Chapter 84: Meeting Again

The dumpling shop was not large. Every afternoon, just before the factory let out, a few extra tables were set up at the entrance; when closing time came late at night, they were taken back in together. During the day there were not many customers, so there was no need to put them out.

Zhang Xiaoye, who was adding tables outside, saw Jiang Fan and stopped what she was doing. With a bright smile, she said, “Brother Fan, you’re here.”

Thinking of Zhang Xiaoye’s bitter ordeal and the shadow it had left in her heart, Jiang Fan did not treat her as he had Huang Guihua the other day, with a pat on the head and a pinch of the cheek to show closeness. Instead, he asked softly, “Are you getting used to it here?”

Zhang Xiaoye nodded. “It’s very good. The work isn’t tiring, and Auntie and Uncle are kind to me. During the day they even let me and Guihua take turns resting. Even in the middle of the night, we’re still full of energy and want to help the shop do more, but Auntie and Uncle won’t allow it. They insist that Guihua and I go back to the rented room on time and sleep.”

Hearing that Zhang Xiaoye was willing to speak more, Jiang Fan smiled. “Don’t just focus on working. You still need to eat more. You’re far too thin.”

When Auntie Qiu heard Jiang Fan’s voice, she came out of the shop and said, “Xiao Jiang, do you want to eat dinner here?”

Jiang Fan nodded. “I was just planning to have a meal here and settle up with Wen Yu when he gets back.”

Auntie Qiu pretended to be angry and slapped him lightly, grumbling, “You child, isn’t it just one meal? You keep such exact accounts with us. Your uncle is still asleep and hasn’t come over. I’ll cook you a portion of dumplings first. Once things get busy in a little while, we won’t have time to look after you.”

After Jiang Fan finished eating, the dumpling shop had also reached its busiest hour, and there was no need for him to help.

He went outside and sat idly, mulling over in his mind the words he would use if he met Brother Qiang.

“He steals, yet he still has a code? If he isn’t doing some filthy business, then what code is he using to make money?”

Leaning back in the chair, Jiang Fan narrowed his eyes and thought for a while, but still could not make sense of it. Then he suddenly heard the crash and clamor of a fight from the gambling den.

He opened his eyes and, startled, saw four of the gambling den’s henchmen holding steel pipes and surrounding a man, while the customers inside were so frightened by the scene that they scattered in all directions.

What shocked Jiang Fan was that the man being besieged was the shawled man who had robbed Zhang Xiaoye among the weeds yesterday.

Despite taking several blows from the four men, the shawled man could still fight back. He kicked one of the henchmen and even managed to snatch a steel pipe from him. It was obvious he knew how to handle himself.

Remembering the remark Xiao Yuxin had made—“The one who steals money gives money to the one who was robbed. That’s kind of interesting”—Jiang Fan rose and ran over, stopping the burliest henchman. He called out to the others, “Let’s talk this out properly.”

At his words, the henchmen stopped.

But the burly one glanced at Jiang Fan and said stiffly, “Get lost. This has nothing to do with you. Don’t stick your nose in.”

Jiang Fan had no idea what the burly man’s name was, but he came to the dumpling shop often enough that everyone would nod in greeting when they met. He had not expected such an attitude now.

He fixed the burly henchman with a stare and asked coldly, “If I don’t get lost, are you planning to swallow me whole?”

Ah Dong, who was inside the shop, immediately came out and said to Jiang Fan, “A Fan, we’re dealing with something. It’s not convenient for you to be here right now.”

Ah Dong knew Jiang Fan could fight, and his attitude was much gentler than the burly henchman’s, but his underworld pride was plain to see. He wanted to show off, before the gathered gamblers, the authority he wielded as the one in charge, and to serve as a warning to the others.

Jiang Fan pointed to the place where he was standing and asked Ah Dong, “This is the sidewalk. It isn’t your gambling den’s territory, is it? What do you mean, ‘get lost’? And what do you mean, ‘not convenient’? If I don’t leave, are you planning to make things convenient for me too?”

Seeing that Jiang Fan’s words carried provocation, Ah Dong frowned. He held himself back from losing his temper, but his voice turned much harder. “Stand wherever you want. Just don’t interfere with our business.”

Jiang Fan called out to Zhang Xiaoye, who was standing in front of the dumpling shop watching the excitement, and asked her to bring him a stool.

Zhang Xiaoye came over, glanced at the man in the shawl, and recognized him as the one who had failed to rob her yesterday and had instead left her two yuan. She said nothing, only returned to the dumpling shop on her own.

Jiang Fan sat down defiantly at the entrance to the gambling den, glaring at the burly henchman and taunting him, “Not only did I not get lost, I haven’t left at all. Come on, bite me if you dare!”

The burly henchman was about to say something when Ah Dong, who had sat back down at the shop entrance, saw that Jiang Fan was alone and still daring to stir trouble, with a single crossbody strap hanging around his neck. Cautiously, he called out, “A Yong, do your work. Ignore him.”

Jiang Fan went on provoking them. “I thought you were supposed to be so arrogant, and this is all you’ve got? You still don’t dare do anything to me, do you?”

Hearing Jiang Fan’s repeated taunts, and the fact that he kept calling himself “I,” the long-enduring Ah Dong came over to him again and said, “A Fan, we’re all neighbors here. I don’t want trouble, and you shouldn’t go too far just because you can fight. Don’t act all high and mighty in front of me.”

Jiang Fan stood up and kicked the stool he had been sitting on aside. “So I am high and mighty. What are you going to do about it? I came in good faith to stop a fight because I didn’t want you making this a bigger mess. Yet you told me to get lost. So who exactly is going too far? You, or me?”

“Damn you—” The henchman called A Yong by Ah Dong, having been provoked again and again by Jiang Fan, raised his steel pipe and cursed in fury.

Before A Yong could finish, Jiang Fan was already moving. With a single swift kick, he struck A Yong’s knee joint. At the same time, his right hand had already seized the steel pipe that had been thrust high into the air. Using the momentum, he smashed the pipe into A Yong’s shoulder, then followed through with a sharp elbow to the bridge of his nose.

A Yong staggered back several steps, one hand clutching his shoulder and the other covering his nose. Blood streamed between his fingers.

The other three henchmen saw how seamless Jiang Fan’s movements were, and now that he had a steel pipe in hand, they did not dare act rashly. All of them turned to look at Ah Dong, waiting to see how he would handle it.

Ah Dong had witnessed the cruelty with which Jiang Fan had beaten Zhu Bing before, so he did not call the henchmen to attack. Instead, he said to one of the shorter ones, “Go get Brother Thin. Tell him someone’s causing trouble at the shop.”

He then said to Jiang Fan, “A Fan, you made the first move today. Don’t say I didn’t show you any respect later.”

Jiang Fan did not answer him. He only gave a contemptuous laugh and said, “So your backer is Little Lu. I’d like to see just how much storm you can stir up by calling your Dog-Brain Strategist here.”

When he heard Ah Dong tell a henchman to summon Brother Thin, Jiang Fan immediately guessed that Brother Thin was the one they called the Thin Fellow. Borrowing from Brother Hui’s words earlier that afternoon, he had also mockingly dubbed the Thin Fellow the Dog-Brain Strategist.

He had only ever heard that this gambling den was run jointly by locals and people from Chaozhou, and had not paid it much mind. But after getting involved in a few underworld matters these past two days, he had come to realize that anyone who could openly run a gambling den without a bit of backing and skill could not possibly earn a living at it.

And in White Sand, only Little Lu and Brother Hui had that kind of power.

Hearing Jiang Fan address their backer as Little Lu and the Thin Fellow, Ah Dong was briefly stunned and stared at him. “You know Brother Lu and Brother Thin?”

“I don’t know any damn brothers,” Jiang Fan said. “But I can tell you this: even if you bring your Brother Thin here today, this matter still won’t be settled. As for how I’ll settle accounts with you later, that depends on my mood. If you don’t believe me, just wait and see.”

After saying that, Jiang Fan casually tugged at the shawled man and said, “Come with me. I want to see who dares touch you today.”

Seeing that Jiang Fan was ignoring the fact that he had already sent someone to call for the Thin Fellow, and even claiming that the matter would not be settled when the Thin Fellow arrived, Ah Dong was momentarily stunned. Watching the two of them pass by, he did not dare stop them.

When they reached the table outside the dumpling shop and sat down, Zhang Xiaoye poured the shawled man a cup of tea and sneaked a glance at him. Then she stood beside Jiang Fan without saying a word.

Jiang Fan had already guessed that Zhang Xiaoye had recognized the shawled man, but seeing that there was no anger in her eyes, only a trace more sympathy and concern, he asked, “You don’t hate him?”

Zhang Xiaoye shook her head and took two wrinkled bills from her pocket. “He didn’t rob me, and he even gave me two yuan. If it weren’t for the pressures of the world, I believe he wouldn’t have done something like robbery.” With that, she placed the money in front of the shawled man.

Yesterday, Zhang Xiaoye had been filthy all over. Now she looked entirely different, and the shawled man had not recognized her at first.

Hearing her mention the two yuan, the shawled man looked at it twice, then lowered his head and said softly, “Little sister, I’m sorry about yesterday.”