Chapter 92: The Indifferent Man

His mood grew more and more restless, and he could no longer be bothered to hide away and idle about. He hurried back to the building where he rented a room, and seeing Xiao Yuxin busy at work, asked, “Sister Xin, has my woman still not come back?”

Xiao Yuxin shook her head in reply and went on with her business.

Jiang Fan pulled over the recliner Xiao Yuxin usually sat in, carried it to the shopfront, and sat down. He kept muttering under his breath, “Liar woman, liar woman. If you dare not come back today, I’ll make sure your backside blossoms.”

A Xue, who had been sitting at the entrance of the hair salon, saw Jiang Fan and had been about to come over and flatter him again when she noticed his face was dark with anger and his expression was off.

After hesitating for a moment, A Xue went into the salon and used the landline to call Shou Zi, telling him that Jiang Fan was back, but he looked fierce and she did not dare go up to him.

On the other end of the line, Shou Zi barked angrily, “You filthy whore, when I was spending money on you, why didn’t I ever hear you say you were afraid? Now that I ask you to do a little thing, you start saying this and that. You can’t even handle a trifle.”

After cursing her out, Shou Zi had no interest in wasting more breath on her and hung up.

Hearing the sweet-talking man who had turned her from a girl into a woman now speak so coldly, and even call her a whore, A Xue felt aggrieved tears sliding down her face.

A girl from the salon beside her asked ingratiatingly, “Sister Xue, why are you crying?”

A Xue, still lost in sorrow, glanced at the more than ten girls sitting in the salon and feared someone might carry her complaint to Shou Zi, so she did not dare say a single word of grievance.

She wiped away her tears with a tissue and said, “It’s nothing. Maybe something got in my eye and it feels a little uncomfortable.”

A Qin, who was sitting not far away watching television, knew a little of the story and joked, “A Xue, there isn’t any wind in the room. The wind you’re talking about couldn’t be the pillow wind from Boss Shou, could it?”

A Qin had a lively personality and was one of the more sought-after girls in the salon; she was also A Xue’s fellow townswoman. Her joke helped ease A Xue’s embarrassment.

More than ten minutes after A Xue made the call, A Dong, who had come with Shou Zi, arrived at the fruit shop.

He could also see that Jiang Fan was in a bad mood, but the gambling den had already been shut for a day, and Brother Lu had been complaining that he was incompetent and urging him to settle things quickly.

Shou Zi came up to Jiang Fan and first took out a red envelope from his suit pocket, putting on a friendly expression as he said, “Brother Fan, this is just a little token of respect. Please accept it.”

The thick red envelope caught Jiang Fan’s eye. He took it and felt it. It was even heavier than the three thousand he had collected a few days ago. Without any pretense, he tucked it into his back pocket and said in a very reasonable tone, “This is my brother’s medical fee. Once he’s healed, we’ll settle the rest one way or another. As for my lost wages, that can wait until after he recovers.”

Xiao Yuxin, who was busy at the time, saw that Jiang Fan had taken the money and even found a perfectly reasonable excuse to drag things out. She shot him a disdainful glance, thinking, This little miser is really slippery.

Hearing Jiang Fan use this excuse to take the money and explicitly say he would not deal with the matter for the time being, Shou Zi grew anxious. “Brother Fan, just tell me how much you need for your lost wages and my brother’s medical expenses. I won’t bargain with you. Can’t we just let this matter pass?”

Having received the money, Jiang Fan temporarily forgot about his worry for his woman.

Now exhilarated, he even put on an angry act, springing to his feet and shouting, “I’m not like you bastards, making money from filthy tricks. Right now I’m only taking my brother’s medical expenses. Once he’s recovered, then we can talk about how to settle it.”

Shou Zi patted Jiang Fan’s shoulder ingratiatingly. “Brother Fan, don’t be angry. Everything can be discussed. How about this: I’ll put down twenty thousand as a deposit first, and the gambling den can reopen as normal. If your brother’s medical expenses or your lost wages aren’t enough, you can come to me anytime. When your mood has improved, we can deal with the problem properly. That ought to be fine, right?”

If Xiao Yuxin had not reminded him, Jiang Fan would have agreed without hesitation, let alone for twenty thousand; even if he could get ten thousand, he would have been satisfied.

Now that he had begun to catch onto the pattern, he refused decisively. “I do everything according to principle. What isn’t mine, I don’t covet.

Yesterday I told you to handle the matter and you were busy. Today you want to handle it and I’m busy. Besides, my brother’s injury still hasn’t healed. If I take this much money from you, people will think I’m shaking you down. How would I ever show my face if word got out?

I’m only speaking to you at all because you took the initiative to bring medical fees. If you keep rambling here, then don’t blame me for not being polite.”

Seeing Jiang Fan directly order them out, Shou Zi glanced at A Dong beside him, meaning for him to say something and ease the awkwardness.

A Dong was one of the so-called Four Guardians in name, but in truth he was not a particularly bold man. He often fought, but that was because he believed his backing was strong and that his uncle, A Zhong, would support him, so he had dared to act so recklessly.

But when faced with Jiang Fan, who would not yield to either softness or force, and after already being humiliated once, seeing Jiang Fan so openly enraged, he did not dare say a word. He was afraid that if he made the slightest mistake, Jiang Fan would simply lash out again.

Seeing A Dong’s cowardly look, Shou Zi knew he could not rely on him. Jiang Fan’s angry voice had also drawn a few onlookers. If he kept flattering Jiang Fan in front of all these outsiders, it would damage his standing in the underworld.

But since Brother Lu’s task still had not been completed, he could only say softly to Jiang Fan, “Brother Fan, I know you’re a reasonable man. Could we speak somewhere a little more private?”

When Jiang Fan saw that Shou Zi was still refusing to give up, he truly lost his temper. “Borrow your mother’s ass. I don’t even want to waste words on you here, and you still want to borrow some other place?”

In this neighborhood, Shou Zi was at least somebody. Being publicly put in his place by Jiang Fan made his teeth itch with hate, but he did not dare show it. For the last scrap of face he had left, he said nothing more and turned to leave.

Seeing that Shou Zi was salvaging his dignity by storming off in anger, Jiang Fan continued to sneer loudly, “Before I’m in a good mood, any grievance you bastards have, big or small, you’d better swallow it.”

After Shou Zi and A Dong left, Jiang Fan finally had some peace and quiet, and his thoughts turned once more to Wang Wenyu.

As time passed, his anxiety only grew stronger.

After finishing her work, Xiao Yuxin sat beside him and comforted him. “Don’t worry. The girl won’t abandon you. Maybe her elders haven’t seen her in a long time and want her to stay an extra day or two.”

Jiang Fan cried out in dismay, “Maybe two days?”

“I’m only saying maybe. She might be back tomorrow.”

Xiao Yuxin’s reassurance did nothing to soothe his restless heart. He paced back and forth outside the fruit shop.

Even the plastic baskets used for carrying fruit, set beneath the fruit racks, seemed irritating to him. In one sweep of his foot he kicked a basket into the street, nearly hitting a passerby.

Xiao Yuxin picked up the basket, which now had a hole kicked through it, and held her face up to the opening to tease him. “Be angry if you want, but why take it out on my basket? I borrowed these baskets from a wholesale fruit shop, and each one required a ten-dollar deposit. Now you’ve kicked such a big hole in it. That should make you feel better, shouldn’t it?”

Jiang Fan pouted. “It doesn’t. If my woman hasn’t come back, I won’t feel comfortable no matter what.”

Seeing that he was still being childish, Xiao Yuxin also knew what he was most worried about. To distract him, she said, “Business has been good today, and we’ve been busy until now without even having dinner. Go across the street and buy me a serving of fried rice noodles.”