Ni Siyu said pitifully, "Ah? I don't drink alcohol."
Now that Ruan Xiao'er had some wine to drink, he forgot all about being shy and said in a carefree manner, "If you can't drink, what kind of swimming are you?"
"Does this... have anything to do with it?" Ni Siyu asked cautiously.
Ruan Xiaowu said, "You'll be considered a master when you're so drunk that if you were thrown into the water, you could float to the surface on your own."
These guys, after drinking, started acting like thugs, shouting and yelling. Ni Siyu stared blankly at the bottle of orange juice, biting the cap. I told her, "Now you have two choices: one is to go drink and try to please your masters; the other is to hurry home and stop hanging out with these hooligans—I have your phone number, let's contact each other privately."
Ni Siyu glared at me, mustered her courage, and resolutely sat down among them. Zhang Qing poured her a large glass of wine, which she picked up, took a sip, and immediately exclaimed, "Mmm, so delicious!" She then took a large gulp. The bandits all cheered…
Alas, a pure young girl has been ruined.
I grabbed a bag of ice and put it on my face. Chen Kejiao called and her first words were, "Manager Xiao, you're really something!" Before I could say anything, she continued, "Liu Xuan has already resigned. Your two friends can take over the manager's position for now."
Although her tone was sharp, I could tell she wasn't angry; in fact, she seemed a little relieved. I said, "What do you mean by 'just doing it for now'? Are you planning to find someone else?"
Hearing the noise on my end, Chen Kejiao asked, "Where are you?"
"Bar—I'm pretty responsible, aren't I?"
Chen Kejiao said with dissatisfaction, "Manager Xiao, you'd better not make my bar a mess. Someone told me that it's been like a den of thieves lately."
I looked around and realized that Shi Qian was nowhere to be found. I said, quite annoyed, "Ms. Chen, please watch your words!"
Perhaps no one had ever spoken to Chen Kejiao in this tone before, or perhaps she was used to my playful and joking manner. In any case, she was taken aback by what I said and then hung up the phone.
I glanced at the group of people drinking. Zhu Gui, with an injury on his buttock, sat slumped in his chair, chatting and laughing; Yang Zhi was frequently toasting Li Jingshui and Wei Tiezhu; Zhang Shun had his arm around Ruan Xiaoer's shoulder, talking about something, the two of them very happy; Ruan Xiaowu was smiling as he watched Ni Siyu pour him drinks. These people exuded a fierce and valiant air, and under their influence, even Ni Siyu seemed to have taken on a dashing and heroic air. You could say they were a bandit gathering, but there was nothing I could do about it. This bar had been open all along for the sake of creating a lively atmosphere, and treating these "heroes" to beer had already cost us several days' worth of revenue. Add to that miscellaneous expenses and supporting Yang Zhi and Zhang Qing, those two idle bastards, and half a month's work had been for nothing.
These are all minor issues. What really bothers me is Zhu Gui's generosity. He's always offering free meals, and he'll throw in a few bottles of wine for customers he's only chatted with a few times. His only reason is: he likes them. Liangshan runs an inn at the foot of the mountain to make connections with heroes from all walks of life. It's really just a front, a transit point and an introduction agency. With such a large stronghold backing them, they could easily run a soup kitchen. But my business is small-scale, and I'm counting on it for a profit. But I can't tell Zhu Gui that. These people, if they like you, they'll give you their lives without hesitation, but if you haggle over petty gains, they'll definitely turn on you. They believe in eating meat in large chunks and drinking wine in large bowls, in being carefree, and in going to great lengths for friends. If they're short of money, they just ask—I've never seen a hero who's come up the mountain worry about money.
If this continues, this bar, while not a den of thieves, will turn into a den of iniquity—and squander my money.
Zhang Qing carried a bucket, finished one glass and refilled it, then suddenly called out to me, "Xiao Qiang, come over and have a drink, what are you daydreaming about?"
I didn't think too much about it anymore. I squeezed in between Zhu Gui and Yang Zhi, only to find that Li Jingshui and Wei Tiezhu couldn't hold their liquor and had been thoroughly drunk by the Blue-Faced Beast. Yang Zhi said, "It looks like these two young brothers aren't going home today." I quickly called Song Qing to find Xu Delong to ask for leave for the two of them. 300 is much less receptive to new things than the heroes, probably because he's used to being constrained by rules and regulations.
Xu Delong readily agreed, even saying he could give them a few days off to have some fun. I thought it was perfect; it would be good for them to recover from their injuries. I couldn't bear to see those young soldiers go back wounded.
At this moment, Ni Siyu, who had already drunk two glasses of wine, suddenly stood up straight. Everyone was stunned, wondering what she was going to do. Her face was flushed, and she slammed her glass on the table, declaring with an air of dominance, "I will definitely win the championship!" After saying this, she didn't say another word and then fell straight backward. Ruan Xiaowu quickly caught her, but Ni Siyu was already unconscious. Zhang Shun stood up with a wry smile: "Alright, let's take the young lady home first."
I said, "Don't let her dad see you!"
If I were her dad, I'd be furious with those three thugs. I just don't understand, is Ni Siyu even her dad's biological daughter? His daughter inexplicably brought home three men, and he immediately arranged dorm rooms for them without a second thought?
—Of course, there's a reason for that. I only found out later that Ni Siyu's dad had already competed against Zhang Shun that very day. Ni Siyu was the referee, and at her signal, her dad and Zhang Shun entered the water together. By the time he finished swimming the entire distance with textbook-perfect freestyle, Zhang Shun was already back on shore, dressed. From that moment on, her dad unconditionally agreed to any request from the three mysterious coaches, even offering to take money from his own salary to cover tutoring fees, which Zhang Shun and the coaches refused.
I saw the group to the door, and looking at Ni Siyu being carried on Ruan Xiaowu's shoulder, I asked worriedly, "You're not really going to throw her into the water now, are you?"
Less than 10 minutes later, Li Jingshui and Wei Tiezhu were defeated and I took them to the manager's office to sleep. Zhang Qing laughed and said, "I didn't realize that Xiao Qiang, who is neither good at academics nor martial arts, is quite good at drinking."
I said sheepishly, "It's from swimming practice." Zhu Gui and Yang Zhi were stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.
Just then, the door opened and three young men, all in their early twenties, entered. The one in front had dyed blond hair, wore a nose stud, three earrings in his left ear, and one earring in his right ear. A long iron chain hung from his trousers, and his fine leather shoes had two pieces of iron nailed to the toes. Despite the hot weather, he wore a black leather jacket with about twenty or thirty brass studs. Even without looking, a blind man could tell from the rusty smell that these were thugs.
Yellow Hair strolled in, glanced at us, and said in a cocky manner, "Hey, you're drinking by yourself, give me a glass." Seeing that no one paid him any attention, he grabbed a glass and was about to pour it from the bucket. Zhang Qing put his hand on his and said calmly, "This wine isn't for you."
Zhu Gui, however, maintained his amicable and business-minded shopkeeper demeanor, smiling as he said, "My shop isn't open yet. Please come back in an hour or two later."
Zhang Qing held the wine barrel up, and the blond-haired man couldn't lift it with either hand. He awkwardly put down the cup and said, "I came to see Brother Liu."
“There’s no one here with the surname Liu,” Yang Zhi said with a gloomy face.
"Liu Xuan, my brother Liu."
A glint flashed in Zhu Gui's eyes, and he immediately said with a smile, "He doesn't work here anymore. Do any of you know him?"
"What? Why didn't you tell us?" Huang Mao was taken aback, his face changed, and then his tone turned hostile. He said, "In that case, pay the management fee."
I understood what was going on as soon as I heard it. Liu Xuan was a big shot in the underworld, and when he was manager, these scoundrels naturally didn't dare to cause trouble; they even had to be subservient to him. Since he wanted to deal with Zhu Gui, he naturally wouldn't go after these familiar faces on the ground, so he hired those eight guys—these eight guys delivered me a car and cigarettes; I personally think we've become friends. Then came what just happened. Because it was so sudden, he had to run away, and he didn't have time to notify these scumbags.
These petty thugs were probably just passing by and came to ask their Brother Liu for a small favor; they were completely unaware of the grudge between us.
The so-called "management fee" is just what people used to call protection money, just given a nicer name.
Zhu Gui naturally understood what they meant, but he pretended not to know anything and asked suspiciously, "What management fee? Do you come to take out our garbage every day?" Zhang Qing chuckled.
Huang Mao, unaware that Zhu Gui was feigning ignorance, said contemptuously, "You don't even know what 'management fee' is! It's protection money. Give me ten thousand yuan first."
"Oh, I'm so scared. If I give you money, will you really come to protect us?" Even the usually serious Yang Zhi couldn't help but laugh as he watched Zhu Gui twist his fat body and put on airs.
Huang Mao then realized he'd been tricked and pointed at Zhu Gui, asking, "Who are you?"
"I'm the deputy manager here!"
I interjected, "Now it's official." I turned to the blond-haired guy and said, "Have your boss come talk to me tonight. I'll come after I finish watching TV; I'm free after 10 pm." I figured these hooligans were minor issues, so I had to deal with them once and for all. Otherwise, even if a toad doesn't bite, it's still disgusting, and you can't stand it. I might as well bring their leader over. Anyway, I'm not going to give him a single penny. It would be best if he could understand human language; otherwise, I'd just have to intimidate him a little.
The blond-haired guy pointed at me again and said, "And who do you think you are! How dare you look down on me?"
I casually spat on his shoe and said to him very seriously, "Yes, I just look down on you."
"I fucking..." He took a step forward, viciously yanking off the zipper on his pants, only to find us all grinning at him with our chins in our hands. He immediately deflated, pointing at me as he backed away and said, "You're ruthless!"
After they left, Yang Zhi said, "I miss Niu Er. If he had known from the beginning that I dared to kill him, he probably wouldn't have forced me like that."
"Brother, please don't interfere with our business discussion tonight..."
These guys are great in every way—loyal, quick-witted—but their tendency to kill at the drop of a hat is terrifying. Zhang Qing, on the other hand, is much better. He rarely kills; if the fight goes wrong, his henchmen capture him alive. I still have two boxes of expired pills at home. I'll prepare some for him when I come over tonight. Those things, if thrown at someone, will hurt, and if you put them in their mouth, you can trick them into thinking it's "a half-step to madness" for long-term control.