By the time I had gathered the men and rushed to the fish farm with Xu Rang and Xu Dawei, it was already past three in the morning.
Lin Changzai and those half-grown teenagers were shivering in the cold by the roadside.
I opened the car door and stepped out. The bonfire beside the fish farm had already gone out; Song Jiawen and his group had left.
"Changzai, why didn't you go back into the shed? It's freezing out here."
Lin Changzai was shaking so hard he could barely speak properly. "Second Brother, I didn't dare. I was afraid they'd come back and go after Changlin and the others. Those animals didn't even spare the kids."
Aside from Changlin, the other kids' lips had turned blue from the cold, and they were shivering uncontrollably.
A fire of rage ignited in my heart. Song Jiawen, that son of a bitch, had absolutely no bottom line. Stripping these kids naked and tying them to trees to freeze for a while was even more torturous than just beating them up.
I waved my hand. "Alright, go to the shed and start a fire. Don't worry, you are my people; I won't just let this slide."
Lin Changzai looked at the twenty or so men behind me, his expression complicated. He hesitated for a moment before saying, "Second Brother, maybe we should just let it go. It's the New Year, let's not make a huge scene. He probably has to go back to the county seat, and we can just keep operating after that."
I couldn't suppress the anger in my heart anymore and kicked Lin Changzai right in the hip. "You shut your mouth. Take them to the shed and wait for me. Get a fire going."
I had done so much for Chen Qiang, waving a knife next to my balls so many times, just to build this reputation.
Song Jiawen, that dog, said he'd stomp on my face, and he really did stomp on it. Wasn't he just asking for death?
If I let this go, I wouldn't need to stay in this game anymore.
I pulled a machete out of the van. Angry as I was, I didn't plan on getting creative with how I handled these guys, so I didn't bring a butcher knife or a military dagger. instead, I brought a gleaming, intimidating machete.
I took the lead, with Xu Dawei and Xu Rang flanking me. A group of nearly twenty men, carrying machetes and steel pipes, marched toward the house Song Jiawen had pointed out to me earlier.
Xu Dawei cracked open the breech of the shotgun, shoved two shells in, the cigarette in his mouth flickering in and out.
I spoke softly, "No need to use the gun, Dawei."
Xu Dawei spat out the cigarette butt and said indifferently, "Tonight, we're letting everyone in Chen Family Shrine hear a bang. Otherwise, after we send off Song Jiawen, a Zhang Jiawen or Li Jiawen will show up. It's too much trouble."
Without waiting for me to answer, Xu Dawei fired two shots directly into the sky. The gunshots were like thunderclaps, deafening to the ears.
Holding the gun, Xu Dawei roared, "Go! Pry the door open and drag Song Jiawen and those bastards out!"
The gunshots woke the sleeping Chen Family Shrine. Men from the nearby houses, holding carrying poles and kitchen knives, cracked their doors open and poked their heads out to look.
I pointed my machete at them and shouted, "If you want to live to see New Year's Eve, get your asses back inside and hug your wives to sleep! I'm only here to handle Song Jiawen; this has nothing to do with you!"
Xu Dawei and I had been to Chen Family Shrine twice before. Seeing me with a gang of men, holding machetes, and Xu Dawei beside me holding a gun, they knew we were hard men not to be messed with, so they obediently retreated.
Xu Rang took the lead, kicking open the main door of Song Jiawen's house, and the large crowd surged in.
There were several liquor bottles in the room, along with leftover food and peanut shells. Song Jiawen and the six men he brought were all gathered around the stove, playing cards and warming themselves.
Just as they tried to stand up, several steel blades were pressed against their necks.
Tapping my machete idly against my thigh, I walked slowly up to Song Jiawen.
Song Jiawen squinted at me. "Chu Lao Er, you gutless coward with no balls. So you went and called for backup behind my back. If you have any guts, tell them to back off, give me a knife, and we'll go one-on-one."
I let out a chuckle and didn't say a word. I stepped forward, grabbed him by the hair, and pressed his face directly onto the scorching hot stove pipe.
The stove pipe, having burned all night, was as hot as a branding iron. Where his left face touched the metal, blue smoke immediately began to rise.
Even so, he didn't make a sound. The veins on his neck bulged, and he clenched his teeth tight, refusing to scream.
I released the hand holding his head down, raised my hand to chop the blade into his shoulder, then kicked him over. I stepped on his chest, the tip of the blade pointing at his face.
"Song Jiawen, what kind of person do you think I, Chu Lao Er, am? I'm a street punk, a gangster scumbag, not some high-flying martial arts hero. One-on-one? What game do you think you're playing?"
Song Jiawen gasped for air heavily. The skin and flesh on his left face had been burnt until it curled up. His reasonably decent-looking face was thoroughly ruined.
I turned around and slashed each of the other six men once. "Take them all. Take them to my fish farm."
"If anyone gets cute, hack them to death. At worst, I, Chu Lao Er, will pay with my life."
Aside from Song Jiawen, the others were already shaking with fear. Needless to say, with a nudge from the machetes, they obediently followed us out.
Someone went to grab Song Jiawen, but I waved my hand to stop him.
I squatted in front of Song Jiawen and said coldly, "I'm just going to ask you once: do you accept your punishment? If you accept it, come with me now. If you don't, then there's no need—I'll slice your Achilles tendons, and you can spend New Year's Eve right here in this house."
Song Jiawen chuckled wheezily, glaring at me for several seconds. Then he grinned, grabbed a stool, and stood up.
With the skin on one side of his face burnt raw, his smile was utterly terrifying. "Alright, I accept. But Chu Lao Er, you'd better finish me off. Otherwise, if you fall into my hands later, you're going to suffer."
I nodded gently. "Good. Thank you. Thank you for reminding me."
The last person who told me I'd better finish him off was named Wang Hai.
Right now, he was probably lying in some hospital or on the run, never daring to return to Liu Xiang Town.
A few heads popped up over the courtyard walls of Chen Family Shrine, watching us take Song Jiawen and his group away.
Xu Rang and Xu Dawei walked at the very back with me. Xu Rang whispered in my ear, "Number Two, how do you plan to handle them? That guy's face is already messed up like that; surely we don't need to cut their tendons too!"
Xu Dawei had a frown on his face. Looking at Song Jiawen's back, he said, "That guy looks familiar. I think I've seen him in the county seat."
I shook my head. "Even if he's from the provincial capital, he's in for a world of hurt tonight. I won't cut his tendons. However he handled my people, I'll just handle him back double."
Xu Rang lit a cigarette and took a leisurely drag. "Dawei, don't worry about that stuff. Unless he's Xu Muye's man, if we say we're doing him tonight, we're doing him."
Xu Dawei was older after all, and he considered things more carefully. His frown didn't loosen.
"Number Two, don't go too far. Or maybe give Big Brother a heads-up."
I shook my head again. "Big Brother is busy with the bus station business right now. It's not like we can't handle these guys ourselves, so let's not bother him with this bullshit."
Xu Dawei wanted to say more, but I was already getting impatient.
"Dawei, your hand is injured. If you can't do it, go back to burn paper for the ancestors and get ready for New Year's Eve. Just leave the cars for me."
"The twenty percent we talked about, it's still yours."
Xu Dawei's face turned red, and he gave me a light kick.
"Chu Lao Er, what kind of person do you take me for? Say one more bullshit thing like that, and we're done being brothers."
I lit a cigarette as well, smiling without saying a word.
Song Jiawen and his group were marched by us toward the fish farm.