Chapter 4: A Civilized Man
1407 Words
Following Jiang Hao into the warehouse, Ling Chen immediately spotted a man in his thirties with a scar on his face sitting at a makeshift table, greedily eating a late-night snack, his mouth covered in grease.
“Brother Chen, that’s Zhao Zhengxiong,” Jiang Hao whispered, warning him.
Ling Chen nodded, then shifted his gaze to the side. There, Jiang Hao’s brothers were kneeling on the ground, hands clasped over their heads, all of them injured. Beside them stood over a dozen burly men holding iron bars, staring at the captives with fierce, menacing looks.
At that moment, Zhao Zhengxiong looked up, glanced at Jiang Hao, and completely ignored Ling Chen standing next to him. “Did you bring the money?” he asked.
“Broth—” Jiang Hao had been about to call him “Brother Xiong,” but remembering Ling Chen was there, his courage surged. He straightened his back and said fearlessly, “Zhao Zhengxiong, let my brothers go right now, and take your men out of my territory!”
At this, the men around them burst into laughter.
“Jiang, did you get hit so hard you lost your mind? How dare you talk to Brother Xiong like that!”
“I think this guy is begging for a beating.”
Zhao Zhengxiong wiped the grease from his mouth and pointed to the empty space at his feet. “Come over here, kowtow three times, and call me ‘Grandpa.’ Then I’ll pretend I never heard that nonsense.”
“Brother Chen…” Jiang Hao turned to Ling Chen for help.
“Leave it to me.”
Ling Chen, still chewing on a toothpick, clasped his hands behind his back and walked straight to the table. He sat down, grabbed a bottle of beer, and popped it open for himself.
“You’re Brother Xiong, right?” he said. “Jiang Hao’s my buddy. We all live in the old town—we’ll run into each other sooner or later. Why not settle this nicely instead of making things so unpleasant?”
“This kid’s your backup?” Zhao Zhengxiong sneered, shifting his gaze from Jiang Hao to Ling Chen, his tone full of disdain. “Kid, I don’t care who you are. Get out of my sight now, or my guys won’t hold back with their sticks.”
“Brother Xiong, let’s talk this through calmly,” Ling Chen said. “We’re all civilized people—no need for violence. It’ll only ruin our relationship.”
“Oh? Listen up, guys!” Zhao Zhengxiong laughed. “This kid’s here to lecture us about reason! Fine—you want to talk reason? I’ll give you a chance. Chao, get over here.” He waved a man over. “Teach him how we talk reason.”
“Boss, I’m the best at ‘talking reason’,” Chao said, a sinister grin on his lips. He grabbed a steel pipe and walked over. The others watched with amusement, clearly looking forward to the show.
Ling Chen raised an eyebrow. “Buddy—”
“Who the hell is your buddy!” Chao snapped. He swung the steel pipe hard, aiming straight for Ling Chen’s head.
Bang!
There was a sharp c***k.
Before anyone could react, Chao’s steel pipe clattered to the ground. He clutched his head with both hands, blood mixing with beer foam oozing between his fingers.
At the table, Ling Chen held a broken beer bottle in one hand. He smirked and said, “Forgot to mention—I’m the best at your kind of ‘reason.’ Anyone else want to try?”
Zhao Zhengxiong froze, then jumped to his feet and roared, “Guys, teach this bastard a lesson!”
In an instant, over a dozen men charged forward, swinging their steel pipes, all aiming for Ling Chen.
Ling Chen’s lips curled into a faint smile. He moved like a cheetah, darting forward in a flash. In the blink of an eye, he broke through their circle, heading straight for Zhao Zhengxiong.
“Capture the ringleader first”—he had no time to waste on the underlings.
“You **，kid!”
Zhao Zhengxiong cursed and kicked out at Ling Chen.
Seeing this, Ling Chen reached out with his right hand, quick and accurate, grabbing Zhao Zhengxiong’s ankle. He twisted it gently—and a faint cracking sound of bones echoed through the air.
“Ahh!!”
Zhao Zhengxiong’s face contorted in agony; tears streamed down his cheeks from the pain.
“Let go of our boss!”
The underlings, shocked and furious, rushed over to help.
Ling Chen spat out the toothpick and said calmly, “Anyone who takes another step forward—I’ll make sure they spend the rest of their life in a wheelchair.”
“Stop! All of you, stop!”
Afraid Ling Chen would make good on his threat, Zhao Zhengxiong shouted at his men, ignoring the pain in his leg.
“Broth—brother,” he stammered. “Let’s talk this through. First, let me go.”
Ling Chen clicked his tongue. “Why are you like this? I tried to talk nicely earlier, but you insisted on ‘talking reason.’ Now that I’m ‘talking reason’ with you, you want to talk nicely again. What do you really want?”
“I was wrong, brother! I was wrong!” Zhao Zhengxiong begged immediately.
“Good that you know. Now—how do you want to settle this?”
“I promise I’ll never cause trouble in Brother Hao’s territory again!” Zhao Zhengxiong panted, cold sweat dripping from his forehead. “And I’ll pay for all Brother Hao’s men’s medical bills—I’ll cover everything!”
Ling Chen nodded; that seemed reasonable. Just as he was about to agree to the terms, Jiang Hao cut in, “And Wuli Street! From now on, Wuli Street is mine. No problem with that, Brother Xiong?”
“That… that…” Zhao Zhengxiong hesitated. Wuli Street was a prime spot he’d fought hard to take over.
“Do you still want this leg?” Ling Chen reminded him, timely.
“No, no! I don’t want Wuli Street anymore!” Zhao Zhengxiong gritted his teeth—his leg hurt, but his heart ached more.
“Good.”
Ling Chen let go. Zhao Zhengxiong collapsed to the ground, letting out another cry of pain.
“Remember this—if you dare trouble us again, I won’t just take this leg. I’ll take the other two too.” Ling Chen turned to Jiang Hao. “Jiang Hao, let’s go!”
“The other two legs?” Zhao Zhengxiong froze for a second, then realized what Ling Chen meant. He subconsciously reached for his crotch.
“Boss, what do we do now?” one of the underlings asked.
“What do we do? Hurry up and take me to the hospital!” Zhao Zhengxiong snapped.
Watching Ling Chen and his group leave, Zhao Zhengxiong clenched his teeth in hatred. Damn it—I’ll make him pay a hundred times over for this someday.
“Brother Chen, thanks for your help,” Jiang Hao said happily on their way back. “I’ll treat you to a meal at the food stall later—let’s celebrate!”
“Another time. Your brothers are all injured—take them to the hospital first. Don’t let it turn into internal injuries.”
“Got it. Let’s meet up another day then.” Jiang Hao admired Ling Chen more than ever. If Ling Chen hadn’t stepped in, he’d never have rescued his brothers so easily—let alone gained control of Wuli Street.
“Jiang Hao,” Ling Chen said, dropping his usual playful tone and turning serious. “I see you as a friend, so I’ll give you a word of advice: no matter what you do, always have a bottom line. There’s no shame in being a gangster—but the question is, how do you walk that path? If you can make people respect you, not just fear you—then you’ve really succeeded.”
Jiang Hao looked confused, scratching his head. “Brother Chen, I don’t quite get what you mean.”
Ling Chen waved a hand. “Think about it yourself. I’m leaving.”
（*：********* AI **）
- Writer
