Chapter 87: Pretending to Be Something You Are Not

In just a short while, more than a dozen customers were frightened away, and the ones who remained kept lifting their heads to glance around, as if they would leave the moment things looked wrong.

Wang Qiang drew in a deep breath. He was not prepared to call Boss Wang right away, still clinging to a sliver of hope that the bleached-haired thug would not come.

About ten minutes later, footsteps sounded outside.

Heart in his throat, he looked out. Fortunately, it was Xiao Wen leading seven or eight people in, not the bleached-haired thug.

Every one of those seven or eight carried a baton-shaped object wrapped in newspaper. No one needed to guess what lay inside. They were all young, ranging from seventeen or eighteen to twenty-five or twenty-six. Indeed, once men grew older, they either made something of themselves and no longer bothered with this sort of small-time brawl, or they reformed, settled down, and built a home and career in peace.

"Brother Jian."

"Little Jian."

"Are we fighting?"

The group chattered over one another, calling him by all sorts of names.

Xiao Jian gave a grunt, pulled a cigarette from his pocket, handed one to each of them, and lit up his own. "A little punk was just yelling at me, saying he was going to get people and told me to wait here. I want to see what kind of people he can call."

No sooner had he spoken than a shout rang out at the doorway. "It’s that long-haired bastard!"

Wang Qiang looked up sharply and saw a large crowd surging in, at least twenty-odd people, each one carrying a gleaming blade. His eyelid twitched. This was going to be bad.

The bleached-haired youth trailed behind a burly man. A scar ran from beside the man’s left eye all the way to the corner of his mouth, making his face look especially vicious. Under one arm, he also clutched a small black bag.

Xiao Jian and the others, who had been easygoing just moments before, all changed color at the sight of the twenty-plus newcomers. Wang Qiang could even see Xiao Wen’s legs trembling; clearly, none of them had expected things to turn out like this.

Even Zhu Xiaofeng, sitting behind the counter, was terrified. His face went ashen.

The scar-faced man had an imposing air. He walked unhurriedly up to Xiao Jian and said condescendingly, "You’re the one who hit my little brother just now?"

With a cigarette hanging from his mouth, Xiao Jian swallowed hard and forced himself to stiffen his neck. "So what if I did?" His confidence was plainly lacking, so he added, "I’m from the Sea Dragon Circle, with Brother Chun."

When Wang Qiang heard him flash his backing, his palms were drenched in sweat. He prayed the other side would be intimidated by the Sea Dragon Circle’s reputation and let matters slide.

Smack!

The answer was a slap that landed squarely on Xiao Jian’s face, knocking the cigarette flying. The scar-faced man barked, "You’re trying to reason with me? Even Sea Dragon has to show me, Dong Xiaowu, some respect. What the hell are you, just a little brat running with Chun?"

The students around them were so frightened they all cried out.

"Ah!"

"Run, run!"

In no time at all, the customers fled in a panic.

Apart from Wang Qiang and Zhu Xiaofeng, only the two groups remained, facing each other inside the room.

After being slapped, Xiao Jian exploded in fury. He snatched the newspaper-wrapped object from Xiao Wen’s hands and pointed it at Dong Xiaowu. "Dong Xiaowu, is it? Today I’m fighting you to the end!"

The people Xiao Wen had brought, though afraid, still tore away the newspaper one by one, revealing sharpened steel pipes inside.

Wang Qiang watched in terror. On one side were blades; on the other, steel pipes sharpened enough to kill if thrust into a body. Most crucially, the two sides might start fighting right there in the game room and leave a few corpses behind. These hoodlums could simply walk away, but he and Old Zhu had both signed the lease. Where could they run?

The men Dong Xiaowu had brought also raised their blades one after another.

The two sides could erupt at any moment. The situation was extremely dangerous.

Dong Xiaowu gave a wave of his hand. "Beat them!"

More than twenty people all made as if to pounce, and Xiao Jian’s side also showed ferocious expressions, prepared to fight to the death.

Wang Qiang’s pulse raced. He was at a loss, his mind in chaos. The only thing he knew was that he absolutely could not let this large-scale armed fight begin, or he himself would be dragged into it.

At that hair-raising instant, he suddenly roared at the top of his voice, "What do you think you’re doing? Whose turf do you think this is? Huh!"

By this point, Wang Qiang had no other way out. He could only try to bluff both sides. If he had any backing at all, it would probably be the still-unmade call to Boss Wang. In truth, he had no idea how formidable Boss Wang really was; he only knew there would be a crackdown before long. If he failed to stop this now and got implicated later, when the crackdown came, he might well end up behind bars.

Being absent from the scene would be fine. The key was that he was here, on the scene.

At his shout, both groups froze.

Xiao Jian was slightly stunned, not knowing what had come over Wang Qiang.

Dong Xiaowu frowned and looked over. "Hm? Who are you?"

The bleached-haired youth said angrily, "He’s the owner of this game room. He’s the one who told that long-haired bastard to beat me."

"Oh, so you’re involved too." Dong Xiaowu nodded. "Fine. Then I’ll beat you as well in a moment."

Wang Qiang’s heart hammered. He had never experienced anything like this in his life. To say he was not afraid would be a lie. If anyone now told him he could joke and laugh without the slightest fear in front of more than twenty gleaming blades, he would spit in their face. What a joke. By the looks of it, Dong Xiaowu’s men really were the kind to cut people. Not afraid? Do you think you’re some kind of war hero? Two sides of the knife, and your damned captain too?

"Beat me as well?" Wang Qiang pretended not to care at all and laughed dryly. "Do you even know who I am?"

Xiao Jian was nearly laughing from anger. Who are you? Aren’t you just the guy who runs the game room? And now you’re putting on airs? If you were really capable, you wouldn’t have taken protection money from me earlier.

But Dong Xiaowu was a little intimidated. His tone softened somewhat as he asked, "And who might you be?"

Wang Qiang waved a hand grandly, putting on the airs of a big-shot, and said, "You may not have heard my name, but if I make one phone call and bring someone over, you’ll know exactly who I am."

Anyone who could lead twenty-odd brothers around like Dong Xiaowu had to have some sense. He knew what sort of people could not be offended. Hearing Wang Qiang’s attitude, he grew uncertain. Could the other man really be so capable?

Still, Dong Xiaowu was not so easily frightened. He could not be cowed by a few words from some random nobody. So he said, "All right then. Make your call. Let me see who you can bring."

Wang Qiang wanted to slip away while he still had the chance. He did not care whether Xiao Jian and the others lived or died. As long as he was not on the scene, he could run outside and call the police. Even if the two sides killed someone, it would have nothing to do with him in the end. He called out, "Xiaofeng, come with me to make a call."

Zhu Xiaofeng had been so frightened he hardly dared breathe. Seeing a chance to get out, he hurriedly said, "Oh, coming, coming."

Just as he lifted his backside, things changed.

An arm barred Wang Qiang’s way. Dong Xiaowu said, "Why go to all that trouble for a phone call? Use my handheld phone."

As he spoke, he unzipped the small bag and took out a black object about the size of a brick.

Wang Qiang nearly cursed out loud. He had not expected the other side to carry a handheld phone with him. At this point, though, he had no chance to slip away even if he wanted to. He could only steel himself and take the phone, glancing back at Zhu Xiaofeng, who looked ready to cry. With a sigh in his heart, he had already decided that if even Boss Wang’s call did not work, then there would be only two options left: either pay money to settle the matter, or, if money still would not settle it, fight it out.

That warrior’s blood still ran in him. It was only that, unless forced to the last extreme, he did not want to go that far. As the old saying went, kill a thousand enemies and lose eight hundred of your own. If he fought these men to the death, it would probably be closer to killing a thousand enemies and losing five thousand of his own.

From his pocket he took out three slips of paper with phone numbers written on them. The first was Old Yao’s, the second Fang Yueqing’s, and the third was Boss Wang’s.

Without hesitation, under everyone’s watchful eyes, Wang Qiang dialed Boss Wang’s number directly. He could not even think of calling the police. He believed that if he dared press those three digits, he would be hacked to pieces before he could even count to one.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

After five or six rings, the call connected.

Wang Qiang hurriedly said, "Hello, Boss Wang?"

A rich, magnetic middle-aged male voice came through. "Yes. Who is this?"

"I’m Zhu Rongxing’s cousin, Wang Qiang." He identified himself.

"Oh, Xiao Zhu’s cousin. What is it? I’m in a meeting," Boss Wang said.

Wang Qiang immediately gave a brief account of the situation. "My cousin and I opened a game room on Qinghai Road. Right now there are two groups making trouble here, so I wanted to ask you to help mediate."

"People from the underworld?"

"Yes. One from the Sea Dragon Circle, and another named Dong Xiaowu. I don’t know which circle he’s from."

"Ask him."

Wang Qiang mustered his courage and looked at Dong Xiaowu. "Which circle are you from?"

Dong Xiaowu had some sense and replied, "Azure Dragon Gang."

At the words Azure Dragon Gang, Xiao Jian and the others went white in the face. They knew they had provoked someone they should never have provoked.

"He says he’s from the Azure Dragon Gang," Wang Qiang said into the phone.

Boss Wang’s tone remained gentle. "I heard. I’ll have someone come take care of it in a bit. Give me the address. Someone will be there within twenty minutes at the latest."

Wang Qiang gave him the address.

Click. The call ended.

He was uneasy. Could Boss Wang really settle this? I didn’t even say how many people there are, or how serious the situation is. But by now, all he could do was pin his hopes on Boss Wang. Wang Qiang handed the phone back.

Dong Xiaowu took it and asked, "What did he say?"

Wang Qiang said, "He told you to wait half an hour. He said he’ll come right away." He deliberately added ten extra minutes, afraid Boss Wang’s people might not arrive in time.

Dong Xiaowu nodded. "Then I’ll wait half an hour." After speaking, he told the bleached-haired youth, "Go shut the door."

The bleached-haired youth was obedient. He ran over and slammed the door shut with a bang.

By this point, Wang Qiang was even more nervous. He felt as though time itself had frozen.

The air in the game room seemed to solidify. He could clearly hear his own heartbeat, and he glanced at his watch without moving his face, hoping Boss Wang’s people would arrive faster. But every second felt like torture, each one testing the limits of his patience.

Xiao Jian, Xiao Wen, and the others were growing desperate. They knew all too well how powerful the Azure Dragon Gang was, something far beyond what some little Sea Dragon Circle could compare to. Now they could only place their hopes on Wang Qiang. Truth be told, even they found it somewhat absurd. They had been the ones collecting protection money and saying they would cover Wang Qiang’s place, and yet now they were the ones pinning their hopes on Wang Qiang?

Dong Xiaowu dragged over a chair and sat down, showing not the slightest sign of urgency. He had already made up his mind: if the person Wang Qiang called in had some real weight, then the matter would be let go; if not, then sorry, there would be no peaceful ending today.

Three minutes...

Five minutes...

Fifteen minutes...

Time ticked by inch by inch, and Wang Qiang’s heart sank lower and lower. His eyes were already darting around, looking for anything that could be used as a weapon. He had made up his mind to fight for his life.

Suddenly!

Knock, knock, knock.

A rapid pounding sounded from outside the door.