Seventy
***
Li Shi Qing walked out of the room and instructed his subordinate to call the other leaders for a gather before he took Xiao Li down the stairs. Once they arrived in the room, the caretaker Wu Jie had already prepared everything needed to change Xiao Li’s bandages.
Sitting on a sofa to the side, Li Shi Qing silently watched as Wu Jie helped change Xiao Li’s bandage. All the while, his eyes lingered on Xiao Li’s bare upper body, refusing to budge. As if it wasn’t enough that he was staring, even the two bodyguards behind him also looked. Even though it did not carry the same intention, it was nonetheless, something that would make anyone uncomfortable.
After enduring the pain until Wu Jie was completely done with the bandages and ointment, Xiao Li wanted to put his shirt on.
But, just as Wu Jie was about to a.s.sist him, Li Shi Qing took one large step forward and grabbed the shirt first. He began to carefully drape the shirt over Xiao Li while telling Wu Jie to leave. Then he slowly said, “Don’t move your left arm too much.”
Xiao Li nodded.
Li Shi Qing wanted to help him b.u.t.ton his shirt, but instead of doing so, he paused and lowered his head to kiss the pit of Xiao Li’s stomach.
When Xiao Li caught sight of him staring at the bandage on the left side of his chest with eyes br.i.m.m.i.n.g with some unknown pa.s.sion, he couldn’t help but to faintly frown and turn his body to the other side as to avoid him.
“Qing Ye, I can do it myself.”
Li Shi Qing simply gave him a glance, let out an ‘okay’ and said in a low voice, “Rest well. I will come and see again in a while.”
With that said, he turned around to leave but Xiao Li called out to stop him, “Qing Ye, didn’t you gather everyone to—”
“You don’t have to go.” Li Shi Qing answered, without turning around to look at him then walked out with the bodyguards.
Once he finished b.u.t.toning his shirt, Xiao Li wanted to light up a cigarette, but he could not find it even after having searched for a while. He walked around the room a few times only to end up at the window for a breather before he ended up staring down at the small alley way behind the Arc’ de Triomphe.
Unable to hold back, he took a few steps walked to the door, intending to leave. However, there were already two people stationed outside the door. With just one glance, it was obvious that they were not bodyguards but instead newly recruited members—who looked rather bored, leaning against the wall. The moment, they caught sight of Xiao Li walking out, they nervously straightened up.
“Li Ge.”
Xiao Li frowned as the rather tall member immediately explained, “Qing Ye sent us here to protect you. He said that since Li Ge is injured, a lot of things would be inconvenient for you to do so we have to help you run your errands. Li Ge, there is no need to be polite with us, if you need something, we can take care of it.”
Xiao Li stood by the door, looked at him and asked, “Do you have any cigarettes?”
“I do.” The shorter of the two said while fishing out a stick of cigarette from his pocket.
However, the taller member elbowed him and looked at Xiao Li with a smile instead, “Li Ge, what brand do you smoke? I’ll go down and buy it for you.”
Xiao Li simply said, “It doesn’t matter.” He closed the door and leaned against it.
The shorter man has already handed Xiao Li a couple of cigarettes before lighting one up for him.
Xiao Li took the lit cigarette from the shorter man, took a drag of it and asked, “I’ve never seen you two before. Who did you work for?”
“Qiang Ge[1] from the northern territory,” replied the taller man.
“How did you get here from the northern territory?”
“We came with Qiang Ge.” The shorter man explained, “Qing Ye said that since Qiang Ge brought a lot of people over so he asked for the two of us to take care of Li Ge.”
Xiao Li let out an ‘oh’ and did not say anything else.
Since the two new members were unfamiliar with Xiao Li, they did not have much to say with him which caused silent to take over for a while. The shorter man was clearly a heavy smoker. He would stare at the cigarette in Xiao Li’s mouth from time to time before finally reaching for one of his own, but before he could, the taller man to the side glared at him, causing him to stop.
The area where they stood at—as well as where the room Xiao Li stayed in—was near the end of the corridor next to the stairs. There was an open window there, and the air that rushed in made Xiao Li felt quite uncomfortable. He nipped the cigarette stub and threw it into the trashcan to the side before he turned toward the stairs, intending to do down to close the window.
But the taller man stopped him and said, “Li Ge, if you want to buy something, you can just tell us. Qing Ye said—”
The shorter man interrupted, “Qing Ye told us to take good care of Li Ge and that you cannot go down.”
Xiao Li gave them a quick glance. While the shorter man seemed a bit troubled, the taller man simply looked at the scar on Xiao Li’s face and hesitatingly said, “Li Ge, don’t make things difficult for us—”
Just as Xiao Li was about to say something, a voice sounded from the head of the stairs.
“How nice of you Xiao Li, my men have only gotten here and you’re already bullying them!”
The two members shouted in unison, “Qiang Ge!”
Feng Qiang walked over with two other people. For someone that was a couple of years younger than Xiao Li, he appeared older, had a medium build with a st.u.r.dy build.
Xiao Li let out a small laugh, “Why are you being so stern with me? Aren’t your men mine?”
Feng Qiang also laughed, “You really know how to take advantage of me.” He stopped in front of Xiao Li, “I haven’t seen you for a while and you never pick up your phone when I call. How about going down for a drink and chat?”
“I don’t have a cellphone anymore. We can just chat in the room.” Xiao Li moved his head back and forth, indicating toward the door, “I can’t leave this floor.”
Wearing a rather stunned expression, Feng Qiang followed behind Xiao Li before he turned around and said to the four men outside, “You all can go down and have fun, I will chat with Xiao Li for a moment.”
The two men that came with Feng Qiang turned to take their leave, however, the tall and short men that originally guard Xiao Li’s room stammered, “Qiang Ge, Qing Ye told us to take care of Li Ge.”
“Take care my a.s.s!” Even though Feng Qing’s brows twisted into a frown, he instead said, “Do whatever you want!”
He pushed the door open and entered, slammed it shut with a loud bang then walked toward Xiao Li with an unhappy expression.
“What the h.e.l.l is going on?”
Xiao Li was already sitting on the sofa. He took a gla.s.s from the small coffee table at the side and placed it on the table in front of him. “There’s no liquor here, you can pour a gla.s.s of water for yourself.”
Feng Qiang looked at him for a moment before he dropped his b.u.t.t down on the sofa at the other side. Then he simply stared at him, “No wonder you weren’t at the meeting today. When I asked about you, Qing Ye wasn’t happy at all. He…are you finally being supported by him now?”
“I left the gang.” Xiao Li did not answer directly.
“f.u.c.k.” Feng Qiang said.
Silence overcame the room for a while before Xiao Li spoke, “How was your discussion during the meeting?”
Feng Qiang gave him a glance, leaned back into the chair then stared at the ceiling, “How else can it be? f.u.c.k, since Yan Ming wasn’t there, Zi Cheng wasn’t there and even you weren’t there, the remaining good-for-nothing b.a.s.t.a.r.ds just foolishly sat there! Do you know who the leader of the Eastern territory is right now? A b.a.s.t.a.r.d call Zhang Xue Ming? I’ve never f.u.c.king heard of that name before! The only thing he knows how to do is suck up to the others, and not a f.u.c.king single word he said were useful at all! Why don’t you take a guess who replaced Zi Cheng? A little b.i.t.c.h name Song Bao who used to follow him around everywhere…s.h.i.t, did Zi Cheng and Yan Ming scare Qing Ye that much for him to find some f.u.c.king idiots to be a leader?”
Xiao Li listened and when it seemed Feng Qing was nearly done venting, he asked, “How did the discussion about the kidnap go?”
Hearing that, Feng Qiang snorted, “What that guy name Qi said was half true, half fault, making it very difficult for us to figure it out. I actually want to beat him up and force him to speak the truth but Zhou Yun said if he was really Sun Ze Yu’s son most likely than not, he will retaliate.”
His voice changed to one full of hatred and bitterness, “Something such as having an illegitimate son isn’t really important information that can be used against someone…this is just one of the thing that some government officials hid around, what’s there to check? But, the most f.u.c.king annoying part is, they think, Qi Xiu Yuan has something in his hands that can be used to take Sun Ze Yu down. So, in capturing Qu Xiu Yuan, we can use him to threaten Sun Ze Yu. None of our men disguised themselves at all when they went to get Qi Xiu Yuan. If Sun Ze Yu checked the hospital’s surveillance camera, he will immediately know who initiated this. Now, we can’t kill him…”
“Wouldn’t taking him back solve this matter?” Xiao Li said in a low voice.
“Can s.h.i.t that came out be shoved back in? Would anyone let you torment them for free? Besides, since the person is in your hands, he can still be used as a bargaining chip. If he’s not in our hands, Sun Ze Yu can say and do whatever he wants.” Feng Qiang said with disdain. Suddenly, he thought of something and looked over at Xiao Li, “You’re really thinking a lot on his behalf. They say there’s something going on between you and that guy. Is it true?”
Just as Xiao Li wanted to speak, Feng Qiang quickly raised his hand to stop him, “Don’t, don’t, don’t say anything. I don’t know anything, I don’t know anything.”
Xiao Li laughed, “Then, what’s the final decision?”
Feng Qian heaved a deep sigh, “Qing Ye instructed Zhou Yun to investigate everything about that happened to Sun Ze Yu that year. He also said to wait and see how things develop until Sun Ze Yu get in contact with us. Wait and see how things develop? What the f.u.c.k! That Qi Xiu Yuan, not only can’t we kill him or hit him, but we have to treat him well with good food and drink…Qing Ye, a huge windy storm is coming, but this time, it’s actually being turned over by a little ditch.”
His expression was touched with worry as he sighed again and continued to say, “It would’ve been fine if Zi Cheng was here…”
Xiao Li’s eyes hung low as he reached over grab the gla.s.s on the table and fiddle with it.
“I don’t mean anything else by that.” Feng Qiang said while looking at him, “I don’t know what’s going on lately, but I’ve been thinking about everything that happened in the past. You, me, Zi Cheng, and Fan Peng all became gang leaders around the same time. You three have the brains while I relied on my will to fight and put my life on the line. Back then, when everyone one was convened, we always sat together. However, during this meeting, both you and Zi Cheng were not there and Fan Peng was rather strange. I can’t help but to have a bad feeling. After Qing Ye dismissed us, I went to ask him about you.” He sighed, “I didn’t expect that something like this to happened to you…”
“Is Fan Peng okay?” Xiao whispered.
“He’s not doing so well.” Feng Qiang also lowered his voice, “When Qing Ye gathered everybody and announced that Zi Cheng was killed because of his betrayal to the gang, you were still in the hospital. You don’t know how angry Fan Peng was. He jumped up and said that Qing Ye conspired to murder Zi Cheng. He also said that…that Qing Ye killed Zi Cheng in order for you to climb up to a higher position. Qing Ye nearly killed him on the spot hearing that…”
Xiao Li went quiet for a moment then asked, “Do you believe it or not?”
Feng Qiang laughed, “I’m stupid. Whatever Qing Ye says, I’ll believe it.”
Xiao sighed and explained, “Zi Cheng’s betrayal…Yan Ming told me about it when he tried to rope me in. He wanted me to work with him and use Zi Cheng to kill Qing Ye.” He paused then said, “But, I worked with Qing Ye and captured the two of them.”
Feng Qiang looked at Xiao Li for a second before asking, “Do you regret it?”
Xiao Li was stunned.
Keeping his eyes on him, Feng Qiang also said, “We all know from long ago that Qing Ye is different toward you but you don’t seem to be interested in him. You captured Zi Cheng and Yan Ming. That alone are great merits. However, rather than returning the Eastern territory to you and giving you more areas, he immediately locked you up and treats you like his f.u.c.king b.i.t.c.h. Aren’t you p.i.s.sed?”
Xiao Li looked at him with a complicated expression, “Qing Ye doesn’t plan on locking me up here forever. It’s inconvenience if he lives far——”
“Then, it’s fine if he lives here, why is he making you live here too? You’re still injured…” Feng Qiang’s word suddenly came to a stop as he stared at Xiao Li. Then he spoke again but in a low voice, “He wants to monitor you. He doesn’t even believe you. “
“Feng Qiang … …” Xiao Li spoke.
Feng Qiang had one hand holding his own face while the other hand firmly shook. After a moment, he finally spoke again, “Xiao Li, what are the purpose of us being leaders?” He slowly said, “These day, something is always happening in the Northern territory. The venues there are up in flames, our subordinates are constantly being beaten and shops are blocked up…I think everything is really f.u.c.king troublesome. Looking at you and Zi Cheng, I feel even more listless. We’ve worked hard…sacrificing ourselves…what the f.u.c.king are we doing this for…”
Xiao Li went silent and so does Feng Qiang.
The two sat there quietly with a load on their mind until the door lightly sounded and Li Shi Qing walked in.
“Qing Ye.” The two said as they stood up simultaneously.
Li Shi Qing nodded, walked over and spoke with a rather soft voice, “You haven’t seen each other for a while now, what are you talking about?”
“Qing Ye,” said Feng Qiang, “I want to go out to eat with Xiao Li. We can all get together.”
Li Shi Qing gave him a glance and smiled, “Next time. Xiao Li’s injuries haven’t properly healed yet, let him rest for a while.” He pointed to the door, “Your men are waiting for you.”
Whatever else Feng Qiang wanted to say was quickly shoot down by a single cold and terrifying look from Li Shi Qing. He simply lowered his head and insipidly said, “Then…I’ll take my leave.” He glanced at Xiao Li, turned around and left.
Once Li Shi Qing saw that Feng Qiang had walked far enough, he turned around to look at Xiao Li instead.
“Does your wound hurt?”
Xiao Li shook his head.
“That’s good then. Feng Qiang said he wanted to see you, I didn’t think much of it. But this is the last time. There’s no need to see any of them in the future.” Li Shi Qing faintly smiled.
Xiao Li frowned, “Qing Ye?”
Before Xiao Li could react, Li Shi Qing had already shoved him on the sofa. He leaned over, roughly grabbed his chin and stared at his eyes, “Didn’t you also want to be farther away from the gang?” He lowered his head and kissed Xiao Li’s lips and slowly said, “Then…naturally, the farther the better. “
–
Translator’s Note:
[1] Qiang Ge is Feng Qiang of the Northern Territory - he has been mentioned here and there throughout the novel, most recently in chapter 67 where LSQ called him useless.