Chapter 14: CH 14

Lu Qi tried to think over and over again, but he could not recall when he owed Huo Ming Chen money. He sat on the bed, contemplating, and his eyes gravitated towards the phone beside the pillow. He scrutinized it for a second, and then a lightbulb went over his head.

The coffee shop was quiet, and had separate tables and plants for privacy. It was a perfect location to talk business. It seemed like it was the first time Wang Jian Guo had stepped into a place like this. No matter how he sat, he felt restricted, especially when staring at the man opposite of him who had a blank face but gave you the feeling that he was the devil telling you your time was up.

Wang Jian Guo felt so relieved that he could breathe again,

“You finally remembered to return the money.”

And then said,

“That, um, you don’t have to return the money anymore. These are all your identification papers that I had. If you ever head out into society, make sure to take care of your brothers.”1

He smiled crookedly and handed a stack of paperwork over. His hands fidgeted nervously while Lu Qi blankly checked over the papers, making sure nothing was missing. Then he said,

“Say it straight. Who helped me return the money.”

“This this this……”

Wang Jian Guo laughed nervously, face full of hesitation,

“You don’t really owe me anything anymore, what’s the point in asking questions?”

Lu Qi didn’t reply. He only played with the lighter in his hand, knocking it on the table, one beat at a time, sending the rhythm straight into Wang Jian Guo’s heart. He waited until Wang Jian Guo’s heart was in his throat before he finally said,

“Don’t blame me for not warning you, but there are some kinds of money where if you take it without knowing its origins, it can come back to bite you. Banks have transaction records. I’m asking you one last time, who helped me return the money…… Of course, if you don’t say it, it doesn’t matter. Just, if it ever becomes a problem, don’t come and find me.”

Lu Qi was good at playing with people’s minds. His words hid some things, exposed some things, making it easy to incite the deepest fear inside someone’s heart. He could see Wang Jian Guo break out into a cold sweat, and his mouth twitched, and did not say anything else before rising up to leave — 

“Don’t!”

Wang Jian Guo hurriedly shouted, turning a lot of heads towards them. He clumsily stood up, and like he was guilty of something, dragged Lu Qi back.

“Oh you little brother, I didn’t say I wouldn’t tell you, why did you take it so seriously.”

He looked left and right, and then struggled to say,

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“But I really don’t know who it was. It sounded like it was a young man. He asked me how much you owe, and after I told him, he hung up. Then after that, our place was visited by Biao-Ge2, the gangster boss of this area, and his gang, and they returned the money on your behalf.”

He pulled out his phone history to show Lu Qi, and the phone number was extremely familiar – it was Huo Ming Chen.

Lu Qi could guess that Huo Ming Chen would not show up personally. One phone call from him, and there would be people lining up to run errands for him.

“And the debt slip?”

“They’ve already ripped it up. Biao-Ge also told me to keep my mouth shut, and not to let you know anything. Please little brother, don’t tell anyone that I told you this.”

Wang Jian Guo was not smart, but he’s been on these streets for at least a few years now. He’s at least learned to judge the situation, and he knew that the background of the caller was not simple. It was not someone he as a little side character could make an enemy out of, and he just wanted to be out of this situation.

“Biao-Ge gave fifty thousand yuan, oh here’s the remaining ten thousand yuan. We did agree that you would only need to pay up forty thousand yuan. I’ll just pretend I did a good deed, I don’t want it, you take it.”

Wang Jian Guo took a thick envelope out of his pockets, and looked around sneakily before hurriedly stuffing it into Lu Qi’s hands.

“Please don’t let Biao-Ge find me. I’m just a lonely small loan shark, I can’t be on their radar.”

Huo Ming Chen lit up a cigarette, and as his eyes watered from the hazy smoke, he softly said,

“Don’t fail your sister. Study hard. When you graduate, I can get you a spot in my brother’s company. Then you can be registered in this district3, and send your family here to take care of them.”

He seemed to have understood how Lu Qi thought. He didn’t straight out give him money, and instead chose another way to gift him,

“If your sister wants to come to the capital to work, let me know. I’ll organize something.”

Notes:

*1  Just another quick reminder: brothers here mean to be close friends like blood related brothers. In this scene with Wang Jian Guo, brothers mean the group he’s hanging out with as well as Huo Ming Chen and his group that Lu Qi mingles with.

*2  Biao-Ge: the “ge” means 哥 which translates to brother, which in this case is a honorary title (to show respect, or that to show you trust them to make decisions, or are more knowledgeable than you) The “Biao” in front is the actual name (or one part of the name) of the gangster boss.

*3  Districts: a very vague explanation but identification card lies with the district you live in and most workplaces require you to live in the city that workplace is based in, which means your identity card shows you live in that place. There’s also other restrictions like you can’t be registered in such and such school, and other legal stuff.

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