Chapter Ninety-Three: Trust

Thanks to Blue Angel, Yang Bo-pa, and Mister Shakedown for their tips, and thanks to the brothers for the likes.

"It is always like this... women!" Qiu Fengyu said with an embarrassed smile to Bragin.

"I never worry about that. Once you have enough women, it stops being a problem." Bragin looked at him with a touch of smugness and grinned. "What I find strange is... why don't you find yourself a woman?"

"I am not you." Qiu Fengyu gave him a lazy glance and drained his drink in one gulp.

"And Sheriff Coffin?"

"Ah-ha..." Qiu Fengyu laughed, then put on a solemn expression. "Listen to me, Bragin. Sheriff Coffin is a good woman. Stop speaking ill of her behind her back, all right?"

Bragin hurriedly raised both hands and let out an awkward chuckle. "All right, all right, I promise. But... why..." Qiu Fengyu glared at him, and Bragin immediately shut his mouth.

Just then, Qiu Fengyu's phone rang. He looked at it, frowned, pulled out a bill, slapped it onto the bar, and walked toward the door.

He answered the call outside the bar.

"It is me, Qiu. Anthony!" The voice from the other end only deepened Qiu Fengyu's frown.

"Fine, Anthony, listen. I am not taking on any of your business. What I need is to stay in this town and go nowhere else." Qiu Fengyu's tone was rather blunt.

"I know, so I am not going to talk to you about anything else. The Cobras, you know them, of course you do, and you should be very familiar with them. They were wiped out near Abilene, though four got away." Anthony's quiet laugh drifted over the line.

"What does that have to do with me?"

"It has nothing to do with you. I am only telling you that if you do not want this kind of thing to happen, it still happens. Sometimes... people like you are born for these things, because when trouble comes, you will not choose retreat or escape like ordinary people. Instinctively, you will choose the most direct way..."

"I understand what you mean. But if I do not try, how do I know I cannot do it? Do not worry, Anthony. I am fine. At least for now, I am very much fine." With that, Qiu Fengyu hung up.

Listening to the dial tone in his ear, Anthony could not help smiling. Even though he still had not managed to get Qiu Fengyu to agree to anything this time, he had at least planted a seed in his heart. One day it would take root and sprout, break through the soil, and grow ever stronger and more luxuriant.

The next morning, Qiu Fengyu changed into his running clothes and was about to go out for a jog. As soon as he lifted the rolling shutter door, he saw someone standing outside the glass door and could not help freezing.

The Japanese girl was standing at the entrance, looking at him. Then she nodded slightly, signaling for Qiu Fengyu to open the door.

Qiu Fengyu opened it, and the Japanese girl walked in naturally, without waiting to be invited. Facing him, she bowed slightly.

"All right, I know what you want to say. I am not helping you, I am helping myself, so stop thanking me," Qiu Fengyu said, feeling a little helpless toward this Japanese girl.

"I know. I just wanted to tell you that you can trust me."

Qiu Fengyu shrugged. "I only trust myself."

"What about Davis and Tim?"

"Of course, them too." Qiu Fengyu smiled.

"Then... that includes me now as well." Ryoko Yonekura nodded at Qiu Fengyu, then turned and left, walking straight back the way she had come.

Qiu Fengyu scratched his head in bafflement. Was this woman insane? She had come all this way so early in the morning just to tell him that? What the hell.

There was no doubt that Qiu Fengyu trusted his team. Davis and Tim had been through two ordeals with him already, and both had performed well. Tim especially was far beyond what a child ought to be like in mind. Calm, ruthless, and merciless once he struck, he was laying the foundation for the revenge that lay ahead of him.

But Tim was also the most steady member of the team, not only because of his unconditional trust in Qiu Fengyu, but also because of the family-like dependence he felt toward him.

Davis, too, was becoming more mature and more stable by the day.

After all, before this he had only been a small-time hoodlum. Now he had seen the big stage, and he knew that sticking with Qiu Fengyu would bring him great benefits. The reason he had first come here to hide from the Russians no longer existed; the Russians were finished. And yet he still regarded himself as one of the people here.

The news that the Cobras had been destroyed near the town spread quickly. Nothing stayed hidden in a small town for long. So when the noodles sold out at lunchtime, they went fast. People could come and go with ease now, without having to worry about anything.

"Hey, Qiu..." Suddenly a burly man walked in at the door. Everyone eating noodles turned to look at him, and then excitement spread across their faces. There was going to be a show.

No matter who got beaten up, it was worth watching. Entertainment was scarce in town, and apart from the holidays there was rarely anything worth talking about.

This burly man was the very same giant whom Qiu Fengyu had beaten up before: Sandra.

He had been released from the police station. Sheriff Coffin had no reason to keep him locked up forever, and besides, he had paid the five-thousand-dollar bail, so out he came. But from the looks of it, he had come straight here to find Qiu Fengyu.

Was he in such a hurry for revenge?

A lot of people were thinking with malicious amusement that God had made human beings just for the sake of watching the spectacle. And who could say they were wrong?

"Hey, chief, he's looking for you!" Davis came into the kitchen and lowered his voice to Qiu Fengyu, who was tidying up inside. "I bet this guy is here for revenge."

Qiu Fengyu glanced over, saw Sandra, and smiled faintly as he walked over. Wiping his hands, he said, "Sandra, if you are here to..."

"I want a bowl of ramen!"

"What?"

Qiu Fengyu froze. Then everyone in the noodle shop froze too and looked at Sandra. The fellow was wearing a thoroughly miserable expression, staring at Qiu Fengyu.

"I am starving. You know I love your ramen. The reason I used to write all those insults on the wall was that I could not get your ramen, and I was furious inside. God... I have to say, the food at the station is like crap..." Sandra said gloomily. "I never had a decent meal in there."

"Hahaha!"

The whole shop erupted in laughter.

When it came to the station's awful food, many people loudly joined in. "Exactly, Sandra, the station's food is crap! And... last time I got drunk and they hauled me in, but I have to say... apart from the food, the girls there are crap too, hahaha..."

"Except for Sheriff Coffin," Qiu Fengyu corrected him, raising a hand.

"All right, all right, you're right. Except for Sheriff Coffin..."

When everyone had laughed enough, Qiu Fengyu looked at Sandra and shrugged. "Sorry, Sandra. The forty bowls of noodles are all gone, so... go find something else. The bakery might be a decent choice."

"Oh no, don't do this to me. I have been locked up for two days. I am practically starving to death..." Sandra said miserably. "I promise... I will never write on your wall again..."

"Then you will have to scrub the writing off my wall."

"Deal. Right now, all I need is one bowl of noodles." Sandra immediately held out his hand toward Qiu Fengyu.

"Oh, no way, Sandra. I thought you were here to pick a fight with Qiu. Come on, you two could still have a duel. I promise I would bet on you losing... hahaha..." someone called out, laughing at him.

"Oh, buddy, I remember you. I know who you are. Whether Qiu and I duel or not does not matter, but... I swear, once I finish this bowl of noodles, I am coming back for a duel with you."

Sandra pointed at the man.

"Oh, my God!" The man sprang from his seat at once and slipped quickly toward the door.

The shop burst into laughter again.

"All right, Sandra, sit down. Stop standing there. One bowl of ramen, and after you finish it, get back to work for me!" Qiu Fengyu glared at him, then turned and went back into the kitchen.

"Hey, Sandra, looks like you're scared of Qiu!"

"Wouldn't you be? If not, then you're a fool!" Sandra rolled his eyes at the man and snorted in disdain.