Chapter 86: A Sudden Calamity

Dawn was circling above this rising city, and the first-awakened sun had laid its orange lashes upon the tops of the tall buildings. By the roadside, the plane trees had quietly unfurled their soft, fuzzy green palms.

A new day had arrived. The sun had risen, bright and beautiful, and one could not help drawing a long breath of the cool, fresh morning air, feeling the spirit lift all at once.

In the streets, where people came and went in endless streams, a boiling clamor drifted into the ears, as though the whole world were swelling with a hot, lively breath.

When Wang Qiang arrived at Qinghai Road and locked his motorcycle beneath the eaves, he was in a good mood. It had been a long time since he had felt so at ease. He and Zhu Xiaofeng went upstairs and opened the door; no one was waiting at the entrance today.

He took out the key and unlocked the door.

Inside the game room, Wang Qiang opened the windows one by one to let in the air.

Then the rather annoying Little Yellow Hair came in. “I’ve only got eleven yuan on me. Can you give me four hours?”

Zhu Xiaofeng answered, “Eleven yuan?”

“Four hours.” Little Yellow Hair looked at him pleadingly.

Zhu Xiaofeng thought it over for a moment. “Don’t tell anyone else.”

Little Yellow Hair was overjoyed. “Got it. Thanks.”

Zhu Xiaofeng lowered his head and recorded the time.

Wang Qiang, still by the windows he had just opened, took another look. Today Little Yellow Hair’s attitude was much better than yesterday’s. Wang Qiang did not stop him; after all, it was the first sale of the morning, and if it was cheap, so be it.

As time went by, people came in one after another to play.

By nine o’clock there were seven or eight customers.

By half past ten, people were seated at fifteen or sixteen machines.

The power of summer vacation was formidable. Around noon, the game room was already as noisy as a market. Many youths and primary school children stood behind those playing, shouting now and then as if they themselves were the ones at the controls.

Business was excellent. Wang Qiang hoped today’s takings would surpass yesterday’s.

Then, at that very moment, something unexpected happened.

Wang Qiang was chatting with Zhu Xiaofeng at the counter when he suddenly caught sight of two young men in their early twenties walking in. Both wore floral shirts; one with long hair had a red background, while the other, with short hair, had a white one.

“Sorry, there are no open spots at the moment,” Wang Qiang said with a broad smile, greeting them first.

The thin-faced young man with hair nearly to his shoulders rested one arm on the counter and glanced at the thirty-odd people in the game room, saying something baffling. “Boss, business is good, isn’t it?”

Wang Qiang froze for a moment, then said, “It’s summer vacation. Not bad.”

“Mm.” The thin-faced youth nodded. “Everyone calls me Xiao Jian. You can call me Brother Jian. From now on, I’ve got you covered here.”

At once, Wang Qiang understood. He figured they had come to shake him down for protection money.

Sure enough, the short-haired youth trembled a little and said, “This area is covered by our Brother Jian. You understand?”

“Understand what?” Zhu Xiaofeng snapped, glaring as if ready to blow up.

Wang Qiang hurriedly cut in. “I understand, I understand.” He took out a half-pack of Hongtashan cigarettes left from last time, all but gone, and with a full smile gave one to each of them, casually striking up small talk.

He had opened his doors to do business; this was his base, and it was not going anywhere. Men like these, roaming about like flies, if Zhu Xiaofeng offended them, the game room might well have to close. From then on, trouble would come every day.

Fortunately, whether small fry or big shots, anyone who mixed on the streets still cared about face to some extent.

While chatting, Wang Qiang kept flattering them until he had a clear idea of who they were. The short-haired one was called Xiao Wen, and both belonged to some circle called Hailong.

“Circle” was street slang, really just another word for a gang. He had confirmed that they were indeed from that world, so he praised them a few more times. Brother Jian was renowned, he said, and Brother Wen could take on several men by himself. After a few rounds of flattery, both young men were beaming. After all, they were still young; how could they possibly be a match for a seasoned schemer like Wang Qiang, who had spent years rolling around in the world?

“Heh, you know how to talk.” Xiao Jian nodded in satisfaction and smacked his lips. “All right, you seem like a decent guy. From now on, give me one hundred yuan a month, and I’ll handle whatever comes up.”

One hundred yuan: not much, but not little either.

For an ordinary family, it was a sizable sum, after all, about a third of a worker’s monthly wages. For a game room, though, especially one like Wang Qiang’s, it was nothing. On a good day the room could easily take in three or four hundred yuan. It really was not much.

From their earlier testing, he had already learned these two truly were from that world. Today, if he did not pay, he would not get past this hurdle. Normally, anyone faced with such a thing would be furious, but Wang Qiang actually felt relief. He knew that officials are easy to offend but underlings are hard to deal with; as long as it wasn’t excessive, that would do. Smiling, he took out one hundred yuan from the drawer and handed it over. “Thanks, Brother Jian.” Not a single word about money.

Xiao Jian took the cash, shoved it into his pocket, and said, “Good. Nothing else. You keep busy; I’ll take a look around.” With that, he and Xiao Wen wandered through the game room.

Seeing the two of them, Zhu Xiaofeng grew so angry he could hardly contain himself. “Uncle Wang, why give them money? Just wait until my dad comes back, and I’ll make sure they don’t get out of here in one piece.”

Fortunately the game room was loud, so the two men did not hear him; otherwise, things would have surely turned ugly.

Truthfully, Wang Qiang had no desire to hand over money either, but two fists could not beat four hands. With Old Zhu absent today, if they really challenged the pair, it would not be long before a crowd came to stir things up. This was just paying to buy peace.

“Let’s talk about it when Brother Zhu gets back,” he said calmly.

Zhu Xiaofeng muttered a couple of lines, still plainly unhappy.

Wang Qiang said nothing. He lowered his head to check the ledger and saw that Little Yellow Hair’s time on Machine One was nearly up.

So he stood and walked over.

Nearby, two children of eleven or twelve were watching. Wang Qiang told them to move aside, then went to Little Yellow Hair’s side. “Handsome, your time’s up.”

Today Little Yellow Hair was quite easygoing. He did not glare with eyes and nose at him as he had yesterday. Instead he answered, “Wait till I finish this boss fight and save first.”

He was fighting a boss again.

Understandable. He was an old customer, after all. One could not be so heartless as to cut him off midway.

Wang Qiang therefore stood by and waited.

All at once, Xiao Jian and Xiao Wen wandered over here and asked, “Boss, what’s going on?”

“Nothing. Time’s up. I’m waiting for him to get off,” Wang Qiang said.

Who would have thought that Xiao Jian would suddenly slap the back of Little Yellow Hair’s head. He had just been made to feel good by Wang Qiang’s flattery and had accepted money, so naturally he wanted to prove he could control the place. Hearing someone refuse to leave, he struck out. He did not hit hard, only enough to sting.

Little Yellow Hair winced in pain and shot to his feet, glaring furiously. “What are you doing?”

“You try yelling at me again,” Xiao Jian snapped, eyes wide. “Time’s up and you still won’t get off? Don’t you know this place is under my protection?”

At their shouts, everyone nearby turned to look.

Several children were frightened and stood there trembling, too scared to speak.

The lively game room fell instantly silent.

Wang Qiang felt a prickling numbness all over his scalp. This was not protection at all; it was clearly causing trouble. Still, he knew Xiao Jian meant well. But Little Yellow Hair was his customer. He quickly stepped in to smooth things over. “Brother Jian, Brother Jian, give me some face. Let him finish and save first.” Then he looked apologetically at Little Yellow Hair. “Sorry, handsome. How about you play one more hour? On the house…”

“On the house my ass. Get lost!” Xiao Jian barked at Little Yellow Hair. “You want to challenge me? Go ask around and find out who I am!”

Little Yellow Hair clenched both fists hard, his face twisting with ferocity. “Fine. You’re ruthless. If you’ve got the guts, don’t leave.”

Xiao Jian laughed. “Oh? You want me not to leave? Sure. I’ll wait right here. I’m just afraid you won’t dare come back.”

Darkly, Little Yellow Hair said to Wang Qiang, “You won’t get away either in a little while!” Clearly, he had mistaken Wang Qiang for the one who had summoned Xiao Jian to beat him and now bore a grudge. He threw down the threat and stormed out.

Around them, the young people and schoolchildren playing games exchanged glances. Then several grew timid, rising one after another and hurrying out, afraid of being caught in the crossfire.

Fighting in a game room was hardly unusual. A console game room was still relatively mild; in an arcade, people often fought over machines. Wang Qiang had once seen two young men brawl over The King of Fighters ’97, smashing several machines in the process.

He silently groaned. What a disaster out of nowhere. He had wanted to make money peacefully; how had things turned into this?

“Brother Jian…” Wang Qiang wanted him to leave quickly, before the other side really came back and made a far bigger scene.

“You don’t need to say anything. I told you this place is under my protection, so it is.” Xiao Jian did not care in the least. Then he said, “I’m not the protector of just one or two game rooms. A guy like that chronic deadbeat tries to milk as much time as he can. If you’re polite to him, he takes it for granted. Give him a beating or two, and I guarantee he won’t dawdle at the machine next time. No need to thank me.”

Thank you for what?

I’m about to die of anxiety here.

Wang Qiang kept a dark face and said nothing.

Xiao Jian motioned to Xiao Wen. “Go call some people. Have them bring weapons.” Although he looked down on Yellow Hair, caution made him decide to summon a few more men.

Xiao Wen answered and actually went off to call people.

“Is it really necessary to call them?” Wang Qiang asked with a frown.

“You don’t get it. If it really turns into a fight later, we’ll be at a disadvantage without weapons.” Xiao Jian cracked his knuckles; the sound of bones popping came sharply from his hands. “It’s been a long time since I got some exercise. If he dares come, I’ll hack him to death. Right, you should put your things away. If anything gets broken, I won’t pay for it.”

Fight here?

And have people bring weapons?

Wang Qiang felt the world go dark before his eyes. But on second thought, it made sense. If Yellow Hair really came back with people, they would probably start fighting on the spot; who would bother challenging for the scene? It was just that twenty television sets could not be moved away in time, so how was he supposed to put things away? Haul them one by one on a motorcycle? That would take who knows how long.

Was it so easy for me to open a game room?

But in this situation, ignoring it was not an option.

He started worrying. Everyone who ran a game room had a few street contacts to prevent troublemakers from causing a scene. Wang Qiang had thought the same, which was why he had partnered with Old Zhu. But Old Zhu had gone back to Wuhu to pay respects to his ancestors, and help from afar could not put out a fire at hand. Besides, that Yellow Hair seemed to have taken offense at him too. If he really came back with people, would he spare the game room?

Things did not look good.

How could Brother Zhu have gone back at such a time?

Wang Qiang was so anxious he could hardly breathe, his mind racing madly for a way to handle this sudden crisis.

Old Zhu?

Street contacts?

A thought struck him. He remembered that Old Zhu had once left him a number and told him that if anything ever came up that could not be solved, he could ask the omnipotent Boss Wang for help.