Da Mandou hurriedly told someone to write it down, and then asked, "Anything else?"
Xiang Yu said, "These are the Qin Dynasty's cavalry, take a picture."
Da Mandou broke out in a cold sweat and said, "We know there are no stirrups, but... it's really inappropriate for soldiers to have no protection at all, isn't it?"
Xiang Yu said impatiently, "Are you directing a cavalry formation or a ranger? Rangers are responsible for reconnaissance; some of them don't even carry weapons. Have you ever seen them?"
Da Mandou then asked, "What are the soldiers in the cavalry phalanx wearing?"
"A cavalry formation? You think you can film a cavalry formation with just 60 or so people?"
Da Mandou probably felt embarrassed for the first time and said, "Isn't this how we often shoot in our line of work? It's not that difficult for 60 people to shoot a scene with thousands of troops, is it?"
Xiang Yu sneered, "Have you ever seen an army of thousands?" Then he ignored us and walked away alone.
Watching his retreating figure, Da Mandou sighed, "Hey—he's more like a director than I am. I'm not Zhang Yimou, where am I supposed to find a real army of thousands?"
I told him, "Of course he's unhappy if you ask him about the Qin Dynasty. Maybe he'll be more enthusiastic when you ask him again next time you're filming 'Farewell My Concubine.'" (Qin cavalry did not have stirrups or light armor, so they couldn't engage in mounted combat. Their main weapons were bows and crossbows, and unprotected cavalry did indeed exist. How do I know this? I watched a documentary on CCTV called...).
While they were filming at Da Man Dou's place, I handed Xu Delong a check for 300,000 yuan. Xu Delong's eyes immediately welled up with tears, and he said, "How can we take your money?"
I said, "I know your team can't take a single needle or thread from the people. But aren't you leaving? Besides, this money is what you earned yourselves, so take it."
Xu Delong said excitedly, "We owe you..."
I asked him, "Does Yan Jingsheng know that you're leaving?"
"...We don't know how to tell him."
I nodded and said, "I understand. Let me talk to him." I looked Xu Delong up and down a few times, but I couldn't help asking, "You really can't tell me about your affairs?"
Xu Delong said awkwardly, "Actually, there's nothing I can't say, it's just a bit complicated, and it has nothing to do with you—don't worry, we won't do anything that would damage Yucai's reputation."
I chuckled and put my hand on his shoulder, saying, "Take care, buddy. You're welcome to come back anytime. Yucai is your home."
Xu Delong lowered his head and said after a long while, "Actually, I have another question to ask you."
"Go ahead and say it."
Xu Delong hesitated for a long time, but finally resolutely raised his head and held the check in front of me: "How do I get the money out of here?"
Chapter Thirty-Five: The Eight Heavenly Kings
After finishing up my business, I told the guys that the competition could come to a close. All that work wasn't a complete waste; we at least got 500,000 yuan in prize money. As for expanding the talent development program, that was essentially something we gave up on ourselves, so I told them they could leave after the individual competition.
The fact that the individual competition is always a beat slower than the team competition is a deliberate arrangement by the organizers. The reason is simple: everyone has a sense of individual heroism, and whoever wins the title of "King of Sanda" is far more attractive to the average viewer than whoever wins the team championship.
At the banquet, the heroes were once again reluctant to part, but this time they were already eager to leave. Li Yun gave me the keys to my new house, saying it was decorated entirely according to Baozi's wicked tastes, especially the living room, which was decorated like someone with jaundice, exuding nouveau riche style. Ni Siyu, who had been specially invited by Zhang Shun and the others, smiled and said, "Xiao Qiang, how about I be your bridesmaid?" She didn't know that Zhang Shun and the others were leaving soon, and Zhang Shun didn't plan to tell her either. This clever and mischievous little apprentice really touched the hearts of the three brothers, and they really didn't know how to say goodbye. Seeing the unnatural expressions of the three of them, I joked, "If you keep being disrespectful, I'll really spank you."
倪思雨咯咯笑道：“我叫大哥哥揍你。”说着眼睛四下逡巡。我说：“别找了，你大哥哥陪你大嫂嫂去了。”倪思雨立刻露出了失望的表情，虽然喝醉以后扬言要横刀夺爱，但这种事情显然不是她这个小女生能干得出来的。
When I got back to my room that night, I said to Baozi, "You should go straight home after get off work tomorrow. No one has lived here for so long, I don't know if you have a place to stay."
In the middle of the night, a rapid phone call woke me up. When I answered, it was Zhu Gui. He said anxiously, "Xiao Qiang, come quick, something's happened!" I was instantly wide awake. While putting on my clothes, I quietly asked, "Where are you?"
Zhu Gui said, "Come to the bar first."
Baozi frowned, complained a few times in his dream, and then fell asleep again.
I left the hotel, my heart pounding with anxiety. Zhu Gui's tone suggested the situation was quite dire. If even the ruthless and fearless Huli, who would fight as if his life were a game, was in such a state, it was no small matter.
I drove my beat-up van to the bar, and just as I was about to go inside, Du Xing jumped out from the shadows, startling me. He said, "Follow me," and led the way. It turned out they weren't inside the bar, but all over the small street behind it. Lu Junyi, Wu Yong, Lin Chong, and Dong Ping were all there. I saw a man lying on the ground, being tended to by An Daoquan. The man was deathly pale, with a pool of blood beneath him—it was Zhang Shun.
I was taken aback by what I saw and rushed forward to ask, "What happened? Brother Zhang Shun—" Zhang Shun was still conscious and managed a weak smile when he saw me, which reassured me somewhat. I asked again, "What's wrong?"
Zhu Gui said, "We don't know either. After dinner, everyone came here to drink. After the party, everyone went back to the hotel. Zhang Shun had to take Xiaoyu home, so he left alone. Not long after, he called me and asked us to pick him up. When we saw him, he was already like this."
I asked anxiously, "Why didn't you take him to the hospital? Who did this?"
An Daoquan looked up and said slowly, "What are you panicking about? He just lost too much blood and broke a few ribs. I can handle it." His tone was quite dissatisfied, as if he was bothered that I had ignored the existence of this miracle doctor. From this, I judged that Zhang Shun was not seriously injured, and then asked, "Why don't you go into the bar?"
Zhu Gui said, "Bars are crowded and noisy. If we attract the police, it will be troublesome for both of us."
I said, "Let's go back to the hotel."
Wu Yong said, "Going back to the hotel is the same; the waiter will definitely report it to the authorities."
In my moment of confusion, I suddenly touched the key to our new house in my pocket and had a flash of inspiration. I said, "I've got it, come with me." Since there weren't enough seats, we left Du Xing in the middle to provide support, and the rest of us followed me back to the new house.
While carrying Zhang Shun, I noticed that his blood mainly came from a wound on his leg. A piece of his outer thigh had been sliced off, almost exposing the muscle fibers. We often saw this kind of injury in group fights back in the day, but it was really strange who could have injured Zhang Shun like that. With his skills, even when he was drunk, seven or eight thugs wouldn't be able to get close to him.
Without asking any more questions, I sped towards the villa, stopping halfway at a 24-hour pharmacy to buy a bunch of anti-inflammatory drugs. As we approached, I asked, "Where is the others?"
"We haven't alerted anyone yet. Let's talk about it after we've settled in," Lin Chong said.
After passing the security guard, I opened the door, and the group hurriedly carried Zhang Shun inside, placing him on the spotless sofa. This was my first time here since the renovations were completed; the living room was indeed quite opulent, but wherever we went now, there was only chaos and bloodstains.
I grabbed a fruit knife from the coffee table and slashed Zhang Shun's trouser leg down. I saw that his wound was covered in a blackish-yellow powder, most of which had already solidified. I picked up a bottle of hydrogen peroxide from the pile of things I had bought and was about to pour it on when An Daoquan grabbed me and said, "What are you doing? This medicine is very difficult to prepare."
I pulled my hand away from his and said, "If the wound isn't treated, it'll easily get infected, and you'll convulse to death in less than half a month!" Lin Chong exclaimed in surprise, "I was like this before I came here; I couldn't open my mouth, and my whole body was shaking uncontrollably." — I now know that Lin Chong died of tetanus.
I held up the bottle of hydrogen peroxide, looked at Zhang Shun, and picked up a miniature root carving from the corner of the sofa, handing it to him: "Want to bite on it?"
Zhang Shun forced a smile and weakly said, "Just as Guan Yu underwent bone-scraping surgery in ancient times, so too does Zhang Shun—ah!" Before he could finish, I poured water on his wound to wash away the blood, then gave him a series of injections around it, including anti-inflammatory drugs, tetanus antitoxin, and hepatitis A and B vaccines. I'd grabbed whatever was available in the rush, but it wouldn't hurt, so I gave him everything I could. Now Zhang Shun was like Duan Yu after eating a toad or Guo Jing after drinking snake blood—immune to all poisons.
After treating the wound, I took the external medicine that An Daoquan had prepared, applied it, and bandaged it with gauze. An Daoquan was astonished: "Xiao Qiang's methods are no worse than mine."
I said somewhat embarrassedly, "A long illness makes one a good doctor."