Top-Notch Enforcer

Chapter 4

"They say he's never coming back. How can that be? Da Hu is a good boy. It's been three years—why hasn't there been a single word? Yu-zi, can you pass a message to that boy? Why isn't he coming back yet... His mother misses him..." The old woman kept talking in the cold autumn wind of the night.

Fang Yu stood silently before her, listening.

Yang Lei left. That night, he let Fang Yu go. He saw a hint of humanity in Fang Yu and didn't want to make his move in front of the old woman. He hadn't forgotten his desire for revenge, but just a few days later, he ran into Fang Yu on the street.

It wasn't just him; many citizens saw Fang Yu too—or rather, many were watching him from a distance. No one dared to get close. Fang Yu was beating someone up. The whole process was fast, and Yang Lei witnessed it all.

The person Fang Yu was beating was called Gunzi, a notorious thug from the West District. At the time, Gunzi was walking down the street, arms draped over the shoulders of his shady friends. When Yang Lei spotted Fang Yu, Fang Yu was walking silently toward Gunzi.

Passing a grocery store, Fang Yu picked up an ashtray sitting on the counter. "Boss, let me borrow this," he said politely.

Before the owner could react, Fang Yu had already walked past. Years of underworld instinct gave Gunzi an intuitive sense of rapidly approaching danger. He looked up and saw Fang Yu's face. According to Gunzi's later account, he didn't know at the time whether Fang Yu was coming for him or what he wanted. He just took one look at Fang Yu's face and his instinct screamed at him to run. It was an animalistic warning of danger.

So Gunzi turned and fled immediately. He had only taken two steps when someone grabbed the back of his collar. Fang Yu, holding the ashtray, delivered a heavy blow to the spot where Gunzi's neck met the back of his head. Then he lifted his foot and kicked Gunzi's ankle hard, sending him crashing to the ground.

Once Gunzi was down, Fang Yu stepped on his shoulder, bent over, and with two sharp twists, dislocated both of Gunzi's arm joints. Gunzi lay limp on the ground, instantly stripped of any ability to fight back.

The onlookers were stunned. Gunzi's shady friends stood frozen, not a single one daring to step forward.

"Do you know who I am?" Fang Yu asked Gunzi.

"Fang... Fang Yu." Gunzi could barely get the words out.

"Do you know why I'm beating you?"

"I don't know." Gunzi was telling the truth.

"Who did you beat last night? Remember?"

Gunzi suddenly remembered a shriveled old woman selling sunflower seeds on the street corner.

He had stumbled out drunk last night. The old woman, trembling, had pestered him, asking if he wanted to buy some seeds. Irritated and high on alcohol, Gunzi had kicked her, sending her tumbling to the roadside. Not satisfied, he had slapped her several more times, only leaving when he saw her mouth full of blood and a few teeth spit out on the ground. After sobering up, Gunzi had regretted his lack of decency, but he never imagined anyone would stand up for the old woman. And that person was Fang Yu!

Fang Yu crouched down, gripped Gunzi's chin, and raised the ashtray in his hand.

"Today, I want your teeth. If you ever touch that old woman again, I'll take your life."

After speaking, Fang Yu raised the ashtray and knocked out Gunzi's teeth, one by one.

Everyone who witnessed the scene felt a wave of terror. Gunzi's mouth was a mess of blood. His jaw, broken by the ashtray, hung loosely like a ball of rotten cotton. Later hospital checks confirmed that Gunzi had lost six teeth, with a fractured nose and a shattered jaw.

After finishing, Fang Yu stood up, leaving behind a crowd of onlookers stunned into silence by the brutal display. He wiped the blood off the ashtray with his hand and calmly walked back toward the grocery store.

"Thanks, boss." Fang Yu placed the ashtray back on the counter and smiled at the owner. The owner was too terrified to utter a single word.

Fang Yu walked away. The crowd parted far in advance, clearing a wide path for him, keeping their distance as if he carried a plague.

"This is outrageous!" Once Fang Yu was gone, the shaken crowd erupted in righteous indignation.

"So brazen, right out in the open! Is there no law left?"

"He looked like such a decent young man—how could he be so ruthless?"

"A born savage! People like him should be executed!"

The crowd eventually dispersed. Yang Lei remained standing where he was, unmoving.

Later, when the underworld talked about Fang Yu's public display of violence, many were puzzled. No one had heard of any feud between Fang Yu and Gunzi. Although Gunzi was a tough character himself, he would never have dared to provoke Fang Yu. And even if he had, Fang Yu had plenty of underlings to handle Gunzi; there was no need for him to intervene personally, let alone with such brutality. Some even said Fang Yu's actions were unjustified and unprovoked.

At the time, Yang Lei didn't understand either. He was simply awestruck by Fang Yu's ruthlessness and skill.

It wasn't until later, when one of his brothers relayed an account he'd heard from Gunzi himself, that Yang Lei learned the reason behind Fang Yu's attack that day. Yang Lei remained silent. Perhaps he understood better than anyone why Fang Yu had struck so hard. He thought of that old woman, the autumn wind of that night, and Fang Yu's silent retreating figure.

The incident between Fang Yu and Yang Lei at the Guangming Pool Hall should have been considered settled: Yang Lei had crashed the place, and Fang Yu had beaten him until he was hospitalized. The score was even. However, Yan Ziyi and Luo Jiu had always maintained a good relationship and didn't want any lingering resentment over a dispute between their subordinates. So, Yan Ziyi hosted a banquet at the Dongfang Hotel, inviting Luo Jiu and Fang Yu to dine, hoping to reconcile Yang Lei and Fang Yu face-to-face. Yan Ziyi had good intentions, but he had overestimated Yang Lei's capacity for restraint.

Ever since witnessing Fang Yu's skills on the street that day, Yang Lei had been replaying the encounter in his mind over and over again. He obsessed over how he would counter that specific move if he were the one facing it, meditating on it until he was practically addicted. He was a born fighter, and when a born fighter meets someone even more skilled, it's like a martial arts fanatic stumbling upon a secret manual—he simply wouldn't let it go.

At the Dongfang Hotel, Yan Ziyi and Yang Lei arrived first.

"Show some respect later," Yan Ziyi warned, knowing Yang Lei's temper well. "Fang Yu made his name before you did; in a way, he's your senior. And don't you dare speak out of turn in front of Luo Jiu."

Yang Lei did listen to Yan Ziyi, at least for now. After waiting for a while with no sign of the others, Yang Lei got up to go to the restroom. He pushed the door open and froze. Someone was washing their hands at the sink. It was Fang Yu.

Luo Jiu had some business to attend to and would arrive late, so he had sent Fang Yu ahead. Fang Yu had gone to the restroom first, meaning the two met here instead of at the banquet table. Upon seeing Fang Yu, Yang Lei walked over slowly, leaned against the wall beside him, crossed his arms, and stared.

Due to the occasion, Fang Yu was dressed formally: straight-cut trousers, a black suit jacket, and a crisp white shirt with a stiff, neatly pressed collar. He looked immaculate, clean, and meticulously put together. Fang Yu glanced at Yang Lei, showed no reaction, dried his hands, and prepared to leave.

As Fang Yu passed by, Yang Lei reached out and grabbed his arm. "Hey!" Yang Lei called out, tilting his head and fixing his gaze squarely on Fang Yu's face. "Leaving without even saying hello?"

Fang Yu stopped and looked Yang Lei over carefully. "Who are you?"

Yang Lei nearly stumbled. He was convinced Fang Yu was deliberately messing with him, but Fang Yu genuinely hadn't recognized him. During their fight that day, Fang Yu had landed two bricks on Yang Lei's head, leaving him bloodied and unrecognizable. He certainly didn't look as clean and tidy as he did now, so Fang Yu truly hadn't made the connection.

What Yang Lei couldn't tolerate most was being ignored by an opponent; it felt like contempt. His temper flared.

Yang Lei pointed to the wound on his forehead that hadn't fully healed yet. "Recognize this?"

"Oh, it's you." Fang Yu hadn't recognized the person, but he recognized the scar.

"Your name is Fang Yu, right?" Yang Lei's tone rose at the end, dripping with provocation.

Yang Lei had said this expecting Fang Yu to ask for his name in return. He wanted to formally announce his name to Fang Yu, ensuring Fang Yu would remember it from then on. But Fang Yu didn't ask. In reality, Fang Yu already knew Yang Lei's name—he had found out right after the fight, knowing he had beaten one of Yan Ziyi's men. But since Yang Lei didn't hear Fang Yu ask, he became even more annoyed. What annoyed him further was when Fang Yu gave a sharp shake of his arm, easily breaking free from Yang Lei's grip.

"Has your injury fully healed?" Fang Yu asked casually, stepping toward the door.

Yang Lei didn't reply. He immediately lunged forward, attempting a joint lock on Fang Yu's wrist. Neither man wasted words; they exchanged several moves hand-to-hand. Yang Lei's grappling skills were purely military-style, a result of his family background. He was very confident in his grappling and rarely showed his best moves, but against Fang Yu, he went straight for his ultimate techniques.

Fang Yu hadn't expected Yang Lei's joint locks to be so effective. He had his wrist caught, and as Yang Lei twisted his hand, Fang Yu lost his balance. Seizing the opportunity, Yang Lei grabbed his waist—he was going for a shoulder throw! But was Fang Yu someone to be trifled with? Fang Yu suddenly dropped into a half-squat and swept Yang Lei's legs with a low kick, nearly knocking him flat. In that split second, Fang Yu gave a push, sending Yang Lei stumbling back two steps, while Fang Yu positioned himself by the door.

"Not bad skills!" Fang Yu offered a word of praise, opened the door, and walked out.

Yang Lei felt suffocated with frustration!