The van started moving, and Xiang Yu excitedly stepped on the gas, making the van go faster and faster. But now it was in first gear, and even with the gas pedal floored, the van was roaring and screaming. Xiang Yu gripped the steering wheel, laughing heartily, a hint of arrogance and swagger in his voice. The Hegemon-King of Western Chu had rediscovered the feeling of conquering the battlefield.
Once the car was moving, we had overcome the most difficult hurdle. I breathed a sigh of relief and, seeing that we were about to turn, told him, "Turn the steering wheel."
This was clearly a sharp left turn, but Xiang Yu was desperately turning the wheel to the right, and the car was about to crash into the wall. I yelled, "You're going the wrong way!" Xiang Yu kept turning right. I yelled, "Step on the brakes! Step on the brakes!" Xiang Yu, confused, said, "Huh? Where are the brakes?"
Holy crap! He knew the difference between the accelerator and the brake the first time he saw me drive, and now he's asking me again.
Just two seconds before the car was about to crash into the wall, I had a flash of inspiration and shouted, "Wait—!"
Xiang Yu instinctively slammed on the brakes...
I patted my wildly beating heart and it took me a while to say, "Brother Yu, you can't even tell left from right, can you?"
Xiang Yu, still puzzled, turned the steering wheel and said, "Why is the direction reversed? When riding a horse, if you want it to go left, you turn the horse's head to the right, right?"
Oh dear, it was my oversight; I almost made a fatal mistake. Luckily, when I told him to pull the horse back, he didn't pull the steering wheel off but instead stepped on the brakes.
After getting used to it for a while, Xiang Yu was already able to drive around in first gear. I glanced at my watch and said, "Brother Yu, let's call it a day. I have something to do."
Xiang Yu was in a great mood and casually said, "You go first, I'll go back by myself in a bit."
"I'm afraid...that won't do..." I said hesitantly. If I let him drive back, wouldn't everyone on the road die like in Grand Theft Auto?
Xiang Yu stopped the chariot and said impatiently, "If you're going to leave, hurry up. Don't you trust my riding skills?"
Of course I didn't trust him. How could I trust someone who hadn't even learned to shift into second gear or reverse? But seeing that he seemed to be giving me a push, I quickly got out of the car and said, forcing myself to speak, "Then drive slowly on your way back, and when you get downstairs, park and call Baozi."
Xiang Yu suddenly said, "Do you need me to drive you?" I shook my head vigorously.
Xiang Yu ignored me, slammed the carriage door shut, and drove off in first gear.
I walked back with a gloomy face, got on my motorcycle, and headed to the bar. It was a little past 9, not yet rush hour, and Zhu Gui and the others weren't there. Li Jingshui and Wei Tiezhu were already awake, hiding in the manager's office, too scared to come out. The women in miniskirts, showing off their cleavage and attracting men, terrified them; they felt even a glance would violate military discipline. I had Sun Sixin lead them to a corner to adjust, then asked Xiao Sun where Zhu Gui and the others were. Sun Sixin said, "'Gaizhui' and the others are here; Manager Zhu is talking to them."
I said "Oh," and headed upstairs to the private rooms. Sun Sixin called out from behind me, "Brother Qiang, they're not in the private rooms."
"Where is it?"
"It's behind the bar."
The thought gave me the creeps. The bar was located behind the residential buildings next door, which was a dead end. Apart from the occasional migrant worker going in to urinate, it was a completely deserted place. In other words, it was a good place to commit murder under the cover of darkness.
I hurried outside, and Sun Sixin called out, "Brother Qiang..."
I stopped and looked at him.
“The screwdriver crew brought more than 20 people, but only Manager Zhu from our side went with him. Could you perhaps call all the other guys from that day to come again…”
I exclaimed, "This is even worse!" If Gaijui had come alone, Zhu Gui and the others might have considered him someone important. Now that he's brought so many people to demonstrate, a fight is highly likely. I walked to the door, remembered something, and turned back to Sun Sixin, saying, "From now on, you'll be the second assistant manager here. Take care of things at the bar."
Xiao Sun seemed a little emotional, but he controlled himself well, nodding and smiling at me vigorously, saying, "Don't worry, Brother Qiang."
I ran to the entrance of the alley behind the bar and saw Zhang Qing and Yang Zhi standing there chatting with their arms crossed. When I looked into the alley, I was so angry that I almost lost my mind: Zhu Gui was squatting on the ground with his head in his hands, being beaten up by more than a dozen thugs. There were also a few hooligans standing on the outside, including Huang Mao.
I didn't care about anything else and started grabbing whatever I could find to rush inside. Zhang Qing pulled me aside and said, "Zhu Gui said he'll handle this alone."
I looked at Zhu Gui calmly, this time feeling both angry and amused. This guy truly lived up to his nickname "Dry Land Crocodile"—he was incredibly tough. He put his arm over his head to block the punches and kicks, seemingly unaffected, his eyes darting upwards as he spoke. He said, "Everyone's worked hard. May I ask, who's the leader?" Then he saw me and even took a moment to greet me, "Xiao Qiang's here?"
Relieved, I smiled and said, "You go ahead with your work."
Feeling insulted, the thugs intensified their punches and kicks. Just then, someone pushed through the crowd, holding a screwdriver, and stabbed Zhu Gui hard in the back, cursing, "I'll teach you to be a brat!" My heart clenched: even the toughest person couldn't withstand such a blow.
Zhu Gui suddenly rolled away to avoid him, and looked at the man, saying, "You're the screwdriver?"
Screwdriver: "That's me!"
Zhu Gui let out a "hey," suddenly grabbed the screwdriver's hair, pulled it downwards with one hand, and clenched his other hand into a fist, delivering a powerful blow.
The thugs initially thought he was a coward, and in their complacency, none of them expected him to be so ruthless and swift in his attack. A large clump of his hair was ripped off by the screwdriver, blood seeped out, and his face was also bruised.
One of the thugs pulled out a steel pipe and swung it relentlessly at Zhu Gui's thigh. Zhu Gui nimbly dodged, kicked the screwdriver hard in the thigh, and then dragged him into a corner. The thugs then reacted and swarmed Zhu Gui again, beating him mercilessly. For every punch landed on him, the thug would follow up with a punch on the screwdriver; if someone kicked him, he would ignore them and kick the screwdriver back. The screwdriver was pinned down by Zhu Gui and couldn't get up. At this moment, the blond-haired thug unfastened his chain and lashed it across the wound on Zhu Gui's buttocks, causing Zhu Gui to grimace in pain. Without a word, the thug grabbed the screwdriver from the ground and stabbed it into the screwdriver's buttocks, then kicked it hard in the wound, causing the screwdriver to scream in agony.
Zhu Gui's nose and eyes were bleeding, but he didn't care at all. He kept kicking the screwdriver in his face and sneered, "I'll beat you the way your men beat me!"
Just then, one of the thugs pulled out a steel pipe as thick as an egg and slammed it into Zhu Gui's back. Zhu Gui was a little slow to react and didn't dodge, letting out a groan as he was hit, but his strong physique prevented him from falling. Zhu Gui elbowed the thug, snatched the steel pipe from him, and jumped up to strike the pipe with a screwdriver. There was a cracking sound, like something breaking. Zhu Gui wiped away the blood and grinned maliciously, "Fair enough, isn't it? Even the force was the same."
I threw my cigarette butt on the ground and stomped it out, then said to Zhang Qing, "Shouldn't we be doing something about this?"
Zhang Qing said, "It's okay, it'll be over soon."
The screwdriver, barely breathing, pleaded, "Stop...stop hitting me..."
Zhu Gui said, "I didn't hit you. You were attacked by your own people."
By this time, most of the thugs had been stunned and stopped fighting. However, one of the smaller thugs couldn't stop himself and slapped Zhu Gui across the face. Zhu Gui stared in disbelief at the people who had already retreated. Zhu Gui didn't even touch him; he just smiled at him, his mouth full of blood and spittle. He grabbed the screwdriver and swung it around, delivering a massive slap. After a loud crash, the screwdriver sprayed teeth and blood. Zhu Gui held the thug to his chest, pointed at him, and said, "See, he's the one who slapped you. Don't blame me."
Frustrated and annoyed, the man slapped the thug across the face without thinking, leaving him stunned for a moment before he suddenly burst into tears and ran away.
Yang Zhi chuckled and said, "Zhu Gui's move is too cunning."
Zhu Gui, carrying his flimsy screwdriver, circled the area. He'd press his face against each of the thugs, taunting, "Come on, hit me! If I fight back, I'm your grandson!" The thug would scream hysterically, "Don't hit me! Don't hit me!"
Seeing this, I didn't know whether to laugh or shudder. Only then did I truly understand the meaning of the nickname "Dry Land Crocodile": Zhu Gui usually smiles, but at times like this, he's more ruthless and bloodthirsty than a crocodile.
At this moment, one of the thugs on the periphery, probably reaching his limit, pulled a small machete from his collar that he hadn't used before, and charged at Zhu Gui. Zhu Gui didn't even glance at him, just stood there with his belly sticking out, whispering in Screwdriver's ear, "Wherever he cuts me, I'll cut you!"
Screwdriver was terrified. He didn't know where he got the strength, but he grabbed a stick from someone nearby and used it to shield Zhu Gui. The thug, probably determined to die, charged forward with his eyes closed, completely unaware that the person in front of him had changed, and not even trying to dodge. Screwdriver knocked him to the ground with a single blow. Screwdriver pointed at him and cursed viciously, "You bastard, you clearly wanted to kill me so you could become the boss!" Then he quickly turned back to Zhu Gui with a fawning smile.
Zhu Gui kicked the screwdriver over and said, "Would you still want to follow a boss like this?"