Chapter 39: Beat Him Up

After eating a quick meal at home, Xiao Cheng hopped onto his grandmother’s tricycle and sped off. A tricycle is nothing like a bicycle; no matter how fast he pedaled, he barely made any progress. The twenty-kilometer journey, which took less than forty minutes by bike, now stretched into an hour and a half on his grandmother’s old tricycle. The thought that his grandmother made this trip every day, sometimes riding home hungry at night, filled his heart with unease.

Tiger Lord’s repair shop was on the edge of the county town, near Dongfeng Village. It was just past one o’clock when Xiao Cheng finally arrived, drenched in sweat from head to toe. He pushed the tricycle into the yard but saw no one around. He called out, “Uncle Tiger,” and someone finally emerged—it was Tai Hu.

“Uncle Tiger, is Wang Yang here today?”

Although Tai Hu was his father’s old friend, Xiao Cheng was more familiar with Wang Yang, since they were the same age and had just cemented their friendship over drinks.

“He’s here, kneeling inside.”

“What?” Xiao Cheng was momentarily stunned, then realized it was probably related to last night’s drinking. Wang Yang must have driven home after drinking and was now being punished by Uncle Tiger.

“Drank and drove! Don’t even think about pleading for him!”

Drank and drove—a slip of the tongue, but not easy to make.

“Uncle Tiger, I’m not here to plead for him; I just want to enjoy a bit of schadenfreude.”

The remark made Tiger Lord laugh. He let Xiao Cheng into the house and went off to the garage for some parts. Inside, Xiao Cheng saw the boisterous Wang Yang from yesterday now meekly kneeling by the bed, balancing a book on his head.

With his hands behind his back, Xiao Cheng circled Wang Yang, making the young man restless and impatient. “Quit circling, don’t gloat. You think being Tiger Buddha’s apprentice is easy? He doesn’t know you well yet. Once you officially join, you’ll suffer plenty!”

Xiao Cheng didn’t argue. People have a bit of inherent mischief—seeing a friend down brings an inexplicable sense of happiness.

“I’ll suggest to Tiger Lord that he change your punishment to horse stance. You could train your legs while being punished—how wonderful!”

“Don’t be wicked! Horse stance is worse than kneeling!”

A box of cigarettes landed in front of Wang Yang. It was left over from their earlier performance; Xiao Cheng had smoked a few but kept the rest, a small favor. Wang Yang glanced at the cigarettes—ten yuan a pack of Hongta Mountain, his preferred brand. He eyed the door, pondering whether to light up, but didn’t dare. Just then, footsteps sounded outside, and Wang Yang quickly hid the cigarettes as the door opened.

Tiger Lord entered, glancing at Xiao Cheng, then at Wang Yang, and said coldly, “Come out, get to work!”

Wang Yang, as if granted amnesty, grabbed the bed and stood up, nearly collapsing as his legs buckled. Xiao Cheng helped him up and asked quietly, “How long have you been kneeling?”

“Started last night after driving home. I sneaked a nap on the floor in the middle of the night, but Tiger Lord kicked me awake this morning and made me kneel again until now.”

Xiao Cheng clicked his tongue. Last night must have been two or three hours, and today another five or six. Tiger Lord was truly strict.

But youth is resilient. Once Wang Yang stepped outside and moved around, his blood flowed and he was back to normal. They worked together with practiced ease. Tiger Lord pointed, and Wang Yang carried over the battery pack and motor.

“Weld a rack under the car for the battery first. Xiao Cheng, come with me,” Tiger Lord instructed Wang Yang to start preparations but called Xiao Cheng inside.

“Yesterday Wang Yang said he owed you a hundred yuan?”

Xiao Cheng was surprised; he hadn’t expected Tiger Lord to ask about this. He quickly reached for his pocket and smiled, “Tiger Lord, we were just messing around. We forgot after drinking yesterday, but I’ll pay him back now.”

Tiger Lord shook his head, indicating that wasn’t what he meant.

“A bet’s a bet. Paying him back is like slapping his face. How did you win?” Tiger Lord was mainly concerned Wang Yang was lying; he wouldn’t interfere in the kids’ wager.

“He gave me a hundred yuan, said if he could steal it before we parted ways, it was his; if not, I could keep it. He didn’t succeed,” Xiao Cheng answered truthfully, omitting the part about hiding it in his sock, since he’d later failed to steal Wang Yang’s appointment slip.

Tai Hu nodded, a hint of appreciation in his eyes. “Wang Yang isn’t good at much, but his fingerwork is extraordinary. If he put his mind to it, not even I could guard against him. How did you manage?”

To Xiao Cheng, Wang Yang’s skills seemed no more impressive than blatant snatching. He hadn’t expected Tiger Lord to describe them as extraordinary. Thinking it over, it made sense; ever since his own awakening, his senses had become much sharper, and he was adept at picking up information from small details, making it reasonable to anticipate some moves.

“I didn’t find it difficult. I just noticed when he tried to make a move.”

Tiger Lord nodded, then suddenly threw a punch at Xiao Cheng’s face. Though unprepared, Xiao Cheng noticed Tai Hu’s muscles tensing, a surge of danger, even the change in his breathing, and instinctively grew alert. The punch came without warning, and Xiao Cheng quickly leaned back and twisted his head, barely dodging it.

“Tiger Lord, what are you doing?”

Tiger Lord smiled, nodded, and said, “Your reaction is indeed quick—a rare talent. Come, let’s head outside.”

Outside, Wang Yang was still bent over his work. Tiger Lord approached, gave him a light kick, and said, “I’ll finish the rest. You, go beat him up!”

Xiao Cheng was baffled and asked, “Beat who? There’s no one else here.”

“You!”

Even with his intelligence over 300, Xiao Cheng couldn’t make sense of this situation.

Tiger Lord grabbed a bench and sat in the northeast corner of the yard. “Go there and fight him. If you can’t beat him, let him beat you. Someone has to get a beating, or I’ll beat you both.”

Xiao Cheng understood—it was a test of their skills. But there was no need to test; he had none! Tiger Lord! I’ve never trained a single day!

“Then get beaten. No one said you needed to have trained.”

Tiger Lord was nothing if not reasonable.

He glanced at the northeast corner; unlike the rest of the yard, cluttered with cars and scattered junk, the ground there was soft and neatly leveled—clearly a training spot.

“Tiger Lord, Yang is already nineteen; I’m only fifteen!”

“That’s why I said let him beat you, not the other way around.”

“Even if it’s training, shouldn’t we use a more civilized method? Fighting will hurt our friendship!”

“You’re overthinking it. It’s not training, just punishment for you drinking at your age. Yang, beat him up for the old scholar. If you can’t, you go back to kneeling!”

“Tiger Lord! About learning martial arts—can I opt out?” Martial arts were supposed to prevent beatings, but now the beating came first. At this rate, he’d be better off fighting street thugs—at least he could run from them.

For Wang Yang, the choice between beating or being beaten was easy. So-called drinking buddies were fragile; the camaraderie built over drinks vanished in two sentences. Wearing a wicked grin, Wang Yang charged at Xiao Cheng, who panicked. Kids fighting is all about physical development. Wang Yang, at nineteen, was at his peak, lean but strong from years of work and training in the art of thievery. If he went all out, even that six-foot-tall bruiser from yesterday might not have stood a chance.

“Yang! I just gave you a pack of cigarettes!”

———

Yang, which one are you on QQ Reading? Step forward, say hello—I gave you a pack of cigarettes, so acknowledge it. The rest of you, friends, please vote.

Also, apologies to everyone. Last night’s scheduled update at 0:05 didn’t post for some reason. I only released it after logging into the backend. You all know I wouldn’t dare double-update without drafts. The past couple of days have been tough—I’ve been stuck on the writing. Seeing your unabashed praise in the comments has helped a lot. Let the praise rain down even harder!