Chapter 110: Furious Wrath

“So you get rich while I take all the risks?” Wang Yang asked warily.

Little Cheng laughed. “Ocean Pirate, you’re getting smarter! You finally realize you were born to be the sucker?”

If Ding Sinuo had not been there, the bamboo skewer in Wang Yang’s hand would already have flown across the table.

“You little bastard, you’re full of crooked schemes. Go ahead and use me! Now tell me—what is it?”

Little Cheng’s smile faded, and his gaze sharpened. “Old Crooked. Ever heard of him?”

No matter how fiercely the sun blazed overhead, there would always be places on the ground that its rays could not reach. No matter how high the mighty held their heads, there was bound to be a patch of shadow beneath their wings. In a small place like Red Star County, such shadows were even deeper, a breeding ground for every kind of filth. As the saying went, the sky was high and the emperor was far away. Businesses too unsavory for the great cities could flourish vigorously in places like this.

Such disreputable enterprises were known as “crooked trades,” and Old Crooked made his living exclusively from them.

“Who in the underworld hasn’t heard of Old Crooked? Let me put it this way: while I was inside, I heard his name so often my ears nearly grew calluses. Half the local prisoners locked up in the Second Detention Ward were his men! Every game arcade and billiards club in the county with slot machines belongs to him. Anyone else in the business wouldn’t dare touch gambling. The Hot Springs Palace at Little Tang Mountain and the Sunshine Manor in Bridge Town are both his properties.”

Wang Yang paused, then gave a mysterious smile.

“Actually, Sunshine Manor is an underground casino, and the Hot Springs Palace at Little Tang Mountain is a brothel.”

Little Cheng had no interest in those places. “What kind of man is he? Do you know?”

Wang Yang shook his head. “I’ve never met him. But he knows how to conduct himself. When Tiger Lord and I opened our repair shop, we didn’t tell anyone. We only set off a string of firecrackers at the entrance, yet he still had someone send us two enormous flower baskets.”

Little Cheng thought for a moment. Someone who had recently gotten out must have tipped Old Crooked off. Word of Tiger Lord’s formidable reputation had reached him, so he had made an advance move and placed a harmless-looking piece on the board.

“Why are you asking about him? Let me tell you, kid, don’t get cocky. A man at his level isn’t someone you can afford to provoke!”

Little Cheng shook his head. “It’s nothing. Isn’t he running a casino? I just want to go in and win some money.”

Wang Yang rolled his eyes. “You’ve gone mad dreaming of getting rich! Win a little money? Do you think you’re the God of Gamblers? How many people walk into a casino without ending up bankrupt? If the Old Scholar finds out, he’ll beat you to death when you get back!”

Little Cheng could not be bothered to explain. “Whether I win or lose isn’t your concern. I’m confident I can win. I just don’t know how much of it I’ll be able to take out.”

Wang Yang’s face was full of disdain. “You’ll be able to take out however much you win! The people running the place are only afraid you won’t come!’

Little Cheng said seriously, “A million. Is that a problem?”

“How much? A million?” The meat Wang Yang had just bitten into fell from his mouth. “Give me a break, brother. A million? Do you even know how much money that is? You’d need a sack to carry it—at least sixty or seventy pounds! Do you know how heavy sixty or seventy pounds is? You know those battery packs loaded onto your grandmother’s tricycle? The ones you and I had to carry together? Those weren’t even sixty pounds!”

It was not only Wang Yang who was stunned. Even Ding Sinuo was left speechless.

When Little Cheng had first mentioned Old Crooked, she had assumed he meant to stand up for her. Whether he succeeded or not, the fact that he had been willing to consider it had warmed her heart. But from what he was saying now, he seemed intent on doing far more than merely causing trouble for Old Crooked.

“Little Cheng, I’m telling you, don’t get any crooked ideas. Even if you really are the God of Gamblers, don’t provoke someone like Old Crooked. With the little strength we have, we’re not qualified to fight him. He’s the godfather of Red Star’s entire underworld! Anyone who makes a living on the streets has to show him respect. Red Star County is a tangled mess of good and bad people. Go ask around—has anyone ever dared to make trouble in Old Crooked’s casino?”

“I’m not going there to make trouble. I’ll enter properly, gamble properly, and leave after I win. He can’t possibly refuse to let me go, can he?”

Wang Yang tapped the tabletop with the bamboo skewer in his hand and patiently explained, “If you win thirty or fifty thousand, they’ll politely escort you out and even say, ‘Please come again.’ But you open your mouth and say a million! How much capital are you planning to bring? A million on you wouldn’t be money anymore—it would be a disaster! You think they’d watch some kid walk out of their casino carrying a sack of cash?”

Little Cheng narrowed his eyes and stared into the distance. “I think it’s rather risky too. That’s why I asked you to help me think of a way. You don’t need to worry about anything else. Just figure out how to get the money exchanged and taken out. Don’t worry about him coming after us later. He won’t have the chance.”

Ocean Pirate was about to say something, but Little Cheng cut him off.

“Forget it. If you’re afraid, I’ll find someone else.”

At once, Wang Yang’s eyebrows shot up. He drained half a glass of draft beer in one gulp, wiped his mouth with his forearm, slammed the glass onto the table, and said, “I’m afraid? Damn it, have you even asked around? I’ve been running the streets alone since I was fifteen, and I’ve been through prison too! Is there anything I’m afraid of? Tell me—how are we doing this?”

“How we’re doing it, I’ll tell you over the phone later. Wait here for a while. I need to take care of something… No, don’t wait for me. When you’re done eating, take her home. And don’t follow me!”

Little Cheng stared fixedly into the distance. As he spoke, he rose from his seat. By the time Wang Yang reacted, Little Cheng had already plunged into the crowd and vanished.

After confirming that he could no longer find Little Cheng among the stream of people, Wang Yang turned to Ding Sinuo.

“He didn’t leave without paying the bill, did he?”

…

The Jinzhou barbecue stall stood beside a row of residential buildings near the roadside. The ground there was slightly elevated, giving it a better view. When Little Cheng had taken his seat, he had deliberately chosen a place facing the street. While eating, he had kept searching from the corner of his eye for his grandmother’s candied-fruit cart.

He never found his grandmother.

Instead, he spotted someone else.

Qiu Zeyan, Qiu Hui’s father.

Little Cheng’s eyesight had not been enhanced, but when he looked at a person or an event, the information he gathered was still far beyond what an ordinary person could perceive. Under the veil of night, his vision was limited, and from this distance the figure was nothing more than a blurry shadow, impossible to identify.

Yet Little Cheng recognized him from the way he walked.

At first, he was not entirely certain. But when he saw Qiu Zeyan step out of an administrative enforcement vehicle and then peer furtively around a fruit stall, everything became clear.

His grandmother’s tricycle was parked not far from the fruit stall.

What a despicable bastard!

People said that when a person became angry, their intelligence approached zero. At that moment, Wen Xiaocheng’s intelligence of more than three hundred was almost entirely useless. No matter how foolish it might seem, no matter how high the price, Little Cheng had already made up his mind.

If Qiu Zeyan dared lay a finger on his grandmother, he would kill him.

This time, there would be no need to wait for revenge afterward. He would eliminate him on the spot.

“Hey, hey! Calm down, buddy. In theory, your intelligence is higher than Einstein’s. Aren’t you demeaning yourself a little too much?”

Naturally, it was Wen Xiaodao who had appeared, but Little Cheng could not hear a word.

Once he calmed down, there were indeed many ways to resolve the situation. But every one of them required restraint, and right now Little Cheng could not endure even a single second.

Everyone had a place inside them that must never be touched.

Touch it, and you died.

“He hasn’t made a move yet. Are you planning to wait until the instant he does and then kill him? Or should you consider striking first?”

Whether he would act was not a question. Only how he would act required thought.

When a person entered a state of contemplation, emotion was temporarily suppressed. It was like meditation, when one felt neither joy nor sorrow. Gradually, Little Cheng began to calm down.

“I’m useful for more than harassing women!” Wen Xiaodao patted Little Cheng on the shoulder in the virtual world and gave him a lecherous grin. “When you’re rational, you’re invincible. You know what to do.”

——

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