I didn't go home on my motorcycle; I went straight to the slot machine parlor in town.
It was already New Year's Eve, but Xu Rang still hadn't gone home. Ever since he took over this parlor, he ate, drank, and slept inside, never taking a step away.
He had been following Chen Qiang longer than I had, so naturally, he knew a whole bunch of people. There were also quite a few young guys my age following him.
It was past one in the morning. The gamblers in the parlor had mostly left, and Xu Rang was leading a few people in cleaning up.
"Second Brother."
"Second Brother, you're here."
"Xu Ge, Second Brother is here."
As I walked into the parlor, these young guys put down their work one after another to greet me.
I was about the same age as them, but Xu Rang had a big mouth and loved to brag. He had blown up the story of me and him kidnapping the hunchback into something as thrilling as Zhang Ziqiang kidnapping Old Li's son.
This led to many of the good-for-nothing young punks in Liu Xiang Town seeing me as a role model.
With a dark look on my face, I nodded to them one by one as a greeting.
Xu Rang was sitting at the cashier's spot, saying god knows what to the young girl working there, teasing her until her face was bright red.
Seeing my expression was ugly, Xu Rang froze for a second, then patted the girl's face.
"You go home first. I need to talk business with your Second Brother. Remember to tell your mom I'm coming over for the New Year's Eve reunion dinner tomorrow."
The girl's cheeks were red as apples. She called out a crisp "Second Brother" to me, then fled out the door.
Xu Rang smirked at me mischievously. "That girl, same age as you. You like her? If you like her, I'll let you have her, so you won't have to be a virgin chick anymore."
I couldn't be bothered with the fart he was letting out and asked plainly, "Are you free right now? How many men can you call up?"
Xu Rang's expression changed. He waved for the young guys nearby to come over.
"What happened, Number Two?"
I took a deep breath and told him about Song Jiawen crashing my fish farm and beating my men.
Finally, I asked Xu Rang if he knew who Song Jiawen was.
Xu Rang lowered his head and thought for a while, then slowly shook his head. "Don't know him. I used to go into the county seat with Big Brother to handle business all the time, never heard of any 'Big Brother' named Song there."
I let out a cold laugh. "Big Brother my ass. Even if he's the Emperor himself today, I'm taking him down. Are you helping me or not?"
Xu Rang slammed the table and shouted angrily, "Number Two, what kind of bullshit are you spouting? We're brothers for life. Your business is my business, there's no such thing as helping or not helping. You go find Dawei and get the cars. I'll mobilize twenty men for you right now."
"I don't care what kind of 'Wen' he is. He dares to get cute in Liu Xiang Town and mess with my brother? We're doing him in tonight, even if it is New Year's Eve."
The surrounding young guys were also riled up, shouting one after another.
"Second Brother, these bastards dare to act up? Let's make sure they can't leave Liu Xiang Town. We're going to help you handle them tonight."
"That's right! Someone didn't tie their belt tight enough and leaked those guys out. Let's do 'em."
I nodded with a grin. "Alright, good, that's damn good. We're all brothers here. After New Year's, I'll set up a few tables and we'll all have a good drink properly."
Xu Rang sent people to gather the men, and I got back on my motorcycle to find Xu Dawei.
Xu Dawei was in charge of the cars. With so many of us, we couldn't walk there.
Xu Dawei was already asleep, but at a time like this, I didn't care if I was disturbing him. I started banging directly on his door.
Moments later, Li Dawei pulled the door open, looking furious. "Motherfucker, knock, knock, knock! It's the middle of the New Year, don't you have a home? Coming to my house and smashing the door."
I felt a bit awkward. Xu Dawei still hadn't fully recovered from the cuts on his arm from my fish farm incident, and here I was bothering him again.
But after seeing it was me, Xu Dawei looked even more awkward. "Oh, it's you, Number Two. Why didn't you say something? If I knew it was you, I wouldn't have cussed you out."
I rubbed my hands together, speaking somewhat apologetically, "Dawei, coming to find you in the middle of the night... it really is a hassle, but I came to borrow the cars."
Xu Dawei gave a grunt of acknowledgement, looking at me with confusion.
"Number Two, what are you planning to do?"
I wiped the expression from my face and said very seriously, "I'm going to handle a few bastards from the county seat who came here to show off."
Xu Dawei opened the main gate fully. "Come in and talk first. What's going on, Number Two?"
I repeated exactly what I had told Xu Rang to Xu Dawei.
After listening, Xu Dawei's brows knitted together tightly. He hesitated for a moment.
"Number Two, wait for me here. I'm going to put on some clothes."
I didn't react immediately. It wasn't until Xu Dawei turned around that I hurriedly grabbed him.
"Hey, no need, Dawei. Xu Rang is already gathering men. You just give me two cars, give me the keys. Xu Rang and I will handle it, it's not a huge deal."
"Besides, your hand isn't healed yet, is it? You don't need to go with me."
Xu Dawei swatted my hand away and swept a glance at me. "What's the meaning of this? Xu Rang is your sworn brother, so you don't recognize me as a fellow brother of the sect?"
My face flushed red, and I hurriedly said, "No, no, what are you saying! You, Xu Dawei, have always been my brother. I treat you like an older brother."
Only then did Xu Dawei crack a smile and pat my shoulder. "That's more like it. I don't care how you see me in your heart, I treat you, Chu Lao Er, as my own little brother. Besides, Big Brother also told me to help you get the fish farm sorted out."
"So if these bastards dare to cause trouble, we'll flatten them."
After saying that, Xu Dawei ignored me, turned around, and went back into the room.
In less than a few minutes, he came out wearing a military-green padded cotton coat, holding two sets of car keys.
Not only that, but his left hand was carrying a gun. A shotgun. A double-barreled shotgun.
Usually, when people used shotguns to handle others, they would saw off the barrel for convenience.
The one Xu Dawei was holding hadn't been sawed off. It looked majestic and utterly terrifying.
"Dawei, we don't need to bring a gun, do we? It's not like we're going to kill them."
If we shot someone, this would become a massive issue.
Xu Dawei shook his head with a light chuckle. "Number Two, it's not like you haven't handled business with me before. Don't you know what kind of person I, Xu Dawei, am? Don't worry, I know the weight of things."
I thought of the scene where he used a knife to slice himself up and felt a cold shiver in my heart. I asked hesitantly, "Dawei, you aren't thinking of using the gun to blast yourself, are you?!"
Li Dawei stumbled, his left foot tripping over his right, almost face-planting right there.
"What kind of bullshit are you thinking? Who blasts themselves with a gun? Let's go, the cars are parked at the east end of town."
"Bringing this thing is just a precaution. If necessary, we'll let them hear a bang. We don't necessarily have to hit anyone."
Only then did I let out a sigh of relief.
I was genuinely afraid Xu Dawei would shoot himself first and ask Song Jiawen if they were scared.
Xu Rang worked fast. By the time Xu Dawei and I drove the cars over, he was already waiting with more than twenty people.
These guys didn't have empty hands; they were all holding machetes and various steel pipes.
I got out of the car and handed out cigarettes to each of them. "Originally, we were all supposed to be celebrating the New Year tonight, but those few bastards refuse to walk the path of life, so I have to trouble all you brothers."
"Second Brother, saying stuff like that makes us strangers!"
"Chu Lao Er, we're all brothers in the same game, stop saying all that. Let's go, handle them. Won't delay us from burning paper for the ancestors in the morning."
Two Hiace vans roared out, carrying over twenty people, marching grandly toward the Chen Family Shrine.
Song Jiawen, I'm going to show you whether I'm really unkillable or not.