Some of Lin Jingzheâs fury was vented on âAzure Dragonâ Zhang, but there was still a lot left for Zhou Haitang. He let it out as soon as they returned.
âYou dare fool around! With fucking gangs! Do you know the marks you got on the mock exam? How many days were you absent without leave? Look at the fucking calendar!â
Zhou Haitang, who excitedly gushed about the fight as they walked back, deflated like a punctured balloon. Not daring to avoid Lin Jingzheâs blows, he stayed still and let him slap the back of his head. âHow could I know gangsters were like thisâŠâ
Because his grades were poor, he didnât hold out much hope to pass the college entrance examination. However, even if he passed, what future would he have?
Attend college? The tuition fee was fiendishly expensive. Both his parents used to work at Liyun Thermos Factory. Even earlier, when they were fairly well off, they didnât dare underestimate the tuition fee. After the last yearâs laid-offs, the possibility of gathering the money dwindled to pretty much nothing.
If he didnât go to college, he would either learn a vocational trade or become a migrant worker. Zhou Haitang was unwilling to do either because it meant leaving Liyun Town. Then, his parents, who were always browbeaten and taken advantage of by the factory leader, would have no one to look after them.
He was a little older than Lin Jingzhe but still younger than twenty, and wet behind the ears. Watching his parents being bullied, what he pondered on every day was how to get ahead. In the eyes of provincial kids, what was more impressive than the âgang leadersâ who swaggered through the town with their retinues, throwing money left and right?
He kept planning in his mind: heâd quickly become Xu Liangâs right-hand man then let both his parents and Gao Shengâs mother, Hu Yu, quit their jobs, so theyâd no longer have to endure their shitty bosses. Heâd find Gao Shengâs father a lucrative job in Liyun Town, so the man could finally live at home with his family instead of wandering as a migrant worker. And, heâd help Lin Jingzhe take care of his venomous relatives. All those difficulties dealt with, theyâd live happily ever after.
But nowâŠ
Zhou Haitang recalled Xu Liang, whom heâd thought all-powerful, groveling before âAzure Dragonâ Zhang, then, after Lin Jingzhe beat Zhang, before Lin Jingzhe, and finally, the scales fell from his eyes. What all-powerful? What awe-inspiring fame? The gangs he admired were nothing more than a bunch of bragging hooligans. He let himself be deceived, ignorant, naive sucker that he was.
Though he didnât know how the future wouldâve developed as Lin Jingzhe did, at the moment, he was regretful. This regret came from shameâhe wanted to boast about this âbig brotherâ he followed, but as a result, he only showed his friends what a fool he was. Now, if someone stood in front of him, said he was the boss of the whole Qunnan Provinceâs underworld and was willing to let him become his younger brother, Zhou Haitang would spit in his face.
He was stubbornâonce he decided on something, it was almost impossible to make him change his mind. He had no idea the course of his life changed entirely because of his newfound conviction. Besides, at the moment, what came to him as the greatest shock was the scene of Lin Jingzhe beating up âAzure Dragonâ Zhang, the disillusionment with the gangs a distant second.
Lin Jingzhe had always been smarter and better-looking than him; even though his character was cold, many girls secretly liked him. Zhou Haitangâs only advantage over him was height and strengthâor so heâd believed. He used to worry that when Lin Jingzhe left to study in some strange city alone, he would be bullied, but it seemed his fears were unfounded.
Since the person being beaten not only didnât hide but kept apologizing, Lin Jingzhe soon grew bored. Thinking that this lesson should be enough for Zhou Haitang to stay away from unsavory places, he let him off, not forgetting to throw in one last threat for good measure: âJust try to contact these people in the future and I will break your legs!â
Instantly forgetting the pain, Zhou Haitang sat up and clung to Lin Jingzheâs legs, looking up at him with sparkling eyes. âYou were so badass earlier, Jingzhe!â
Lin Jingzhe frowned and turned his head away, expression disgusted, but actually, he was somewhat embarrassed at being praised so sincerely.
Gao Sheng, who looked on from the side, felt his heart fill with worry.
Zhou Haitang was a bit of an idiot and tended not to think about things too deeply, but Gao Sheng was much more sensible. His reaction to what Lin Jingzhe did was not awe but anxiety.
I shouldnât have taken Jingzhe to the night market on Baima Street. He wouldnât have encountered those gangsters, Gao Sheng thought remorsefully, blaming himself.
Since his grandfatherâs death, Lin Jingzheâs temperament drastically changed, probably because he grieved too much. He was colder and his temper shorter, and it seemed nothing could make him cower and submit. Well, becoming more courageous was usually a good thing, but today, just now, Lin Jingzhe almost strangled someone to death!
Gao Shengâs hands still trembled with lingering fear.
What scared him was not Lin Jingzhe killing someone in cold blood but the price heâd have to pay for it.
And so, Gao Shengâs vague notion of entering a gang was successfully nipped in the budâhe worried about how to stop Lin Jingzhe from going astray instead.
No, I wonât allow it. Jingzhe is a good kid. Heâs smart and talented. No way am I going to let him waste his life like this!
Once he found his determination, Gao Shengâs mind became clearer than ever. He swore to himself to stop Lin Jingzhe from coming into contact with bad guys ever again. Right now, diverting Lin Jingzheâs attention from fighting and killing was his top priority.
Gao Sheng gritted his teeth, opened his school bag, and took out a stack of thick and fiendishly difficult textbooks which made him feel like crying every time he saw them. With a grin, he interrupted Zhou Haitangâs flattery-interspersed chatter, to which Lin Jingzhe listened with a faint smile.
He suggested earnestly, âJingzhe, we have to hurry up and review. Zhou Haitangâs not only been absent for so long, but he got a total score of 200 marks, which is even worse than me. For now, you should concentrate on him, or he wonât catch up.â
Zhou Haitangâs mouth dropped open in shock. The look in his eyes screamed, âWhat the fuck, man, have you gone nuts? What did I do to you? Youâre fucking trying to murder me!â
Lin Jingzhe, however, felt that Gao Shengâs suggestion made sense and adopted it immediately. He raised Zhou Haitangâs chin with one knee and looked down at him with an expression saying resistance was futile: âGet up and have at these math problems, or Iâll break your leg.â
Over thirty people beat up oneââAzure Dragonâ Zhang didnât do things by halves.
Jiang Run naturally ended up in a hospital. When Jiang Xiaoyun and Liu De got the news, their hearts almost stopped. They dropped everything and rushed to their sonâs side.
The doctor and policemen frowned at the sight of the smartly dressed, obviously well-off couple. Remembering the confession of the people theyâd arrested, they thought looks could be deceivingâthe two clearly didnât know how to educate their son.
Jiang Xiaoyunâs psychological defense collapsed the instant the door opened and she caught sight of Jiang Run. Her baby son, her treasure, whom she coddled and cosseted, was lying infirmly in a hospital bed, covered with injuries. The bandages wrapped almost his whole body, and what skin was visible was green and purple with bruises.
Jiang Xiaoyun burst out crying. She shrieked through tears: âWho was it? What son of a bitch did this!?â
She threw herself down on the floor beside the bed, looking as if she was going crazy. The doctor, afraid her heart couldnât endure, showed her the medical report and comforted, âItâs all right. These injuries might look scary, but in fact, they are minor and wonât have any aftereffects. Only his left hand is slightly serious; possibly because it was repeatedly stomped on, there were some dislocationsâof course, itâs already been taken care of. However, even though these are just flesh wounds, theyâre relatively painful. The patient has just fallen asleep; weâll see how he feels when he wakes up. He can be prescribed painkillers if necessary.â
The gangsters who beat Jiang Run were actually pretty cleverâthey knew exactly how far could they go. The beating caused no major injuries, so the consequences they had to bear were minimal, but their victim felt painful enough to die.
As soon as Jiang Xiaoyun heard the words âminor injury,â she blew up. Crying, she rose to her feet, approached the doctor, and shoved him: âBullshit! Are you blind? My son is like this, and you say heâs just slightly hurt!?â
As the doctor gaped at her, shocked, she noticed the two policemen in the room. She immediately changed the targets, grabbing the one next to her: âComrades policemen! Comrades policemen! You have to get justice for us! My son attends Liyun No. 1 High School, heâs an exemplary student! And he was beaten like this! What about his attackers, did you catch them? These animals must be shot!â
The police officer she grabbed was frowning because of her attitude towards the doctor, but had no choice but to treat her with patienceâhe couldnât let his private opinions interfere with his duties. He replied officially, âPlease calm down, maâam, this matter is still under investigation. We need to establish the facts first.â
âEstablish the facts?â Jiang Xiaoyun stared at him with wide eyes. âMy son is lying right there, hurt! What facts! Or, did you get something fromâŠâ
âControl your tongue, maâam!â The policeman interrupted her, frowning. He really didnât need to listen to her insinuations. âThe attackers were a group of unemployed hooligans. The police did arrest them, but the situation is a bit complicatedâthey claim they had a cooperative relationship with the victim, and that the dispute happened because they couldnât agree about how to divide the profit from stolen goods. Though we donât know if their confession is true, we need to interrogate your son too, this is the procedure. I hope you understand.â
Jiang Xiaoyun stopped short. Wait, hooligans? Was it the group that was supposed to browbeat Lin Jingzhe?
Regret drowned her like a tsunami, and for a moment, she couldnât breathe. However, she was aware she must never admit their two sides cooperated. If Jiang Run got a criminal record, his future would be completely ruined!
Her hand gripping the police uniform loosened, and she staggered back, managing a pale smile, then exclaimed, âLies! They are slandering my son! Comrades policemen, you canât possibly believe what these dregs of society are saying!â
Itâs not clear whoâs the real dregs of society, the policeman thought, inwardly shaking his head. But Iâm surprisedâwho wouldâve thought the student of the best school in our town would be so degenerate? It must be because of the way he was brought upâeven in this situation, his mother is thick-faced enough to claim heâs an exemplary student.
The reason he was certain Jiang Run and the gang members were accomplices was the evidence they had confirming it.
His colleague came over to discuss something with him in a low voice then took out a passbook and inquired, âMrs. Jiang, is the account number on this passbook familiar?â
At first, Jiang Xiaoyun was puzzled, but a moment later, she realized what the policeman was holding. She opened her mouth but didnât know what to say.
âThe owner of this account is you. Three days ago, someone used it to remit 2,000 yuan to the account with number 654*****. Can you tell us who?â
Jiang Xiaoyun felt everything go black and nearly fainted. 654***** was âAzure Dragonâ Zhangâs accountâand it was she who went to the bank to make the transfer. 2,000 yuan was a large amount of money. At the time, she was actually reluctant but told herself the antiques were indispensable to advance her plans; once she succeeded, she would be rich enough not to care about a meager two thousand. Only then could she force herself to sign.
The policemen werenât surprised she didnât answer. They exchanged meaningful glances and continued, âNever mind, we will know once we contact the bank. Now, we need your cooperation to discover the purpose of that remittanceâŠâ
At this point, Jiang Xiaoyun stopped listeningâshe knew refuting would be futile. The bank could easily find both sender and recipient of such a significant sum of money. Sheâd had no choice at the time: âAzure Dragonâ Zhang wouldnât move without receiving payment upfront. Unfortunately, now that their transaction had been discovered, she could argue until she was blue in the face that Jiang Run had no connection with the gang, but no one would believe her.
The policeman saw her stand there in a daze and repeated his questions a few times, but it was obvious she wasnât able to give coherent answers. As such, he took his colleague and left, to let her calm down first.
Then, the only people in the ward were Jiang Run, sleeping quietly, Jiang Xiaoyun, who sat on the ground next to his bed looking as if the soul had left her body, and Liu De, who sat at the stool by the door, focused on his cigarette.
The atmosphere was oppressive and still like a pool of stagnant water.
Crashâ
Finally, Liu De couldnât bear it any longer. He stood, picked up the thermos, and smashed it against the windowsill with all his strength.
It shattered. The hot water mixed with the shards of glass and splashed all over the floor. He stared at the sunlight reflecting in the puddles, dizzy. In all his years, heâd never lost his temper like this.
âWhat a great job you did!â This was the first time heâd mustered up the courage to speak to his domineering wife. Then, tears flowing down his face, he rushed out of the ward, slamming the door shut with a deafening clang.
Jiang Xiaoyunâs weeping intensified until she almost couldnât breathe.