At first the two sides were evenly matched, but when several newcomers charged in and started kicking wildly, the whole scene turned chaotic. Gangzi realized they couldn’t waste any more time—the top priority was to get the snakes out—and Li Wang understood that too, so the pair began brawling again at the van door.
Jiang Xiaoshuai slipped a hand into his pocket, found a handful of sunflower seeds, and shared them with Wu Suowei; the two cracked seeds while they watched.
Wu Suowei crossed one leg, eyes fixed on the two combatants, and let out an admiring murmur.
“Didn’t expect Guozi to be that skilled.”
Jiang arched a brow. “Fifth-degree black-belt in karate.”
“Tsk, tsk…” Wu spat out a husk with a smile. “Trying to impress me?”
“Why would I show him off?” Jiang’s handsome face brimmed with disdain.
——
Jiang Xiaoshuai came running in a panic. Seeing the scene, he started to charge forward—but Guo Chengyu appeared from nowhere and wrapped his arms around him.
“Don’t go—it’s too dangerous!”
“If none of you help, Da-Wei will die!” Jiang shouted, voice cracking with rage.
“You going over won’t change a thing! This isn’t child’s play!” Guo barked back, face dark. Jiang struggled like mad, but Guo held him fast.
——-
Glancing in the rear-view mirror, Guo Chengyu muttered, “Doesn’t look like he’s going to make it.”
Jiang exploded. “What the hell did you just say?” Of all things, that was what he feared most, and Guo had to blurt it out.
Feeling Wu’s weight sag, Chi gritted his teeth, reached down, and clamped hard on Wu’s testicles.
Blinding pain—every man’s ultimate agony—multiplied by Chi’s iron grip. The neural spike stabbed Wu’s brain; his eyes slit open, tears squeezing out.
Chi’s rims reddened too, but facing Wu’s weak stare he had to stay hard.
“Big-Bao, bear the pain, you hear me?”
Wu’s body had long ago given up; sheer will kept him going, until his eyeballs bulged and exhaustion peeked again—eyelids drooping.
Chi steeled himself and squeezed again, and again. Wu’s face twisted in agony; were he less weak, he’d be cursing: Are you saving me or killing me?
“He’s got clotted blood in his throat,” Jiang said.
Chi bent down and sucked, mouth to mouth, spitting out mouthfuls until the airway was clear.
“Big-Bao, where’s that hard-headed swagger you had when you splashed porridge on me? Where’s the guts you had when you wanted to screw me? Show it! Even if you’re a mad dog, I’m fond of you—chicken out now and you’ll make a fool of my feelings!”
Jiang’s chest tightened at those words; in deadly peril, having someone swallow their own terror to encourage you was the luckiest thing in the world.
So he joined in, casting aside all restraint: “Da-Wei, think about your six hundred thousand! Your secret stash! Did you forget you even sank more than a hundred grand of your own money to get the snakes out? That’s over a hundred K! How many bowls of spicy hot pot could that buy? How many sugar figurines? How many belts? How many rich-kid lovers to reel in? … You gonna let some trafficker run off with it all?”
Master and disciple truly shared one mind: Jiang hit Wu right in the sweet spot. Slowly Wu’s eyeballs began to move, as if counting imaginary abacus beads.
Up front, Guo Chengyu heard it and cracked a smile—those two really are something.
