Chapter Thirty: Laishun Strays onto a Wicked Path

At the end of the year, I left Kuai Bin’s nightclub. I felt I shouldn’t stay there any longer; my temperament wouldn’t allow me to be someone else’s errand boy, nor could I adapt to that environment where one moment was heaven and the next was hell. Taking the ten thousand yuan Kuai Bin gave me, I went home. Sitting gloomily on the sofa, smoking for a while, I got up and called Wang Dong and Da Guang, asking them to come over—I needed to discuss with them how to “return” to the market. My father wasn’t home; I’d sent him to the hospital last week. His health was so poor now that he couldn’t even turn over in bed. The only parts of his body that could move were his mouth and his eyes, but his mouth couldn’t speak, and his eyes could see but not recognize anyone before him. His mouth often made a whirring sound—I suspected he was calling for my grandfather and my mother, or maybe even calling my brother and me.

Lin Baobao was accompanying my father in the hospital, almost living there these days—I hadn’t seen her come home at all. A few days ago when I visited my father, Lin Baobao told me that he often cried, unable to speak, just tears streaming down. I said, “He’s hurting inside—let him cry, it’ll be better once he’s cried enough.” Lin Baobao said our family had no money, we didn’t dare eat anything decent, and my father's small pension plus Lai Shun’s wages weren’t enough even for meals. Suddenly, I felt so miserable my legs almost gave way, and I squatted by my father’s bedside, my heart as if being gouged out with a knife. I was truly worthless—I hadn’t given the family any money for months, forgetting I still had a gravely ill father, an unemployed sister-in-law, and a home that needed support. I handed all the money I could find to Lin Baobao and told her, “Sister-in-law, let’s hold on for a while. I’ll have money soon, and then we’ll hire a caretaker for Dad so you can come with me to the market and set up a stall.” Lin Baobao replied, “Don’t hire anyone—they won’t be attentive. I don’t want to go to the market, either; everyone knows me, I don’t want to be seen. I’ll stay here and take care of Dad, all the way to the end.” I had nothing more to say, so I asked about Lai Shun—why hadn’t he been home much lately, what was he busy with outside, did she ask him? Lin Baobao said Lai Shun wasn’t working as a security guard at the steel mill anymore; he’d joined a boss and was driving for him now. I really hadn’t known that. I hadn’t seen him for over half a month; the last time I did, he said he wanted to quit. My mind was chaotic then, and I didn’t ask why or what he’d do after. Now, hearing Lin Baobao say this, I felt uneasy—what sort of boss had Lai Shun joined? Could it be like Jia Guan in the past, planting someone as a “mole” around my brother? After returning from the hospital to the nightclub, I called Da Guang and asked if he knew who Lai Shun was driving for. Da Guang laughed at me, “You’re really not much of a father, huh? Have you even forgotten Lai Shun’s age?” I calculated: it was 3003, so Lai Shun must be twenty-four. I couldn’t help but sigh; at twenty-four, I’d just gotten out of prison… Almost twenty years had gone by, and I’d gone from “big brother” to “uncle.” Large swaths of life felt blocked by an endless wall; going back was impossible, even remembering was hard, like a fat man’s arms—no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t reach his toes.

Da Guang said Lai Shun was now working with Gangzi; Gangzi had put him in charge of an auto repair shop, and when there was nothing to do, Lai Shun drove for him—they were really close. This was a bit interesting; I smiled. Twenty years ago, Gangzi had kidnapped Lai Shun, and twenty years later, they were tight friends. Maybe all these years of storms had made me disbelieve everything; I was certain Gangzi wanted to use Lai Shun, because Gangzi knew the kind of relationship Lai Shun had with Jia Guan. Lai Shun’s momentum now was even stronger than Jia Guan’s back then, and Gangzi surely recognized his value.

Two summers ago, I went home to see my father; Lai Shun was sitting in the living room with a few brothers, and when he saw me come in, he quickly sent his friends away. He came back, grinning, and draped his arm around my shoulders: “Dad, I’m more impressive than you were at my age. Back then you were in prison; I’m out here, doing bigger things, developing faster than you.” I said, “Young people should do big things, but not illegal ones, or you’ll end up just like me.” Lai Shun replied, “I won’t break the law. I operate in the grey area between legal and illegal—safe and exciting.” At the time, all I cared about was money. “You’ve got plenty of cash now, right?” Lai Shun snickered, “I grew up with Zhang Yi as a father—my habits are influenced by him. I don’t save money, I save loyalty. With loyalty, you can earn bigger profits.” This kid was full of crooked logic. Maybe it was age, maybe it was the chaos in my mind, but I just smiled vaguely, “Don’t forget you have this family, that’s all.” Lai Shun said, “It’s because I have this family in mind that I do what I do. I want our old Zhang family to stand tall again on Lower Street!” Lai Shun truly was one of us; his full name was Zhang Xianhao, given by my father according to the family lineage—the next generation should be ‘Yao’, then ‘Shi’, then ‘Chang’, symbolizing generations of glory and prosperity for the Zhangs. I patted his stubbly face and laughed, “Good kid!”

I found time to look up Gangzi, first joking about the incident twenty years ago, then grew serious: “My nephew’s working for you—take good care of him.” Gangzi said, “Of course. I did him wrong when he was a kid; now I’ll make it up double.” I asked how Lai Shun came to work for him. Gangzi chuckled, “He and my nephew were classmates—they’re tight. My nephew’s always been with me, so then Lai Shun joined.” I probed, “Don’t you think my nephew has a peculiar temperament?” Gangzi hit the nail on the head: “He wants to avenge Big Brother.” I kept a straight face: “Any thoughts?”

Gangzi smiled and patted my hand: “Don’t worry, I’m not so rotten as to use a kid—otherwise I’d be harming my own nephew, too.” Leaving Gangzi, I walked the street in a foul mood. Damn it, isn’t it just that I haven’t done well? If I’d succeeded, would I need you to shelter my son? Those days, I heard rumors on the street—Lai Shun and his crowd often fought with others, though he usually stayed behind the scenes. I made up my mind: once I was back on my feet in the market, I’d call Lai Shun over, keep him close, and make sure nothing happened. Our family couldn’t take any more blows.

While sitting gloomily on the sofa waiting for Wang Dong and Da Guang, I dialed Lai Shun’s mobile. Before I could speak, Lai Shun started yelling, “Dad, where have you been lately? Why don’t you ever call me?” I smiled, “I’ve been busy—busy finding you a stepmother.” Lai Shun laughed recklessly, “That’s great! Just find someone obedient, looks don’t matter! Don’t get someone like Mama Yang who’s always arguing with you—I can’t stand it… Hey, Dad, I heard from a brother you’re not working for Uncle Kuai anymore. What happened? Wasn’t it good over there?” I said, “Kids shouldn’t worry so much. Come home, I need to talk to you.” Lai Shun hesitated for a moment, then said, “Dad, I can’t come back—I’m out of town… Gangzi Uncle asked me to handle some things here with a few brothers. Can you tell me what you wanted to talk about?” Clearly, something was up! I felt dissatisfied, as if I ranked lower in Lai Shun’s heart than Gangzi, and said flatly, “It’s nothing. Goodbye.” Lai Shun seemed to sense my displeasure, quickly called out, but I hung up, my ears ringing.

Lai Shun kept calling my mobile; I didn’t answer. He called the home phone—I unplugged the line. Still stewing, Wang Dong came in: “Hey, wearing that pig’s belly face—who pissed you off?” I told him what had happened. Wang Dong sat beside me and smirked, “You’re old, really old—starting to get worked up over a kid.” I said, “It’s not that—I just think he’s inconsiderate, forgot his home, hasn’t come back in half a month.” Wang Dong joked, “He’s afraid to come home. It’s ‘**’ season, he’s out all day, maybe he caught something—how can he just come back?” Seeing I wasn’t cheered, Wang Dong sighed, “This isn’t good, not good at all… Even we back in the day never did this. No matter how wild we ran, home was a place we returned to every day. Forget it, times are different. By the way, I haven’t been in touch lately—got some updates… Little Wangba went nuts yesterday, beat up Donkey Four, his head looked like a big eggplant gnawed by a pig. He really lost it, did it himself, shouting while he hit, ‘Eat my food, drink my drink, stab me in the back.’ I figure he found out Donkey Four was in touch with us… Strange though, it’s been so many years. We’re close to forgetting it…”

“You forgot—I didn’t! Nor did he!” I cut him off. “A few days ago, he sent people to kill me; thankfully Da Guang had a gun, otherwise you’d be talking to a dead man now!” Wang Dong stared, and I exhaled, “I haven’t had much luck these years, but this has always been on my mind. Before I divorced, I kept in touch with Donkey Four, who thoroughly investigated—Jia Guan really was dealing drugs! I have loads of evidence. Police have started watching him, but haven’t caught him yet… Know what? Lan Slant-Eye reported Jia Guan in prison—not very clearly, but police know he’s trafficking, that much is certain. He’s close to done for. What about Donkey Four? Keep going—he got beaten up, where did he end up?”

“He fled, probably won’t see him again,” Wang Dong waved his hand. “I heard Donkey Four was bleeding out, almost died and no one helped. Later, he got up and yelled, ‘I won’t serve anyone anymore!’ and staggered away along the wall. After hearing this, I went to the market to find him, to ask what really happened. As you know, during ‘**’, the market’s as quiet as a graveyard… I thought I’d find him quickly, but searched every corner and still couldn’t. Once it got dark, the market emptied. I kept looking down Lower Street, finally found him in a little alley, sitting alone at the entrance, his head bobbing, not sure what he was doing. I walked over slowly—he was asleep, his head a bloody gourd, drooling blood, both hands curled at his chest, one holding a bottle, the other a brick, like a corpse. I woke him, asked what happened—he wouldn’t talk. I lost patience and tried to leave, and he barked like a wolf, ‘Tell Zhang Kuan, even if I die at home, I won’t come back to Lower Street!’ Ha, that kid’s completely ‘soupy’… Forget it, Kuan, it’s been so many years—let it go, it’s pointless.”

Looks like Donkey Four is unreliable; I might as well do it myself. I really don’t want Little Wangba to walk away unpunished. A few days ago, I chatted with Kuai Bin, asked if he knew someone named Tang Yong. Kuai Bin said, “Why bring him up? He’s a classic ‘deadbeat’. Right after Butterfly got in trouble, he ran. I thought he’d make something of himself this time, but no way. I heard he got mixed up with Butterfly and Da Hai in a lot of things—if they catch him, he’ll rot in prison till sunset. I said, ‘I worried about him for a while—he was always hanging out with Jia Guan.’ Kuai Bin squinted and smiled, ‘He was panicking. Thought Little Wangba was powerful, wanted to benefit from it, but then realized it wasn’t like that, so he went back to Butterfly. Who knew Butterfly was almost done too, not much stronger than Little Wangba. He tried to build his own thing, but it’s not so easy—ended up just screwing himself, that idiot.’”

Wang Dong saw me frowning and muttering, and said, “Society’s really changed—everyone wants to get ahead, but no one succeeds.” I glanced at him and smiled, “Don’t talk so much. As for Jia Guan, you can ‘retire’—I’ll handle the rest.” Wang Dong opened his mouth, unconvinced, “Ha, as if this is about retirement… Let me remind you, Jia Guan might get desperate.” I said, “That’s for sure—he’s already started moving.” Wang Dong gritted his teeth, “He might keep coming—he knows the police are watching, and when he goes crazy, he’ll do anything!” I frowned, “He already took a swipe at me, got caught—would he really keep fighting so recklessly?”

Wang Dong said, “He’s been holding back for years—he’s at an extreme now, you should be careful.” Thinking over our years of rivalry, and how he’d just caught my “spy,” a sudden explosion wasn’t impossible. I grunted, saying nothing. Wang Dong shook his head, “If he dares to act, I won’t want to live anymore. Second Brother, what did you want? Tell me.” I said glumly, “We’ll wait for Da Guang.”

Just then, Da Guang knocked outside; Wang Dong opened the door, “Kuan was just talking about you.” “I know what it is,” Da Guang swept his hair, “Kuan wants to share good news! Got that girl to ‘pledge loyalty’, right?” Ha, that goes without saying—I’m about to make her my next wife. These days, Wang Hui’s been with me often, hardly attending work. After ‘exchanging loyalty,’ she always asks, “Zhang Kuan, do I really matter to you?” I pinch her nose, “How could you not? Now there’s no one else in my heart, only you.” Wang Hui blushes and laughs, “I’ve already given myself to you—if you didn’t care, you’d be struck by lightning.” Sigh, why are women always like this? Clinging to a man and never letting go, like a turtle biting a stick. Once, she tearfully asked if I still contacted Yang Bo. I said, “I’ve forgotten her. Now, besides you, I’m not in touch with any woman.” Wang Hui ground her teeth, “If you dare contact her again, I’ll kill you.” Da Guang was still muttering about women, and I frowned, “Don’t be disrespectful—she’s your sister-in-law.” Da Guang stuck out his tongue, “Got it, ‘pledged loyalty’… Ha, Kuan’s as vigorous as ever. Actually, that girl—no, actually sister-in-law—is really good, pure and sensible, will make a great wife. Enough chatter. Kuan, what’s up?”

I explained my idea of rising again in the Lower Street farmers’ market, asking, “Do you two think there’s hope?” Da Guang had just started shaking his head when Wang Dong laughed, “Going to the market now? Don’t you know even Jinlong wants out? It’s ‘**’.” I said, “Who cares about ‘**’? Maybe this is an opportunity.” Da Guang muttered, “Kuan’s idea is naive—not so easy…” I glared, “Even if it’s hard, I have to do it—I can’t just stay down, I need money!” Wang Dong snorted, stood up, “Who doesn’t need money? You’re nuts, right? You’re going to the market as ‘air force’ at a time like this?” I stared at him, “Just set up a stall—things will get better.” Wang Dong pulled me to the window, pointed down, “Look, Lower Street is full of money, but it’s not yours—you’re already old!”