I slept for a full day and night. When I woke up, only Wang Han, whose injuries weren't severe, was at Wentong Tea Tower.
Jiang Qingbo and the other two had likely gone to the hospital to treat their wounds.
I took a shower and went down to the lobby, only to find that the tea tower's business had stopped.
The waiters had all gone home, replaced by men with unfriendly expressions and bulging chests, obviously packing heat.
Seeing me come down from upstairs, Wang Han immediately ran to my side and whispered, "Second Brother, Big Brother went to the hospital. His hands were smashed with hammers by those Vietnamese; the injuries are a bit serious."
I nodded. Wang Han looked at me with respect, and the others around him did the same.
Although I had only been in Lincang for a little over a month, handling Big Kuizi and rescuing Jiang Qingbo had spread my reputation through the underworld of Lincang.
I earned this with my life. Those thirteen cuts weren't for nothing, and strapping myself with explosives wasn't for nothing either.
I nodded gently and didn't stand on ceremony with Wang Han, asking directly, "Did Big Brother leave any instructions?"
"Big Brother said to suspend business for a few days and for you to find him at the hospital when you wake up."
Lincang had more than one society Big Brother. With Jiang Qingbo in trouble, other Big Brothers would naturally eye his business.
Going quiet at this time was normal.
Wang Han led six or seven people behind me, and we drove to the hospital in two cars.
Sitting in the passenger seat, I stuck my hand out to feel the wind blowing past the window.
My reputation in Lincang was now far greater than in Liu Xiang Town. If Jiang Qingbo were truly just a society Big Brother, perhaps I could have stayed in Lincang and followed him indefinitely.
Until the day I had the ability to overthrow him, let him retire peacefully, and become the Big Brother myself.
Then I could bring my mother over.
Unfortunately, it's hard to leave one's homeland, and Jiang Qingbo was destined for a short life. Once he fell, I definitely couldn't stay in Lincang.
If everyone who followed him went down but I could still swagger around Lincang, every hustler in the underworld would guess what happened.
Even if they didn't dare handle me openly, who could say what dirty tricks they'd use in the dark?
It's not the thief stealing that you fear, but the thief thinking about you.
Outside Jiang Qingbo's ward, three big men were standing guard. Seeing me arrive, they all stood up and called out, "Second Brother."
I gave a grunt of acknowledgement through my nose and turned to Wang Han. "You guys wait outside. I'm going in to see Big Brother."
Logically speaking, I was just like Wang Han and the others—one of Jiang Qingbo's men, brothers of the same sect.
I shouldn't speak to him with a commanding tone. Even Liang Chuang, who had followed Jiang Qingbo for so many years, wouldn't dare act so high and mighty.
But a person has a name like a tree has a shadow. Wang Han and the others calling me "Second Brother" wasn't for nothing.
Wang Han immediately agreed, "Alright, Second Brother, you go in first. If anything comes up, tell Big Brother we're waiting outside."
Jiang Qingbo was half-reclining on the hospital bed. He had survived purely on a breath of sheer will.
Now that the breath was gone, saying he had lost half his life wasn't an exaggeration.
He was covered in wounds, and those Vietnamese monkeys had been vicious.
Knife wounds would have been fine, but the injuries they left on Jiang Qingbo were all inflicted by hammers.
Internal injuries caused by blunt instruments are the hardest to heal.
"Big Brother, I'm here."
Jiang Qingbo pointed to the chair beside his bed. "Come, sit."
"Number Two, Liang Chuang said I have business outside the border, but he probably doesn't know exactly what kind of business it is, right?"
I shook my head. "I don't know if he knows. I didn't ask; I was in a hurry to save you!"
Jiang Qingbo chuckled darkly. As he laughed, the scar on his collarbone twitched, looking extremely sinister.
"He only knows I have a few casinos outside, but he doesn't know what those casinos are used for."
I swallowed hard and didn't ask.
Since the conversation had reached this point, Jiang Qingbo would tell me even if I didn't ask.
"Number Two, do you know what a mule is?"
My pupils dilated, and I stared fixedly at Jiang Qingbo.
On the border, people can sometimes be treated like livestock.
"Mule" is a term for a group of people who live worse than animals. Animals carry loads on their backs, but mules carry loads in their stomachs.
They transport drugs.
Jiang Qingbo pointed to the bedside table. I immediately got up, took a flower cigarette for him, and lit it.
Jiang Qingbo took a drag and said leisurely, "Number Two, I don't make money from the casinos. Some bastards in the interior refuse to walk the path of life and seek death; they like going to those cities outside the border to chase excitement. My casinos are places that provide excitement for them."
"Excitement has to be bought with money. If you have money, everything is easy to discuss. If you don't have money, that's fine too. I'll let you play as much as you want for half a month or a month. But after playing, you have to do something for me. When you return to the interior, bring something back for me."
I felt cold sweat starting to bead on the back of my head.
I had only one thought in my mind: Run. Fast. This business wasn't something an underworld hooligan like me could touch.
I wasn't a rookie just starting out. As soon as Jiang Qingbo finished explaining his business, I understood immediately.
This son of a bitch wasn't a society Big Brother at all; he was a key figure in a criminal syndicate.
Just this point alone was enough to crush an underworld hooligan like me to powder.
For his business to operate fully, he needed people domestically to scout suitable targets to send to the casinos, drug traffickers outside to provide the goods, and someone back in the interior to receive the goods.
He wasn't just connected to drug traffickers; he was a drug trafficker!
Either Bodhisattva bless Sir Niu to sweep this criminal syndicate clean, or if I moved against Jiang Qingbo and Xu Biao and severed their business loop, someone would hunt me down to the ends of the earth.
Jiang Qingbo took a fierce drag of his flower cigarette, looked at me, and smiled. "What, Number Two, are you scared?"
I didn't hide the fear in my heart. "Big Brother, I came out to hustle just because I wanted money and respect. Your business... it's not something I can touch. One wrong step, and I won't even leave a whole corpse behind."
No one isn't afraid of death. I dared to do things that could get me killed because I wanted to live better.
But doing this... was certain death!
Jiang Qingbo stubbed out the cigarette on the pristine white bed sheet. "Number Two, do you know about your brother? He never did anything too terrible in his life, didn't even have any blood on his hands. Yet in the Crackdown of '83, even though there were plenty of people in Liu Xiang Town who deserved to die more than him, he was the first to die."
"Do you understand why? Sometimes, there's no such thing as 'getting what you deserve.' Murder and arson earn a golden belt; fixing bridges and paving roads leaves no corpse behind."
"Your big brother was the first to be handled not because he committed such huge crimes, but because he was an example. They needed to knock him down to scare the others."
A look of exhaustion suddenly appeared on Jiang Qingbo's face. He rested his head on the pillow and said flatly:
"When I got out of 'university' in '89, I figured out one truth. Either I behave myself and be an honest farmer for the rest of my life, or I keep hustling, hustling to the point where I make the most money. Otherwise, on the day the yamen handles me, I won't have enjoyed anything, and I won't be able to close my eyes when I die."
Looking at Jiang Qingbo's calm face and the smoldering cigarette butt on the floor, I shook my head secretly.
You aren't hustling in society anymore. Hustling implies getting by, surviving. You've already started going mad.
My initial assessment of Jiang Qingbo was that he was steady as Mount Tai, but now I realized I was wrong. He was more insane than any underworld hooligan I knew.
Perhaps smoking too much dope had damaged his brain nerves long ago.
Those whom Heaven wishes to destroy, it first makes mad.