Lin Changzai dragged me to a small tavern. He ordered a few home-style dishes and showed off to the kids under him.
"From now on, you guys know Brother Chu Shanhe… Second Brother. When you go out, you'll have face."
"You know Tumor, right? A real street boss. So what if Wang Hai is his cousin? Didn't he still get handled by Second Brother Chu?"
I can't drink much. Lin Changzai kept raising his glass, so I could only wet my lips to go along.
"Quit bullshitting. I don't have any damn 'face.' Just drink quietly!"
Every time I drank, I only let my tongue touch the liquor. Lin Changzai, on the other hand, kept downing shots.
Once the booze kicked in, Lin Changzai slurred at me:
"Sec… Second Brother, what do you think of me?"
My hand trembled a little holding the cup, and I hurriedly said, "Lin Changzai, don't drag me into trouble. I'm already with Brother Qiang—what would I use to let you follow me?"
"You follow me? Follow me for what? To drink northwest wind?"
Maybe he really drank too much. His eyes were turning red, like he could cry anytime.
He stuttered, "Chu Shanhe… you… you're two years younger than me, but I call you Second Brother."
"I, Lin Changzai, lost my parents young. At thirteen I wandered around begging, from Tianfu all the way to Qianzhou. Not a single person looked me in the eye."
"Only you… only you, Chu Shanhe… Second Brother Chu, were willing to say a few words for me when I was getting beaten."
As he spoke, he suddenly crashed face-first onto the table. He kept mumbling, and I could only catch bits and pieces.
"I know… I know everything… I know nobody looks up to me, a low-life pickpocket. Chu Shanhe… you're the same…"
"But no matter what… I treat you as my brother. As my big brother."
Then he suddenly gagged and vomited.
Under the table, the floor was covered in puke, stinking as hell.
I held my nose and patted his back.
"You damned idiot, if you can't drink, why don't you drink less? You've puked all over the damn place."
Lin Changzai waved his hand a few times before finally grabbing my arm.
"Second Brother… listen to me… Second Brother Chu… I'll remember your kindness for my whole damn life."
"If you let me follow you, anyone who comes for you has to go through me first. I won't fall as long as you're alive. You hear me? Believe me."
Touch you, they touch me first. I won't fall as long as you're still breathing.
At the time, I thought it was just drunk talk. I never expected it to become prophecy.
I only felt that a low-life pickpocket like him saw me take care of Wang Hai, heard everyone in Liuxiang Town talking about me, thought I was impressive, and wanted to latch onto me.
I didn't take his words seriously at all.
"Alright, alright, follow me, follow me. Just stop drinking."
Drunk as he was, Lin Changzai suddenly perked up like he'd been shot with chicken blood.
He stared right at me, eyes unfocused. "Second Brother, you said it, yeah? I follow you, you accept me. No, no—this is such great news, we gotta drink a few more!"
He reached for the cup again, and I quickly pinned him down.
By now I was already getting impatient. I've always looked down on him for being a petty thief.
Now he drank a few cups of cat piss and was spouting nonsense, not listening to a damn thing.
I hate drunk people. My old man was the type to pass out drunk and ignore everything.
I hate it even more when someone can't drink but insists on drinking, then refuses to sleep it off.
Just as I was about to dump him and leave, someone suddenly slapped my shoulder.
I turned and saw Xu Rang, sweating like crazy.
"Xu Rang, what the hell happened? Sweating like that in the dead of winter?"
Xu Rang looked me up and down before letting out a relieved breath.
"Chu Lao'er, you son of a bitch, I thought something happened to you!"
I was stunned. I didn't know what he meant.
"Tumor took a gun to your house. Two shotgun blasts turned your door into a beehive. I thought you unlucky bastard got blasted!"
When I heard that, a chill shot from my feet straight to my skull.
I didn't even care about drunk Lin Changzai anymore—I turned to run.
Xu Rang grabbed me. "Where the hell are you going? Don't run around like an idiot! We just handled Wang Hai's cousin—Tumor is out on the streets with a gun looking for you!"
I yanked my arm free. "Let go! Xu Rang, my old mom is at home—I can't just leave her!"
If my mom came home from selling veggies and saw the blasted door, she'd be scared half to death.
But Tumor shouldn't hurt my mother. A street boss who targets innocent family members wouldn't last long.
I was worried she'd be scared, start imagining things.
Xu Rang held me tight. "Big Brother already thought of it. Once he heard Tumor brought a gun to your place, he sent someone to get Third Auntie. Don't worry about her. Worry about yourself."
Only after hearing that Chen Qiang already took my mother away did I calm down.
When I came back to my senses, my back was drenched in cold sweat. To get home, I had to pass Liuxiang. If Lin Changzai hadn't dragged me to drink, I would've run straight into gun-toting Tumor.
Tumor wouldn't hurt my mother, but if I fell into his hands, I'd be lucky to keep a few fingers to hold chopsticks.
I glanced at Lin Changzai and asked Xu Rang, "You got any money on you?"
He froze, confused, but didn't ask. He searched all his pockets—about two hundred yuan.
I had a hundred-plus on me. I pulled out two twenty-yuan bills and handed them to the oldest kid.
"Settle the bill."
Then I shoved the rest into Lin Changzai's coat.
"You boys get him home. Don't touch the money. If a single yuan goes missing, I'll snap every one of your damn fingers."
The kids frantically shook their heads. "No, Second Brother, we wouldn't dare!"
My life is worth way more than three hundred yuan, but that's all I could scrape up.
If I get the chance, I'll thank him properly someday.
Xu Rang didn't ask why I gave Lin Changzai the money. He just dragged me outside.
"Big Brother's waiting. Tumor's gone full psycho. He wants blood. Big Brother is already talking to the cops, trying to pin him down first."
Xu Rang wasn't driving that busted Bluebird anymore—he rode a CG King motorcycle.
I sat behind him, fingers trembling slightly.
Tumor went way too far this time. Showing up at my house with a gun, blasting my door…
No street boss does shit like that. Even if you want someone dead, you don't storm into their home.
We're in the underworld, not bandits or rabid thugs.
Though around the turn of the millennium, when I rose up, nobody had bottom lines anymore.
But in 1995, no boss, no street crew, stooped this low.
"Xu Rang… is Big Brother going to war with Tumor?"
Xu Rang nodded. "Yeah. Big Brother said this time we're gonna cripple Tumor so bad he won't be able to move. After this, he won't have a foothold in Liuxiang Town."
I slowly let out a breath.
Taking down a street boss… easier said than done.
Especially one who's already half-mad and carrying a gun.
Who knows how many will end up crippled this time, quietly fading from this world.
Will I, Chu Lao'er, be one of them?