Xiang Yu stared at the tempting grass in his hand and said, "I might as well go and see what kind of person this is—but I will never take this grass out."
I nodded, started the engine, and drove to that address.
It was a main street near the urban-rural fringe, wide but sparsely populated. Further on, you could see a huge garbage dump, where truck drivers, whether going there or going back, would usually stop to refill their water bottles or buy drinks.
Along the roadside, a large open-air cold drink stall stood, with at least a dozen tables. Surprisingly, business was brisk in this remote, impoverished area; many young farmers who had finished selling vegetables in the city habitually stopped here to finish a beer before leaving. Beside the stall, groups of two or three young men wandered aimlessly, seemingly a bunch of petty thugs. A slightly hunched, middle-aged man, head down, paced back and forth, immediately crushing any discarded Coke bottles or tin cans he saw, carefully stuffing them into the greasy woven bag on his back.
This is the place He Tiandou was referring to. After getting out of the carriage, Xiang Yu frowned and said, "What kind of place is this? It's filthy."
One of the guys who came up to us immediately whispered, "Keep your voice down if you don't want trouble. We'll beat you up!" He then gestured with his lip towards the group of thugs sitting on the side of the road.
Xiang Yu snorted and remained silent. These petty thugs were no match for him, but he was still holding a precious item, and he had to be careful not to touch or lose it. Therefore, the Overlord did not want to cause any unnecessary trouble today.
I smiled at the young waiter to express my gratitude and asked him, "Why are there so many 'people' here?"
The young waiter glanced at me, probably sensing from my tone that I had some experience in the business, and knew what I was asking. He pointed into the distance and said, "It's because a new nightclub with some 'good stuff' opened up ahead. All the people who make a living stay here at night. You two can make yourselves at home. They generally don't bother ordinary customers. Our boss knows them all."
I asked Xiang Yu for ice cream and beer, and then I sized up each of the thugs. The local hooligans had a distinct urban-rural fusion vibe; they all had nose rings dyed like parrots, but underneath they wore red thermal underwear with wormholes, iron chains hanging from their pants, and rubber shoes on their feet.
Xiang Yu laughed, "Could there be some unparalleled hero hidden among these people?" I glared at him. His biggest mistake in life was his arrogance; he looked down on everyone. Wasn't he defeated by someone like that?
While the delivery guy was bringing me beer, I said to him, "Excuse me, could you please ask me about someone?"
"Tell me, I know almost everyone here."
I took out the note I had written in the car and looked at it again, saying, "Do you know someone in this area named... Wang Laji?"
The guy stroked his chin and looked up at the sky: "Wang Laji... such a cool name?"
I said, "Does such a person exist?"
The waiter racked his brains, thinking, "Wang Laji... Wang Laji... Hey! You mean Wang Laji, right? Isn't that him?" He pointed at the hunchbacked old man who was wandering around picking up trash with his head down and laughed, "So you've all come here to bully him because of his reputation?"
I asked, puzzled, "What do you mean?"
The waiter smiled but didn't answer, instead gesturing with his chin towards Wang Laji's retreating figure: "Just watch."
Xiang Yu and I were both confused, so we looked at Wang Laji. Now I understand that what He Tiandou told me back then wasn't Wang Laji, but Wang Laji; as the name suggests, it was just his nickname.
Wang Laji was probably around 50 years old. He wasn't tall to begin with, and with his hunchback, he only reached about chest height. His clothes were a haphazard, ill-fitting garment, and you could smell a foul odor from afar. His face was greasy and covered in boogers. Even so, he wore a humble smile and nodded slightly as he walked, as if he were being polite to someone.
Wang Laji was quick and efficient; in no time, he had collected the bottles left behind by the departing customers, his smile widening. Just then, a red-haired thug called out, "Wang Laji, how's your harvest today? Come here!"
Wang Laji was taken aback, but quickly regained his smile and walked step by step toward Hongmao with his hunched back, taking the woven bag off his shoulder and dumping it in front of the group of thugs.
The guy at the cold drink stand pulled me and said excitedly, "Look, the show's about to begin!"
Red Hair kicked the woven bag, scattering all sorts of bottles and jars all over the floor. He exclaimed dramatically, "Hey, Wang Trash, you're going to strike it rich!"
Wang Laji bowed repeatedly, saying, "You're joking, you're joking..."
The red-haired man's face darkened: "Screw you, the old rule—one Coke bottle for every 'Grandpa,' three mineral water bottles for every 'Grandpa,' squat down with your hands on your heads. Count them yourself!"
Xiang Yu and I were both baffled and could only continue watching. Wang Laji, still smiling, laid out all the bottles from the garbage bag: eight Coke bottles and twelve mineral water bottles. Then, without any apparent reason, Wang Laji knelt down in front of Hongmao, shouted, "Grandpa!" stood up, took a Coke bottle, knelt down again, shouted "Grandpa" again, and took another bottle…
Xiang Yu's face darkened as he said, "These hateful bastards, why are they bullying him?"
I whispered a reminder to him: "Now you know why He Tiandou called us here, right? He wanted to show us what a peerless hero looks like now."
Xiang Yu held the tempting grass between his hands and asked in a low voice, "Didn't you ask that guy surnamed He who he was in his previous life?"
I said, "I forgot about that. He should at least be a big shot." Xiang Yu noticed my gaze lingering on the tempting grass and said decisively, "Don't even think about it. This grass is for A Yu!"
I said awkwardly, "I didn't say anything..."
By this time, Wang Laji had kowtowed eight times and called out "Grandpa" eight times. He wiped his sweat, gathered all the Coke bottles, put his hands behind his head, squatted upright on the ground, touched the ground again, and then stood up, loudly counting, "One!" Then he did it again, "Two!"... Twelve mineral water bottles, that's 36 squats with hands behind head. By the time Wang Laji finished, he was panting heavily. He carefully tidied up all his trash, and finally smiled at Red Hair and his gang. Just as he was about to leave with a sigh of relief, Yellow Hair next to Red Hair stepped on the bag and squeezed out all the contents, grinning mischievously, "Trying to leave already?"
Wang Laji seemed used to being bullied, bowing and scraping as he asked, "Is there anything else you need?"
Yellow Hair kicked around a few bottles, saying, "How do you calculate green tea? How do you calculate black tea? You're such a bastard!"
Without saying a word, Wang Laji immediately crawled around on the ground, shouting, "I'm a turtle, I'm a turtle."
Huang Mao and his gang laughed and cursed, "Damn it, what kind of bastard talks?"
Seeing that someone was dissatisfied with his performance, Wang Laji had no choice but to put in his best effort. It seemed this wasn't the first time he'd tried to imitate Wang Ba; with this seriousness, he immediately captured Wang Ba's methodical, slow-moving manner perfectly. Huang Mao picked up a small stone and threw it at Wang Laji's head, and Wang Laji immediately shrank back like a startled turtle. Huang Mao and his gang burst into unrestrained laughter, and Wang Laji cautiously offered a forced smile, tentatively standing up.
Just then, a thug with a full head of green hair led a group of people across the street and rushed over, kicking away Wang Laji's things that he had painstakingly reorganized. Our friend next to us said, "See that? There are several groups of people here. They compete to bully Wang Laji every day. Whoever can bully him the most creatively has the most face."
Xiang Yu slammed his hand on the table without saying a word. But I knew that Brother Yu was truly angry.
After Wang Lajie's sack was kicked apart countless times on the ground, he displayed a mental fortitude superior to even a sniper. He remained calm and collected; upon seeing a Coke bottle, regardless of who was in front, he would drop down, shove his head into it, call out "Grandpa," and then conscientiously retrieve the bottle. Upon seeing a mineral water bottle, he would squat down three times, covering his head. And upon seeing anything else, needless to say—he would crawl like a turtle. Red Hair and Yellow Hair looked at Green Hair smugly, their expression conveying: "Look how well-behaved Wang Lajie has become; now it's your turn."
Wang Laji, oblivious to his own bluffing backfired, continued his obsequious antics. Green Hair's face grew increasingly grim, and suddenly he kicked Wang Laji in the rear with all his might. Caught off guard, Wang Laji screamed and darted away like an arrow, bouncing around 200 meters before slowly turning back, a smile plastered on his face again. A thug glanced at it and said, "Hmm, not bad, broke Liu Xiang's record," eliciting a burst of laughter.
Green Hair regained some face and beckoned to Wang Laju with a smile, saying, "Come here! I'll give you a good job—"
Wang Laji hurriedly ran over. Green Hair grabbed him by the collar, pointed at a fashionable woman across the street, and said viciously, "Go ask that woman what color underwear she's wearing. There'll be a reward when you get back."
Wang Laji's smile froze for a moment, but he nodded again, "Yes, yes." He then turned to run across the street. Several thugs asked with wicked grins, "How do we verify it?" Green Hair said arrogantly, "Wang Laji, if you can't get the answer from us, we'll have to go see for ourselves."
Wang Laji ran up to the girl quickly and said something. The girl was stunned for a moment, then casually slapped him across the face. Green Hair and his gang laughed. After all, they were just small-time thugs and couldn't do anything too outrageous, so they let the girl go.
Xiang Yu was trembling with anger. He pointed at Wang Laji and said, "Even if he was a peerless hero in his past life, is it worth caring about someone who has fallen to this state?"
I chuckled and said, "Brother Yu, that's not how it works. Zhang Bing didn't know who she was before; she was just a little woman."
Xiang Yu sighed heavily, "A hero grows old, a hero grows old!"