The man called Tiger looked at me suspiciously and said, "I'm sure I've seen you before, but I can't quite place you." Hearing that I didn't recognize him and still had to fight, my eyes were already fixed on the brick on the ground. Li Jingshui and Wei Tiezhu still protected me on either side. Wei Tiezhu coughed incessantly, but his back remained straight; compared to Tiger's men, he was clearly inferior.
At that moment, Liu Xuan found his small machete, wiping the blood from his head as he stumbled towards me, cursing, "Damn it, you said you wouldn't bring anyone, but you brought two more?"
Tiger grabbed him by the neck and pulled him back, saying, "You said you wouldn't bring anyone, so why did you call us here? You surnamed Liu, you didn't tell us that."
Liu Xuan waved his hand and said, "Don't worry about it. I'll talk to you after I've killed him."
Tiger let go of her hand and took a step back: "Alright, we won't interfere."
At the same time, Li Jingshui and Wei Tiezhu took a step forward, facing Liu Xuancheng. Whether from blood loss or fear, the young man stumbled. Tiger nudged his lower back with his finger: "Go on." It seemed he and Liu Xuancheng weren't exactly friends, so I seized the opportunity to say pretentiously, "For a lousy bar, look how many people you've disturbed."
Tiger said, "A bar? What bar?"
Liu Xuan hurriedly flattered, "'Reverse Time'. After this is over, the brothers will all go there often, and no matter how much money it costs, it's all mine."
Tiger suddenly pointed at me and said, "I remember now, I met you at the entrance of that bar. That night, four of my buddies and I got a ride there. We became friends after a fight. That guy surnamed Dong's kung fu was fucking amazing."
I suddenly remembered that night, it was this Tiger who drove Lin Chong and Dong Ping to their destination in his Audi A6. They had stopped his car, and Tiger, relying on his martial arts skills, had sparred with Dong Ping for a few rounds. Dong Ping hadn't even fought back, and Tiger ended up exhausted. Tiger accepted his defeat wholeheartedly. Later, when he heard that Dong Ping and his group were in a hurry to see their injured brother, he sped right to the bar without a word, even telling them to come to him if they ever had any trouble. But Dong Ping and his group naturally didn't take him seriously and didn't pay him any mind.
After catching up with Tiger, we suddenly felt quite close. He stamped his foot and said, "Look at the mess we've gotten ourselves into! I'm really sorry, brother." As he spoke, he told people to quickly clean up the mess and set up a table, chairs, and teapot. I sat down and pointed at Liu Xuan, asking Tiger, "You don't recognize this guy?"
"I've never seen him before. I came here today to help out because someone introduced me to him. I didn't expect this kid to be so dishonest."
I glanced at Wei and Li standing behind me and said apologetically, "I'm no saint either, and I promised not to bring anyone..."
Tiger looked them over approvingly and beckoned, saying, "Brothers, come and sit down. I, Tiger, have always considered myself a man. Compared to you, I have no ambition." Then he gave Liu Xuan a cold glance and, seeing him strolling towards the door, said loudly, "You! Come here, tell me what's going on with you."
At this moment, the fake blind man picked up a morin khuur (horsehead fiddle) and started playing a long tune—he was quite talented.
Amidst the long, drawn-out chant, I recounted the events. Tiger Brother angrily said, "So you're the one who stabbed my Brother Dong's friend?" I seized the opportunity to say, "Your Brother Dong's friend isn't badly skilled either; he wouldn't have been injured if it weren't for the ambush." Tiger Brother pointed at Liu Xuan and berated him, "You little bastard, always resorting to underhanded tactics!" It was clear that this Tiger Brother was straightforward and liked to associate with people who had real skills. His twelve henchmen, who were also his apprentices, were almost all badly wounded, groaning and applying medicine to their wounds. Although Li Jingshui and Wei Tiezhu's faces were also covered in bruises, their bodies remained as swift as javelins, and their expressions were relaxed. Having killed people and fought before, he was different.
Finally, amidst the chorus of condemnation, I gave my concluding remarks. My point was that since I had already dealt Liu Xuan a severe blow—he could barely sit still—I considered it as me avenging Zhu Gui, and the grudges would be wiped clean. But the additional condition was that Liu Xuan had to give up his managerial position, and to avoid causing me any trouble, he had to go into hiding for a year.
Tiger slapped the table casually and said to Liu Xuan, "Let's do it this way. You were in the wrong from the start."
Liu Xuan: "I..."
Tiger said, "You can refuse if you want, I'm not taking sides anyway."
Even if Liu Xuan was stupid, he could see that what Tiger meant by "not helping either side" was: he would definitely not help when Tiger needed him, but he would most likely help when Tiger needed him.
Even those old guys who once supported him will surely be angry with him for making such a mess of things. He's now completely abandoned by everyone, and he only has one choice: to leave.
Liu Xuan didn't dare utter a single harsh word. He grabbed a handkerchief, covered his head, and staggered out the door. I thought he looked rather pitiful. We were both victims, the kind of people who "sit at home and get caught in the crossfire." He was doing his job as manager peacefully, and I was doing mine peacefully too. If it weren't for this earthquake, none of this would have happened—I slapped Liu Xuan's head all over; it'll probably be a multifaceted shape when it heals. Anyway, we won't need makeup for his head in Transformers.
Since Liu Xuan left, the fake blind man has started playing "Friends" on his erhu again. The erhu's melody is inherently melancholic, and when he plays this piece, it sounds eerie and sinister. I picked up the tattered leather bag, took out all the money inside, and piled it on the table, saying, "This is for the brothers' medical expenses."
The tiger said, "That's because you look down on me. We're not doing this for money."
I thought to myself, that makes sense. If he can afford an A6, why would he care about a few small amounts of money?
I asked cautiously, "This man surnamed Liu and you..."
"Hey, it's all thanks to connections that they got to me. Some of the old men who wanted to treat you to dinner yesterday are backing him. These old men are all my peers, but they entrusted him to someone else, and I can't afford to offend that person."
Who is it?
Tiger laughed and said to the fake blind man playing the erhu, "Master Gu, if you keep holding on like that, I'll run out of things to say."
The music stopped abruptly. The old man put down his erhu, took off his sunglasses and put them away, stood up, straightened his long robe, walked over to us, glared at Tiger, and chuckled, "You little monkey." Then he turned to me and smiled, "Mr. Xiao, right?"
"No, no, just call me Xiaoqiang." I never imagined this old guy was the mastermind. Looking at his eyes, at first glance they were full of crow's feet and dark circles, and upon closer inspection—still nothing. But occasionally, a sharp glint would flash within them, like a needle piercing your heart. "It was this old bastard who instigated Tiger to deal with me," I cursed inwardly.
Old Master Gu walked to a chair, and Tiger quickly pulled it out and straightened it for him. Only then did Old Master Gu sit down and say slowly, "This teahouse is run by this humble old man. Does Mr. Xiao think it's alright?"
I bowed respectfully and said, "It's passable."
Master Gu chuckled and said, "It's obvious that Mr. Xiao is a connoisseur of tea. Even in the midst of the chaos, he didn't forget to grab the teacup in his hand. Unlike that kid surnamed Liu, who's all pretentious and ruined my good tea. I've looked down on him ever since he came upstairs."
I thought to myself, "You've said all the nice things. You look down on him and still send people to mess with me? You wouldn't even lend me a tool I needed in an emergency."
Seeing my dismissive expression, the old man said leisurely, "Yesterday, several of my junior apprentices came to me to complain that someone had offended them. Do you know what I thought at the time?"
I forced a smile and remained silent.
"I was wondering who was so capable of such a thing, and I really wanted to meet this person. Now that I've met him, he truly lives up to his reputation—Xiao Qiang, hehe."
I don't know if he was cursing me or praising me. The scene of the fight just now flashed through my mind, and I couldn't help but laugh. It's strange, even though I know he was the one who had people beat me up, I don't really hate him at all. It just feels like I was being teased a little by a playful elder.
According to Tiger, he, Grandpa Gu, and several other old guys who helped Liu Xuan were all "insiders," similar to an ancient martial arts sect. Their sect has lost its name, originating from Da Hong Quan (a style of martial arts), but has long since deviated from its original form. However, it still belongs to traditional martial arts, and there are many dojos throughout the city and even the province. In recent years, due to the impact of judo and taekwondo dojos, the number of students has dwindled, and some who couldn't persevere have had to teach alongside others, resulting in a hybrid, albeit somewhat awkward, system. Tiger's dojo, backed by his strong financial resources, is the most influential, and Grandpa Gu is currently the most senior member of the sect.
Yesterday, I didn't go to see those old geezers because I was drinking dumpling soup. They felt they had lost face, but they weren't confident they could do anything to me, so they went to Master Gu to ask him to send Tiger to deal with me.
Just as I suspected. Tiger had indeed been to prison, but later made his fortune in the steel trade. Because of his martial spirit, he joined a gang, and because of his money and chivalry, he has become quite powerful in recent years, practically the leader of the gang. Given his way of thinking and background, it's not surprising that he leads a group of people to settle disputes like a gangster, especially since it's considered "his own" business.
Once things were cleared up, the fog lifted. Grandpa Gu sipped his tea, listening to us talk. Tiger warmly took Li Jingshui and Wei Tiezhu's hands, saying, "These two brothers are really good. Xiaoqiang, what's their relationship to you?"
I blurted out, "He's my student." Afraid that Tiger would misunderstand, I quickly added, "I started a school."
Tiger exclaimed in surprise, "Bringing students out to fight? These two must be the biggest troublemakers and fighting kings in your school, right?"
Wei Tiezhu said, "What are we? Captain Xu can't even get close to ten or eight of us. There are many classmates who are stronger than us!" Li Jingshui nodded in agreement.
"Who is Captain Xu?" Tiger asked me, his eyes wide. In his opinion, Li Jingshui and his men were already quite skilled.
"...It's their class monitor."
Wei Tiezhu said in a thick local accent, "And those guys who live across from us, their kung fu is even better."