TA •Chapter 24

Before he’d seen it with his own eyes, even though Cheng Ke had already decided that Chen Qing was the Black Box Protector, he never would have imagined he could be this weak. He was, after all, a guy who ran with the local boss, so how could his fighting skills be this bad?

Those dozen or so steps felt especially long to Cheng Ke.

In those steps, he saw Jiang Yuduo take an elbow to the back, saw Jiang Yuduo counter with an elbow to the other man’s nose, and the blood didn’t spray until the man whipped his head back. He also saw Ba Pie pull a knife from somewhere.

Although Cheng Ke didn’t know much about the exact form street fights took, he knew people usually didn’t draw knives lightly. Unlike fists, sticks, and clubs, knives could easily turn things serious.

But Jiang Yuduo’s next move made Cheng Ke feel like he understood a little of how he’d ended up in the position of boss.

Jiang Yuduo was turned sideways toward Ba Pie, and somehow, from whatever part of his eyes caught the blade, he reached out and grabbed the edge of the knife. Then he gripped the blade and shoved it hard in reverse.

The knife flew out of Ba Pie’s hand and landed on the ground nearby.

Cheng Ke only felt a sharp pain flash through his own palm at that instant.

Ba Pie didn’t care about the knife. He abruptly raised his elbow again and tried to slam it into Jiang Yuduo’s shoulder. If that hit, Jiang Yuduo would at least have to drop to one knee. If it had been Chen Qing, he probably would have gone down flat.

But before his elbow could fall, Jiang Yuduo’s own elbow had already smashed into his lower abdomen. Ba Pie’s cry was squeezed out from deep inside his stomach, carrying layer upon layer of tearing pain.

The man who’d been fighting Chen Qing’s bike-riding partner raised a foot and was about to stomp on Chen Qing’s stomach. Cheng Ke rushed up, used the momentum to kick out, and sent the man straight to the ground, where he rolled two or three meters away.

Meanwhile, after Ba Pie’s scream, he was temporarily out of commission, and another man lunged over and picked up the knife from the ground.

Cheng Ke was just about to warn Jiang Yuduo to be careful when Jiang Yuduo had already stepped over. Before the man could even straighten up, Jiang Yuduo reached an arm over his shoulder and hooked under his chin.

"Jiang Yuduo!" Cheng Ke shouted.

That action froze him all over. Coldness shot from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, and his mind went blank.

As if he hadn’t heard Cheng Ke at all, Jiang Yuduo twisted the man’s chin, then shoved at the other shoulder with his free hand. The man spun in midair like a top and hit the ground face-first.

Cheng Ke rushed over and grabbed Jiang Yuduo’s arm, yanking him back two steps hard.

Only then did Jiang Yuduo turn his face toward him. He stared at Cheng Ke for a moment before saying, "I told you to run."

Cheng Ke wanted to say something, but nothing came out. Jiang Yuduo’s gaze was just as cold as his movements had been.

He turned and glanced behind him again.

Ba Pie was on the ground, clutching his stomach and groaning in pain with a twisted expression. The top-like man lay on the ground, struggling to twitch twice before going still.

The man Cheng Ke had kicked over got back up, and Chen Qing bounced up from the ground and slammed into him, knocking him down again.

"You," Jiang Yuduo pointed at the one who’d just been knocked down, "can you still move?"

The man sat on the ground. After hesitating for a while, he shook his head.

"No?" Jiang Yuduo tilted his head.

The man froze, then hurriedly nodded.

"Call the people over there," Jiang Yuduo said. "Tell them I’ll be there in five minutes. If they haven’t left by the time I get there, then nobody’s leaving today."

The man looked at Ba Pie and the guy writhing on the ground, then took out his phone.

"Let’s go." Jiang Yuduo went over, picked up the bag Cheng Ke had thrown aside, then grabbed Cheng Ke by the arm and led him onto the side road.

"That guy…" Cheng Ke was still uneasy, and looked back again at the man who was still lying on the ground.

"He just fainted," Jiang Yuduo said, turning to look at him. "What, did you think I’d break his neck?"

Cheng Ke frowned and said nothing.

"No way, Third Brother knows his limits," Chen Qing said from behind while shaking his arms and legs. "He’s never gone heavy on anyone all these years."

Cheng Ke had nothing to say to that.

After they walked down that side road, Jiang Yuduo stopped and looked at Cheng Ke.

"I’m going home." Cheng Ke reached for the bag.

Only when he saw the blood all over Jiang Yuduo’s hand did he suddenly remember the scene from before, when Jiang Yuduo had taken a blade barehanded. No, grabbed a blade barehanded. His own hand instantly felt weak.

"Forget it," Jiang Yuduo moved the bag behind him. "Follow me. We’ll get a cab later and you can go back."

"That wound needs to be dealt with," Cheng Ke said.

"We’ll just go to Sister Xi’s and wrap it up in a bit," Jiang Yuduo said.

Cheng Ke’s head was pretty muddled by now, so he didn’t say much more and kept following him.

It wasn’t long before they came out of the side road and reached another little street that looked like a twin of the one Jiang Yuduo lived on.

It had the same assortment of health and beauty disaster salons, XX early education centers, breakfast shops, and convenience stores.

Jiang Yuduo stopped in front of a storefront with no sign.

"Over there." Chen Qing lifted his chin toward the front.

Cheng Ke looked over. A few people with folded arms were standing by a utility pole a dozen meters away. They were probably Ba Pie’s people.

Jiang Yuduo glanced at them and went into the unmarked shop.

"Go in," Chen Qing said quietly beside Cheng Ke. "If we don’t go in, they’ll come over and start something now."

Cheng Ke followed him inside.

It was a mahjong parlor, with four or five card tables. One mahjong table had been overturned on the floor, and mahjong tiles were scattered everywhere.

There were a few people inside, some sitting and some standing, none of them playing cards.

Cheng Ke looked around. A few of them looked like customers, while several others were Jiang Yuduo’s underlings. He recognized Da Bin.

"Third Brother," Da Bin came over. "You okay?"

"I’m fine," Jiang Yuduo said.

"What about the ones outside?" Da Bin asked.

"Drive them off," Jiang Yuduo said. "Try not to use your hands."

Da Bin nodded and led a few younger guys back outside.

"Only Third Brother could settle this," a man standing in the corner said.

"Shut the fuck up!" a woman’s voice shouted, sharp and fierce. "You’re cheating at my place and you still want to live?"

Cheng Ke jumped. Only then did he see a woman standing by the tea room door.

She looked to be in her forties, tall, probably very pretty when she was younger, but one look told you she was not easy to mess with. The kind of woman who could make you kneel and apologize right there.

She should have been the owner of the apartment he rented, Lu Xi, the Sister Xi Jiang Yuduo and the others had mentioned.

"I didn’t…" the man tried to argue.

"Take out the money!" Lu Xi pointed at him. "Search him. Leave not a single cent!"

"I didn’t even win any money!" the man shouted. "Third Brother! Third Brother! You can’t let your sister be this unreasonable!"

"Qing-er," Jiang Yuduo said, "if he says one more word, strip him naked and throw him out."

"You got it." Chen Qing jerked his neck, cracking it with a click.

The man went silent. Under Lu Xi’s orders, a few of the card players in the room searched him and took out every bit of cash he had on him.

"I’m saying this here today," Lu Xi said. "We play cards for fun. Anyone who dares to be dirty in my place, I’ll make your whole family suffer!"

The man didn’t say anything and moved along the wall toward the door.

"Did I tell you to leave?" Lu Xi glared at him. "If it weren’t for you today, would Ba Pie’s people have pulled off this mess in my place? And you think you can just leave now? Dream on!"

"Then what am I supposed to do? Nothing major even happened!" The man looked humiliated. "Sister Xi, I’m a regular customer too…"

"You’re a regular customer and this is how you play?" Lu Xi said. "My table’s broken too! The chairs are falling apart!"

"My money’s all there," the man said.

"That’s the dirty money you won today. Two different things," Lu Xi said. "Bring it to me before five o’clock tomorrow afternoon. If I don’t see the money before five, you can try me."

Honestly, Cheng Ke had never seen a scene like this. He was stunned the whole time, and only after Lu Xi set the price at three thousand and the man left in a fit of disgust did he start to recover a little.

The people in the room righted the tables and chairs and put everything back in order, and the mahjong tiles were gathered back onto the table.

Chen Qing got a medicine kit and cleaned Jiang Yuduo’s hand, then bandaged it. Cheng Ke felt that Chen Qing’s bandaging skills were pretty good, a little better than Jiang Yuduo’s.

But the wound wasn’t as scary as Cheng Ke had imagined. After Jiang Yuduo grabbed the blade, his hand hadn’t moved, so the cut wasn’t deep. It was just that his delicate platelets weren’t very cooperative, and the bleeding had been a bit heavy, with quite a few drops on the floor.

"Where else are you hurt?" Lu Xi asked Jiang Yuduo.

"Nowhere," Jiang Yuduo said.

"Is this your friend?" Lu Xi looked at Cheng Ke again.

"Yeah. The one renting your apartment is him," Jiang Yuduo said. "Cheng Ke."

Cheng Ke nodded at Lu Xi, not knowing what to say, so he stayed silent.

Lu Xi’s brows drew together. "How did you drag some decent person into this mess?"

"It wasn’t on purpose," Chen Qing said from the side. "He came to pay the rent, and as soon as he stepped out he got blocked by Ba Pie."

"Ba Pie came to block you?" Lu Xi looked surprised.

"It’s fine now," Jiang Yuduo said. "He won’t dare do anything again."

"Hurry up and send him home," Lu Xi waved a hand. "Don’t just stand around here."

"Mm." Jiang Yuduo answered.

"Cheng Ke, right?" Lu Xi turned back to Cheng Ke. "How did you end up hanging around with them anyway? When you pay rent later, have Third Brother go collect it. Don’t come here yourself."

"Ah." Cheng Ke nodded.

"Where’s your car?" Lu Xi asked Chen Qing. "Take him home."

"I didn’t drive. A car can’t turn around once it gets in here," Chen Qing said.

"Do you drive an aircraft carrier? If it can’t turn around, don’t you know how to go out from the front?" Lu Xi said.

"I’ll go get the car," Chen Qing sighed and turned to walk quickly toward the door.

"Just take a cab," Jiang Yuduo said. He pulled Cheng Ke’s rent money from his pocket and handed it to Lu Xi. "Here."

"Keep this. Give me next month’s too," Lu Xi waved it away. "Hurry up and leave. I’m getting dizzy looking at all of you."

Only then did Cheng Ke notice that Da Bin and the others had come back at some point and were all blocking the doorway.

After they got outside, Jiang Yuduo told Da Bin and the others to disperse, then told Chen Qing to go back first.

"You’re sending him home alone?" Chen Qing asked.

"What difference would you make if you followed too?" Jiang Yuduo said. "Aren’t you going to be on duty at four today?"

"…Fine." Chen Qing nodded and left.

Jiang Yuduo pointed to the other end of the road. "Go that way and you’ll hit the main street. You can get a cab there."

"I’m not taking a cab." Cheng Ke said.

"Hm?" Jiang Yuduo looked at him.

"Will there be any more trouble?" Cheng Ke asked.

"No," Jiang Yuduo said. "I mainly just saw that you didn’t seem to want to walk."

"Let’s walk then," Cheng Ke zipped up his jacket and pulled his hood on. "I’d get car sick right now if I rode in one."

"Okay," Jiang Yuduo said.

"Your hand…" Cheng Ke looked at his hand. Blood had already seeped through the gauze again, with a few red spots showing.

"It’s fine," Jiang Yuduo lifted his hand and looked at it. "I don’t even feel any pain."

Once they reached the main street, the north wind didn’t feel as fierce anymore. Cheng Ke turned his back to it, took a deep breath, then let it out slowly.

Still, neither he nor Jiang Yuduo said anything.

He didn’t know why Jiang Yuduo was silent, but from yesterday after dinner until now, Jiang Yuduo had barely said anything.

As for him, he wasn’t speaking because there was too much he wanted to say. His mind was full of the image of Jiang Yuduo neatly and cleanly dealing with those people, layered over the scene of the gang’s protector pedaling a bicycle.

"That Ba Pie," Cheng Ke asked after walking a bit farther, "what was hurt? His intestines ruptured? His bladder split?"

"…No idea," Jiang Yuduo turned his head. "I didn’t use that much force. Don’t stand here trying to help me make it serious."

Cheng Ke smiled.

"You cold?" Jiang Yuduo asked.

"Yeah," Cheng Ke said. "But I don’t want to take a cab."

"I wasn’t telling you to take a cab," Jiang Yuduo said, pointing ahead. "I’m buying you something hot."

"What?" Cheng Ke looked ahead and saw a row of beautifully decorated little shops, coffee, milk tea, desserts.

"Fresh ginger milk." Jiang Yuduo said.

"What’s hitting what?" Cheng Ke froze. "Fresh ginger?"

"Yeah, milk hitting it," Jiang Yuduo said.

After a moment’s hesitation, Cheng Ke followed Jiang Yuduo into a small shop. No matter how he heard it, the name sounded a little indecent, but for some reason he was also oddly curious to try it.

It was actually just fresh ginger crushed up and mixed with milk.

It looked very simple and proper, not like it would taste good at all.

"Try it." Jiang Yuduo handed him the cup, looking expectant.

Cheng Ke was far too familiar with that expression. Every time Jiang Yuduo told him to try something, he wore that same expectant look, appearing especially… childish and sincere.

Especially now, after Cheng Ke had just watched him calmly twist someone into a top, the contrast was striking.

So he took the cup and drank a sip.

He didn’t like milk tea, and he didn’t like ginger in food, much less actual ginger pulp, but facing Jiang Yuduo’s eyes like that, the moment he swallowed that first sip he decided that no matter how bad it tasted, he would have to say it was good.

"How is it?" Jiang Yuduo asked.

"Good," Cheng Ke answered. To his surprise, the answer was actually sincere. He took another sip. "Mm, pretty good."

"I don’t like ginger," Jiang Yuduo took the other cup and drank a big mouthful. "But I just think this tastes good. The ginger flavor isn’t that strong."

"Yeah." Cheng Ke nodded.

When they came out of the milk tea shop, they still didn’t talk much, but the atmosphere was no longer as stiff as before.

When they got back downstairs to the apartment complex, Cheng Ke hesitated. "Want to come up and sit for a while?"

Jiang Yuduo looked at him and said nothing.

"Then go back," Cheng Ke guessed he didn’t want to. He also felt that asking had been a little abrupt, so he turned and walked toward the elevator. "Thanks."

"You’re welcome," Jiang Yuduo replied.

That answer made Cheng Ke not even want to turn his head back. After pressing the elevator button, he just stared blankly at the doors.

The elevator came quickly. The doors opened, and he stepped inside.

The moment he turned around, he realized there was someone else behind him, almost as if they had slipped in right behind him.

He was startled and quickly shifted back. When he looked over, it was Jiang Yuduo.

"What the hell?" Cheng Ke looked at him. "You didn’t leave?"

"Didn’t you ask me to come up and sit for a while?" Jiang Yuduo pressed the floor number and glanced at him. "You really are slow. I’ve been standing behind you the whole time and you didn’t feel it?"

"…No." Cheng Ke said.

"If someone really tried to ambush you," Jiang Yuduo said, "you probably wouldn’t be able to block even one move."

"Who would randomly ambush me?" Cheng Ke said.

Then he remembered what Jiang Yuduo had said earlier, along with the days he’d spent pacing around downstairs.

"The ‘they’ you mentioned, was that Ba Pie?" he asked.

"No." Jiang Yuduo said.

"Then who exactly was it?" Cheng Ke asked again.

"They haven’t been around this side these last few days," Jiang Yuduo didn’t answer directly. "I was wondering too."

Cheng Ke couldn’t ask any further and could only stay silent.

After they got inside, Jiang Yuduo took off his coat and wandered around the living room. "Is this a safe?"

"Which one?" Cheng Ke turned his head and saw him standing in front of the liquor cabinet. "What kind of safe is transparent? Who puts liquor in a safe?"

"Oh, a liquor cabinet then," Jiang Yuduo bent down to look. "I’m just saying, Young Master, even red wine that doesn’t cost three hundred yuan belongs in here?"

"It was randomly bought at the supermarket," Cheng Ke laughed. "You know the prices that well?"

"I don’t know the expensive ones," Jiang Yuduo sat down on the sofa. "But I know supermarket stuff pretty well. I go grocery shopping every week."

Cheng Ke looked at him. Sometimes he felt Jiang Yuduo was a very complicated person. Aside from the way he looked when recommending food, full of expectation, he also couldn’t quite connect the Jiang Yuduo who went to the supermarket every week pushing a cart and buying groceries with the Jiang Yuduo who’d just been fighting people in the street.

"I want some water," Jiang Yuduo said.

"Oh." Cheng Ke hurriedly grabbed a cup and walked toward the water dispenser. "I forgot."

"Let me play with it," Jiang Yuduo said, getting up and following him.

"Play with what?" Cheng Ke froze.

"This water dispenser." Jiang Yuduo took the cup. "You turn this faucet?"

"Yeah." Cheng Ke watched him.

Jiang Yuduo put the cup under the faucet and turned the water on, then immediately bent down and opened the door under the sink, peering inside. "Oh, so it gets filtered from the machine underneath."

"Mm." Cheng Ke responded.

Only after the cup was full did Jiang Yuduo close the cabinet door, take the cup, and drink a sip. "This is pretty convenient."

Cheng Ke looked at him without speaking. After a while, he finally asked, "That day you asked me to teach you taekwondo?"

"Yeah," Jiang Yuduo nodded. "What about it?"

"Nothing," Cheng Ke smiled. "I just feel like if we really fought, I couldn’t beat you."

"You think too highly of me," Jiang Yuduo leaned against the sink. "Last time we fought, I didn’t get much of an advantage either…"

"I mean fighting like today," Cheng Ke said.

Jiang Yuduo took a sip of water and said nothing.

"Why did you tell me to run?" Cheng Ke asked. "And to call the police? They weren’t your match."

"What if they were." Jiang Yuduo said.

"What do you mean, what if?" Cheng Ke asked again.

"What if I couldn’t beat them," Jiang Yuduo frowned. "I hadn’t ever fought Ba Pie before. He doesn’t hang around this part of town."

Cheng Ke didn’t know what he was feeling.

"If you hadn’t been there, I definitely wouldn’t have told you to call the police," Jiang Yuduo said, lighting a cigarette and holding it between his lips. "You’re different from the rest of us."

"Oh." Cheng Ke let out a soft breath. After thinking about it, he still couldn’t resist asking, "You… are you always this… in a fight?"

"Depends who I’m up against," Jiang Yuduo said.

"What I actually wanted to ask was… where did you learn those moves?" Cheng Ke asked. A lot of ordinary street thugs fought their whole lives and still might not figure out skills like that.

Jiang Yuduo was silent for a moment, then took a drag from his cigarette. "Ever since I can remember, I’ve always fought like that."

Cheng Ke felt like he didn’t quite know how to answer that.

"Cheng Ke," Jiang Yuduo set down the cup. "I… I just wanted to ask something."

"What now?" Cheng Ke sighed as soon as he heard that tone.

"Yesterday," Jiang Yuduo cleared his throat, "were you angry?"

After being blank for two seconds, Cheng Ke let out a breath. "Yeah. I wasn’t just angry yesterday, and I’m still not not angry now."

"…Oh." Jiang Yuduo cleared his throat again, then straightened up as if making up his mind. "Sorry."

"Huh." Cheng Ke froze again.

"I really didn’t mean to say you were disgusting. Chen Qing is such an idiot, and I never said he was disgusting either," Jiang Yuduo said. "I was treating you as a friend."

Cheng Ke didn’t really understand the logic of comparing him to Chen Qing, but something in his heart still moved a little.

"A friend?" he looked at Jiang Yuduo.

"Mm." Jiang Yuduo nodded. A wad of ash fell from the cigarette clamped between his lips. He took the cigarette away and nodded again.