Chapter Ninety: The Fifth Master of the Red Banner

Wang Qiang did not think it was at all excessive that Dong Xiaowu’s right arm had been broken. If Liu had not arrived in time just now, the one lying on the floor now might not have been Dong Xiaowu, but Wang Qiang himself.

When someone is about to cut you down with a knife, are you really supposed to repay hatred with kindness?

Wang Qiang certainly could not do that, and he believed that the vast majority of people in the world could not do it either. Of course, perhaps only the Virgin Mary would be magnanimous enough.

If anyone were to thump their chest and declare, nonsense, if someone wants to hack me, let him hack away, I’m thick-skinned and I like being hacked, then Wang Qiang would only have one thing to say: you are even more outrageous than that certain streamer, though at least that guy had the sense to shout for someone named Chris to close the door.

Liu asked, “Xiao Wang, how much money do you want them to pay you?”

Wang Qiang froze. “Pay me for what?”

“They drove away all the customers from your game room business. Don’t you think they should compensate you?” Liu raised her elegant brows and gestured toward Gu Xiaolei and Shi Hailong.

Gu Xiaolei hurriedly said, “Whatever amount you want, I’ll pay it.”

Shi Hailong followed at once. “Strong brother, just name the sum.”

If he demanded money now, that would be extortion, would it not? Would that not make him no different from them? But his business had been chased away by these people, so was he meant to swallow this bitterness and bear it?

Wang Qiang turned the matter over in his mind.

He had it.

He thought of a way.

A way that would neither make him complicit with these people nor leave him unable to vent his anger.

“I don’t want money,” Wang Qiang said.

Gu Xiaolei and Shi Hailong both knew there was more to come, so neither interrupted him, only listening in silence.

As expected, Wang Qiang went on: “Since you drove away my business, then you’ll have to bring it back for me. I don’t care how you do it, but nothing can happen inside my game room.”

Gu Xiaolei and Shi Hailong exchanged a look, each seeing a mix of amusement and helplessness in the other’s eyes. They simply could not understand what Wang Qiang was getting at.

Liu asked, “Any problem with that?”

“No problem!”

“No problem!”

The two bosses answered in unison.

“Good, then that settles it.” Liu slowly rose to her feet and brushed off her skirt. “Xiao Wang, come downstairs with me. I’ll give you a card with my number on it. If anyone still dares to trouble you, call me.”

Wang Qiang said, “All right, sis.”

He followed behind Liu as they went out.

At the stairwell, Liu gripped the handrail and descended slowly in her high heels.

Wang Qiang, walking behind her, once again caught sight of the golden-red peony tattoo on her shoulders beneath the black gauze, and it always struck him as strangely eerie.

Before long, the two of them reached the ground floor.

Wang Qiang saw the more than twenty people Dong Xiaowu had brought earlier standing or squatting beside the van, some smoking, some chatting.

Once she had stepped off the stairs, Liu quickened her pace considerably.

Rounding the van, they came to a white supercar parked by the roadside.

Wang Qiang looked closely and could not help drawing in his breath. It was actually a Porsche 968.

This model had been discontinued in 1995, and only a little over eleven thousand had ever been produced worldwide. Wang Qiang had even seen one mentioned on a forum in his former life, reportedly worth as much as 1.6 million. In an era when even a Santana counted as a luxury car, someone was actually driving a genuine supercar like this? He could not help glancing at it a few more times.

Unexpectedly, Liu opened the car door directly, bent down to search inside for a moment, then turned back and handed him a business card. “Here’s my private number. If anyone still comes looking for trouble, call me.”

Wang Qiang took the card, white and smooth as jade, and looked down. It bore a string of mobile numbers and the name Liu Zuoyi. What a strange name. A girl’s name would rarely use that particular character unless it had been chosen according to the family genealogy.

He did not dwell on it, only said, “Thank you, sis.”

“No need to thank me. I’m leaving now.” Liu Zuoyi got into the car.

The engine roared to life, kicking up layers of dust, and the sports car disappeared from view.

Wang Qiang stared after it for a while before turning back and heading upstairs.

...

The game room.

A few minutes earlier.

Just after Wang Qiang and Liu Zuoyi had gone out, Gu Xiaolei and the blond-haired man hurriedly helped Dong Xiaowu up from the floor. “Xiaowu, I’ll take you to the hospital in a bit. Hang on a little longer.”

Shi Hailong and the others watched coldly from the side.

Dong Xiaowu was in so much pain that beads of sweat rolled down his forehead in torrents, and he was deeply disappointed in his boss. He lowered his head and said nothing.

Gu Xiaolei saw through it and frowned. “You must think Brother Lei is a coward, don’t you?”

Dong Xiaowu still said nothing.

“Do you remember where I came from?” Gu Xiaolei asked in return.

Shi Hailong cut in, “Who doesn’t know Brother Lei came from the Green Gang? Everyone on the road treats you with respect.”

Others might not know, but Shi Hailong understood very well. The Green Gang and the Azure Dragon Gang differed by only one character, yet in meaning they were worlds apart. The Green Gang was also known as the Hongmen Green Gang, and it too had evolved from a branch of the Hongmen. In the 1930s, it had been at the height of its power, with Shanghai becoming its holy land, while Du Yuesheng stood as the most illustrious godfather in its history.

After the founding of the republic, the entire underworld suffered devastating blows, and the Green Gang found it hard to survive on the mainland, so it shifted overseas and into Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Not everyone was willing to go abroad, however. Some remained behind. The old name of the Green Gang did not change, but its members entered every line of work—business, industry, agriculture, and more.

Precisely for that reason, the Green Gang’s influence within the country was, in fact, even greater now.

And the Green Gang Gu Xiaolei had once belonged to, as Shi Hailong knew, was the largest force within the domestic Green Gang, with connections reaching from the highest officials and dignitaries to the humblest laborers.

While supporting Dong Xiaowu, Gu Xiaolei nodded and said, “That’s right. I used to be from the Green Gang, so people on the road would always give me three parts deference. To my shame, fourteen years ago, because of certain matters, I left the Green Gang.”

Dong Xiaowu was still angry. “Brother Lei, why are you telling us this?”

But Gu Xiaolei did not answer him directly. Instead, he said, “Maybe you don’t know this, but my former position in the Green Gang was that of the junior runner, responsible for receiving guests and handling miscellaneous duties. Liu is also one of the Green Gang’s people. Do you know what rank she held?” Here, he let out a cold laugh. “She was the Fifth Flag Lord!”

Shi Hailong was startled. “You mean Liu is the Green Gang’s Fifth Flag Lord?”

“Otherwise, why do you think everyone outside respectfully calls her Liu Zong? Do you really think she’s some company president?” Gu Xiaolei glanced at him and lowered his voice. “She’s the chief instructor. Her surname is Liu, and she doesn’t like people calling her Fifth Lord, so everyone calls her Liu Zong.”

As the two of them traded these veiled remarks, Dong Xiaowu and the others looked at one another in bewilderment, not understanding the least bit of it.

In the end, it was Gu Xiaolei who explained that the Fifth Flag Lord was roughly equivalent to the Twin-Flower Red Stick of the Hong Kong Triads, representing the Green Gang’s highest combat power and serving as its outward-facing blade.

If it had been any other time, Gu Xiaolei would never have bothered to explain. But his own brother had been beaten into this state, and without an explanation he would not be able to command obedience; if word got out, people on the road would think he was timid and afraid of trouble.

After speaking, he said quietly, “Remember this: no one is to let a single word of what was said today leak out.”

Who among them would dare say no? They all nodded in silence, trembling with fear.

“Also,” Gu Xiaolei said, looking at Dong Xiaowu with a stern expression, “I know you’ve got a strong streak of vengeance, but Liu made it very clear: not a single hair on Xiao Wang’s head is to be touched. That means not a single hair on his head can be touched. Otherwise, the one who suffers will not be you alone; it will implicate your whole family. Even if you run to the ends of the earth, it will be useless. They belong to a branch of the Hongmen overseas. You don’t need me to tell you how formidable the Hongmen are, do you?”

Dong Xiaowu had indeed been harboring that thought, but after hearing that Liu was the Green Gang’s Fifth Flag Lord, he immediately abandoned it.

A terrifying thought also arose in the minds of Xiao Jian and the others: if Liu was the Fifth Flag Lord, then what about the Crown Prince? What about the Crown Prince’s father? And that boss above the Crown Prince’s father? In the end, they could only think of one possibility, but none of them dared speak it aloud.

“So not only can you not take revenge on Xiao Wang, you must protect him well. Liu made it very clear just now: if anything happens to Xiao Wang, she’ll come after us. Xiaowu, don’t drag me into this,” Gu Xiaolei warned.

Dong Xiaowu was drenched in sweat, half from pain and half from fear. Hearing his boss’s words, he hurriedly nodded. “I know what’s important. I know.”

The group fell silent for a moment.

Then Shi Hailong suddenly asked, “Xiao Wang said we should help him bring his business back. What do we do?”

Gu Xiaolei glanced at him. “I really wonder how you ever got to know Liu. You can’t even come up with something this simple.”

Shi Hailong gave a wry smile. “I’ve only seen Liu once, and that was when I was with my boss, Mister Xu. Today, it was also Mister Xu who called me and said Liu wanted to see me, otherwise I wouldn’t have even known I’d gotten into trouble.”

“Mm, Old Xu does have some ability. I know that,” Gu Xiaolei said with a nod. Then he added, “Bringing Xiao Wang’s business back is easy enough. His business will recover gradually anyway. Until then, just have our brothers come here and play games.”

Xiao Jian and the others had no interest in playing games at all. Hearing Gu Xiaolei’s words, their faces immediately fell. They had only ever heard of people being forced to surrender at gunpoint, but when had anyone ever heard of being forced to come play games?

But since both bosses had agreed, they had no choice but to endure it.

Gu Xiaolei said to Dong Xiaowu, “And you too. After I take you to the hospital to set the bone, you’ll come here every day and play games.”

Dong Xiaowu stared in disbelief. “But I’m injured.”

“One arm is injured, not the other. Where am I supposed to pull this many people from? You caused this mess, so you’re certainly responsible to the end.” Gu Xiaolei made the decision on the spot.

Dong Xiaowu was completely dumbfounded. He had originally come to fight, and now he was being forcibly made to come here and play games? He was already twenty-five years old—if word spread on the road that he came to the game room every day to play games, how humiliating would that be?

“Did you hear me?” Gu Xiaolei barked.

“Yes, yes, I heard you,” Dong Xiaowu admitted through gritted teeth.

As they were speaking, Wang Qiang ran in from outside.

The several people whose expressions had been stern instantly softened. Gu Xiaolei laughed heartily and greeted him, “Brother Qiang.”

Having received Liu Zuoyi’s assurance, Wang Qiang now felt at ease and was no longer afraid that Gu Xiaolei and the others would go back on their word. He naturally replied, “Brother Lei, what’s up?”

Gu Xiaolei and Shi Hailong exchanged a look, then turned back with smiles. “Earlier, our brothers drove away your game room business, and we’re sorry about that. The two of us have already come up with a solution.”

Wang Qiang asked, “What solution?”

Gu Xiaolei and Shi Hailong explained the idea they had just come up with, one sentence after another.

What talent.

They had actually thought of that.

Wang Qiang looked at the two bosses with a strange expression. Truth be told, he had never imagined the two of them would be so quick-witted as to come up with having their brothers come here and play games until the business was restored to its former state.