This fat man had eyes that seemed out of place with his broad face. His eyes were small, yet lacked spirit! When he blinked, a sharp glint would occasionally flash in his eyes.
I noticed that he was also looking at me with great interest.
I called out to where Ni Duoduo was hiding, and the girl quickly ran over and threw herself into my arms. The fat man squinted at me for a moment, then pointed to the car door: "Get in the car quickly."
There was a strange smell inside, like the smell of vegetables that fills a farmers' market. There were a few rotten vegetable leaves on the ground in the corner, and the carriage was filled with an indescribable odor.
The fat man told us to sit down, then started the car. He handed us a bottle of mineral water from the front and said casually, "Wipe this girl's hands. Sigh, her little hands are so fair and tender, how come there's so much blood?"
Only now did I finally feel truly at ease. Although I was still somewhat wary, I was much more relaxed. Ni Duoduo's face regained some color. I washed her hands and mouth, and rummaged through her bag. Although the bag had been ripped open and many things were missing, there was still half a bottle of Yunnan Baiyao, which I applied to Ni Duoduo's face.
The fat guy in front of me saw in the rearview mirror that I had finished my work, then handed me a cigarette and said casually, "Little brother, have a smoke, take a break, you don't look too good."
This guy speaks slowly. He has an innocent, harmless look, seemingly kind and benevolent, making it hard to be wary of him. But the more like it is, the more careful I know I should be!
After hesitating for a moment, I lit the cigarette he gave me, took a drag, and was somewhat surprised.
The smoke was strong, with a flavor I couldn't quite describe. After all, I'm a seasoned smoker, and I immediately recognized it as a special supply for the military!
This cigarette is called "Red Star," and it's not available for purchase on the market.
I couldn't help but give the fat man a deep look. He held the steering wheel with one hand and a cigarette between the other, and said lazily, "You're just too cautious. How did you end up in this area? This place is already outside of Guangzhou! It was only last year, when the city was expanded, that this area was nominally incorporated into Guangzhou. How did you end up here?"
Before I could say anything, the fat man muttered to himself, "Yeah, that's right, you want to hide in a pyramid scheme den? You've got some nerve! But you're not bad-natured..."
I tried speaking: "What's your name, buddy?"
"Fang Dahai... but the brothers all like to call me Fatty Dahai. If you're happy, you can just call me Brother Fatty. I'm almost twenty years older than you, so it's not like I'm taking advantage of you." The fat man smiled.
The car gradually entered the city. The buildings on both sides of the road grew taller and taller, giving the impression of moving from farmland to city. After a while, Fatty drove us to a chaotic place. After parking, he smiled and said, "Want to get out and take a look around?"
I hesitated for a moment. He said indifferently, "It's safe here. Don't worry. It's so early in the morning, no one's out there looking for you... Do you think gangsters are police? Patrolling day and night?" He paused, then laughed, "Come on out, get some exercise, and grab something to eat."
I brought Ni Duoduo out. Looking around, I realized it was a very large farmers' market.
In the early morning, when the sky was just beginning to lighten, several trains of various sizes were parked around the farmers' market, and countless workers were unloading bundles of fresh vegetables and lean meat. Some vendors were busy haggling with the vegetable sellers.
At the left entrance of the farmers' market, there was a row of breakfast stalls. However, business didn't seem to be very good. Fatty led us over and bought some kind of tea cake, which Ni Duoduo held in her hand to eat. Then he led us into the farmers' market.
"Southerners are very particular about food, especially morning tea. If conditions permit, they are used to going to tea houses for morning tea. These roadside breakfast stalls are mostly frequented by people from the north." The fat man walked around, looking around leisurely with his hands behind his back. Every now and then, people next to him would greet him amicably and loudly.
It was clear that the fat man was quite popular here; everyone politely called him "Fatty," and some even offered him cigarettes, but he simply waved the lit cigarette in his hand and refused.
Even though it's early in the morning, walking around the farmers' market feels like stepping into a giant beehive. The cacophony of business from all directions assaults your ears. Vegetable vendors deftly arrange their produce on their counters, while others use mineral water bottles with small holes to sprinkle water on the vegetables, making them look fresher.
There are also businesses involving bargaining and some that involve bickering and arguments.
The ground was damp and muddy, as if someone had watered it early in the morning, and Ni Duoduo frowned as she walked by. The fat man, however, looked relaxed and suddenly smiled at me, saying, "You know what? I really enjoy coming here for a stroll every morning."
"oh……"
"It's for work, I'm here to buy supplies. So many mouths to feed in this company!" He casually patted the person next to him on the shoulder in greeting, and continued to smile at me, "Do you know why I like coming here?"
"Why?"
The fat man laughed, his smile gradually spreading from his eyes: "Because this place makes you feel alive! Don't you feel that when you come to a place like this, even if you're feeling really depressed or contemplating suicide, you suddenly feel much better? The market is crowded and the atmosphere is chaotic, but it's full of vitality."
He sighed, a sinister glint in his eyes, and muttered to himself, "Especially for those who have crawled out of piles of corpses, this kind of vitality is the most comfortable."
These words struck me deeply!
A thought suddenly struck me: this fat man was smoking cigarettes specially supplied to him by the military, and he had left his phone number with Jin He… and he even claimed to have crawled out of a pile of corpses…
Could he have been Jinhe's old comrade-in-arms? I know Jinhe was a veteran who fought in the war!
But this fat man didn't have a trace of Jin He's murderous aura and fierce presence. He was just a kind, chubby, good-natured man!
After wandering around, the fat man didn't know how many people he had greeted. Some he just smiled from afar, while others he went over to exchange a few pleasantries, shake hands, pat on the shoulder, and so on.
We didn't see him buy anything; he just led us back.
"Didn't you want to make some purchases?"
"Oh? Oh. I've already bought it." The fat man walked to the car without turning his head, took out his keys, opened the door, and then leaned against the side to smoke.
In no time, I saw a group of people coming out of the farmers' market. They were the same fat men who had shaken hands, patted each other on the shoulder, and chatted. Some were carrying vegetables and fruits, while others were carrying half a pig and piling it into their cars.
After that, the fat man bowed to everyone and said goodbye, then led us back onto the bus.
"You've already bought it? Don't you need to pay?"
The fat man laughed, "No need, they're not afraid I'll renege on my debt... Besides, I didn't bring any money with me. Today isn't actually my shopping day. But I came out early this morning and borrowed this car to pick you up, so I need an excuse. Otherwise, it wouldn't be good if someone with ulterior motives were watching me. If anyone asks me later, I'll just say I came out to buy vegetables this morning. These vegetable vendors are more than happy for me to take their vegetables; they're not afraid I'll renege on my debt. Anyway, I'm not buying for myself, and I usually don't haggle much when buying vegetables from them. It's all public money anyway."
I see. It seems this fat guy is in charge of procurement.
The car already had a strange smell, and now with half a car full of raw pork and vegetables, the smell was even stranger. Ni Duoduo couldn't help but pinch her nose.
The fat man chuckled: "Girl, don't pinch your nose. When we get back, I'll cook these things and bring them to you. You'll be able to eat your tongue!"
"Where are we going?" I couldn't help but ask.
"Let's go to the safest place in all of Guangzhou," the fat man laughed. "I guarantee there's no place safer than there."
The car turned into a street that looked very quiet, and then stopped at the entrance of a huge government building with armed police standing guard.
I saw a line of imposing characters on the sign in front of me: "Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau".
The fat man rolled down the window and smiled at the armed police officer on guard. Then, the electric gate opened quickly and he was allowed to pass.
"I'm in charge of the bureau's canteen. I'm in charge of the head chef and purchasing." The fat man chuckled as he rubbed his nose.
Book 1, Part 1: A Man in the Martial World, Not in His Own Hands, Chapter 117: The True "Darkness"
"Canteen" is an old term; now they've mostly been upgraded and renamed "internal restaurants."
The fat man seemed to be a minor manager in the restaurant. He drove to the back of a low building and into a large courtyard. Immediately, a young man in a white shirt came over to help carry the vegetables.
The fat man shouted twice, stood aside and pointed a few words, then pulled me and Ni Duo inside.
"That's the restaurant. The first floor is the main canteen, which I don't really need to manage. It's all mass-produced food, so there's no skill involved." I noticed that the fat man seemed to limp slightly in his left leg after walking for a while, making his gait less agile. As he walked ahead, he vigorously rubbed his left thigh and said casually, "Upstairs is the smaller restaurant, but the standards there are no lower than those of a large hotel. Only those of a certain rank can go in. It's also for entertaining guests from other organizations, and there's a hierarchy there too. The top floor is the small banquet hall, which is only used during the Chinese New Year or when higher-ups come. I personally cook all the meals there." He chuckled as he added, "You guys from the north don't understand. People from Guangdong love to eat, and they dare to eat anything. That's famous throughout the country."
Next to the restaurant building was a small, secluded courtyard with a row of small buildings. The gate was unlocked, and Fatty led us in and went straight up to the second floor.
“This is where I live. Nobody usually comes to the second floor. The first floor is where the other people from my restaurant live. This is the safest place.” The fat man looked at me and said, “Don’t worry, I can’t guarantee that your enemies have no connection with the legitimate world, but even if they do, they can’t possibly get into the police station to investigate.”
He led us through a door. I then realized that Fatty's place was huge, having knocked down the walls of three surrounding rooms. Each of the three large rooms was as big as a primary school classroom. As soon as we entered, Fatty pointed to an old-fashioned nylon sofa: "Sit down!" Then he pointed to Ni Duoduo: "Girl, and you too."
Then he went to the side, rummaged through a drawer in a cabinet, pulled out a small bottle, and threw it at me. I caught it and heard him say, "This is wound medicine, real Yunnan Baiyao. It works better than yours. Yours is a mass-produced product bought from a pharmacy; it's not as effective as mine."
He looked at Ni Duoduo's hand: "Young people should take better care of their health. Don't think that getting a little injured is nothing. It's just that you're young and strong. You'll suffer when you get older!" He glared at me: "Your leg was injured before, wasn't it?"
I paused for a moment: "Yes, a little. I fell and injured my knee when I was escaping from Nanjing the day before yesterday."
The fat man nodded: "When I saw you walking, your leg seemed to be moving a little unnaturally. I'll get you a bottle of medicinal wine, you can take care of it yourself later."
He sighed, went into one of the inner rooms, and after a moment brought out a porcelain bottle for me.
"There are three rooms here. I'll use this outer room as my living room. There are two inner rooms. I'll live in the innermost one, so don't go in unless you have to! You can stay in the other one. Rest here for now." The fat man then poured two glasses of water and put them down.
I first changed the medicine on Ni Duoduo's hand. Then I rolled up my pants and checked the injury on my knee from the day before yesterday.
The large bruise hasn't faded yet; it was originally just a purplish color. Today it looks purplish-blue. There's also some slight swelling.
The fat man glanced at it and frowned: "How could you be so careless..." He walked over to me and casually took the bottle of medicinal wine from my hand: "Let me fix it for you." Then he looked up at me: "It might hurt a little, just bear with it."
He carefully poured some medicinal wine into his palm. It was a pale yellow liquid with a strong medicinal smell, mixed with a hint of alcohol, and it even had a faint, sweet scent...
Snap!
The fat man rubbed his palms together until they were red. Then he slapped my knee. I winced in pain.
His hands, with short, thick fingers and calluses, were hard and thick. He kept rubbing and kneading my knees, adding more medicinal wine as he went.
"You need to knead this medicine thoroughly, knead it vigorously, so that it can be absorbed into the skin." The fat man completely ignored the faint pain on my face: "My medicinal wine is very valuable; you can't buy it anywhere else in the market even if you have the money."
I rubbed for a while, almost rubbing off a layer of skin from my knees, but it felt really good. I felt a burning sensation on my knees, a wave of heat.
"Alright! This treasure of mine is very precious, every little bit used reduces its value." The fat man stood up with a smile, took the bottle and walked away, then fetched a basin of water for us to wash off the smell of the medicinal wine from our hands.
Afterwards, Fatty told Ni Duoduo to go to the inner room to rest. I could tell from his expression that he wanted to talk to me, so I gestured for Duoduo to go in first... Now the little girl is extremely dependent on me. She won't leave my side for even a moment unless I say something.
The fat man got up and closed the door to the inner room. Then he turned around and sat down in front of me. He stood up and calmly found some tea leaves, brewed two strong cups of tea, and placed them in front of me. He didn't seem to be in a hurry at all. He slowly finished doing all this, and his happy eyes looked at me with a smile: "Although I've been here for many years, I'm still not used to the Kung Fu tea of Guangdong. I prefer to drink it directly from the teacup."
I politely said thank you, and then took out the last half pack of "God of War" cigarettes.
The fat man's eyes lit up, and he glanced at me: "You have this?" He unceremoniously took a cigarette from my pack, lit it, took a leisurely puff, savored it for a while, and then sighed: "Alright, Chen Yang, I know you have a lot of questions right now. You can ask slowly. I'll tell you what I know, and you won't be able to find out what I don't know, or what I can't say."
"What are Huan-ge's plans for us?" I asked slowly, my voice low.
"First, Ye Huan isn't my boss, and I have no direct relationship with him, so I don't know how he'll arrange things for you, and I can't control that," the fat man said calmly. "Second, I think he probably won't be able to do much."
I laughed, but it was a helpless laugh: "I know, even Huan-ge can't do anything about it. This is a huge mess."
"I don't have much of a relationship with Ye Huan. I only helped you because of Jin He. You probably guessed it, Jin He and I are old comrades-in-arms. We crawled out of a pile of corpses together back then. If he hadn't carried me all night, I probably would have lost my life in that ravine." The fat man smiled calmly, with a hint of indifference between his brows.
"Then, when can I see Huan Ge or Jin He?" I looked at him: "When I called you that day, didn't you say that as long as I got to Guangzhou within two days, you could arrange a way for us to get out of here?"
The fat man shook his head: "Jinhe asked me to pass that message to you. When I went to pick you up this morning, I already spoke with Jinhe on the phone. He will come to see you soon. As for me... I'm only responsible for bringing you here." He glanced at me: "At least it's safe here."
I didn't say anything more. I felt a little empty inside. It seems I should wait until I meet Huan Ge or Jin He before making any decisions.
The fat man looked at me with great interest. He stared at me for a long while, then suddenly said in a strange tone, "Actually, I admire you quite a bit... Do you know how much trouble you've gotten into this time?"
I gave a wry smile and remained silent.
The fat man seemed to have a heavy smoking habit. After finishing one cigarette, he immediately lit another, then stared at me and said, "Ye Huan has a very powerful background. I didn't really like dealing with him before. Jin He is such a stubborn guy. Just because Ye Huan saved his life back then, he's sold himself to him now. He doesn't understand! In this world, apart from the kindness of one's own parents, no other kindness is worth repaying with one's life! That guy is too stubborn."
The fat man took another deep drag and continued, "Ye Huan's background, others may not know, but I know it too, right? Hmph... that kid went south to pan for gold back then with a few thousand dollars, what didn't he do? You're young, you haven't experienced those times. In those days, the bold ones would carry a bag of gold across the border, smuggling it back and forth. As long as you survived, you could make a fortune! Ye Huan was lucky, he was saved by Jin He several times. He wanted to invite me to join him back then, but I was too lazy to do that kind of work, getting up early and working late, risking my life." I don't want to go through those days again. But many old people I know still go there to make a living… Sigh, Qinghong, once you're branded with that name, you're stuck with it for life. Jinhe is so stubborn, I can't persuade him otherwise…” He smiled bitterly, rubbed his big nose, looked at me with a cold, brooding gaze: “Kid, to be honest, I admire you. I know you've offended a big boss of 'Qinghong Family Management,' and you beat his only son into a eunuch… Damn it! You've got some nerve!”
"Qinghong?" I was stunned.
"Damn it," the fat man laughed and cursed, "You've supposedly been with Ye Huan, and you don't even know Qing Hong... But I can't blame you. These days, all those thugs on the street think they're gangsters, but how many of them actually know the name Qing Hong! You think daring to go out and kill people and collect protection money makes you a gangster? You're far from it!"
I frowned: "I've heard of the Green Gang and the Red Gang, right? The older generation often mentions these things, but that's all ancient history..."
"Old bullshit!" the fat man continued smoking. "The Green Gang has been around for hundreds of years since the Qing Dynasty. You've probably watched too many Hong Kong movies and think those petty thugs are the triads? Let me tell you, they're far from it! They're just street thugs, not even ninth-rate! The entire Hong Kong triads are just a small branch of the Hongmen in China. They call that the underworld? They're just people making a living on the street."
The first book, "A Man in the Jianghu, Helpless to His Own Will," Chapter 118: Only when blackness blurs the lines between right and wrong can it be called true blackness!
"You're young, and you haven't reached a certain level yet, so it's normal that you don't understand." The fat man smiled mockingly. "It's laughable how many thugs and petty criminals on the streets call themselves gangsters, but they haven't even gotten close to the real underworld. At most, they're just small-time scum who wreak havoc on the streets. What is the real underworld? The Yamaguchi-gumi and the Black Dragon Society of the Japanese were the underworld. The Yamaguchi-gumi was the boss in Japan; no one dared to say no. They could even use their ill-gotten gains to influence politics. The Black Dragon Society is ancient history. Back when they were fighting the Japanese, the Black Dragon Society had connections with the Japanese Army. What is truly 'black'? It's when you can't distinguish between right and wrong; that's when it's truly black. The Italian Mafia, the major families—everyone knows them, they're just there." "So what? They control economic resources! They have money and power. The major American arms manufacturers are considered 'black,' openly trading arms worldwide… Why? Because their governments are backing them up! Centuries ago, the British East India Company was truly 'black,' controlling over 90% of the world's drug trade! The Governor-General of the British Far East had to defer to the East India Company!" The fat man sneered. "Now go outside and see those people carrying machetes, collecting protection money in tea restaurants—do they even deserve to be called 'gangsters'? What is the 'gangster world'? The 'black' and 'way' are considered together! What you do must be 'black,' while simultaneously claiming to be a powerful and complete system—that's what 'way' means!"