Bro | Chapter 26

Wei Qian was stunned at first. Then an indescribable feeling welled up in his heart. It seemed like a bond without blood, tugging lightly at the very tip of his heart.

He relaxed and leaned back against the cold sink, feeling that coldness was almost enough to dull the pain.

“What nonsense are you talking about?” Wei Qian looked at him, then suddenly laughed. Half joking, he asked, “Kid, how much do you think you’re worth? If they buy back a little girl, she can at least be raised as a child bride. But if they buy a half-grown boy like you, what would they do with you? Have you eaten their food for them?”

Wei Zhiyuan realized he had said something stupid. He suddenly discovered that he was almost unable to change it back now. As soon as he opened his mouth, his instinct was to imitate the foolish child Song Xiaobao and pick the dumbest things possible to say.

Wei Zhiyuan decided this could not go on any longer. Being likable was not enough, and acting spoiled and cute was not enough either.

He stood properly straight, like a Young Pioneer swearing before the national flag, and said with ringing conviction, “When I grow up, I’ll take care of you. I’ll go earn money. I’ll support you, okay?”

Wei Qian’s heart suddenly softened. For the first time, he felt clearly and plainly that there was a piece of his heart that had caved in. It left him at a loss, almost not knowing how to express it, so he could only put on the face of an annoying grown-up and laugh at Wei Zhiyuan instead. “Then hurry up and grow already. I think even a radish grows faster than you.”

Wei Zhiyuan said with solemn certainty, “I want to grow up tomorrow. I… I’ll be good to you for my whole life. Later on, I won’t let you suffer even a little.”

“Grow up tomorrow?” Wei Qian bent down and picked Wei Zhiyuan up with one hand, then tossed the little brat, still barefoot, onto the bed. “Where am I supposed to find fertilizer that works that fast for you?”

The muscles in his arm trembled involuntarily, so much so that holding him up with one hand was a little unsteady. Wei Zhiyuan instinctively threw his arms around his neck, but in the very next second, he drew them back awkwardly. He suddenly felt that gesture was a little embarrassing. It was as if in no more than the blink of an eye, he had already grown old enough to feel uncomfortable with this kind of childish intimacy.

Wei Qian turned off the light and soon fell asleep.

Partly because he really was tired, and partly because he had gained from his younger brother a certain sense of strength that belonged to a real adult. That strength supported him, leaving him calm and at peace.

They wanted his life? It would not be that easy. Maybe Le Xiaodong had not even had time to reincarnate yet.

Wei Zhiyuan fell silent. In the darkness, he kept his eyes open and looked at his brother’s dim, blurred profile.

He had his eyes lightly closed, his expression peaceful. The outline of his nose and lips in profile looked as though it had been painted. His hair had grown a bit long, and a lock slanted across his forehead, showing faint traces of the childishness that was about to fade away.

Within Wei Zhiyuan’s still-forming sense of beauty, he felt there was no second person in the world better-looking than his brother. His brother was like an invincible god, carrying away all the suffering that should have fallen on his own head, holding up a tiny shelter amid the wind and rain.

The next day, Wei Qian still did not dare eat too much. His stomach was still faintly aching.

Wei Zhiyuan ran over to the little restaurant to ask for a day off. After he came back, he started pestering Wei Qian and strongly demanded to go home. Yesterday, the little thing had still been desperately trying to shape himself into the image of a little man, but now his old habits had returned, and he was acting spoiled and throwing tantrums all over again, using every trick he had… He probably did not know any other methods for dealing with his brother.

…The result of his resistance was that Wei Qian stuck transparent tape over his mouth in the shape of a cross.

After stretching a little, Wei Qian sat down and began flipping through the secondhand textbooks he had brought with him.

High school textbooks were a kind of thing that defied the heavens. To sum them up in one sentence, they were as boring as boring could be. But Wei Qian did not think so. He read them hungrily, finding them thoroughly enjoyable.

Wei Qian had been away from school for far too long, and he did not want to go back only to find himself unable to keep up.

Every time he opened those old textbooks, his heart would miraculously calm down… Besides, in his view, they were actually pretty entertaining. The book’s previous owner was an oddball who loved publishing his own opinions. He could even turn trigonometric functions into all sorts of little jokes and skits. This oddball was also exceptionally good at drawing turtles. Aside from the spaces taken up by the main text and notes, every blank corner had been filled with all kinds of turtles, each striking a different pose and showing off in its own way.

Oh, right, and on the very last page the oddball had written: “Once the divine turtle appears, who can stand against it? To master turtle arts, one must first castrate oneself.”

No one knew just what kind of realm this person had reached in his studies.

Wei Qian remained calm all the way until noon, until the person delivering the food arrived.

The man brought two portions of food. Normally, Wei Zhiyuan worked across the street and did not come back at noon to eat, so the food delivery man only brought one meal for Wei Qian. That day, Wei Qian had no appetite, so he had not told the other party to bring an extra portion at all… Which meant someone was watching them.

The hotel had been booked by Zhao Laojiu. It might even have been one of their own properties. If that was the case, then even the room might not be safe, because there could very well be cameras inside.

The moment Wei Qian thought of this, he immediately kept up a calm, unbothered expression. He silently went back to sit at the little sofa and small table that came with the standard room, pulled out a slip of note paper, and while pretending to idly copy the “divine turtle” from the old textbook, quietly settled down and began to think it through carefully.

Wei Qian was the sort who was used to reading people’s hearts. He knew that most low-level fighters were like him, short on money and only wanting to make one grab and leave. For people like them, once they got the appearance fee, they usually did not dare hope for the bonus. Which meant that no one would risk his life for the sake of winning.

If they got through the second match safely, then the third match would definitely come, but the chance of them choosing to use stimulants was very small, because losing was still losing. If they lost, they could beg for mercy, surrender, take a couple hits, and it would not be that big a deal.

But if they were driven into a dead end in the second match, then for the most part these people would not fight a third match.

Wei Qian did not know how closely the other side was monitoring them. He could more or less guess that the hotel belonged to them, but as for whether there was surveillance in the room, whether the phone had been tapped, whether they would be followed when they went out, Wei Qian could not be sure. There might be one or two of those measures, but it was unlikely they could cover everything. Zhao Laojiu and his people probably did not have that much energy to spare.

Taking ten thousand steps back, even if Zhao Laojiu really could cover every angle, and the entire city was in their grasp, leaving these people nowhere to retreat, then at the very least in the third match they could still pretend to be dead.

Being half dead and forced onto the stage, then getting knocked flat with a single slap, that was understandable too, was it not?

Wei Qian drew a playful turtle tail with one stroke, paused at the tip of his pen, and thought, if you wanted to make these poor thugs, who cherished their lives and were greedy for money, throw themselves into a fight without caring whether they lived or died, how would you set it up?

Aim for their weak spots? For example, kidnapping their families?

That did not seem very likely either. Based on what he had learned these past few days, a lot of the low-level fighters had no home and no family, wandering alone with nothing to their names. On top of that, these people came from all over, with accents from every corner. That kind of operation would be too large. Not only would it take too much labor and effort, but once they stepped outside their own turf, accidents would be more likely.

So Wei Qian concluded that this key factor had to be much simpler and more direct, either money or hot blood.

He guessed that the time between the second and third match was definitely very short. It was even possible they would force him to finish both matches in a single day… But how exactly would they force him?

The specific method of operation had to be extremely simple, yet clever and effective.

Wei Qian sketched the turtle tail over and over, thinking that when it came to greed for money, he could keep himself under control. He had a line in his heart, and once he had earned enough, he would leave. And Wei Qian believed that many others were the same, they had that same internal measure. As for hot blood… Which one of their kind had not seen all sorts of people from every walk of life? And some of them were not even young anymore. It was not that easy to stir up their blood.

For the time being, he could not think of it, so he put down the pen and raised a hand to call Wei Zhiyuan over. “Come on, go out with me. We’re sending money to Grandma.”

Wei Qian got dressed and first pretended not to be familiar with the roads around them. He bought a map by the roadside, then held the map while constantly leading Wei Zhiyuan in circles. After two loops, Wei Zhiyuan understood.

The little boy was so sharp it was astonishing. He immediately became wary and wanted to turn around to look back, but Wei Qian reached out and covered the back of his head, stopping him.

He drifted along at an unhurried pace with Wei Zhiyuan until they got to the post office. He kept five hundred for himself and remitted the remaining three thousand five hundred to Grandma Song. Then he took out a handful of loose change and bought two ice creams at the roadside, one for himself and one for Wei Zhiyuan. Only after the two of them had walked all the way to a comparatively open stretch of road with no one around did Wei Qian speak softly to Wei Zhiyuan. “From now on, don’t talk carelessly. Find a way to contact your San-ge, but don’t let anyone see. After he gets here, don’t let him come find us either.”

Miraculously, Wei Zhiyuan understood what he meant. In the same low voice, he asked, “What are you calling him here for?”

“I don’t know yet. Let me think a little more.” Out of the corner of his eye, Wei Qian caught sight of a suspicious-looking person at the intersection who seemed to be sizing up the two brothers. The moment the man met his gaze, he quickly pretended to look somewhere else.

Not a very skilled tail.

Without changing expression, Wei Qian lowered his eyes, raised his voice a little, and changed the subject. “By the way, I still haven’t asked you, how did your final exams go?”

In an instant, Wei Zhiyuan lit up with delight and shouted loudly, “First!”

Because he often deliberately switched back and forth at high speed between acting “very silly and very innocent” and “very smart and very useful,” and because he had rich experience at this sort of split performance, the speed of Wei Zhiyuan’s role change actually made even Wei Qian pause in surprise.

Wei Qian stopped for a moment, then casually asked, “Anyone tied with you?”

By then the two of them had already passed the intersection and brushed past the man following them, both of them acting as though they had not noticed him in the slightest.

And Wei Zhiyuan, like a truly idiotic brat, puffed out his chest, lifted his chin, and showed without a trace of stage fright exactly what it meant for a good student to show off. “No one in our class has ever tied with me! Oh right, Ge, I forgot to tell you, Xiao Bao got tenth from the bottom this time. The teacher criticized him by name, and said next semester she wants to talk to you.”

“…Is that so?” Wei Qian gave a dry laugh. “Why do I feel so honored?”

Even in the middle of danger lurking everywhere, he could still put on such a convincing act, and still not forget to take the chance to put in a bad word about Song Xiaobao too.

Wei Qian thought, ‘This little brat was truly one of a kind.’

Toward evening, Wei Qian received greetings from Zhao Laojiu. Zhao Laojiu first made a show of asking after his health and comfort, telling him that if he wanted to eat anything he should just have someone go buy it. After the first match, they were giving him a week to adjust. If he wanted to look around the area, he could even have the food delivery man act as their guide.

Zhao Laojiu also brought up Wei Zhiyuan on purpose. “That little kid brother of yours is growing way too fast. I looked at his pants, and when he first got here they fit just fine, but in the blink of an eye they’re already a whole section too short… Ah, there’s just nothing to be done at that age, they really go through clothes.”

And saying it was not enough. That very afternoon, the person delivering the food brought over a set of clothes. Once Wei Zhiyuan put them on, they fit perfectly.

They had not even been there for half a month. Wei Zhiyuan had not eaten any miracle fertilizer, nor had he turned into some genetically modified pea that shot up overnight. How could he possibly defy the natural order enough to have his pants become a whole chunk too short in the blink of an eye?

Wei Qian knew this was Zhao Laojiu using Wei Zhiyuan to warn him.

And in return, Wei Qian accepted the clothes without the slightest politeness. Then he asked the food delivery boy about the most upscale places in the city, and in the end chose a French restaurant, taking Xiao Yuan out for an absurdly expensive foreign meal.

Along the way, he acted exactly like a directionless fool who could not tell east from west, holding up the map and constantly asking one thing after another, occasionally throwing out a few outrageously ignorant questions, doing everything he could to coax the boy into talking more.

Wei Qian did not know whether French food was any good. He chose that restaurant because if they walked there, they would happen to pass by the underground boxing venue.

As they passed, Wei Qian cast a glance in that direction and at the same time gave the hand he was holding, Wei Zhiyuan’s hand, a squeeze.

Wei Zhiyuan immediately understood and, pretending to be silly and clueless, asked, “Ge, what are you looking at? What place is that?”

Wei Qian also pretended to be embarrassed. He glanced at the boy leading them, then said in a low voice, “Don’t ask nonsense. That’s where people work.”

A mocking smile flashed across the guide boy’s face, but it was quickly suppressed. Following Wei Qian’s cue, he started talking nonsense to Wei Zhiyuan too. “Yeah, little brother, only the most impressive people around here get to go in there and work. Grow up well, and when you’re older, you’ll be able to go in too.”

As he was speaking, a foul smell drifted over on the damp wind. Wei Zhiyuan covered his nose and, with a blunt, wide-eyed look, said to the guide boy, “You two are fooling a kid. It stinks to death. I think that place isn’t impressive at all!”

At that moment, a huge garbage truck drove out from an extremely narrow alley, loaded with several large barrels of trash and countless garbage bags of all sizes.

Wei Qian rubbed his nose, and his heart suddenly stirred, right, where did all those dead people go?

For those who had relatives, naturally someone would come claim them. But for those who had no family and no one to care, who had not even left behind a real name, where did their corpses go?

Wei Qian’s thoughts spun rapidly. Putting on the act of a bumpkin making a fuss over nothing, he exclaimed, “Oh, you people actually have someone specially assigned to clean up garbage here. We don’t have that where I’m from, we have to deal with it ourselves. We’ve got several garbage dump sites, and they stink so bad they could smoke a satellite right out of the sky.”

The guide boy did not look like any core figure, so he casually told him, “Yeah, someone collects it. They haul it over to the western outskirts of the city. Anything that can be sold, like cans, gets sold off, and the rest gets burned in one big fire. Hey, we’re about to eat, why talk about something so disgusting?”

The west side of the city?

Wei Qian glanced at the detailed map and saw that it was a large open area with no institutions and no notable buildings, probably some barren region where hardly anyone ever went. Nearby there was a small river, winding and twisting all the way from the city center out to that place.

In that flash, he formed a guess in his mind.

And a week passed in the blink of an eye.