Chapter 158 - 157: A Miraculous Coincidence

Chapter 158: Chapter 157: A Miraculous Coincidence

The group Niu Yuesheng had driven to the Commune naturally didn’t know about the major events happening in the county seat that night. As soon as Yang Wenxue got off Niu Yuesheng’s truck, he jogged all the way back to the office and found Li Dawei, who had been waiting for his return.

"How’d it go?"

Seeing Yang Wenxue return, Li Dawei shot to his feet and asked nervously.

"Hold on, let me get a drink of water first."

Yang Wenxue poured some warm water from a bamboo-cased thermos, gulped down half a mug, then wiped his mouth and recounted what had just happened at Dragon King Pond.

Li Dawei’s expression changed drastically upon hearing this, and he slammed his hand on the table.

"This is bad. Zhao Wendong is definitely going to make a move on Li Guangming!"

"Huh? No way. Does he really dare? He even told me he wanted me to help him report it up the chain!"

Although Yang Wenxue also felt Zhao Wendong wouldn’t let it go, he still couldn’t quite believe he would dare to act so directly. ’Who is Li Guangming? Messing with him would cause an earthquake in the entire county.’ Li Dawei gave a cold, humorless laugh.

"That’s because you don’t know Zhao Wendong. This kid got into a fight this summer, and I brought him in and gave him a talking-to. The next thing I knew, the lid to my tea mug was gone. This one right here."

Li Dawei pointed at his own lidless tea mug and continued his story, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"And guess where I found it later? In the Commune latrine. I gave him a lecture, and he immediately turned around and threw my mug lid into the latrine. That kid doesn’t wait overnight to get his revenge; he gets it on the spot. Today, Li Guangming tried to take him down *and* steal his woman. The only reason he didn’t blast Li Guangming right then and there was either because there were too many people and it wasn’t convenient, so he’s planning to do it tonight, or because he’s planning on taking out Li Guangming’s whole family too. Just you wait. Something big is definitely happening tonight."

"Ah, we can’t let that happen!"

Yang Wenxue grew anxious at once. He shot to his feet and urged Li Dawei.

"Quick, quick! Come with me to Dragon King Pond again. We need to see if Zhao Wendong has left yet. We have to stop him!"

"Sigh... let’s go. We’ll go take a look. Hopefully, we’re not too late."

Li Dawei strapped on his holster and followed Yang Wenxue toward Dragon King Pond. To be honest, he was sure Zhao Wendong had already gone to the county seat, but his sense of duty compelled him to check Dragon King Pond anyway. ’What a waste,’ he thought of Zhao Wendong. ’That fucking idiot Li Guangming. Of all the people to provoke, he had to pick Zhao Wendong.’

Yang Wenxue felt terrible as well. ’I didn’t take this seriously enough. I don’t know Zhao Wendong well enough at all. I was fooled by his act. If I’d known how he operates, I never should have come back. I should have just stuck to him like glue, followed him even to the bathroom.’

Liangzi didn’t go home after getting off the truck either. Instead, he was called away by Zhang Dadan. He and Zhao Wendong usually hung out with Zhang Dadan’s crew, so they were all very familiar with each other.

"What’s up, Dadan?"

"I need to discuss something with you. Don’t leave just yet, Liangzi."

After saying this, Zhang Dadan turned to the crowd of hooligans and shouted.

"Alright, alright, line up to get paid! People from the same village or who came together, line up together. If I don’t have the right change, you can sort it out amongst yourselves later."

Soon, even the ones Zhang Dadan’s group didn’t usually hang out with were lining up to receive their "travel expenses"—fifty cents per person. The hooligans gleefully stuffed the money into their clothes, touched the cigarettes tucked behind their ears, and felt the half-eaten cornbread in their pockets. They couldn’t contain their joy. They had witnessed a huge scene, participated in it, won the fight, and reaped so many rewards. It was a perfect day.

Just the thought of the stunned expressions on their families’ faces when they got home and pulled out the money and food made many of them unable to stop from laughing out loud. ’Let’s see them call us good-for-nothing loafers now.’

Many were eager to get home and show off to their families, so after everyone got paid, they called out to each other and dispersed in twos and threes. After fighting together today, everyone felt their bond had deepened. They had wanted to stick around, chat, and brag a little more, but some of them lived far away. It would take them an hour or two to walk home from the Commune, and if they didn’t leave soon, it would be dark.

After paying everyone, Zhang Dadan took the remaining thirty-four dollars, along with Liangzi and six other brothers, back to the house behind his own. It was their crew’s hideout. Someone instinctively went to grab firewood to heat the kang. Zhang Dadan tossed the rest of the money onto a worn-out quilt on the kang, on top of which lay a scattered deck of playing cards they had left there after a previous game.

Seeing so much money, many of their eyes lit up, but some showed hesitation.

"Dadan, if Brother Dong finds out we took so much extra money from him, it probably won’t be good."

At these words, everyone fell silent. The few who had been excited just moments ago now looked a bit worried, and they all turned to Zhang Dadan.

"Fuck, look at you cowards. I already came clean with Brother Dong. And you know what he said? He said he promised us a dollar a person, so we should take a dollar a person."

"Holy shit, Brother Dong is so generous!"

"He’s the fucking man! I’m completely won over. From now on, if Brother Dong says go east, I’ll never go west. If he says to chase a dog, I won’t even look at a chicken!"

"So, we can’t really take this money, can we?"

Zhang Dadan waved his hand dismissively.

"Stop arguing. I kept Liangzi here precisely to discuss what to do with this money. We obviously can’t just split it and spend it. Liangzi knows Brother Dong best, so he can help us come up with some ideas."

"Alright."

Liangzi nodded readily. He’d been wondering what the big deal was. The group then discussed for a long time. First, they each took fifty cents for themselves, the same amount they had given the others. That left thirty dollars and fifty cents.

"So what on earth should we do with this money?"

"If all else fails, we can just use it as a wedding gift for Brother Dong when he gets married."

"I guess that’s our only option, but it’s not like Brother Dong is short on this little bit of cash from us. Can’t we do something more meaningful?"

Liangzi found this amusing as he listened from the side. He happened to glance at the playing cards they had left on the kang. He picked them up and looked them over. They were pasteboard cards, crudely made. The drawings of the 108 heroes from *Water Margin* were indescribably bad—if you didn’t look closely, you could barely tell they were people. The "circles" weren’t round at all, and the fish on the "bamboo" were all crooked. Staring at the cards in his hand, an idea suddenly struck Liangzi.

"I’ve got it! Haha, I have a great idea."

He suddenly let out a yell, startling even Zhang Dadan. But when Zhang Dadan heard he had an idea, he grabbed him and urged him to spit it out.

"Let’s use the money from Dongzi to make a few high-quality sets of ’leaf cards’! Dongzi loves to play, too. We can give him a set then!"

"Yeah!"

"Great idea, haha."

Everyone’s eyes lit up at his words, and they were all delighted. A deck of cards could provide entertainment for a long time; in this era, it was the best form of recreation available. Out in the fields, a group of three or five could sit on the ground and start a game anytime. Anything could be used as a betting chip. Back then, anyone who owned a finely crafted deck of cards was treated as an honored guest wherever they went.

Staring at the playing cards, a sudden inspiration struck Zhang Dadan, and he looked anxiously at the others.

"How many people in total went with us to the fight today?"

"Fifty-nine!"

"And on Brother Dong’s side?"

"No idea!"

Liangzi smiled. He had been handing out the cornbread that morning, so he actually knew the number.

"I know. Ninety-nine in total. What’s up?"

"Then if you add Brother Dong and his guys, how many is that in total?"

Zhang Dadan immediately pressed for an answer. Liangzi held up his fingers and began to count. He worked at the supply and marketing co-op, so he was quite proficient with addition and subtraction within a few hundred.

"Dongzi, Big Brother, Second Brother, and Er Gouzi... that makes one hundred and three."

"Add in Big Wang and his little brother-in-law, plus the driver. Oh, right, and Little Bastard... huh?"

"Where’d Little Bastard go? Did any of you see him on the way back?"