Chen Xiang never expected that I, who had just been slapped by him over and over again, would lunge at him in that moment.
He certainly never expected that the jagged shard of porcelain in my hand would not only leave him maimed for life but nearly take his life as well.
I waved the porcelain shard, slashing toward Chen Xiang's face. At that moment, his face still wore that smug grin.
But very quickly, that smugness turned into terror.
The sharp porcelain sliced open his cheek, and fresh blood sprayed onto my face.
Chen Xiang had been "mixing" in the streets until he was nearly forty, yet he still couldn't be considered a real gangster, let alone an underworld "Big Brother."
He was just a scoundrel, a hooligan, a deadbeat who bullied students and extorted a few bucks to buy smokes and booze.
So, this move of mine completely terrified him.
He clutched his face in agony and began to howl.
Perhaps the saying "blood is thicker than water" is true. My brother and I were supposed to be the same kind of people.
It was just that over the years, my mother had suppressed the ruthlessness in my bones.
Seeing the blood, hearing the wailing, I felt no fear.
Instead, I got even more excited.
It was as if I was born to be like my brother—a Big Brother who made others tremble at the news of his arrival—rather than the wimp I was now, afraid to hit back when beaten.
That kick Chen Xiang delivered to my mother completely triggered the bloodlust I had repressed for so many years.
Before he could even cover the wound on his face, the shard in my hand stabbed out again. This time, I went for his eye.
The porcelain successfully punctured his eyeball, popping it like a small water balloon.
I didn't feel anything strange. Chen Xiang had already fallen to the ground, shrieking like a banshee.
His wailing made me incredibly irritable.
I sat on top of him, driving my knee into his chest.
The shard in my hand was covered in something slippery and greasy; I couldn't hold onto it.
In his one remaining eye, I saw panic, dread, and trembling fear.
He looked even more pathetic than when he had looked at Chen Qiang earlier.
That look gave me a feeling I had never experienced before.
A kind of... a kind of feeling that I thoroughly enjoyed.
At that moment, I actually started laughing. As I laughed, I raised my fist and smashed it hard into Chen Xiang's remaining eye.
Pain. It hurt.
Not Chen Xiang, but my fist hurt.
Chen Xiang's screams sounded like a pig being slaughtered, drawing out all the neighbors from the surrounding houses.
These simple, honest folk had never seen a scene like this. After a moment of shock, someone immediately ran to the town's police station to report the crime.
All of this was something I only recalled afterward. At that moment, I was just landing punch after punch on Chen Xiang's face.
Soon, the blood flowing from his face had dyed most of my shirt red.
People nearby kept pulling at my arms, and finally, someone kicked me in the chest, knocking me to the ground.
Next, my hands were cuffed behind my back.
The constables from the station arrived. The dark muzzle of a gun was pressed against the back of my head.
"Kid, don't move! I said don't move! Move again and I'll shoot you dead!"
"My baby, my baby... why did it have to be like this... Oh, Bodhisattva in Heaven, what sin did I commit? Both my sons..."
"Tsk tsk tsk, this second Chu boy doesn't lose out to his big brother at all. Look at Chen Xiang, he's been beaten out of human shape."
"If you ask me, that Chen Xiang deserved a beating, always acting like he has a death wish. But the Chu kid was too heavy-handed..."
The rush of blood to my head subsided. The roar of the cop with the gun, my mother's crying, and the gossip of the onlookers...
Every single word fell into my ears without fail.
I felt like the ground beneath my feet was weightless, as if I were stepping on cotton.
The surrounding sounds were right by my ears, yet seemed miles away; I heard every word, yet nothing sounded real.
I was hauled up from the ground. My teary-eyed mother tried to come forward but was blocked.
I managed to pull the corners of my mouth into a smile, and before I could take another look at my mother, I was shoved and marched away.
I saw Chen Qiang. He sported his signature bald head, but the look in his eyes held none of the usual disdain; instead, there was a strange gleam.
Then there were those aunts and uncles I had greeted for over a decade, who now averted their gazes, avoiding eye contact with me.
The sun had already set. I looked back at the Wuxia novel lying on the ground. Times have changed, and I can no longer remember the name of that book.
But that day, as I walked out of that alley with my hands cuffed behind my back and my head pressed down, I suddenly felt as though I had broken through that paper-thin barrier.
Even if I hadn't become a hero, I had at least become a man of the Jianghu, exacting vengeance and gratitude freely.
I had walked this alley for over ten years, but today, being marched out with my head held down, I felt like I was walking with my head held high and my chest out.
After being detained at the station for about ten days, my sentence came down.
Since many people saw me beat Chen Xiang, and my fingerprints were on the porcelain shard, there was no wiggle room. I was going to "university."
However, because it was considered excessive self-defense, and my mother ran around spending quite a bit of money on my behalf...
And because the people at the station were locals—folks who see each other all the time—they didn't want to throw the book at me.
Plus, that animal Chen Xiang was truly disliked by everyone.
So, even though I blinded one of his eyes and disfigured him, I was only sentenced to one year and one month.
It was at the county "university," not far from Liuxiang Town.
On my fourth day inside, my mother came to see me. She brought a lot of dishes she cooked herself and started crying the moment she saw me.
She kept saying I had gotten thinner and asking if I was doing okay inside.
To my surprise, the one who came with my mother was the bald-headed Chen Qiang.
He didn't speak the whole time. He seemed to know the guards in charge; he handed out a pack of cigarettes to each of them, and the guards left, leaving me and my mother alone in the room.
When the time was up, no one came to rush us.
When my mother had finished saying her piece, Chen Qiang gave his habitual cough. "Auntie, you go out first. I need to have a few words with Number Two, is that alright?"
"Auntie" referred to my mother, and Number Two was naturally me.
My mother nodded. "Alright. Qiang-zai, you have many friends. You need to look out for my Number Two while he's in here."
"Auntie, you're treating me like a stranger saying things like that. I grew up following Brother Jianghai. Jianghai's brother is my, Chen Qiang's, brother. Looking out for him is only right."
After my mother left, Chen Qiang lit another cigarette. He took a few puffs before looking at me and asking:
"Number Two, how old are you this year?"
I felt a bit cramped; after all, Chen Qiang had always looked down on me and couldn't be bothered with me before.
"Brother Qiang, I'm seventeen, almost eighteen."
Chen Qiang lowered his head, thinking about something. He took two more drags on his smoke and suddenly smiled.
"Eighteen. You can handle a bit of this."
As he spoke, he handed me a cigarette.
I hesitated for a moment, but still put it in my mouth and lit it with his lighter.
The first drag felt incredibly spicy and harsh. The second drag went straight to my lungs, making my head spin.
The third drag went down much smoother.
I don't know why, but ever since I poked Chen Xiang's eye out, the way Chen Qiang looked at me had become different.
After I finished the cigarette, the smile on Chen Qiang's face vanished, and he spoke with dead seriousness.
"Number Two, I came to find you because I have business to discuss with you."
My heart skipped a beat. Discuss business?
Chen Qiang was already considered a Big Brother in Liuxiang Town. What business did he need to discuss with a kid like me who wasn't even eighteen?
"Brother Qiang, speak. I'm listening."
Chen Qiang's expression was complicated, hard to tell what he was thinking.
"Chen Xiang found 'Liuzi'. He says when you get out, he wants an arm and a leg. And he's going to burn your house down first, as interest."