Volume One, Chapter Thirteen: An Unexpected Discovery

“Gangzai, if you hadn’t single-handedly taken down those bench guys today, I wouldn’t have helped you,” Brother Sheng said.

Hearing this, I understood.

He helped me because I could fight, dared to fight, and fought fiercely—stronger than those bench guys!

I thanked Brother Sheng again, trying to be polite.

To be honest, my gratitude toward him had already faded somewhat.

In fact, a thought even crossed my mind—what if I had made a different choice earlier, refusing to give anyone face?

I pondered that and realized I might have ended up dead far from home.

Even if I hadn’t died, I probably would have been beaten to a pulp.

Given the circumstances now, this was already the best outcome for me.

I rested in Brother Sheng’s office for over an hour, feeling much better, then politely took my leave.

After all, I was here to work; sitting all the time on the boss’s sofa just wasn’t right.

Brother Sheng was courteous, letting me rest a while longer in the office and only letting me leave after midnight.

He even specially told me that since I was injured, if I wanted to go home, I could; if I felt okay, I could just hang out in the billiard hall and didn’t have to work.

I thanked him once more and then left his office.

I wandered around the billiard hall.

It was still as lively as before, every table occupied by customers.

A blond-haired guy I hadn’t seen before had taken over my duties as a waiter.

Seeing nothing urgent, I found a nearby spot to sit and rest.

After a few minutes, a man in his thirties sat beside me, handed me a pack of cigarettes and a bottle of drink.

I didn’t understand his intentions, so I didn’t take them.

He introduced himself as Da Kuan and said he had seen me single-handedly take on those two groups—Ma Gan and the bench guys—and thought I was quite fierce, wanting to get to know me.

After placing the cigarettes and drink down, Da Kuan exchanged a few polite words before leaving.

Unexpectedly, a few others came over afterward to greet me.

Some offered cigarettes, others drinks.

They all said pretty much the same thing—that they thought I had done well before and was a real man, so they wanted to get acquainted.

In just over an hour, I had several packs of cigarettes and more than ten bottles of drinks around me.

Honestly, the last time I saw so many cigarettes and drinks gathered together was at my cousin’s wedding.

All these items together must have been worth dozens of yuan.

I’d never experienced something like this before and wasn’t sure what to do.

After some thought, I approached the girl selling cigarettes to ask her opinion.

I figured she’d worked in the billiard hall long enough to know better than me.

Frankly, I might be one of the least worldly people in Harbor City.

The cigarette seller’s name was Braid Sister Zhen.

She told me I could smoke or drink whatever I wanted, and if I didn’t want them, I could sell them back to her.

Since those people had just bought them at the billiard hall, she’d just buy them back at the original price.

Hearing that I could sell them back, I considered selling everything for cash.

But then I remembered I still had to work in the billiard hall, so I shouldn’t be greedy.

I gave Braid Sister Zhen a bottle of drink, gave another bottle to the girl who collected table fees, Tai Qianlian, and asked her to give a pack of cigarettes to the blond guy who’d replaced me as waiter.

By giving away a few items, I gained a little favor.

Whenever they had time, Braid Sister Zhen and the cashier girl would sit beside me and chat, helping me learn more about Harbor City.

As for the remaining cigarettes and drinks, I didn’t waste them but sold them to Braid Sister Zhen, earning twenty-three yuan.

Holding the money, my feelings were complicated.

If this had happened before, suddenly getting so much money would have made me as happy as during the New Year.

But now, looking at the handful of change, I couldn’t help but recall Brother Sheng’s words earlier.

One thousand yuan—how much is that?

I couldn’t even hold that much in one hand!

The key point was, one trip earned a thousand yuan!

If I worked ten trips, I’d be a “ten-thousand-yuan man”!

However, despite the temptation, I didn’t ask Brother Sheng to have me do the water delivery.

First, I still felt uneasy about that.

Second, my left arm hurt so badly I hardly dared to move it—how could I go deliver water?

...

Unconsciously, I dozed off sitting there.

When I woke up, it was almost six o’clock.

There were fewer people in the billiard hall.

At that moment, I noticed someone peering in at the entrance.

My cousin’s wife!

Seeing her arrive, I happily stood up and quickly called out, “Sister-in-law!”

I felt as if all the pain in my body had vanished!

She smiled when she saw me.

But then her smile faded, her brow furrowed, and her expression suddenly grew tense, even a bit anxious!

I was puzzled, wondering what was wrong.

Looking around, I didn’t notice anything unusual.

She hurried over to my side and anxiously asked, “Xiao Gang, what happened to you?”

“Why are your head and arm all wrapped in bandages?”

“What happened?”

Ah?

Oh no!

I suddenly realized, caught up in the happiness, I’d forgotten that my head and arm were all wrapped in bandages!

How was I going to explain this?

Not wanting to tell her about the fight, I quickly made up an excuse, saying there was water on the floor and I slipped and fell accidentally.

My sister-in-law seemed to believe me and didn’t ask how I fell, only asking if I was still in pain.

I didn’t dare say yes, so I quickly said no.

Afraid she’d suspect something, I took the chance to change the subject and asked why she had come.

She told me that my cousin wanted to eat fried dough sticks that morning, so she went out to buy some and stopped by to see how my first day at work was going.

Hearing that, I felt a little uncomfortable.

My cousin was really something else.

If he wanted fried dough sticks, didn’t he have legs to get them himself?

How could he ask my sister-in-law to come out before dawn just to buy fried dough sticks?

She changed the topic back to me, telling me to ask the boss for leave and go home to rest early.

I felt a bit uneasy, but then she said it was still dark and she was a little scared to go home alone, wanting me to accompany her.

Hearing that, I immediately agreed.

I hurried to find Brother Sheng.

He was puzzled to see I hadn’t gone home yet, but when I said I wanted to leave early, he waved me off and told me to go home quickly.

I bade Brother Sheng farewell and went to the lobby to find my sister-in-law. We left together.

After buying the fried dough sticks, we returned to the place where we lived.

It was just past six in the morning, and my cousin was still asleep; I could even hear his snoring from the living room.

He sure could sleep!

I almost wanted to go in and wake him up!

At that moment, my sister-in-law put down the fried dough sticks and suddenly said, “Xiao Gang, do you remember what you once told me—that you would never lie to me?”

“Huh?”

I was a bit stunned, not understanding what she meant.

But seeing her eyes, I immediately knew.

At the billiard hall, she already knew I was lying but hadn’t exposed me.

Now, there was no point in lying anymore. I told her honestly everything that had happened.

When I finished, I lowered my head guiltily, waiting for her to scold me.

But after a few seconds, she said nothing.

She remained silent, and I grew even more uneasy, secretly glancing up at her.

Her eyes were red-rimmed, tears welling up, ready to spill over.