Chapter 135: My Benefactor
I went to Brother Chong’s office without knowing what was going on.
“Ah Jin, sit down.” He lit a cigarette, dismissed the people around him, then pulled open a drawer and tossed a stack of cash onto the table.
“Brother Chong… what’s this?”
“Rong Ye is in Guangdong. I’ll give you the address. Go find him,” Brother Chong said flatly.
“What?” I didn’t understand. “I thought the whole gang was hunting Rong Ye right now? You knew where he was all along?”
“Yes.” Brother Chong nodded. “The manhunt was just a smokescreen I put out.”
“But why?”
“Ah Jin, I know Uncle Tong’s intentions. Rather than that two million, he wants you—someone who can earn him another two million. But if I told Uncle Tong about this, out of gang rules, he’d have to kill Rong Ye. Then how would he take you in?”
I frowned slightly, still not understanding.
“So this information has to stop with me. What to do next, you’ll have to figure out after you see Uncle Tong.”
“Brother Chong, you say Uncle Tong wants to take me in, but I’m Rong Ye’s man…”
“Ah Jin, the feud is between the two bosses. You were just following orders. Uncle Tong understands that.” Brother Chong exhaled smoke, his expression somewhat pained. “But you disappointed him.”
My expression also darkened.
“Brother Chong, I’m a simple man. I stick to my principles. Rong Ye was my boss once, he’ll be my boss forever. Now that he’s on the run, I ought to take care of him.”
“You might regret this.” Brother Chong gritted his teeth. “Some people talk sweet but send you on deadly errands behind your back. Others seem cold and distant but genuinely want to keep someone talented like you…”
I’m slow, but I’m not stupid.
How could Rong Ye ever want me dead?
He made me learn boxing, even when I broke my wrist, he made me keep going—that was to train me.
He made me take on over thirty men alone—that was to temper me.
He made me draw lots with Jiu Zai to take the fall for him in prison—that was just to test me.
I had sworn loyalty to Lord Guan. I understood these things.
“Brother Chong, thank Uncle Tong for me.” I cut him off, stood up, and took the money from the table. “I’ll find a way to pay back this travel fare.”
Seeing that I wouldn’t budge, Brother Chong lost his temper.
“Damn stubborn kid… Go ahead! You’d better not die in Guangdong!”
He swiveled his chair away, angrily waving his hand. “Get the hell out.”
Before I left, I paused at the door and turned back. “Brother Chong, why does Uncle Tong think so highly of me?”
I saw Brother Chong’s back still puffing smoke. He thought for a long time before finally saying flatly, “Because in this day and age, it’s hard to find someone with such pure jianghu spirit as you have in you. Favors are favors, grudges are grudges. What you do may not be good, but you try to be a good person. You remind me of us when we were young.”
He pulled a chain from his chest and tossed it to me without looking back.
I caught it and looked it over—a small copper medal with the character “通” (Tong) engraved in the center.
“If you finish your business and want to come back to the gang, this will help you. Now get lost.”
I tucked the copper medal into my shirt pocket and bowed deeply to Brother Chong.
There were many people in this world who had shown me kindness. Once I repaid Rong Ye’s kindness, I would surely come back to repay Uncle Tong’s and Brother Chong’s.
…
The next day, I arrived in Guangzhou.
According to the information Brother Chong gave me, Rong Ye was now living in a fairly upscale apartment.
Knowing he was doing well put my mind at ease.
In the evening, I knocked on Rong Ye’s door.
It took a long time before there was any sound from inside. The door slowly opened, and I saw him.
Rong Ye looked the same—no different from four years ago.
“Ah Jin…?”
He was startled at first, then a look of joy appeared, but he quickly suppressed it.
Three expressions in one second. His mood seemed very complicated.
Rong Ye let me into the room. The place was simply decorated, with only the essential furniture.
There was another person inside. I had assumed it was Jiu Zai.
But it was a woman.
“Rong Ge… who’s this?” the woman asked.
“Jinglan, this is Ah Jin.” Rong Ye looked at me after speaking. “Ah Jin, this is your sister-in-law.”
I lowered my head slightly to the woman. “Sister-in-law.”
Rong Ye waved his hand, telling the woman to leave for now.
Before she left, she kept looking at me suspiciously. I stared back without backing down.
I had grown up beside Rong Ye and didn’t remember ever having this sister-in-law.
“Rong Ye, where’s Jiu Zai?” I looked around the room—there was no way three people could live here.
“Ah Jin…” Rong Ye took out a cigarette. “Ah Jiu is dead.”
My pupils trembled. I hoped I had misheard.
“What did you say happened to Jiu Zai?”
“When we were fleeing to Guangdong, Ah Jiu was hacked to death by Fat Tong’s men.” Rong Ye took a deep breath and lowered his head in regret.
What?
Jiu Zai had been killed by Uncle Tong’s men?
My heart suddenly lurched, as if I had lost something important.
Countless fragments flashed through my mind, like fireworks exploding in the air. I tried to reach out and grab them, but they burned my hand.
I remembered when I was eleven, Jiu Zai had smiled carefreely and said, “Ah Jin, you’ve got strength, I’ve got brains. Let’s follow Rong Ye together!”
Now the “fist” had returned, but I had lost the “brain.”
Rong Ye and Uncle Tong had given me completely opposite stories. With just my own wits, I couldn’t figure out what was going on.
“When did it happen?” I asked, my voice trembling.
“About ten days ago.” Rong Ye shook his head. “Ah Jin, I let Ah Jiu down, and I let you down too. You got out yesterday, and I couldn’t come see you.”
I sat down slowly, my mind going blank.
What was going on?
Everything felt strange, but I couldn’t pinpoint the problem.
Had Rong Ye lied to me… or had Uncle Tong lied to me?
At a time like this… if it were Jiu Zai, what would he do?
I was too stupid.
“Ah Jin, prison was hard.” Rong Ye said. “Rest here tonight.”
“Tonight?” I shook my head. “More than tonight, Rong Ye. I still want to follow you.”
“Follow me?”
I nodded.
“Yes, just like over ten years ago,” I said. “You’re my benefactor. I haven’t repaid your kindness yet.”
Rong Ye paused, and ashes fell to the floor.
“Ah Jin, don’t think about it. Let me take you downstairs for something to eat.” He stood up and put on his coat.
I followed him out the door.
We sat at a street stall and ordered some beer. Rong Ye was very quiet, and so was I.
He ordered a roasted bear paw—something I had never even seen before.
Watching him wolf it down, I thought, it must taste really good.
Yes, bear paw must be delicious.
If Rong Ye ate it, it was the same as me eating it.
After a few bottles of beer, I felt heavy inside.
I missed Jiu Zai badly. He was my brother. After four years in prison, I hadn’t even seen him one last time.
Thinking this, I opened a bottle of beer and poured it on the ground.
To my brother.
Seeing my expression, Rong Ye shook his head helplessly and stood up to pay the bill.
He seemed to want to say something but couldn’t get the words out. Then he noticed a video parlor sign.
After thinking for a long moment, he spoke. “Ah Jin, you don’t like whoring or drugging. Let me take you to see a movie to clear your head.”
It was a foreign film called The Terminator.
I had never seen a movie like that in my whole life.
Actually, thinking back, I had never had the money to watch movies.
But that didn’t stop me from loving The Terminator.
Were the things in the movies real stories?
It was so震撼—shocking and powerful—that for a while I even forgot about Jiu Zai.
When the movie ended and the screen went black with English credits, I still didn’t want to get up.
If only Jiu Zai could have seen this.
He was so smart—he could have told me how those robots were made.
They were machines, yet they let people film them.
Too bad Jiu Zai would never see it.
“Ah Jin, I want to quit the life.”
Rong Ye’s voice came from beside me.
“What?” I turned to look at him.
“I’m getting old. I shouldn’t keep going like this.” Rong Ye shook his head. “You should leave.”
“Leave…?” I blinked. “Rong Ye, where do you want me to go?”
“Don’t walk this path anymore. Go anywhere.” He smiled bitterly. “The world is vast, remember? ‘The world is broad, but the narrow-minded confine themselves.’”
How could I forget?
Those were the words tattooed on my back.