Ye Qing descended the stairs, dressed in new clothes. Shortly afterward, the man from before, wrapped in Ye Qing’s bed cover, ran down to the reception desk, exclaiming, ”Help, robbery!”

The receptionists looked at him in astonishment, one of them whispered, ”Bro, were you robbed of your money or your dignity?”

The man glared and said, ”Nonsense, he stole my clothes; what do you think?”

”Someone stealing clothes?” The service staff looked at each other in bewilderment. These days, it was common to hear about robbery or sexual assault, but stealing clothes didn’t seem likely, right?

Ye Qing walked out of the hotel, randomly asked someone for directions to confirm his location, and then headed straight for the bus station, ready to take a bus back to Shenchuan City. Of course, he called Cui Yu on the way, but Cui Yu never answered. So, he gave Black Bear a call; Black Bear was very excited to receive a call from Ye Qing, since Ye Qing had been missing for nearly two days, and everyone was worried about him.

When Ye Qing told him to look for Cui Yu, Black Bear immediately said, ”Captain, there’s been trouble—the tea house people are no longer in Shenchuan City!”

”What?” Ye Qing was astonished and asked, ”What happened?”

Black Bear said, ”I don’t know the specifics, I just heard they seemed to have gone out to look for a few people. Mr. Cui and the others are not in Shenchuan City, and the other people from the tea house have also gone into hiding. Now, even we can’t find them!”

Ye Qing furrowed his brows, wondering what could have made everyone from the tea house go out. The Xihang Shen Family hadn’t arrived yet, had they? Who could it be that made the tea house folks go out to look for them personally?

”Find a way to get in touch with the people from the tea house immediately, and tell them to try not to start a war with the Shen Family!” Ye Qing commanded sternly.

”Alright, I’ll send someone to do it right away,” Black Bear paused, then added, ”But, Captain, there’s another troublesome matter.”

”What is it?” Ye Qing asked urgently, as if many things had happened while he was away from Shenchuan City for two days.

”The orphanage matter...” Black Bear spoke in a low voice, ”The Ding Family complained to the province, saying that we set up an orphanage privately, without any official documentation or procedures, and that we’re completely unqualified to adopt these children. Now, the province is investigating the matter. Cheng Shuang told me that it’s highly likely that our orphanage won’t pass the approval, because there’s no precedent for private orphanages domestically, and it doesn’t seem possible for us to be the first. Also, the province has requested that we temporarily hand the children over to a public orphanage until the approval comes through. If we don’t get the approval, then... then we can no longer adopt these children...”

”On what grounds!” Ye Qing couldn’t help but yell out loud. He could tolerate other things, but not this. Adopting these children was his greatest life goal. He had struggled and labored, even taking over entertainment venues and recruiting so many followers, all the things he didn’t want to do before, just to support these children. How could he agree to hand the children back to a public orphanage on just a word from the province? Ye Qing absolutely didn’t trust those public orphanages now. And he couldn’t bear to give up any of the children!

”This is a requirement from the province, and the city is also acting according to the province’s directive...” Black Bear spoke quietly, ”Cheng Shuang said, you should call Director Liu and Commander Zhou to ask for their help in lobbying the province. However, he thinks the chances are slim, since there’s no national precedent. The Lin family is currently trying to mediate the matter, and no one has taken any coercive action for the time being. But I don’t think it will last much longer!”

Ye Qing clenched his brows tightly; the matter with the orphanage was now more important than the tea house or the Shen family’s issues. After a long silence, he nodded and said, ”Okay, have Cheng Shuang help stall the city for now. I’ll contact them immediately.”

After hanging up, Ye Qing immediately called Liu Changping. When Liu Changping heard Ye Qing’s voice, he blurted, ”You finally called. Where have you been these past two days? I thought you had gone missing; Old Chen even sent people to look for you. What were you doing?”

Liu Changping’s voice was anxious, and it seemed he was very worried about Ye Qing, which warmed Ye Qing’s heart.

Ye Qing didn’t tell Liu Changping too much, just briefly explained that he had been tracking down the Beggar King and accidentally fell down a cliff. Liu Changping’s people had already found the Beggar King’s body, and in Tianhui City, the police had severely dealt with a number of people all the way from the top down. Even the Vice Secretary of Tianhui City’s Political and Legal Affairs Committee, Zhou Changwu, had been brought down, making the cleanup there no less severe than in Xishan City.

Of course, these were not Ye Qing’s concerns anymore. With the Beggar King dead, all the children had been sent to Shenchuan City, and Old Bai was arrested, nothing else mattered. He directly told Liu Changping about the orphanage issue, hoping that Liu Changping could help him with the approval.

”Ye Qing, I know about the matter you’re talking about,” Liu Changping pondered for a moment, then said, ”The person handling this is Vice Governor He Dongyang of Eastern Province. Old Zhou and I, our relationship with him is not close. However, he has a good relationship with the Ding Family; it’s said he’s even related to the Ding Family. This time, he is mainly acting for the Ding Family, and also, there’s no precedent for a private orphanage. Without approval, it’s always breaking the rules, and this is really hard to handle!”

Ye Qing’s heart skipped a beat; he knew that Liu Changping and Zhou Bolong were among the top echelons of Eastern Province’s political arena. If even they said it was difficult, it seemed the situation was indeed perilous.