I glanced at him, but didn't understand what he meant for a moment.
"Qiaoqiao." Wood's two simple words pierced through my disguise.
Yes...Jojo.
Qiaoqiao's attitude towards me has changed somewhat. And with so many other factors involved... is our relationship still just simple friendship...?
Wood smiled, but he didn't seem to have any intention of continuing the discussion with me on this issue.
He tilted his head back and took a sip of his drink, then handed the bottle back to me. The two of us men just sat there, sharing the same bottle, taking turns sips in silence, neither of us saying a word, drinking in quiet hushed tones for a long time.
"Xiao Wu, do you remember the first time we met?"
"The first time..." I was a little dazed, the alcohol burning away the last bit of my consciousness, and then I fell into memories...
...
It was about three years ago, I think, three or four years? I can't remember.
It happened in a bar in Nanjing. I remember it was around midnight that day. There weren't many people left in the bar. I was sitting alone at the bar when I saw a young, handsome man in the distance whispering something to a girl. The girl was crying as she spoke, and then suddenly she grabbed the man's neck and started yelling at him angrily.
I vaguely recognized the girl; she seemed like a friend I'd met at the bar. She was pretty, a regular at that bar, and knew many people there. To be honest, we weren't close. But since she was someone I knew, I saw her crying, as if she'd been wronged by that man.
Originally, I didn't want to get involved; these trivial matters between men and women had nothing to do with me.
Just then, a man walked into the bar—it was Wood. That night, he was wearing a very old, clean cotton coat, and his expression was calm. He walked to the bar, slowly took out his wallet, and bought more than a dozen bottles of foreign liquor in one go…and they were the strongest alcohol, Cointreau.
This action made me look at him with a strange expression. I didn't understand why a man would go to a bar in the middle of the night and buy more than a dozen bottles of liquor.
Just as I was looking at him, he also saw me, but at that moment, his wooden gaze only swept across my face.
I've always been intrigued by people with strange behavior, and just as I was about to speak to him, someone tapped me on the shoulder from behind. It was the girl; she was crying, looking resentful, and smelled a bit of alcohol. She started sobbing and telling me that she'd been bullied by a man, and that as her "brother," I should teach him a lesson.
At the time, I had a rather perplexing feeling. I wasn't familiar with this girl, and as for the "brother" title, I didn't deny it—she had called me "Little Fifth Brother" before… but back then, plenty of people called me "Little Fifth Brother." And I knew very well that this girl wasn't exactly a respectable woman… Of course, a truly good girl wouldn't be out in bars until midnight every day. This girl had been with at least seven or eight men in bars; she was definitely a "player" in the nightlife scene.
But in that situation, a girl was crying and complaining to someone I knew, saying she had been bullied by a man... and that man was right there not far away.
I remained relatively rational at the time. I simply called out to the man who was not far away. When he came to my side, I calmly asked, "Did you bully her?"
“No.” He answered me calmly at the time: “If breaking up after a man and woman have sex is considered ‘bullying,’ then there are hundreds of thousands of couples breaking up every day around the world…”
I didn't say anything, but I glanced at the girl. She looked very resentful and loudly retorted, saying that he had deceived her feelings and that the man had tricked her into bed, etc.
To be honest, I didn't want to fight that night, but what this man said later angered me.
"Why is it always the woman who suffers when a man and a woman sleep together?" He smiled calmly. "I did sleep with her, but that's a matter between two people. Why should it be said that when a man and a woman sleep together, the man takes advantage of the woman? I could say she took advantage of me! Who made this rule? Is it stipulated by law?" He glanced at the girl. "In what happened between us, we both contributed, whether it was physically or emotionally, our contributions were equal. In most couples who break up, it's the woman who cries and complains, believing she suffered... Who set this standard?"
I couldn't answer. To be honest, I even found it hard to refute what this guy said.
But just then, the girl suddenly spoke up: "No! I was pregnant, so he abandoned me..."
The rest was much simpler.
In any case, this girl was at least a friend of mine, while this man was a complete stranger. Given my personality, encountering something like this... plus I'd had some drinks that night and was already a bit tipsy.
So my first reaction was... to punch this guy!
Unsurprisingly, I knocked the man down with one punch. He didn't utter a sound, staggered back a few steps after taking my punch, but didn't fight back. I walked up to him, grabbed him by the collar, and just as I was about to continue teaching him a lesson by clenching my fist, Wood next to me spoke up: "Wait."
Wood sat at the bar not far from me, holding a glass of wine, his eyes cold. There were more than a dozen bottles in front of him, but his eyes were bright.
What are you doing?
The wooden man looked at my fist and said, "Don't hit my nose."
To be honest, I was actually thinking of punching this guy's nose flat at the time. Wood glanced at the man's nose and said calmly, "His nasal cartilage has been injured and cannot be hit again. Otherwise, if it breaks again, it will be very difficult to heal."
I snorted and raised my fist again...
etc.
"What is it now?" I frowned at the wooden figure.
"Don't hit his lip." Wood, noticing where my fist was pointing, quickly said, "The nerves in the lip are close to the cortex; you'll dislocate his nasal bone and cartilage..."
Then he took sips of his drink, speaking rapidly: "And don't hit his temples, there's a temporal nerve there, if you don't want him to die... His ears are out too, there are the supports for the auricular and facial nerves there, if you don't want to punch him into deafness..."
I laughed, looking at this strange guy: "So where should I hit?"
“Don’t hit anywhere.” Wood looked at me. “Especially his stomach. He must have drunk a lot tonight. Hitting his stomach will make him cramp and vomit… if you don’t want to get your clothes dirty.”
I stared intently at this strange fellow, who, under my gaze, sipped his drink.
"What do you do?" I frowned.
"Doctor," Wood replied briefly, but after a moment's hesitation, he added, "A terrible doctor."
At that moment, the man whose collar I was grabbing suddenly gave a wry smile. He simply rubbed his face and said, "If you're not going to make a move, could you let go of me first?"
I noticed he remained standing firmly, his eyes calm, showing no trace of the anger I had felt after punching him. He even lightly patted his clothes before turning to the bartender and saying, "A glass of rum."
The girl next to me looked indignant when she saw me stop. She was about to say something when the man suddenly smiled, looked at me, and said, "Would you like to watch a game?"
He quickly pulled a checkbook from his pocket.
To be honest, I've seen quite a few wealthy people at my workplace, but most of them haven't reached the point where they carry a checkbook with them at all times.
He quickly scribbled a number in his checkbook, tore it off, placed it on the table, and looked at the girl: "I'll give you ten seconds. You can take this money and disappear, but don't ever show your face in front of me again... Please."
I frowned again. This man had a hint of arrogance about him, especially the way he treated the girl. It made me a little uncomfortable.
"Don't interfere blindly if you don't know the details of the matter." He smiled, put away his pen and paper, and looked at the girl.
The girl bit her lip, staring at the check on the table for a long time before quickly grabbing it. She turned and rushed out of the bar without even saying goodbye to anyone.
“Look,” the man smiled, a complicated smile playing on his lips, “money is such a useful thing.” He glanced at the anger on my face and said calmly, “It’s simple… I’m a man, lustful and promiscuous. She’s a woman, beautiful and alluring. You could say it was a case of a lustful man and a lustful woman hooking up… But unfortunately, the lustful woman saw that the lustful man seemed quite wealthy, so she decided to get involved with him, hoping to secure a life of comfort and security with a rich man… and then she orchestrated a pregnancy herself… Understand?”
"So, is she really pregnant?" I couldn't help but ask. I had already drunk a bit too much and was feeling a little dizzy.
"Whether it's true or not doesn't matter anymore." He chuckled leisurely. "For a woman who's willing to sleep with men casually, pregnancy is just a means to an end. As for money... that's the real goal."
He raised his glass and introduced himself: "My name is Aze. Thank you for punching me earlier. I was feeling a bit guilty about getting a woman pregnant, but your punch has at least made me feel much better."
Then he smiled at the wooden figure and said, "Oh, thank you too. Your words saved me from taking a punch."
I hesitated for a moment, then gave a sincere smile: "Sorry, I was impulsive just now, and I've had too much to drink tonight. I'll listen to Chen Yang, you can call me Xiao Wu."
Aze smiled at me, then looked at Mu Tou: "Doctor, what's your name?"
"Wood." Wood answered me briefly: "A doctor who is about to lose his job."
It was a wonderful first meeting. We then started drinking and talking, and I was curious why Mu Tou had bought so much of the strongest liquor all at once.
The reason given by the wooden stick made us chuckle.
Because he had just broken up with his girlfriend.
Mu Tou had just broken up with his junior sister because of the "steamed bun" story. He told us the story about the "steamed bun" in a very serious tone, and then told us that he planned to buy a bunch of alcohol to experience the feeling of "heartbreak".
"Whether it's movies, TV shows, novels, or comics, when depicting a man heartbroken, shouldn't he always be depicted as getting completely drunk?"
“But…” Aze glanced at the dozen or so bottles of wine in front of him… “This seems like too much…”
"Yes," Wood sighed, "I also realized I bought too much."
He raised his glass and said with a wry smile, "This is my first time drinking alcohol... It tastes awful."
Yes, according to Mu Tou later, he had never drunk alcohol before. It was his first time experiencing heartbreak, and he planned to experience this rare life event by drinking. However, when he bought the alcohol and took his first sip, he discovered a serious problem: the alcohol was really awful, and even if he drank himself to death, he couldn't finish more than a dozen bottles...
So he came up with a solution: find someone to drink with him.
"That's why I took the initiative to talk to you," Mu Tou said calmly.
I can't remember how much we drank that night. It was an unforgettable experience. Aze and I hit it off immediately. He's a man with many strange ways of thinking, especially about relationships between men and women. Many of his views are quite interesting. As for Mu Tou... he rarely speaks, but often, when he does, his words or phrases are surprisingly insightful.
We talked for a long time. I learned that Aze was a painter, a painter from a very wealthy family. And Mutou was a doctor who was about to lose his job.
Finally, Aze told us that he had also recently broken up with his girlfriend.
"That's why I felt a little uneasy. This experience made me doubt my own charm, and I couldn't bear to lose my confidence. That's why I went out to pick up girls. Including the one who just left, I've successfully picked up three girls in this bar. Now I think I've regained my confidence," Aze told me at the time.
I was a little surprised. I found it hard to believe that someone as knowledgeable about relationships as Aze could actually experience heartbreak!
"Actually, it wasn't really a breakup," Aze explained with a smile. "It's just that I met a very special girl. I was quite interested in her and wanted to pursue her... but not only did I fail, she completely ignored me and severely damaged my confidence. In her eyes, a man like me is probably not even worth as much as dung."
Both Wood and I were somewhat surprised. Considering Aze's appearance, family background, circumstances, and manner of speaking…
"Are you curious? Well, next time I'll take you to meet that special girl... well, her name is also strange... it's called... Jojo."
………
……………
This is how I first met Aze and Mutou.
We sat on the edge of the boat. Wood and I reminisced and chatted intermittently. Of course, I was mostly the one laughing; Wood still rarely spoke.
After a long silence, I sighed, "Those were the days... how wonderful..."
"Hmm." Wood nodded, then looked me straight in the eye again: "And now?"
I stopped talking.
“Xiao Wu, you’ve changed.” After saying this, Mu Tou stood up. He gripped the railing at the stern of the boat, looking out at the sea. He suddenly took a deep breath: “We’re still friends, but I like the Xiao Wu I used to be.”
"What was Xiao Wu like before..." A bitter taste rose in my mouth.
“Impulsive, stubborn…” He looked at me, his eyes serious, and uttered the last two words:
"Kind!"
After saying this, Mu Tou left me and slowly walked back to the cabin.
I couldn't help but feel a little guilty.
Yes, on that very day, my friends came to Vietnam. They traveled thousands of miles just to help me.
And me... I led them to kill, set fires, fight, and even kidnap the police!
Mu Tou and A Ze are different from Xi Luo and the others. In a sense, Mu Tou and A Ze are "ordinary people," but yesterday, they stood by my side without hesitation and followed me to do those illegal and criminal things... Regardless of whether these things were right or wrong, or whether I was forced into it at the time...
But at least I know that under normal circumstances, these things would absolutely violate the principles of being a person like Mu Tou Ze.
What is a friend? A true friend is someone who, when you need them, will willingly go against their own principles to help you and stand firmly by your side!
The following afternoon, our boat docked at a small fishing village a dozen kilometers from Sanya City on Hainan Island. Old Jiang was indeed a seasoned veteran; he cleverly evaded the police. This shipping route was indeed very safe.
I could tell he'd been on this route more than once or twice. Clearly, someone like him, staying in Vietnam, was mostly doing smuggling "special goods" via sea routes.