TSIBAMS Chapter 84

Chapter 85

“Mom, I’m really not going back.” Ye Xing tilted his head, holding the phone between his ear and shoulder, taking out the seasoning packets from the instant noodle cup one by one, and pouring them into the boiling water.

“I know, I’m not rushing you to come back right now. For the next six months, just stay at the art studio and focus on your studies. Come over after the joint entrance exam,” Fang Rong said. “You can go back to your old school. I’ll handle the transfer procedures for you.”

“I’ll go back to Chen Town after the exam,” Ye Xing replied firmly while tearing open the seasoning packets.

“What’s so good about that rundown place in Chen Town?” Fang Rong asked, puzzled. “Mom has rented a place near our old home. Although it’s not as nice as before, it’s still better than you living alone in such a remote area!”

This rundown place indeed wasn’t anything special, but it was where he found his path forward and the people to walk alongside him.

Ye Xing smiled. “Mom, it’s almost senior year, isn’t transferring back and forth tiring?”

“Xiao Xing, are you still holding a grudge against Mom?”

“Holding a grudge?”

Ye Xing flipped the lid of the instant noodle cup and secured it with a fork. After wiping his hands, he held the phone and listened to Fang Rong.

“I know you resent me for leaving you there alone, and I know you must have suffered a lot. But you also know that everything Mom did was to protect you…” Fang Rong paused. “Now the debts are almost cleared, and the remaining small debts have been negotiated for deferment. Don’t put any pressure on yourself. Just study hard with Mom and get into a good university.”

“Mom,” Ye Xing said seriously, “I haven’t blamed anyone, and I’ve made many friends in Chen Town. Although the living conditions aren’t as good as before, I’m really doing well.”

“Xiao Xing…”

“The teacher is doing room checks, I’ll talk to you next time.”

After quickly hanging up, Ye Xing let out a long sigh.

For the past eighteen years, Fang Rong had been interfering in almost every aspect of his life—choosing schools, tutors, extracurricular classes… He had grown up smoothly, thanks to his mother’s constant guidance.

Every path was carefully considered, and every step was taken cautiously. The only path he had strayed from was probably sending him to Chen Town.

But he hadn’t expected that he would carve his own way out of this detour.

“Fighting?” the police officer asked.

No one answered.

After all, they were all people who had made a name for themselves on the streets. Being inexplicably taken to the police station was a very embarrassing thing.

Of course, the most embarrassing thing was that they hadn’t even actually fought.

Therefore, on this matter, the four of them reached an unprecedented consensus and remained silent.

The police officer who was questioning them was a middle-aged man. He had seen too many of these small-scale brawls. He could handle many cases of people fighting over a seat on the bus every day. He figured it was best not to make a fuss. He took a sip from his thermos and spoke again, “Who got hurt?”

Still, no one answered.

He pointed at Li Zhendong. “You?”

Then he pointed at Chen Hui. “Or you?”

Li Zhendong’s face showed no expression. He coldly said, “No one got hurt.”

“Yeah, police officer,” Qi Guang said, “We were just messing around.”

“Keep talking,” the officer said, looking at him.

Qi Guang scratched his head and glanced at Brother Xu.

“A few friends had a bit to drink and got a little rowdy, there wasn’t any fighting,” Brother Xu said.

Then came the sound of the thermos hitting the table heavily.

“If there was no fight, why call the police?”

“No one called the police!”

“Then was it a ghost that called?”

At this time, the door was pushed open, and a younger-looking police officer came in. He went straight to the middle-aged officer and whispered a few words in his ear. After listening, the middle-aged officer raised his eyes and waved for the younger officer to leave.

“Are you sure no one got hurt?” the middle-aged officer asked again.

Li Zhendong rubbed his waist. “No one got hurt. Can we leave?”

“Alright, let’s consider it a mediation,” the middle-aged officer pointed at Brother Xu and Qi Guang. “You two can leave.”

Without another word, Qi Guang pulled Brother Xu up and headed for the door.

He had been too angry before and forgot that his lower body wasn’t feeling very comfortable. Now that he had relaxed, he felt a bit uneasy.

The middle-aged police officer glanced at him. “I’ll ask again, are you sure you’re not hurt?”

Qi Guang straightened up and awkwardly smiled. “No, my legs just went numb from sitting for too long!”

“What about us?” Chen Hui asked.

“You must be Chen Hui,” the middle-aged officer turned back. “We received an anonymous call reporting that you engaged in sexual harassment of the bar staff.”

When they got to the door of the police station, the young officer who had whispered to the middle-aged officer stopped them. Brother Xu wasn’t surprised and didn’t have any extra expression on his face.

It seemed this was the officer who was rumored to be familiar with Brother Xu.

“Brother Xu, you shouldn’t have provoked those people.”

“Should or shouldn’t, do I need you to tell me?” Brother Xu said. “I’m telling you, investigate Li Zhendong thoroughly.”

“Actually, everyone knows what kind of person Li Zhendong is. The group of thugs he hangs out with report to our station twenty-five out of thirty days a month. It’s exhausting,” the young officer said. “It’s just that today you had a small squabble. There’s no real reason to punish him. Otherwise, we would have taken him down today, and we would have a celebration at the end of our shift.”

“Didn’t he already get reported today?” Brother Xu frowned.

The young officer sighed. “This matter is uncertain.”

They chatted for a while before the young officer went back inside. As soon as he left, Bai Shu appeared. He rushed over and anxiously looked Brother Xu up and down. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

In contrast, Brother Xu’s attitude was a bit cold. He lit a cigarette and took a puff. “Let’s get in the car.”

The air conditioning in the car was very strong, which quickly cooled everyone down. Brother Xu sat in the passenger seat, and Qi Guang got in the back. Once he got in, he realized that Shuai Xiaoyun was also there.

Seemingly sensing the low pressure around Brother Xu, Shuai Xiaoyun didn’t make a big fuss like usual. She mouthed to Qi Guang, “Are you guys okay?”

“Do we look like we’re not okay?” Qi Guang raised an eyebrow.

Strangely, Bai Shu didn’t speak, or even turn his head. He silently started the car.

Just then, Brother Xu’s phone rang. Like all bosses’ phones, the sound was quite loud. Once he answered it, everyone in the car could hear the conversation clearly.

“Brother Xu, are you alright?”

Although they couldn’t remember the person’s name clearly, they could easily recognize the voice. It was the lead singer of the rock band that Qi Guang had bumped into at the Liao Le Bar earlier.

“I’m fine, just came out,” Brother Xu said.

“That’s good. I just called and reported them,” the lead singer said.

“It was you? How do you know what happened?” Brother Xu was a little surprised.

“I guessed that Xiaoyu must have asked you for help today. Actually, Chen Hui has been harassing her for a while, but there hasn’t been any substantial action, and her boyfriend doesn’t agree with her changing jobs, so she hasn’t made a big deal out of it. Today, she was blocked by Chen Hui in the restroom. She probably thought that calling you would be more useful than calling her boyfriend, so…” The lead singer paused. “But thankfully, things didn’t escalate. She locked herself in the restroom, and Dong Ge sent people to guard the restroom, so nothing further happened. I hope you don’t blame her for being poached by Liao Le to sign an exclusive contract. That’s what her boyfriend wanted, because an exclusive contract means more money.”

“So, aren’t you afraid of getting fired for reporting them today?” Brother Xu asked.

“I don’t care. I reported them anonymously. And even if they find out, I’m not afraid. I’m just an employee, making money is the same everywhere. Brother Xu, I’m not surprised that you went to help Xiaoyu today. In my heart, you’ve always been a person with a big picture.”

“I just like to meddle in other people’s business.”

“I also like to meddle in other people’s business, but I don’t have your abilities.”

After hanging up, Brother Xu opened the window halfway and lit another cigarette.

The air in the car was too quiet, and the breeze that came in dispersed some of the awkwardness. The night breeze was quite cool, so he simply turned off the air conditioning and opened the windows wide.

When he finished his third cigarette, Brother Xu finally felt much calmer and slowly spoke, “Bai Shu, you were too impulsive.”

This sudden sentence made Qi Guang think he was talking about the car being too fast. He looked out the window and it was as steady as usual.

“I would still do it next time,” Bai Shu said without turning his head.

Although they were speaking Chinese, Qi Guang didn’t understand their conversation. From his angle, he could see a hint of rebelliousness on Bai Shu’s face. This was the first time he had seen Bai Shu with such an attitude.

“Next time you call the police again, I, your Brother Xu,” Brother Xu paused and extinguished his cigarette in the ashtray, “won’t be able to stay in this town.”

Bai Shu knew what Brother Xu meant. Although they were well-behaved in their own bar and KTV, if someone came to cause trouble, they wouldn’t fight back and would just call the police. But this time was different. Brother Xu went to someone else’s turf. The instigator is usually not in the right, and what’s more, they called the police first. It wouldn’t sound good if word got out.

“What kind of person is Li Zhendong? Before, you kept saying to me, ‘We’re doing honest business, we shouldn’t provoke these kinds of people’?” Bai Shu finally seemed to explode after holding it in for so long. His voice was louder than usual. “You were in there for so long without any news, and Qi Guang’s phone couldn’t be reached! I didn’t know if you were dead or alive! Shouldn’t I have called the police?”

Brother Xu was a little surprised at how big his reaction was. He glanced at him and continued, “This matter isn’t over today. Li Zhendong won’t let this go, he will definitely cause more trouble for us.”

“We’ll just have to face whatever comes. As long as we don’t break any laws, why should we be afraid of him? Bro, you’re not on the streets like before. You’re a boss now. Is it appropriate to fight all the time? It’s good that you didn’t have time to fight today. If something had really happened, they would be in the hospital, and you would be in…”

“Was it me that went looking for trouble? Didn’t you see what they were doing?” Brother Xu said, a little annoyed, and pulled another cigarette from the pack.

“Putting aside that the girl isn’t even one of us anymore! The point is, you went to help her out, did she thank you? You were even taken away by the police, and she didn’t even come to speak up for you!”

Brother Xu frowned, looking at him. For a moment, he didn’t know if he should be more shocked that Bai Shu had cursed or by what he was saying.

The car in front of them was still stopped at a green light. Bai Shu impatiently honked the horn a few times. Qi Guang, who was used to Bai Shu’s gentle demeanor, was a little shocked by the scene.

Brother Xu probably also sensed something and looked back, changing the subject, “How did Xiaoyun get here?”

Shuai Xiaoyun was about to speak, but Bai Shu interrupted her.

“I couldn’t get in, so I told her.”

Qi Guang, who hadn’t spoken for a long time, moved his lips, “Brother Bai…”

But he was interrupted by Bai Shu again, “I know what you want to say. I admit I was too impulsive in this matter. I shouldn’t have asked a girl to take the risk. It’s my fault, and I apologize to you.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Qi Guang said, feeling a little awkward and glancing at Shuai Xiaoyun.

That was exactly what he meant, but being stated so bluntly, and having an apology forcibly stuffed in his face felt rather strange.

What was even stranger was that these words came from Bai Shu, who he had always thought had good emotional intelligence.

It seemed that this guy was really angry.