When Jiang Cheng heard the sound of a motorcycle, he paused for a split second to wonder if it was Gu Fei. Just as he was about to look out the window, he heard an engine revving outside, roaring with the sudden acceleration. That sound confirmed it: Gu Fei had come, and he was here to fight.
Before checking on the state of the battle outside, he reached behind him and grabbed the slingshot on the table, then lunged toward the window to pick up some pebbles from the hanging planter. Pulling back the sling, he finally checked out what was going on downstairs as he took aim.
His whole body froze in shock when he caught sight of Gu Fei standing in the street, shirtless, with a black rubber stick in his hand.
He had never seen Gu Fei leave the house without a shirt before. Even at home, Gu Fei hardly ever went shirtless because of Gu Miao. Of course, he sometimes went without pants when he was over at Jiang Cheng’s place, but that was another matter entirely…
The point was that right now, Gu Fei was dressed in nothing but a pair of track pants with white stripes running down the sides, holding a stick in his hand.
This was the long-absent Young Tyrant of the Steelworks.
Li Hui had brought four people, five including himself. Jiang Cheng trained his eyes on them, sling pulled tight, but aside from Li Hui, none of the other guys showed any signs of wanting to make a move.
He figured Li Hui’s helpers must all be guys from around the neighborhood. Gu Fei might have “lost” to Monkey before, but jumping over hurdles clearly didn’t represent actual prowess in a fistfight—these people no doubt still felt apprehension at the thought of going up against Gu Fei.
Though he couldn’t hear what Li Hui and Gu Fei were saying to each other, Jiang Cheng could tell that Li Hui was exceedingly agitated and angry. Soon, he saw Li Hui swing his fist.
Jiang Cheng didn’t get to release the pebble he’d been holding. Before Li Hui’s fist could complete its leisurely arc through the air, Gu Fei’s punch had already landed on his nose.
Li Hui stumbled back violently, then reached a hand behind himself.
There it is.
When Li Hui pulled out a cleaver from behind his back, Jiang Cheng released his sling with a pop. The pebble shot out to strike Li Hui’s wrist.
Jiang Cheng had tested the power of this slingshot many times already. This one strike would have Li Hui’s hand swelling up for sure. If he’d used a steel bearing instead, it could easily have fractured bone.
Li Hui’s cleaver clanged to the ground. Before he could stoop to pick it up, Gu Fei stepped on it and swung his baton down on Li Hui’s shoulder.
Then, at last, Gu Fei turned to look up.
Retreating swiftly from the window, Jiang Cheng opened the apartment door and flew down the stairs three steps at a time. He couldn’t keep hiding in his room and sniping from the dark. If he did, all their fury would converge on Gu Fei. He didn’t want Gu Fei to get tangled up in this kind of mess again. He didn’t want to see another moronic steelworks duel.
By the time Jiang Cheng charged out of the stairwell, Gu Fei had already kicked the cleaver to the side. His black rubber baton had been tossed aside too. Hands empty, Gu Fei stood face-to-face with Li Hui.
“If you want trouble, I can keep you company,” he said.
“I don’t need your company!” As Li Hui dragged his hand over his mouth, he noticed Jiang Cheng racing out of the building and immediately pointed at him. “You’re the one I’m looking for.”
A corner of Jiang Cheng’s mouth tugged upward in a smirk. “What’s your business with me?”
“It doesn’t have to do with him anymore,” Gu Fei said. “Right now, the problem’s between you and me. If you think Jiang Cheng called me here as backup, you can find someone to help you too. Who are you gonna pick?”
Awkward expressions surfaced on the other guys’ faces. They all looked deeply uncomfortable. One of them frowned and said, “Li Hui, could it be a misunderstanding? It wouldn’t look very good if it really is a misunderstanding, us going after a kid like this.”
“Thirty thousand yuan!” Li Hui yelled as he clutched his shoulder, clearly still smarting from Gu Fei’s baton. “Jiang Cheng, spit out the thirty thousand you took from my dad, and I’ll forget about this whole thing!”
“If Li Baoguo had thirty thousand to spare,” Jiang Cheng growled, trying to suppress his rage and irritation, “you wouldn’t have managed to goad him into killing himself.”
Riled up, Li Hui charged at Jiang Cheng, cursing. “That’s a crock of shit! He jumped right after you went up—”
But he didn’t get to take more than two steps. He didn’t even finish speaking before Gu Fei lunged to one side and landed a solid kick to his stomach. Li Hui immediately doubled over into a ball. Closing in, Gu Fei slammed an elbow against his back. Once Li Hui was kneeling on the ground, Gu Fei grabbed Li Hui’s hair in one hand and bashed his knee into his face.
When he finally let go, Li Hui fell flat on his back. The blood gushing from his nose made a mess of his mouth.
Watching the series of fluid moves Gu Fei made, Jiang Cheng couldn’t decide how he felt about it. Every time he saw Gu Fei fight—or rather, every time he saw Gu Fei beat someone up—he was a little shaken.
It was the cold expression on Gu Fei’s face, and the decisiveness and precision with which he made every move.
That ferocity was the reason he’d bestowed the title of Young Tyrant of the Steelworks on Gu Fei. But that wasn’t entirely accurate either. “Young Tyrant” was a little too cute for what Gu Fei was; it wasn’t adequate to describe all that he encompassed.
If Gu Fei hadn’t been Gu Fei, he would have been an actual brutal tyrant of the steelworks whom no one dared defy.
The Steelworks’ Number One Boss.
Overlord Gu of the Steel Mills.
Jiang Cheng looked at Li Hui, who had been lying face up on the ground for a while now and didn’t seem to be getting up any time soon. Then he turned to the helpers Li Hui had brought. They were still watching coolly from the sidelines, and none of them made any move to come help him up. He was suddenly at a loss for what to do next.
“Li Hui,” Gu Fei said. “Don’t think I don’t know the kind of person you are. Everyone who grew up around these parts knows you. I’ll consider this matter closed. You know better than anyone whether your dad really had savings, and where he kept them if he did.”
Li Hui cupped his nose with one hand. His leg shifted slightly, but he stayed quiet.
Gu Fei looked around at the other guys. “I’ll say this again. I grew up here, so anyone who knows me knows this: I never go looking for trouble, but if anyone gets the idea in their fucking head to cross me, I’m not gonna just roll over and take it.”
They all laughed nervously. Gu Fei fixed his gaze on one person in particular. “San Gou.”
“Ahh, I know, I know.” The one he called San Gou came over and clapped Gu Fei on the shoulder. “This must’ve been a misunderstanding. A total misunderstanding!”
“I appreciate it, everyone.” Gu Fei bent down and picked up the rubber baton from the ground, returning it to the back fender of his motorcycle.
San Gou waved his hand, and, after some hesitation, the others all turned and left with him. Out of these so-called helpers Li Hui had brought, not one of them so much as bothered to help him up.
Jiang Cheng stared in shock at Li Hui lying on the ground, suddenly overcome with complicated feelings. This place, and the people who lived here, were difficult to describe fully.
“Let’s go.” Gu Fei got onto his bike. “Do you have to go upstairs to get your books?”
“Mm. I’ll go…get them.” Jiang Cheng shot another glance at Li Hui, then lowered his voice and said, “What about him?”
“He’ll walk away on his own in a bit,” Gu Fei said. “Not like I broke any bones.”
“Okay. Wait for me.” Jiang Cheng quickly turned into the stairwell.
He ran upstairs and picked up the backpack he’d already packed, put his slingshot back in the drawer, then pulled a T-shirt at random from his closet before running back downstairs. When he emerged from the building again, Li Hui was no longer lying on the ground. Jiang Cheng looked down the street and spotted him crossing the road slowly with his back hunched.
“Put this on.” Jiang Cheng tossed the T-shirt to Gu Fei.
“He’s not gonna come bother you again.” Gu Fei glanced down the road as he pulled the shirt over his head. “My guess is he probably owes someone money.”
Jiang Cheng sighed.
“If he comes again, you have to tell me,” added Gu Fei. “Don’t engage with him. You have to stay away from people like him. Don’t let it distract you from studying.”
Jiang Cheng frowned. “And what about you?”
“I know how to deal with these kinds of people.” Gu Fei gave him a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry.”
Jiang Cheng didn’t reply as he got onto the bike behind Gu Fei. As the engine roared to life, he gently rubbed his hands against Gu Fei’s sides. “Is this the only way to deal with these things?”
“Yeah,” Gu Fei replied. “How else? You don’t have a reason to call the police, and the cops can’t do anything about it anyway. If you want to appeal to his reason, well…if he was reasonable, he wouldn’t have come after you in the first place. With people like that, your only choice is to beat them into submission until they’re too afraid to come bother you again.”
“That was how you used to resolve things back then, right?” said Jiang Cheng.