Gold Class Fighter

The late 80s and early 90s of the last century. This was a restless yet innocent time.

In the city of Jianghai of tough and brave people, almost every month there would be incidents that led to serious injuries and street fights. Big and small-time thugs were spread over all four corners of the city, with their respective spheres of influence, each dominating a region. The eighteen- and nineteen-year-old children who wanted to become famous would wander through the streets and alleys all day, concealing on their persons forked steel pipes, large blades, machetes, and watermelon knives. They just wanted to meet a famous thug or a Jianghu boss and then recklessly down the other with a stab. Then they would become famous overnight, becoming a boss admired by tens of thousands of people.

So, on the streets of Jianghai at that time, one could often see bands of small-time thugs, stirring up trouble everywhere, carelessly fighting, striking violently the moment there was a disagreement; they were arrogant and domineering on the streets, swaggering across the city.

Nonetheless, these small-time thugs were mostly just messing around, not even brushing the gangdom’s side. They were just a bunch of overenthusiastic, ignorant youths, fighting not so much by skill as by numbers. If they came across an easy bunch, then they would bully them to death; if they really came across a hard bunch, their feet would become weak and they would yield easily, scattering at command. There were very few who could truly achieve anything from fighting, much less become the center of anything. So true Jianghu thugs disdained to fight against these kinds of people.

Of course, there were also exceptions.

Yang Lei was the exception.

The first time “Yan Ziyi” saw Yang Lei was at Zheng Da Nightclub in the Soldiers Club. The Soldiers Club was the central entertainment area in the northern part of the city of Jianghai at that time, with an ice rink, video arcade, billiard room, and movie theater all inside. Zheng Da Nightclub was the first nightclub in Jianghai to open at that time. Business was booming, and it was more of a gathering place for the people of Jianghai. Every few nights, there would almost always be a free-for-all fight. In the half year since Zheng Da opened, there was already a death, and the number of vicious fights resulting in heavy injuries had increased.

“Yan Ziyi” was, at that time in Jianghai, the most powerful Jianghu boss. Yan Ziyi was in his thirties, was unattractive, and had already been a famous Jianghai big thug in the early 1980s, establishing his status over Jianghu after countless fierce battles, later spending four years in jail for his brothers. After coming out, his strength was like the heavens, his power like the sun in broad daylight.

This Yan Ziyi was now sitting on the second floor of Zheng Da Nightclub and looking down. Yan Ziyi was a rather low-profile person. On his way from the entrance to upstairs, there were people respectfully calling, “Yan Ge” the whole way. He nodded, occasionally smiling back at some, and those people would feel honored. Yan Ziyi came today for amusement, so he maintained a low profile; those who didn’t see him didn’t even know that the biggest boss of the whole city was now on the second floor of the nightclub.

Just as those downstairs were dancing to their hearts’ content, there were people raising a ruckus. A fat winter-melon-like person was pulling on a young and pretty girl.

“What are you doing?!” The girl was impatient, trying to shake him off.

“Little sister, Ge will bring you out to have a night snack!” Fat Winter Melon was lecherous, with a face of hooliganism.

“Are you sick? Who knows who you are?” The girl was angry.

“Ge being interested in you is an honor to you!” Fat Winter Melon became ruthless.

This Fat Winter Melon’s nickname was “Winter Melon.” He was the subordinate of Liu Luoguo in the west part of the city. His appearance was rather ugly, but he was definitely a ruthless person, adroit in fighting; he had stabbed many people, and had a criminal record at the public security bureau.

“Stinky rogue!” the girl cursed.

“Who are you cursing?” Before so many younger brothers, Fat Winter Melon could not put aside his ego.

“If you don’t come with me right now, I’ll rip up your skirt! Do you believe me or not?” Fat Winter Melon stared fiercely with his triangular eyes, pulling fiercely at the girl who was scared to say another word: “Move!”

Fat Winter Melon dragged the girl and walked two steps. There was someone in front of him not letting them by.

“Make way!”

“The girl isn’t willing, why should you take her away?”

Fat Winter Melon froze; he hadn’t thought that someone would dare block his way. He looked the other up and down twice.

“Do you fucking not recognize me? You dare block my way?” Fat Winter Melon was truly quite violent.

“I blocked it, so what?” The other was also quite unreasonable.

“Little boy, aren’t you quite impressive?”

“I’m used to being impressive, can’t be changed.”

When Fat Winter Melon heard these words, he pounced.

He wasn’t one of those small-time street thugs. He was the most ruthless person under Liu Luoguo, with seven or eight large and small serious injuries on his body. Would he be afraid of one or two more? Fat Winter Melon came at him with a punch, directly aimed at the other’s face.

Although he was fat, his movements were very fast, not careless at all. This was also the reason for his fame. Fat Winter Melon’s habitual routine was to first quickly punch the person’s nose. While the opponent was holding their nose, he would grab their hair and viciously knee their stomach. If the other still didn’t go down, he would take out a weapon and stab the person. Usually, there weren’t many people who could dodge his first punch, but now Fat Winter Melon struck empty air. The other boy was even sharper than him, dodging immediately. Instead, he grabbed Fat Winter Melon’s fist and pulled him forward. Fat Winter Melon lost his balance. His stomach had already been viciously hit several times, harshly and accurately. Fat Winter Melon endured the sharp pain and reached for the knife in his bosom. Before he could pull it out, his mouth was slapped hard by something. He only heard a crisp “bang,” as Fat Winter Melon’s face was beaten with half a broken beer bottle!

Beaten by this bottle, Fat Winter Melon’s face was covered with blood, and his jaw was dislocated so that it couldn’t be closed. Fat Winter Melon’s little brothers were also frozen; they had never really seen Fat Winter Melon suffer loss, and they all rushed forward. There were only ten or so people on the other side. The two sides started fighting.

Yan Ziyi was upstairs watching. The people on Fat Winter Melon’s side were all Liu Luoguo’s people, but that group of people on the other side were all strangers. At a glance, one could tell that they didn’t have a boss. They were just small-time street thugs, but this was still Yan Ziyi’s first time seeing small-time street thugs with such valiant fighting skills.

Fat Winter Melon’s people had all taken out their weapons. There were many people who also wielded large knives; large knives actually were not that lethal, but they were truly frightening in a fight. If the knife were brought down, there would be a bloody gash of twenty or thirty centimeters; it was very suitable for encirclement. Typically, those who wielded these knives were Jianghu middlemen; originally, Fat Winter Melon’s people wielded their weapons to scare these street thugs. By experience, these small-time thugs were all fake tough and not real tough; as long as they were stabbed twice, there was no doubt they would run.

Unexpectedly, today Fat Winter Melon and his gang had met the “other type.” Seeing them wield large knives, not only was the other side not scared away, but they still rushed forward. Especially that boy who had knocked down Fat Winter Melon at the start, showing no fear, wielding a large blade, plunging it into the thigh of a person who hacked at him.

“Ow!” that person screamed. That boy held a large blade; no one could get close to him. He forced several big men holding machetes to retreat, and stabbed another man slashing at his brother. There was an essential difference between stabbing someone and hacking at someone; hacking at someone would rarely kill them, but stabbing someone could be fatal. Seeing this boy’s ruthless and reckless strength, Fat Winter Melon’s people were all afraid. After all, they didn’t want to cause any deaths.

Once one side of the fight was afraid, the situation would immediately change. Thus, Fat Winter Melon’s people fled one after the other. That boy jumped onto a table and chased, hacking at people, stepping over many tables in succession. Fat Winter Melon didn’t even dare to say a word as he fled in panic.

Yan Ziyi looked with interest at the boy who had jumped onto the table to hack at people.

“Who is this kid?”

Yan Ziyi asked his subordinate.

“He’s called Yang Lei.”

“Oh, he is Yang Lei?”

Even Yan Ziyi had heard of Yang Lei.

Yang Lei was considered one of the best among young thugs. He dared to take risks; he dared to fight. Furthermore, he would meet strength with strength; the more ruthless the opponent was, the more unyielding he was. Yang Lei was eighteen or nineteen, didn’t submit to any boss, and didn’t look for any backup. He just relied on his own hard work, acting righteously. In the General’s Street area, he had become a renowned thug leader. Later, he fought a few tough battles with Jianghu people, and his reputation grew. Yang Lei had loved reading wuxia novels since his childhood, and was deeply influenced by chivalry, so he never bullied others. To his brothers, he had the famous “three do nots”: do not bully women, do not bully good people, and do not bully the weak.

Although he had offended many Jianghu middlemen, Yang Lei was reasonable. The reason for those fights were all in favor of Yang Lei. Those big Jianghu thugs were all people who valued their face and their reputation. Their own subordinates were careless in their work, so it was no wonder they were cut by others. This was the rule of Jianghu, so they didn’t really do anything to Yang Lei. Gradually, Yang Lei’s fame rose; not one of the young thugs didn’t know who he was.

At that time in the early nineties, there were very few decent promising youngsters; Yang Lei was one of the best. No wonder even Yan Ziyi had heard of him.

“The boy’s skills are not bad!”

Yan Ziyi gave a sentence of praise. To be able to cut the long famous Winter Melon into that wretched state, wasn’t easy.

“Quite good.”

Yan Ziyi was also quite satisfied with Yang Lei’s acts against injustice.

Later, there were many versions as to how Yang Lei became Yan Ziyi’s subordinate. No matter which version, in any case, not long after that Zheng Da Nightclub matter, Yang Lei followed Yan Ziyi – Jianghai city’s number one boss.

The resentment with Fat Winter Melon was later left unsettled. It was said that after Fat Winter Melon suffered this great loss, he didn’t dare to come back baring his teeth, because no matter how powerful Liu Luoguo was, he couldn’t disregard Yan Ziyi’s face.

“Lei Ge, I heard that there’s a school flower in Ninth City High School who’s pretty good. Let’s go take a look?”

The one who spoke was Yang Lei’s brother, Li San. Li San had a small nose and small eyes. At first glance, he looked like a groundhog, but he was quite righteous.

“How is she pretty good?”

“Really long legs and really pale!”

“You’re just lustful!”

Yang Lei kicked Li San once. Yang Lei still didn’t have a girlfriend, but he had high expectations, and he didn’t take a liking to the ordinary.

“I’m not going. I’m going to practice!”

“Practicing again?” Li San still had words he didn’t have the nerve to say aloud: “What you’re doing isn’t called practicing, that’s called plucking cotton!”

At that time without knowing why, Yang Lei had become fascinated by the guitar. The young men of that time didn’t have other sources of entertainment. They all loved to play guitar and pretend to be melancholy, in a manner that would be called pretentious today. Yang Lei didn’t know why he also became fascinated with this melody. He borrowed the most old-fashioned wooden guitar from a neighboring big brother. All day, he would use a pick to strum back and forth, with a very melancholy expression, making one’s heart break to look at him.

Before saying how well Yang Lei played the guitar, his appearance while playing the guitar was quite deceiving.

That time, Yang Lei already received a nickname: “Young master Yang.”

At that time, not many people knew the truth behind the nickname, and it was many years later that the streets gradually knew its origin. People at that time thought this nickname was because of Yang Lei’s appearance.

Yang Lei was tall, at about 180 centimeters in height, and handsome. After the 2000s, the rising idols all had androgynous styles. All male idols looked feminine, but at that time, handsomeness was about elegance and toughness, with a particular aversion to small white faces. Yang Lei was very handsome, with sharp eyes and strong eyebrows, his features well-defined, and his eyes were bright and vigorous. Yang Lei’s handsomeness was also because of his good figure, which was strong and robust, lacking superfluous flesh. This figure was a result of fighting over a long time. According to Yan Ziyi’s words, one could tell at a glance that he was a good fighter.

So Yang Lei’s handsome appearance when carrying a guitar was very touching and idol-like, very capable of moving girls’ hearts. At that time, a girl from Ninth City High had become enchanted by Yang Lei, and she was very bold, stopping him everywhere. Yang Lei had never hidden from anyone when fighting, but when he saw this girl, he would take a detour. He was quite tired of this girl.

So when Yang Lei heard Ninth City High, he was almost distressed to death. He let Li San and the others go to Ninth High to meet the girls by themselves, while he found a quiet place to pluck cotton. He hadn’t been plucking for long when someone ran in panting and burst in through the courtyard entrance.

“Lei Ge! Someone beat me up!”

When Yang Lei saw this person’s appearance, he became angry.

“Who beat you up?”

Chuan-zi was the one beaten up. When they still wore open-crotch pants, he was already Yang Lei’s brother. Seeing the large gash on Chuan-zi’s head that was continuously dripping blood, his face streaked with ash and dirt, and his extremely pitiful appearance, Yang Lei was filled with anger.

“The Bright Billiards Room people beat me up!”

“Let’s go!”

Bright Billiards Room was downtown. At that time, gangs overlooked most places like the billiards room, entertainment hall, and theaters. Their scale was relatively large, and Bright Billiards Room was the largest and most famous in the city.

Yang Lei gathered his people then, rushing all the way to Bright Billiards Room. Once inside, there were many people playing inside, Seeing the group of people who had aggressively entered, they all didn’t dare to speak. Yang Lei stood next to the door.

“Chuan-zi, who here beat you up?”

He calmly asked Chuan-zi.

“It was him!”

Chuan-zi pointed to someone behind a billiards table.

That person was about eighteen or nineteen years old, plump, and quite cute. He was already vigilantly holding the cue stick tightly in his hand and looking at Yang Lei a little nervously.

On the way, Chuan-zi had already told Yang Lei the whole story. Chuan-zi had gone to play alone. He found someone in the billiards room to play with him. As they played, they both became a little angry. They were both young men who couldn’t bear to lose. Cursing as they started to quarrel, they then began to fight. Chuan-zi made the first move, but his skill wasn’t as good as the other’s. The other person smashed a billiard ball onto Chuan-zi’s face, and used a stick to jab his scalp. Actually, his injury was not serious, it was just the bloodiness that seemed somewhat frightening. Chuan-zi knew Yang Lei fought with reason, so he didn’t admit to making the first move. Instead he exaggerated and embellished the beating.

Yang Lei most couldn’t stand seeing his own brothers being bullied by others. He walked towards the plump boy. While staring at him, he said, “Was it you who beat up my brother?”

When the plump boy saw Yang Lei’s gaze, he was frightened. But he still had guts, and he didn’t give in.

“So what if I beat him up?” The plump boy straightened his neck.

“Apologize,” Yang Lei said.

“Who the fuck are you, you XX?”

If the plump boy said, “It was he who first attacked me!” perhaps Yang Lei could really speak reasonably with him, but this plump boy seemed to have backup. He was deliberately provocative, and that XX curse word was particularly unpleasant, the dirtiest obscenity.

Before he finished pronouncing “XX,” Yang Lei made a move.

How Yang Lei fought was unimportant. What was important was that the plump boy was soon holding his head while curled up on the ground, capable only of being beaten up. No one else joined in.Yang Lei alone dealt with him. Yang Lei kicked him repeatedly. Every time he kicked, the plump boy would howl miserably. His howls made everyone in the billiards room keep their distance, not daring to approach. Just listening made their hair stand on end.

“You dare to fight me! …Do you know who my cousin is?! …” As the plump boy was beaten, he still didn’t forget to bluster, howling.

“Who cares who your cousin is!”

Yang Lei kicked even more ruthlessly. He was most annoyed by the kind of person who, when they couldn’t defeat others, would use the sentence, “Do you know who my XX is?” It was too cowardly.

The people in the billiards room who watched the tables rushed out to help, but evidently there were not many workers. Perhaps the others went out to take care of some business. The number of fighters was not equal, and they were all taken care of by Yang Lei’s people, leaving the billiards room in chaos. Yang Lei saw it was enough; as he was getting ready to stop, he heard the bloody-faced plump boy cry out towards the door, “Ge!”

Yang Lei turned around.

The moment he turned, with the sound of the wind, a brick smashed into Yang Lei’s head.

Yang Lei wasn’t even aware of when someone had gotten close to him from behind.

Fresh blood flowed down from his forehead, blurring his vision. Through the spray of blood, Yang Lei saw a person. A tall, thin, and spotless man, expressionlessly smashing a second brick into Yang Lei’s face.

A long time later, Yang Lei recalled what had left the deepest impression in his mind was the other person’s white dress shirt.

The white dress shirt was dazzling, white as snow, and spotlessly clean. Very few fighters dressed so cleanly. If they weren’t bare shouldered, then they wore sleeveless shirts, knickers, or flared trousers. The white dress shirt was quickly dyed red with blood, Yang Lei’s blood.

Yang Lei didn’t bring a weapon. He regretted it.

His opponent also didn’t use a knife, so they both fought unarmed. Yang Lei had learned close-range combat and was definitely good at fighting alone. Being hit by two bricks had excited his blood, and he reached out his hand to grab his opponent’s hair. Then raised his leg, intending to kick the other person’s knee. In countless fights, this move of only a few could counter this move. It was pretty much a move that could take people out. His opponent would definitely fall over from a kick to the knee, unable to even get up. But right now, he didn’t know if the blood blurring his vision caused his lack of accuracy, or if his opponent was too fast. Yang Lei was unable to grab his opponent. Instead, his opponent caught both his hands and viciously kneed Yang Lei in the stomach.

Only one knee to the stomach madeYang Lei’s head spin and his vision blur.

There were several vicious blows in succession, each one hitting the mark. There was a technique to kneeing. Amateurs could knee powerfully, but only the flesh of the person who was kneed would hurt; there actually wasn’t much injury. Yet when real experts kneed someone, they kneed viciously and accurately towards the internal organs. If they didn’t control their strength well, they could puncture the internal organs and cause bleeding or death.

Yang Lei was an expert. He was certain that his opponent was completely aiming at his internal organs, without the slightest mistake and without the least hesitation. As they say, as long as you make a move, you will know whether or not someone is an expert. As soon as Yang Lei was kneed, he knew these were definitely not the moves of an ordinary thug.

At this time, many people had already rushed in. The main billiards room workers had all returned with this white-shirted man back. Now it was Yang Lei’s people who were being soundly defeated instead. The white-shirted man tossed Yang Lei aside, and a few people approached wielding large blades to hack at Yang Lei’s body. But Yang Lei was a man; he didn’t once beg for mercy. Each time someone cut him, he would bear it all and curse, “Fuck your uncle!”

Yang Lei’s brothers were used to seeing Yang Lei handling others, but they had never seen Yang Lei being so badly beaten in a fight. Every one of them was loyal. No one ran away and abandoned Yang Lei. They were trapped inside the billiards room and surrounded on all sides. As Yang Lei was cut, he yelled at the top of his voice, “ I alone fought your brother! Don’t fucking hit my brothers!”

“Enough!”

The white-shirted man yelled to stop.

“He sure has guts.”

The white-shirted man looked down at Yang Lei. Several large bloody gashes had been hacked into Yang Lei’s back. His head and face were dripping blood, and his appearance was very terrifying.

Yang Lei stood, his head and face full of blood, but his gaze was still unyielding, staring wordlessly at the white-shirted man.

“Get out.”

The white-shirted man said.

“Cousin! You’re letting him go like this?” The plump boy still wasn’t mollified.

“Let them go!”

Tens of people dispersed, making way for Yang Lei’s people.

That was Yang Lei’s worst defeat since he’d entered gangdom. He had exchanged many blows with Jianghu middlemen, meeting many tough ones, but he had never experienced such a major defeat.

After Yang Lei had suffered such a big loss, would he suppress his anger and remain silent?

Of course not! He wanted revenge.

Lying in the hospital for several days, Yan Ziyi severely reprimanded Yang Lei

“You don’t know what is important!” Yan Ziyi was very distressed by Yang Lei’s rashness.

“Did you know who owned Bright Billiards Room before you made a move? I wouldn’t even dare to provoke them carelessly!”

Actually, Yang Lei did know. There was no one in the gangdom who didn’t know.

Bright Billiards Room was owned by Luo Jiu. Luo Jiu was a Jianghu boss, as famous as Yan Ziyi.

On the streets, Luo Jiu was called Jiu Ge. In the 1980s, he fled to Fujian and Guangdong for taking someone’s life. Later he returned and was imprisoned. While in prison, he found a group of brothers for life. Each one was willing to die for him. After Luo Jiu was released from prison, those on the streets were both respectful and afraid of him, because Luo Jiu wasn’t mild like Yan Ziyi. He was a vicious person who would definitely harm others if he made a move, but Luo Jiu was also a very moral person. He didn’t make moves lightly. He and Yan Ziyi were the leaders of the big thugs who dominated Jianghai. In Jianghai, there was no one who didn’t know them, no one who dared to provoke them. Right now, his business was not as big as Yan Ziyi’s, but his reputation was on par. He had always shared a connection with Yan Ziyi, and they had a good relationship.

Yang Lei’s fight at the Bright Billiards Room was perhaps the first time since it opened that young men of the lower ranks dared to pick a fight. Having picked a fight against the powerful, Yang Lei became unintentionally famous.

“It was he who first sneakily attacked, or else he couldn’t have won!”

Yang Lei was defiant. When he thought of the white-shirted man’s two bricks, he was vexed.

“Even if he fought alone, he wouldn’t be afraid of you!”

Yan Ziyi was annoyed by young people being narrow-minded.

“You think you’re the only one who can fight? Do you know who you fought with?”

“Who?”

“Fang Yu!”

“…”

Yang Lei didn’t speak.

All the thugs of Jianghai who had slightly messed around knew Fang Yu was Luo Jiu’s number one warrior, a gold class fighter.

The thugs who hadn’t heard of Yan Ziyi and Luo Jiu, were definitely deaf. The thugs who hadn’t heard of Fang Yu’s name, had at least one deaf ear.

The thugs who recently entered the gangdom didn’t know just how well Fang Yu could fight, because now Fang Yu didn’t often show off his skills. When the thugs who had somewhat more experience spoke of Fang Yu, they had a lot to say: the plastic factory bloody battle, the duel against Tyrant Nan, the violent smashing of the seafood hotel. All were major Jianghu events. Those in the Jianghai gangdom delighted in knowing about these events to in great detail. Those who had personally experienced these major events, even just as onlookers, all had an exceptional advantage. They would reverently be called “Da Ge” by the little brothers of Jianghu. And the protagonist of these events, Fang Yu, was naturally known by all.

Of course Yang Lei also knew, but he thought that Fang Yu was at least an older man in his thirties. He had never equated the white-shirted man with the legendary gold class fighter.

The shock that Yang Lei received was not small, because Fang Yu only looked a few years older than him!

But was Yang Lei someone who would admit defeat? Absolutely not.

If ordinary people lost to Fang Yu’s hands, that wasn’t considered losing; it wasn’t shameful. Not for Yang Lei. He didn’t care who his opponent was. Losing was losing, and he only cared about the outcome. Several of his brothers suffered knife wounds of differing degrees. This revenge wasn’t for himself alone; it was also for his brothers. Thus, once Yang Lei was discharged from the hospital, hiding from both Yan Ziyi and his brothers, he went to find Fang Yu on his own. He knew if he let the other brothers know about this, they would definitely stop him from going.

Yang Lei was wearing clothes with very long sleeves. Within the sleeves, there was a triangular bayonet hidden in his hands and a large blade in his pocket. He asked for Fang Yu’s house entrance, and lay in wait at the alley entrance.

Yang Lei was very patient. He knew that there were too many people in Bright Billiards Room, so he wouldn’t be able to get close to Fang Yu. He wanted to fight alone with Fang Yu here, to fight for real.

He waited until eight or nine o’clock at night, when Fang Yu returned alone by motorcycle. Yang Lei stared fixedly at him. Fang Yu was still wearing a white dress shirt, as if this were his trademark.

Yang Lei clenched the bayonet in his hand, his eyes cold and calm.

Yan Ziyi had once remarked his brutal bastardly gaze was that of a natural-born fighter.

However, Fang Yu hadn’t driven to where Yang Lei was lying low when he stopped. Fang Yu was speaking to an old lady who was selling melon seeds.

“How much are the melon seeds?”

“Fifty cents per jin.”

The old lady’s hair was all white. She was wizened and thin, sitting curled up on the ground in the autumn wind. She looked at Fang Yu, speaking weakly.

Fang Yu gave the old lady ten ten-dollar bills, one hundred.

“I’ll take all of it.”

Fang Yu picked up all the old lady’s few remaining plastic bags of melon seeds from the ground.

“Go back home.”

Fang Yu said to the old lady.

“Young man, I’ll give you change.”

“No need.”

As Fang Yu left, the old lady spoke.

“Are you Yu-zi?”

“…”

“Yu-zi, when will my Da Hu come home? He’s a good boy, he called me before he went into the police station. He said he would come out in a few days, that he’ll return to celebrate the new year with me.”

The old lady’s face was full of longing.

“Others said he can’t come back, but how can that be? Da Hu is a good boy. It’s already been three years, so why haven’t I heard from him? Yu-zi, can you bring a message to that boy? Why has he still not returned… Ma misses him…”

The old lady kept speaking in the cool night autumn wind.

Fang Yu kept standing before her, silently listening.

Yang Lei left.

That night, he let Fang Yu off the hook.

Yang Lei saw that Fang Yu had some humanity, and he didn’t want to start a fight in front of the old lady.

He never forgot to take revenge on Fang Yu, but a few days later, he ran into Fang Yu on the streets.

Not only did he run into Fang Yu, many citizens also ran into him, or rather many citizens were watching Fang Yu.

No one dared to draw near.

Fang Yu was beating someone up.

The whole process was very quick; Yang Lei witnessed the entire process.

The person Fang Yu was beating up was called Gun-zi, a famous thug from Xi City. At that time, Gun-zi was on the streets with a few cronies, walking with their arms over each other’s shoulders. When Yang Lei saw Fang Yu, Fang Yu was walking towards Gun-zi without saying a word.

When he passed a general store, Fang Yu picked up an ashtray the boss had left on the counter.

“Boss, let me borrow it.” Fang Yu spoke very politely.

Without waiting for the boss to react, Fang Yu had already walked over.

The instinct from many years in the gangdom made Gun-zi intuitively feel the danger rapidly approaching. When he looked up, he saw Fang Yu’s face.

According to Gun-zi’s account afterwards, at that time, he didn’t know whether or not Fang Yu was looking for him or why he was looking for him. He just caught a glimpse of Fang Yu’s face, and instinctively wanted to flee.

This was an animalistic instinct that warned against danger.

So Gun-zi immediately turned and ran.

Gun-zi had run two steps, when the back of his collar was caught by someone.

Fang Yu grasped the ashtray and heavily struck the back of Gun-zi’s head and neck joint. Then, he raised his foot and kicked Gun-zi’s ankle viciously. Gun-zi immediately fell to the ground.

After Gun-zi fell to the ground, Fang Yu went forward and stepped on his shoulder, bending down and with two sounds of “pa pa,” he dislocated both of Gun-zi’s shoulder joints. Gun-zi went limp on the ground, immediately losing the ability to fight back!

The onlookers were all stunned. Gun-zi’s cronies were all stupefied. No one dared to approach.

“Do you know who I am?” Fang Yu asked Gun-zi.

“Fang… Fang Yu.” Gun-zi couldn’t even speak well.

“Do you know why I beat you?”

“…I don’t know.” Gun-zi spoke the truth.

“Do you remember who you beat last night?”

Gun-zi remembered a wizened old lady selling melon seeds by the street. Yesterday, when he drank wine and came out, the old lady falteringly pestered him, asking whether he wanted to buy melon seeds. Gun-zi, who was still drunk, became impatient. He kicked out, causing the old lady to fall by the roadside. He still felt he hadn’t vented his anger enough, and slapped the old lady several times. He only felt satisfied after seeing that the old lady’s mouth was full of blood and she had spat out several teeth, and he swaggered off.

After he awoke from his drunkenness, Gun-zi also regretted that he had acted improperly, but he had never thought someone would come out to help the old lady.

And that person was Fang Yu!

Fang Yu squatted down, grasping Gun-zi’s chin, and raised the ashtray in his hand.

“Today I’ll take your teeth. If you touch the old lady again, I’ll take your life.”

When Fang Yu finished speaking, he raised the ashtray, knocking out Gun-zi’s teeth one by one.

The people who saw the scene then all felt very horrified.

Gun-zi’s mouth was full of blood, his chin already broken by Fang Yu’s ashtray and hanging loosely, like a lump of rotten cotton.

After getting a check-up at the hospital, six of Gun-zi’s teeth had been knocked out, and his nose and chin were broken.

After Fang Yu finished, he stood, leaving behind the crowd of onlookers who were stunned into silence, staring at the brutal scene.

Fang Yu used his hand to wipe up the blood from the ashtray, then calmly walked towards the general store.

“Thanks, Boss.” Smiling at the boss, Fang Yu placed the ashtray on the counter.

“…” The boss couldn’t say a single word.

Fang Yu left. The crowd backed far away, leaving a path for him.

“Outrageous!” After Fang Yu had gone away, the crowd that was still frightened was filled with righteous indignation. “He dares to be so arrogant on the streets!”

“Are there still any laws?!”

“He looks like a pretty good young man, why does he act so ruthlessly?”

“Cruel by nature! These kinds of people should be shot dead!”

……

The crowd dispersed.

Yang Lei remained standing in place.

Later when the gangdom spoke of Fang Yu’s actions from this time on the streets, they were all very puzzled. They had never heard of any enmity between Gun-zi and Fang Yu. Although Gun-zi was also a cruel person, he definitely didn’t dare to offend Fang Yu.

Even if Gun-zi had offended Fang Yu, Fang Yu had more than enough little brothers to handle Gun-zi; there was no need for him to personally act, and act so viciously.

Some people said Fang Yu had acted improperly in this matter, without any reason at all.

At that time, Yang Li also didn’t understand. He was only awed by Fang Yu’s cruelty and skill.

It was later when Yang Lei heard an account from a brother who had heard it from Gun-zi, that he knew why Fang Yu beat him up that day.

Yang Lei didn’t speak.

Perhaps he knew best why Fang Yu acted so cruelly at that time.

He thought of the old lady, the autumn wind of that night, and Fang Yu’s silent back.