Chapter 05

Chapter 05

Chen Jian followed Shan Yu, looking at the back of his head, feeling a bit unable to figure this man out.

He had been through quite a lot and met many people in his life, but Shan Yu was someone who couldn’t even be roughly categorized—he was in a league of his own.

There was no need to think too hard; it was definitely a few of Xiao Pan’s buddies who went over to the other side. Chen Jian could pretty much guess which ones. The entire town, including the old part, was annoyed to no end, but most of the time, they just had to endure it.

Shan Yu’s apparent lack of understanding—and his lack of interest in understanding—the situation worried him a little. If they pissed those guys off, some might not even last a few weeks, let alone several months.

No, there was no “if.” Chen Jian felt that as soon as Shan Yu opened his mouth, that “if” disappeared.

"Go ahead of me," Shan Yu suddenly turned his head and said.

"It's just a straight road," Chen Jian quickened his pace and got in front of him, "Do I still need to guide the way?"

"In case you warn them," Shan Yu said very directly.

Chen Jian was silent for a moment before looking back at him, "So you're putting me in their camp now?"

"Not really," Shan Yu said, "I'm cautious. It's not impossible that you could make a call to persuade them to leave."

"Where have you shown any caution?" Chen Jian actually couldn’t persuade those guys, but he wanted to try and talk some sense into Shan Yu. With a salary of six thousand a month, he at least wanted to get through two months of it. He looked at Shan Yu sincerely, "You know to check out the town's business situation, why not also check out the people's situation?"

"The town can be seen through at a glance, but people might not be seen through in a lifetime," Shan Yu said, "Too lazy to bother."

"Are you not planning to stay long here?" Chen Jian asked.

"Worried about your triple salary?" Shan Yu asked back.

"I could work for two thousand for half a year; with six thousand, it's only natural that I'd be a little worried," Chen Jian answered honestly.

"I'll give it to you in a bit," Shan Yu said.

Liu Wu was very obedient, standing at the intersection waiting for them.

Spotting them from afar, he ran over. When he saw Chen Jian, he realized, "Bro, the sixth person you mentioned is Chen Jian, right? And the other one is standing right next to you!"

"Don't miscategorize people!" Chen Jian said.

"Is the person still there?" Shan Yu asked.

"Yes," Liu Wu said, "I didn’t see them leave. I wanted to ask the boss lady who stayed at the inn yesterday about who those people were, but I couldn’t find her."

"Wait here," Shan Yu twisted the handlebar and headed down the small path.

"I'll go in with you," Liu Wu didn’t hesitate.

Shan Yu didn’t say anything, just turned his head and looked at him.

Liu Wu stopped in his tracks.

"I'll call you later," Shan Yu said.

Chen Jian's motorcycle was parked neatly by the wall of the courtyard.

In the middle of the yard, five other motorcycles were parked haphazardly. A few guys were sitting around a small stone table, smoking and playing cards.

It wasn’t hot anymore, and it was even a bit chilly in the mornings and evenings, but two of them were still shirtless.

Probably to show off the meaningless tattoos on their backs that had somewhat blurred.

When they saw Shan Yu in the wheelchair, none of them moved; they just kept their eyes on their cards.

Shan Yu didn’t say anything either, just quietly watching them.

Just as Chen Jian was about to walk over, Shan Yu finally spoke, "This card game is pretty high-end, playing with telepathy, huh."

For someone who made a living in the underworld, having their facade casually exposed was quite a loss of face.

The one sitting facing the door couldn’t hold it in anymore, slammed his cards on the table, and looked up.

The others followed, some slamming their cards down, others throwing them into the air, scattering them on the ground.

Seeing this situation, Chen Jian regretted not having taped Shan Yu’s mouth shut before entering. He grabbed the wheelchair’s handles, trying to pull him out of the yard, but couldn’t move him.

The wheels had been locked by Shan Yu.

Honestly, Chen Jian didn’t want to get involved in this kind of situation. If it weren’t for the thought of that twelve thousand, he probably would have waited at the intersection with Liu Wu.

But now that Chen Erhu had seen him come in with Shan Yu, he was bound to get involved in the trouble.

Normally, Chen Erhu would come to collect protection money, mainly through intimidation and harassment, focusing on a sustainable long-term operation. But there seemed to be some financial dispute between Chen Erhu’s brother and Qian Yu, and if that was added to Shan Yu’s tab, who knew what else might happen.

"Erhu," Chen Jian broke the tense atmosphere, wanting to test the waters first.

"This doesn’t concern you," Chen Erhu immediately found an outlet and started yelling at Chen Jian, "You're amazing, this guy shows up yesterday, and today you're his lackey..."

Chen Jian didn’t say anything, just stepped half a step to the side, out of Chen Erhu’s "pointing range."

"We’re all here to make money," Shan Yu said, "If I offered you that price, you'd be amazing too."

Chen Jian really wanted to cover Shan Yu’s mouth. This man seemed to not care about anything, as long as he was feeling good at the moment; what happened next second, be it life or death, was another story.

"This boss is quite the talker," Chen Erhu stared at Shan Yu, "Do you know who I am?"

"Erhu, do you know who I am?" Shan Yu slowly reached into the side pocket of the wheelchair’s armrest.

The whole group stared intently at his hand. Although they all knew he couldn’t possibly pull out anything dangerous, Shan Yu’s calm and carefree attitude made it entirely possible that he’d pull out a large firecracker just to give everyone a scare.

A wallet.

Chen Jian felt Chen Erhu relax along with him.

"This is my business card," Shan Yu remained calm, pulling a card out from his wallet and passing it to Chen Erhu.

Chen Erhu nodded to San Bing, who walked over.

As San Bing reached out to take the card, Shan Yu loosened his fingers, letting the card drop.

San Bing was startled, and before he could decide whether to start cursing or wait for Chen Erhu's approval, his wrist was grabbed by Shan Yu, who yanked him down.

The force was directed downwards, causing San Bing to stumble and kneel beside Shan Yu's wheelchair, his momentum carrying him forward, causing his head to hit the metal armrest.

"Fuck!" San Bing squeezed the word out through clenched teeth, blood seeping from between his fingers.

Chen Jian could see that Shan Yu had a clever use of strength. He had noticed it when Shan Yu played with a baseball bat before. If San Bing were a bat instead of a person, he would have spun out, hit the ground, and spun back.

To prevent San Bing from attacking immediately, Chen Jian quickly helped him up.

San Bing's fingers were bleeding, having taken quite a hit. He didn't resist Chen Jian's support, who guided him two steps away.

But the area wasn't empty; Chen Erhu, who put on airs with those who followed him but was also loyal, rushed over.

Then Chen Jian saw Shan Yu's foldable cane flick out and snap back.

The cane spun towards Chen Erhu's face but only tapped his chest before returning to Shan Yu's hand.

Admittedly, Chen Erhu had never seen such a sequence, and he stopped in his tracks.

Seizing the opportunity, Chen Jian quickly stood between them, lowering his voice, "Don't be impulsive; he's not an ordinary person."

What kind of person he was, Chen Jian hadn't figured out yet, but it was clear that Chen Erhu could see it too. Someone needed to give Chen Erhu a way out.

"You hurt one of my brothers right away!" Chen Erhu looked at Shan Yu over Chen Jian's shoulder, "How do we settle this?"

"Collecting protection money should look like collecting protection money," Shan Yu said, his right hand by his side, slowly spinning the cane, "Those who get tough with me end up like that."

Chen Erhu had never received such feedback and couldn't respond immediately.

"You need to understand that you're taking money from me to provide protection services," Shan Yu said, "It's a long-term supply and demand relationship, isn't it?"

"What the hell?" San Bing, recovering from the daze, asked.

"I don't have to be here," Shan Yu added.

"Something we can discuss," Chen Jian, understanding Shan Yu's intent, quietly advised Chen Erhu, "No need for violence."

"We're not thugs," Chen Erhu raised his voice, pointing at Shan Yu, "Did we touch him? He's the one who got violent!"

"Alright," Shan Yu spun the handle, and the wheelchair moved towards the stone table.

The group instinctively made way.

"Come," Shan Yu stopped next to the stone table, pointing to it and then his forehead, looking at Chen Erhu, "Let your brother take it back."

Chen Jian, ahead of Chen Erhu, glared at him, "Don't be unreasonable! Brother Erhu said! They're not thugs! They don't touch!"

Whether Chen Erhu was a thug or not was debatable, but now he was cornered and could only say, "Don't give me that shit."

"Yes, do you take cash?" Shan Yu pulled out another hundred-dollar bill, offering it to San Bing, "Go get checked; you shouldn't need stitches, but bring the receipt if you do."

Chen Jian felt his head was about to explode; he didn't want to offend either side, but neither was easy to handle.

He quickly took the money from Shan Yu and handed it to San Bing.

Fortunately, Chen Erhu was experiencing his first confusion in his gangster career, giving Chen Jian enough time to interrupt, preventing his anger from building up.

"Erhu, you..." Chen Jian wanted to advise Chen Erhu to leave, to come back when he wasn't around.

"Want to discuss protection money?" Shan Yu asked.

"What?" Chen Jian and Chen Erhu asked in shocked unison.

"Fees, scope of services, service hours, settlement methods, and such," Shan Yu said.

Chen Erhu was speechless, unsure how to respond.

"It's not something that can be explained in a few words..." Chen Jian struggled to smooth things over.

"That's true," Shan Yu said, "If we talk, let's set a time, I need to clean up here, we can schedule something next week."

Chen Erhu remained silent.

Shan Yu folded his cane and maneuvered the wheelchair in front of Chen Erhu, extending his hand, "Pleasure to meet you."

Chen Erhu hesitated for three seconds before shaking his hand.

"Arrange the time with Chen Jian," Shan Yu said before wheeling into the house.

"What the fuck?" San Bing approached, "What does this mean?"

"Good at making connections, aren't you, Chen Jian?" Chen Erhu, seemingly coming to his senses, directed the remaining anger at Chen Jian.

"I'm different from you," Chen Jian sighed, "I need to live, to make money."

"What does this guy mean?" San Bing still didn't understand.

"It means he can give you money, and you provide security services for him, right?" Chen Jian said.

"Security guards?" San Bing asked.

"His brain must be fucked up!" Chen Erhu looked at him.

"Bodyguards, probably," Chen Jian said, "Or Erhu, think about it, it's not impossible. He also said it's not mandatory to stay here. If people run away, you won't earn a single penny."

Chen Erhu didn't say anything, and after a moment of silence, he turned and climbed onto his motorcycle. The others followed suit and climbed onto theirs as well.

"You," Chen Erhu pointed at Chen Jian, "You know how to handle things. Just wait."

The motorcycles roared to life and left the yard, raising a cloud of dust on the small outside road.

Chen Jian let out a long sigh and squatted down on the ground. "Fuck."

He wasn't sure how this would turn out, but earning this 12,000 felt like walking on the edge of a blade.

He saw a business card Shan Yu had dropped on the ground earlier and picked it up.

As soon as he glanced at it, he cursed, "Damn it."

It was Qian Yu's business card.

He threw the card on the ground and walked into the house.

Shan Yu was sitting by the window, slowly drinking a glass of orange juice.

"boss Shan..." Chen Jian walked over but didn't continue as the room suddenly brightened.

"Oh," Shan Yu looked up, "The power's back on."

"We need to talk," Chen Jian said.

"About what?" Shan Yu put down his glass.

"I don't care what you do with yourself," Chen Jian dragged a chair over and sat in front of him, "But I'm just an employee, right? I get 6,000 a month, managing your food and lodging, and I'm responsible for contacting people and handling this huge house. Isn't that already a bit of a rip-off?"

"It is," Shan Yu nodded.

"If you add in stuff like what just happened," Chen Jian said, "Isn't this a bit too..."

"You could have left," Shan Yu said.

"What?" Chen Jian looked at him.

"When I had Liu Wu waiting at the intersection, you could have stayed there with him," Shan Yu said, "Why did you come in?"

Chen Jian didn't answer.

"Either I add some money, or next time you can avoid these situations," Shan Yu said, "Your choice."

Chen Jian sighed and leaned back in his chair, not wanting to talk anymore.

"I'll add 1,000," Shan Yu said, "Per month."

Chen Jian looked at him.

"If I don't add anything, you won't avoid it anyway," Shan Yu said, "A little extra is better than nothing."

Chen Jian grabbed the orange juice bottle next to him, took two big gulps, wiped his mouth, and then looked at Shan Yu. "boss Shan, do you realize you're asking for trouble?"

"A few kids," Shan Yu smiled, "They're not trouble."

"They're not that young," Chen Jian said.

"They're about twenty, right?" Shan Yu said.

"How old are you?" Chen Jian said, "You're calling twenty-year-olds kids."

"Half a dozen years older than you," Shan Yu said.

The moment Shan Yu said "dozen," it sounded impressive, and Chen Jian was momentarily taken aback. "Only six years older."

"If you think it's not worth it, I can be sixty years older," Shan Yu said, "Call me grandpa, you won't lose a thing."

Chen Jian sighed, feeling like he couldn't continue the conversation.

"Bro! Shan Yu!" Liu Wu's voice came from outside, probably unaware of the situation inside. He shouted to bolster his courage as he entered the yard. "Bro! Shan Yu! Shan Yu——"

"Oh, I'm here, I'm here, I'm here!" Shan Yu raised his voice, "Shut up, my head hurts."

"Are you okay?" Liu Wu ran in, pausing when he saw the bright lights. "The power's back on? That's quick. The water might not come until the afternoon."

"Mm," Shan Yu nodded, "Your job is done. Go back later. If you leave too late, it'll be dark by the time you get there, and it's not safe."

"I'll leave tomorrow," Liu Wu said, "Tomorrow afternoon. I asked for leave from the counselor."

Shan Yu closed his eyes.

"Don't worry, no one will know I brought you here," Liu Wu said, "Not even my mom knows I took leave."

"You're not needed anymore. You can go," Shan Yu said.

"I'm not sure. Who were those people just now?" Liu Wu picked up the orange juice bottle and took two big gulps directly from the bottle.

"That was my..." Chen Jian started but didn't finish.

"What?" Liu Wu looked at him.

"It's nothing," Chen Jian said.

"Are you part of the same gang?" Liu Wu suddenly stood a step away with a sense of righteous indignation.

"No," Chen Jian replied.

"I'm not leaving until tomorrow anyway," Liu Wu turned to leave, "I'll bring my luggage in first."

"What about you?" Shan Yu asked Chen Jian.

"What about me?" Chen Jian asked.

"Where are you staying?" Shan Yu said, "The staff dormitory?"

"I'm going back," Chen Jian said.

"The rented place?" Shan Yu asked.

"No," Chen Jian replied.

"Oh..." Shan Yu looked at him, "I thought you were alone."

"Alone?" Chen Jian didn't understand.

"I thought you were an orphan," Shan Yu said.