“Damn it, bring the wine.”
Zhao Zichen rubbed his face, put out his cigarette and shouted to the back kitchen.
Chu and I looked at each other, Chu didn’t know what was going on at Baldy’s house and was full of confusion, but really I wasn’t any better than Chu.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“The child has no mother, it’s a long story.” Zhao Zichen said, “You’ve met Xing’er. She had a pericardial tumour, and I brought her back. When Baldy brought her in, she was already dying, and then our whole department resuscitated her for eight hours. I took a look at Xing’er’s ID card and I knew she was from the Cloud Cliff School, so I made a joke to Baldy, saying that people in the jianghu world value kindness, and that I had saved his little sister’s life this time, so he couldn’t fail to repay me, and asked him to be my bodyguard.”
I almost spat out a mouthful of water as I sipped my tea, “Really, you just abducted a master like that.”
“Not really I abducted him, he didn’t pay a dime for the operation, I paid for it, kind of like I bought out his service.”
Chu Xiaoxiao spat, “Then you’re too treacherous, the surgery fee is at most a million, he’s more than that.”
“I was just joking, I didn’t think he’d take it seriously. Our Zhao family doesn’t value martial arts, we don’t know any kung fu, and we don’t have much say in the jianghu. After he got involved with me, the Yunya Sect expelled him, and his little sister and Ah Yu followed him to join me. But Zhang Chao, as you can see, has a life for them both. At night, Yu called Baldy and told him that Xing’er had been hospitalised with a fever and that he didn’t have enough money, so I asked Baldy to go and take a look. I can’t stand it anymore, I’m a f*cking failure as a boss, even my best buddies are poor like this. But what am I going to do? What am I going to do, be like the Green Dragons, committing all kinds of crimes and evil? Then why the f*ck did I set up the Red Light Society.” He laughs to himself again, “Actually, I’m really not that much better off, most of my income now depends on Black Street. Boss Ge wanted to reform Black Street, but he couldn’t. I don’t have the ability to do that either, and if we don’t have Black Street again, the Red Lantern Society will really have to drink the northwest wind.”
Zhao Zichen’s words made me feel bad too, so I took his gla*s over and drank it down.
“So, I must get the Yin family money. I can’t do anything without money. I can’t disband the gang either, once they are disbanded they will all go to the Green Dragon Gang. After I get the Yin family’s money I’ll open a company and put everyone to work, and when there’s money everyone will be honest.”
I really didn’t think that even the head of the triad had the pain of supporting his family, damn, this society is too real.
But it would have been nice to think that even kung-fu warriors and triad members have to make a living, it can’t be like what they show in TV dramas, where money falls from the sky for them to spend every day just by fighting.
The Green Dragon Gang does whatever earns money, but the Red Lantern Club, which carries the name of a gang, has to adhere to Ge Yunfei’s delusion that all gangsters should be conscientious back then, so naturally it doesn’t earn much money.
I didn’t expect Zhao Zichen, who was so smart, to have such unrealistic daydreams, but I didn’t know what to say about him, and I even admired him a little.
“I will definitely get the diary back, but distant water cannot put out a nearby fire. The most important thing now is to get some money for Baldy, which hospital is he in?”
Zhao Zichen poured himself a drink: “Don’t worry, I gave him my card. I’m, at least, a senior medical student, I have money.”
“Hey, be careful ……”
Chu Xiaoxiao rushed over to hold up Zhao Zichen who was about to fall over, Zhao Zichen was so drunk that his face was red and he was lying unconscious on the table.
“Can’t drink and still drink so much, now what?” Chu Xiaoxiao asked me, “We can’t just leave him here.”
I let out a long sigh and walked over to pick Zhao Zichen up, “Let’s send him to the hotel. You’re tired too, so get some rest early too.”
Chu Xiaoxiao nodded, then suddenly looked around with a rat’s head for a few seconds. I was about to ask her what she was doing when she saw no one was around and slapped me on the butt.
“Got all those rogue thoughts out of your head?”
“Holy sh*t, wasn’t I afraid you’d get tired?”
“Che, so considerate.” Chu Xiaoxiao wrapped her arm around me and tilted her head to laugh, “I thought it was because you were so tired that you were physically exhausted.”
“Nonsense, I have good stamina.” I licked my lips, deliberately scaring her, in fact, she had been so frightened tonight and hung up for so long, I definitely couldn’t bear to bully her again, but looking at her dejected look made me itch.
“Cut, who’s afraid of who? I’ll buy two boxes of condoms when I pa*s by the convenience store later, if you can’t use them all, it means you can’t.” Chu Xiaoxiao said again with a painful mouth.
“Hey, I …… just, drunk, not dead yet.” Suddenly Zhao Zichen lifted his head and spoke at us with the smell of alcohol.
Chu Xiaoxiao’s face turned red and she screamed and covered her face, “Aaaaaah! You’re insane!”
She was scared half to death by Zhao Zichen, her face was almost red to the root of her neck, she glared at me forbidding me to laugh, but I was laughing so hard I could hardly stand up straight and pinched her face, “Who told you to be a rascal to me everyday?”
I left my credit card with Cai Xiaobing and asked him to pay the bill.
“Good people, my brother is too drunk, I’ll send him to rest first, so I’ll have to excuse myself for tonight, I’ll punish myself with three bottles.”
After saying that, I picked up the beer on the table and blew into the bottle, drinking three bottles in a row.
“Good drinking! Cool guy!”
The voices of people cheering rose up. They were quick-witted, and those who could drink together were good brothers. If we disregarded the notebooks of the Thoughtless Mountain and the Yin family, these guys were much cuter than sinister and cunning guys like Liu Rong and Chen Yu Zhou.
After I settled Zhao Zichen down, I got a room in the same hotel as Chu Xiaoxiao too.
While Chu Xiaoxiao went to take a shower, I called Baldy, who quickly answered.
“How’s Xing’er?”
“Still in the emergency room.” Baldy’s voice paused for a moment, “Zhang Chao, can I ……”
I said, “You let me say one thing first, my matter is rather urgent. The situation in Tong City is now too complicated, although I got rid of Chen Yu Zhou, but next to clean up Liu Rong and Jiang Ming, the situation will only be more critical than now. The bodyguard I arranged for Chu Xiaoxiao ran away, dammit, introduce me to a trustworthy person, the salary will be guaranteed to satisfy you.”
I heard Baldy take a deep, hard breath on the other end of the line, and although I couldn’t see him, I could guess that he was trying hard to hold back his tears.
“Ayu can.” He choked out.
“Fine. And Xing’er that craft is awesome, when she’s well ask her if she wants to come work under me. I’ll pay three million for the two of them, siblings, for five years. I’ll have a cheque sent to you tomorrow, or you can send me your bank card number and I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Either way.”
Relieved, I had expected him to refuse, I said, “By the way, what were you going to say to me?”
“Thanks a lot.”
“My own brother, what’s the point of saying thank you? I’ve got things to do tonight, so I won’t be coming to see you.”
After I hung up the phone with Baldy, I was down.
It wasn’t until Chu Xiaoxiao came out of the shower that I came back to my senses.
Chu Xiaoxiao was sitting beside me, wearing a white nightgown, her wet hair hanging down to her shoulder test, and the water droplets had wet the silk nightgown on her chest, and her spring light was hidden.
She wrapped her arms around my neck and asked with a gentle kiss, “What’s wrong with you?”
“I just called Baldy, he was going to borrow money from me, I hired Ayu and Xing’er as my men and gave him three million. From now on Ayu will come and keep you safe every day.”
