It had always been a society where power and background prevailed. As for those arrogant nobodies, it was useless to enlighten them with laws and moral standards. A better way of teaching them who was actually in charge was to let them realize that you were someone they couldn’t afford messing up with. For example, you were in good relationship with some big shot they dared not to offend. As a result, they would stay away from you as far as they could and serve you as one of them.
Therefore, instead of talking with fists and feet, Qin Sheng had chosen to show his cards on the table directly to act swiftly.
Right at that moment, those gang bangers, together with their big boss, who had stuck up their noses at Qin Sheng earlier, were soon getting upset, as they were sober enough to know that they were right in the middle of something. Apparently, the man in front of them was unquestionably a dangerous man to cross, or else he wouldn’t have been able to call all those powerful people from the entire Huairou District out for help, right?
The gang leader seemed to be seized in huge terror. He asked while looking at Lao Guo’s son, “Do you know who the young man is?”
Of course, the son couldn’t have known all these real big shots here, but he too got to realize they were in a bad situation since his “big brother” was scared to almost wet his pants with a solemn look on his face. What’s more, compared with the other side who were all in their glorious outfits, they, however, were dressed like the Ragged Dick.
“I don’t know. I thought he was here to guard the tombs,” answered Lao Guo’s son with a trembling voice.
The leader threw a hell of a slap in the face of Lao Guo’s son, and cursed him angrily, “F*ck! Are you setting me up?”
Qin Sheng couldn’t care less about their internal conflicts. He just stood there with a smile on his face, waited for things to work out between them, and then began to bring justice for Lao Guo.
“Xiao Sanzi, what a spirit you’re showing in front of all your buddies.” Quite a few middle-aged men walked upward slowly with an authoritative presence and recognized the gang leader, who had acted like a cocky rooster before Qin Sheng.
These middle-aged men were also irritated. They had been chatting over wine when an unexpected phone call had come all of a sudden, saying that someone in Huairou District had been stupid enough to mess up with the son of a big shot, and they had better go check to make sure it wasn’t one of their own if they didn’t want to get involved.
Hanging up, these local big shots had all trooped out into this remote mountainous area to find out that black sheep. This phone call from that “big brother” in person had surely been proof that the big shot behind the scene might be of great power. Anyway, Sijiu City was a place full of hotshots. Yet the moment they had met the young man, he had greeted them with full politeness while handing out cigars to each of them, not putting on airs at all, which shamed them quite a bit. They had all been praying that the stupid son of a b*tch better not to be one of their own people, or else what would that make them?
These men did precisely what Qin Sheng had told them to, pulled their cars over on the roadside, waited silently for the signal, and no one dared to call for inquiry so as to keep themselves away from troubles otherwise.
After 30 minutes of waiting, they had finally gotten to meet the culprit whom they had guessed to be a somebody but turned out to be a nobody. They all cursed in their minds since It was not worthy of bothering at all. Yet, no matter how reluctant they were, they all had to follow the rules unless they were not going to do business.
Among these big shots, some felt relieved while some worried. The former felt relieved to see that stupid thing wasn’t their man, while the latter was anxious to find out that the culprit was one of his men. Damn it!
As soon as the gang leader called Xiao Sanzi caught sight of the middle-aged man, he greeted him in distress. “Brother Long, what brings you here?”
Brother Long stepped forward, kicked Xiao Sanzi over to the ground without even the slightest trace of pity, and asked in resentment, “What brings me here? You don’t know the goddamn reason? Not bad for you, even more awesome than me. Let me ask you something, you don’t want to live, do you?”
Xiao Sanzi crawled his way up to Brother Long’s knees hastily, yelling loudly before him, “Brother, I was wrong. I didn’t know this brother was one of your friends. I had been fooled, and I was so wrong!”
“What’s the f*cking point of begging me now? I’ll go handle you fool later.” Brother Long gave him another slap in the face and cursed him in fury. What a f*cking day.
Xiao Sanzi soon understood and began begging for mercy while kneeling down in front of Qin Sheng. “Grandpa, you’re now my dear, dear grandpa. I failed to recognize you and offended you. Please show some mercy on me and forgive my ignorance. I’ll be your servant with all my heart.”
Qin Sheng found it both funny and annoying in his words. See? How realistic it is. The leader, who was feisty as a cocky rooster a minute ago, had lowered himself down to the dust in the blink of an eye.
As Xiao Sanzi was of no use, Lao Guo’s son, who had been standing by his side, was frightened to death. He had finally come to realize that those men were the real deal—they would kill him in cold blood without any hesitation. He regretted somehow for what he had done before looking into the man’s background.
Brother Long, too, apologized in a sincere way. “It’s all my fault to let them mess around and get you in trouble, bro. But now you have my word, I’ll definitely give you a satisfactory answer on this matter.”
Qin Sheng smiled and said, “Don’t bother. It’s just a bit of misunderstanding.”
Brother Long asked for Qin Sheng’s opinion, “Then how would you like to handle it?” He would bury the idiot alive with no hesitation if Qin Sheng asked him to do so.
Qin Sheng had worked out strategies earlier as to show his respect to these local big shots since he would still need their help on this matter. Thus, he said in a flat voice while looking at Xiao Sanzi, “He is all yours now, and you can dispose of him as you wish.”
Then he pointed his finger at Lao Guo’s son and said, “But he will be at my disposal. There are still things to be settled between us.”
Lao Guo’s son was scared to half-death at the sight of Qin Sheng’s finger pointing at his face. He planned to flee on-site subconsciously but was grabbed immediately by two of Brother Long’s men. He was almost knocked out after quite a few punches on the chest.
“Brother Long. I might still need a small favor of yours,” added Qin Sheng and began to make things right for Lao Guo now.
Brother Long answered with full respect, ” It’s my pleasure. Anything you say.”
Qin Sheng said with a smile, “I might need some of your manpower, and lend me one of your right-hand men in the meantime. Personal issues.”
Brother Long agreed immediately. “That’s easy. I’ll arrange it right away.”
Qin Sheng then glanced at all these people in front, and said politely to them, “Sorry to bother you folks today. You are all powerful people in Huairou District. Though I don’t come by frequently, I might still need to ask for your favor as to look after for me later on.”
The present men couldn’t wait to answer him. “Hey bro, it’s no big deal. We’re on the same side, and if you want anything, you just tell us.”
They were all crystal clear that the young man before them was really something for sure. Besides the disposition of his, the sophistication was something never easy to get hold of for youngsters from ordinary families. Also, when it came to a face-to-face moment, he acted so experienced as neither overbearing nor servile, while showing his full respect for them at the same time. What a marvelous young man!
Qin Sheng cast a glimpse at the cemetery behind and said, “It’s not much of a matter. My mom has been buried here for a long time now, and I don’t want her to be disturbed. So please, keep an eye on her for me when I’m not around here.”
The public felt a bit of chill on their backs, guessing that they might have had to confront that somebody behind all this if accidents actually happened here today.
Qin Sheng courteously showed them out after their promise. Xiao Sanzi and his people were taken away too. Those who were left on-site were several subordinates and a henchman from Brother Long, as well as Lao Guo’s son. .
When everybody had gone out of sight, Qin Sheng headed back for the second-born of Lao Guo, crouched in front of him, and asked, “Lao Guo told me once about your name, and what’s that again? Well, well, well, it’s Guo Xiong, right? I’d rather say that the “Xiong” character sounds more like a coward than a hero in its implication, in your case. Don’t you think so?”
“Dear sir, I could be anyone you think I should be. A coward? Call me a p*ssy cat if you feel like.” Guo Xiong dared not to talk back at him.
Qin Sheng didn’t have the leisure for this nonsense and added, “I know about what you guys have done to Lao Guo. And what ungrateful bastards you are! I happened to have the time to reason with you. Now you take the lead and invite your brother and sister over here for a chat.”
“Well…ur…” Guo Xiong found it a difficult position for him to reveal the skeleton in the closet.
However, Guo Xiong backed down when Qin Sheng glared fiercely at him, and he said, “OK, OK, OK, I’ll take the lead, OK?”
Then Qin Sheng smiled at Brother Long’s subordinates and asked, “Thank you, brothers. I’ll see you guys later in the restaurant compartment at the intersection. If they don’t cooperate, you know what to do.”
Of course, these subordinates knew the jargon. They nodded at Qin Sheng with a smile, put Guo Xiong into a car, and drove away. Qin Sheng strolled back to the yard, thinking that he was really too unoccupied to care for other people’s family issues. But then, society did need people like him to claim justice for those in need, or else the evil ones couldn’t learn the rules.
When Qin Sheng returned to the yard, Lao Guo, who had been waiting nervously, came running to him and asked, “Xiao Qin, are you all right?”
Qin Sheng laughed. “Lao Guo, don’t worry. Nothing has happened to me. Those are small fry. The petty tricks could only intimidate ordinary people, but will soon make a fool of themselves when it comes to meeting the real stuff.”
Lao Guo put his heart back in place, and he said, “Well, that’s good to hear. I was afraid that jerk would do something to you, and I would feel really sorry for you if he did.”
Qin Sheng could do nothing about Lao Guo’s temperament since the old man was too honest and kind. He said to the old man, “Lao Guo, come on. Let’s take a walk.”
“What for? I am about to go check on the mountain,” said Lao Guo in confusion.
Qin Sheng said, “Go see your grateful sons and daughter of yours. I think from today on, they won’t have the balls to do that to you again.”
With a change of expression, Lao Guo dropped the conversation before he started to say something more, and followed Qin Sheng out.
Qin Sheng was chatting and drinking in the compartment of the restaurant, killing time with a plate of peanuts. A cup of white wine would be a better choice for keeping away the coldness, only it wasn’t time for it.
After an hour and a half, the three adult children of Lao Guo were taken into the compartment by Brother Long’s subordinates. Amongst them, only Guo Xiong had tasted the bitterness of what Qin Sheng was capable of doing, and he was still so frightened as to hold his breath tightly. The other two were unaware of the seriousness of the situation they were in. They felt a little bit afraid at first but soon put on an arrogant air at the sight of Lao Guo.
“Hey, tombstone, what are you scheming to do dragging all of us down here? To bury you or something?” the daughter cursed her father viciously, which was not too much of a scene to see in normal families in the world.
Lao Guo’s eyes turned red with tears as soon as he heard those harsh words. It was really heartbreaking to see a man who had been earnest and honest for half of his life suffering from loneliness at his old age.
Qin Sheng squinted at the woman, walked slowly before her, and spoke in a flat voice. “Usually, I wouldn’t hit a woman, but today I’m going to make an exception for you because you nauseated me!”
Suddenly, the vicious woman felt a loud slap from Qin Sheng on her cheap-makeup face before figuring out what was going on here.
The woman had always been in an upper hand in her life and didn’t expect to be hit on the ground. The eldest son, who was standing by her side, felt so lucky not to have said anything just now, or else, he would have been the one taking the beating.