Chapter 4: A Gold Coin

President Liu took out a golden ancient coin from his bosom, his expression grave and serious.
“Uncle Liu, is this a gold coin?” Ye Feng examined the coin’s quality and thought it seemed to be a genuine gold coin, though the intricate patterns and symbols on it were hard to decipher.
“Lao Liu, a gold coin isn’t anything special. In the antique market, you can buy one for just a few dozen dollars. It’s not right for you to give such a thing to Xiao Feng before you leave. At least you left this bar to me—this unequal treatment won’t do!” Long Ge said dismissively, believing that President Liu was wealthy enough, and giving Ye Feng just one gold coin would be too stingy.
President Liu ignored Long Ge’s sarcasm and looked at Ye Feng instead. “This is the most precious thing I’ve ever obtained over the years of traveling far and wide. Unfortunately, I’ve never been able to uncover its secret. After all these years, I finally realize it never truly belonged to me. Now, I’m giving it to you, hoping it will bring you good luck.”
“A secret?” Ye Feng thought President Liu was bluffing. It wasn’t surprising—President Liu often exaggerated. But Ye Feng didn’t challenge him, only shook his head and smiled. “If you spent so many years without solving its secret, I probably won’t be able to either.”
“If you can’t solve it, just consider it a souvenir from me. If you want to give it away, that’s up to you.” President Liu handed the strange gold coin to Ye Feng, his eyes filled with reluctance.
The moment Ye Feng took the coin, he felt an inexplicable stir deep in his soul. That strange sensation vanished in an instant. Ye Feng thought it was just his imagination and didn’t pay much attention.
“If you’re so reluctant to part with it, give me something else instead. You can keep the gold coin,” Long Ge said, completely disbelieving President Liu’s words. He thought President Liu was making up stories to deceive Ye Feng.
“Sometimes, one must learn to let go to gain more…” President Liu sighed helplessly. “Whether you believe me or not is up to you…”
“Also, Xiao Feng, it’s better if you don’t come to the bar for now. I’m leaving, and it will take some time for Long Ge to take over. Moreover, that woman might cause you trouble—be careful.” President Liu patted Ye Feng’s shoulder.

“Well, Old Liu is right. You’d better stay out of the spotlight for now. Wait until I resolve my conflict with her before coming back. She’s an expert at using poison; it’s troublesome if she targets you.” Long Ge nodded in agreement as well.
“I won’t be coming here anymore. Over these past six months, I’ve already earned enough to cover my tuition. It’s only because the contract I signed was for a year that I came here every week. Although singing is just a hobby, I still think it’s better to do something serious related to my future career.” Ye Feng had long wanted to leave, but he hadn’t brought it up out of respect for President Liu. Now that both President Liu and Long Ge had said so, Ye Feng was more than happy to go. Though he still had feelings for Emperor Bar, singing as a profession really wasn’t what he liked.
“Actually, the bar environment is quite chaotic, which isn’t good for your growth. Although we’ll see each other less often from now on, I, as a ‘ruffian boss,’ can’t teach you much either. Just focus on being a top student at school. Especially these days, let’s not keep in touch until I sort out things with that woman. Then we can meet up again sometime.” A hint of sadness flashed in Long Ge’s eyes. Though reluctant, he understood that Ye Feng had his own path to take. He didn’t want Ye Feng to follow in his footsteps.
“Long Ge, Uncle Liu, thank you for taking care of me all this time…” Ye Feng looked quite gloomy.
“Silly kid, we’ll meet again if fate allows!” President Liu said with a smile, shaking his head.
“No need to say more. Just remember you have an elder brother named Long Tian!” Long Ge laughed. “Alright, go back and rest. It’s getting late. Don’t overthink things. Every gathering eventually ends, and since we’re all in City H, we’ll have plenty of chances to meet in the future.”
After sending Ye Feng back to school, Long Ge said to the driver, “Dude, today’s incident will definitely make that woman watch Ye Feng closely. Send a few people to protect him secretly these days. If she just observes from afar without taking action, ignore her. If she does act, don’t hold back—make sure Ye Feng’s safe.”
“Okay, Long Ge!” The driver replied promptly without even turning around.
…
It was already past 9 p.m. when he returned to the dormitory. The guys in the room were busy with their own things—playing online games, poker, watching movies, or reading online novels…

“Seventh Brother, why are you back so late today?” Dormitory member Number Eight turned around and asked. “Usually, you’re back around seven.”
“Nothing much. I had dinner with Brother Long and the others,” Ye Feng said without going into details. He changed clothes, took off his shoes, and went to bed early.
“Seventh, you seem… a bit off today… Could it be you met some beauty at the bar?” Dormitory member Number Two, with his shirt off, threw down two playing cards and glanced at Ye Feng.
“I’m a bit tired today. I’m going to bed first.” Ye Feng turned over. Everything that had happened at the bar that day made him feel unreal— the woman with an angelic face, President Liu’s departure, Brother Long’s serious expression—all made him feel like everything was different from usual.
“What was her purpose in coming to the bar? Could it be because of Brother Long? It definitely can’t be just to listen to music…” With various doubts in mind, Ye Feng fell into a deep sleep.
…
Early the next morning, Ye Feng woke up early. After washing up and getting dressed, he slipped his hands into his pants pockets. The tip of his right finger suddenly touched a hard object.
“Huh.” Ye Feng took the object out of his pocket and realized it was the gold coin President Liu had given him.
Under the morning light, the gold coin shone brightly, completely different from its dull appearance the previous night. The intricate patterns on it seemed even more vivid.
“Why does it feel different from when I got it yesterday?” Ye Feng shook his head and casually put the gold coin in the inner pocket of his shirt.
Normally, Ye Feng wouldn’t miss the chance to “retire” to the library on weekends, but this Saturday, he had no mood to read in peace. Everything that had happened yesterday felt like a dream to him.
“Did President Liu really leave overnight?” After having breakfast, Ye Feng hesitated for a while before deciding to go to Emperor Bar.
As usual, he took a two-yuan bus from school to a stop not far from the bar.
From about a hundred meters away, he could easily see the bar’s doors tightly closed. He still couldn’t believe what he saw and walked toward the entrance.
There was a delicate whiteboard hanging at the door, with bold letters written on it: The bar is undergoing major renovations and may cause inconvenience. Thank you for your understanding!
Ye Feng’s heart sank. “Uncle Liu really left…”

Walking aimlessly along this busy street, Ye Feng didn’t take the bus back to school right away. He felt a sense of oppression and wanted to walk around to clear his mind and feel better.
When he reached the end of the street, Ye Feng looked up and saw a large building ahead—a antique market. In this bustling tourist area, the antique market occupied a significant portion of the space.
“Antiques…” Ye Feng glanced at a huge sign hanging at the entrance of the building and reached into his pocket to touch the gold coin.
“If this thing really holds the secret Uncle Liu mentioned, showing it off will only attract covetous eyes. If I want to uncover its secrets, I’ll have to rely on myself.” After hesitating for a while, he gave up the idea of taking out the gold coin to have it appraised by someone knowledgeable here.
“Although I can’t take it out, I can look for gold coins with similar patterns. If they’re cheap, I can buy them and study them back home.” Ye Feng came up with another plan.
With this thought, he shook off his earlier gloom and strode into the antique market.
Starting with the first shop at the entrance, Ye Feng checked each one one by one.
There weren’t many gold coins in the antique market. After checking a few shops, he didn’t find any similar to the one in his pocket. Disappointed, he wanted to leave.
As he turned around, his gaze suddenly fell on an item in one of the shops. Rubbing his eyes to make sure he wasn’t mistaken, he walked toward that shop with a strange expression…