C11 - You’re actually a little fox
Fifteen minutes later, He Chusan, in his old clothes, sat in a gorgeous restaurant with a pleasant view of the Peninsula Hotels, looking at the overwhelming numbers on the English menu.
“Boss Liuyi……” He wanted to say that it's too expensive here and let’s go elsewhere.
“Bring a Chinese menu,” Xia Liuyi frowned and said to the waiter.
He A-sir’s distant family, the Indian waiter shook his head, “Nao Chailiese, ser.”
“Boss Liu……” He Chusan said again.
“Then serve us two most expensive dishes,” said Xia Liuyi, “the most expensive, EX-PEN-SI-VE! You get what I mean?”
“Ye, ser.” Said the distant family.
“Boss……” Said He Chusan.
Xia LIuyi glanced at him coldly, “Uh?”
“Nothing.” He Chusan.
Xia Liuyi’s glance told him if he dared say another “no”, he’d be lifted and thrown out of the window!
Well, the uncouth-nouveau-riche Big Boss is still angry and wants to buy some entertainment. What could he comment about?
He Chusan sat over there and obediently waited for Big Boss Xia to calm down. Elegant and soothing music was played in the restaurant; out of the window, there was the beautiful night view of Victoria Harbor, filling people’s eyes with grand lights, and it was an amazing scene that He Chusan, who grew up in the sunless Snapdragon Walled City, had never seen before.
This oriental city of lights, the bustling and shiny pearl on the sea, had never been his. He was born and raised here for over twenty years, but he was simply an alien from the inside, isolated city.
His mind was absent from the outside scenery. Xia Liuyi couldn’t help hitting the plate with his knife, “What’re you doing?”
“Boss Liuyi, so beautiful.” He Chusan didn’t move, staring out the window and admiring.
“Make your words clear! Your Boss Liuyi is handsome instead of beautiful.”
He Chusan chuckled, sitting back nicely, and earnestly praised, “Boss Liuyi, you’re more ‘handsome’ than the view outside.”
Xia Liuyi was used to his silly words and only sneered in response.
This kid began flattering him just for a meal of lobster. Listen, how sweet his words were, that even Little Ma could only kowtow before him!
After the appetizer was scolded as “weeds” by Xia Liuyi, big plates of lobster and steak were served. Pouring the red wine and lighting the candles, the two fair boys sitting by the window, and the gentle lights waving slowly – it looked well from somewhere far away.
Xia Liuyi had eaten countless western dishes with Big Boss Azure Dragon. At this time, he proficiently cut himself a slice of steak and boozed on the wine. Lifting his gaze while eating, he found He Chusan hesitating while poking at the overwhelming big lobster with a little fork.
“Use your hands if you don’t know how to eat it.” Said Xia Liuyi.
He Chusan looked at the nearby distant family staring at them and persistently poked with the little fork.
Xia Liuyi couldn’t stand him pretending to be cowardly. He lifted his hand and called to the distant family, “Bring a pair of chopsticks.”
“Ser?”
“Chopsticks! Don’t you understand?!” Xia Liuyi’s face turned dark.
“He’d like a pair of chopsticks.” He Chusan hurriedly mediated with English.
The waiter lifted his eyebrow oddly, “Ye, ser.”
“F*ck,” Xia Liuyi cussed to his back, “twittering with the bird language!”
He Chusan chuckled quietly and played with the fork. He gave up the big lobster and tried to cut the steak carefully.
Then the knife slipped away and it fell into Big Boss Xia’s plate with a clap, splashing the sauce onto Xia Liuyi.
Xia Liuyi turned stiff. He Chusan had his head ducked immediately and actively admitted his mistake, “I’m sorry, Boss Liuyi.”
“Puk gaai brat,” Xia Liuyi cussed and took off the dirty blazer, throwing it onto the back of the chair. He untied his tie and threw it away as well. Pulling off two of the buttons on the shirt, he frowned and leaned on the chair, “I’ll chop your dog paws off someday.”
The waiter served them a pair of delicate chopsticks with golden rims. Xia Liuyi lifted his chin to He Chusan, “Eat with this.”
“Ah?”
“Would you be admonished about how you ate your meal after you payed? Will you be choked if you eat with chopsticks?!” Xia Liuyi glared at the waiter watching them while he scolded He Chusan, “What the heck are you looking at! F*ck off!”
“……” The waiter didn’t need translation and f*cked off crisply.
He Chusan picked the steak up obediently with the chopsticks. He thought his Boss Liuyi was……freaking cool.
--Being a triad man and a rich man at the same time, of course he can be bossy wherever he goes. Alas.
He Chusan dug his head into the plate to fill his stomach with concentration. Xia Liuyi kept standing up to cut steak for him and scolding him at the same time, “You brat is looking for pain. You’re actually a little fox but you pretend to be a shameless dog, waiting for a kick.”
“……” He Chusan believed that people must follow the rules wherever they went and shouldn’t just do whatever they wanted. He had had the words for an argument, but still, he didn’t speak.
Xia Liuyi continued shelling the lobster and cussing at He Chusan mercilessly, and then he leaned on the chair, calling Little Ma.
After he hung up, he kicked He Chusan below the table, “Come to my company and watch films next Friday.”
“I……” He Chusan had his mouth packed with lobster and he wanted to say I have to work a shift on Friday.
Xia Liuyi’s face turned cold.
He Chusan changed his words immediately. Choking and swallowing the food in his mouth with difficulty, he added at once, “I……I’ll come on Friday afternoon……ahem……”
Xia Liuyi finally took his deadly glare back.
“Ahem……” He Chusan was still struggling, “Boss Liuyi……give me your water……”
“Ask for another glass if you finished it! Why’re you asking for mine!”
“Ahem……It would be too slow……Ahem-em……It’s too……Ahem……”
Xia Liuyi was almost amused, pushing the lemon water with only half glass left to He Chusan, “Poor kid with no fortune, you could be choked to death even from eating a lobster.”
He Chusan swallowed the water hard and looked at him bitterly, thinking ‘wasn’t it caused by you’.
……
He Chusan had a stomach full of lobster and meat and even packed leftover bread in the end, taking it back for breakfast tomorrow. Holding his little belly and carrying the little backpack, he left the Peninsula Hotels slowly with Xia Liuyi.
They walked back to the parking lot at the Cultural Centre. Xia Liuyi frowned slightly as soon as he drove the black Benz onto Salisbury Road.
“Duck down.” Said he.
He Chusan asked nothing and crisply rammed the backpack under his feet, bowing his back and cowering down.
Xia Liuyi made another turn and switched to a road with more cars. He stopped in front of the red light, “Hide in the backseat. Cover your face with the clothes and fasten the seatbelt tightly.”
He Chusan held his backpack and climbed to the backseat from the space between the two seats quickly. Ramming the backpack under his feet and fastening the seat belt, he grabbed the dirty blazer that Xia Liuyi took off and covered his head with it.
He intended to grip the blazer with his hands but found it was not good enough after a moment of consideration, so he knotted the sleeves of the blazer under his chin, wrapping his head into a rice dumpling and only left a line of space for his eyes. Then, he carefully grabbed the handrail on the car door.
He was right. As the green light shone, Xia Liuyi stepped hard on the pedal! They rushed away like thunder!
He Chusan’s sight blurred and he began to bump around along with Big Boss Xia’s top-level driving skill! Up and down! East and west! Left and right……
Three limousines popped out from who-knows-where started following Xia Liuyi’s car. They rushed crazily for two streets and turned left and right countless times, and even played drifting off the road!
Twenty minutes later, the car following behind him had become one instead of three. The driver knew that Xia Liuyi recognized them and even didn’t pretend anymore, treading to the bottom of the pedal to follow Xia Liuyi, and the one on the passenger seat had taken out his gun.
Xia Liuyi looked out through the window with no expression on his face. He suddenly threw the wheel fiercely, hitting the other with the passenger part of the car!
“Bang --!”
After the extensive crash and overwhelming noise, the car broke the rail and hit the sea. With a dull sound, it bubbled and sank. Two 49ers swam out from the car window awkwardly.
Xia Liuyi, who had only broken the light of his car, stepped on the pedal and dashingly left.
He turned another few roads to make sure there were no more people following, and then he slowed down the car, taking out a cigarette and lighting it. Puffing a white circle leisurely, he lazily asked, “Did you puke?”
“……” He Chusan in the backseat used all his strength to keep himself from vomiting.
He couldn’t vomit even if he died! Wrapping his head like a rice dumpling, if he vomited, he’d puke on his own face!
Xia Liuyi glanced at him through the rear-view mirror and lifted the corner of his lips.
He Chusan untied the blazer on his head slowly, loosening the seat belt just on his stomach, and he faced the dirty blazer, “Ew --!”
Xia Liuyi pinched his cigarette and laughed out loud, grabbing a tissue box and shoving it backwards.
Fat Qi had his henchman caught, and the henchman’s wife and child were also hidden by Xia Liuyi so that he couldn’t find anything about them. The rage made him stand completely against Xia Liuyi and he had claimed that he’d take Xia Liuyi’s head. When he had just made this claim, he found that Xia Liuyi drove into the territory of his power alone. The three cars that he had sent lost Xia Liuyi in the afternoon and kept driving around Tsim Sha Tsui to search for Xia Liuyi after that, but they didn’t anticipate that Xia Liuyi’s car came out from the parking lot of the Cultural Centre, showing that he went straight to watch a film?!
Now the three cars had all been gotten rid of by Xia Liuyi. Fat Qi, who came because of the message he received, looked at the broken rail and cursed, only wanting to cut the fat from his belly and smash it onto his useless underlings!
He was having a crazy rage, but Xia Liuyi was in a light mood. Holding the cigarette in his mouth and parking his car by Snapdragon Walled City, he got out of the car and pulled the door of the backseat open, lifting the He Chusan who had his face pale from vomiting. Xia Liuyi patted him like cleaning the fur of a dog and lifted him upright to help him stand well, smiling and asking, “Was it fun?”
He Chusan was still wiping his mouth slowly and softly with the tissue. After he eventually made himself clean again, he didn’t answer but asked, “Why didn’t you let them see me?”
“Nonsense,” Xia Liuyi said irritatedly, “Could you still go to school alive if they saw you? I’m so busy and I’m too lazy to send two more people to follow you.”
He Chusan stared at him, “They were your enemy? They were after you?”
“They belong to the fat guy we met last time,” Xia Liuyi didn’t like to be questioned endlessly as if he needed to confess something, “Alright, go home!” He turned to leave.
But He Chusan caught the short sleeve on his right arm and kept asking, “Is your life that dangerous every day?”
“Who do you think I am? The Governor of Hong Kong?” Xia Liuyi sneered, pulling his sleeve but failing to leave. He was going to turn his head and get angry, but found that He Chusan looked surprisingly serious, and it was an extremely concerned expression.
He puffed and laughed and soothed his attitude, ruffling He Chusan’s hair aggressively, “What’re you worrying about? Can anyone take advantage of your Boss Liuyi?”
“……” No matter whether they can or cannot, won’t an accident happen if you keep being chased after like this.
He Chusan hesitated for a while, “Next time……Don’t go if the place you’re going to is too dangerous.”
Xia Liuyi laughed, “The entirety of Hong Kong is under your Boss Liuyi’s power. I go anywhere I wanna go. Come on, don’t worry about those kinds of f*cking things. F*ck back to your home and go to bed.”
He lifted He Chusan’s paw away, holding the cigarette in his mouth and getting in his car carelessly. The engine thundered as the pedal was stepped on, puffing exhaustion into He Chusan’s face.
He Chusan stood still, watching him leave with dust. He stood absent-minded for a while over there, before walking silently to the walled city, holding his backpack.
During this time, he had seriously read many novels about mafia fights in the library to write scripts for Xia Liuyi. He thought that he was watching the rise and prosperity of a triad Big Boss who might dominate the entire Hong Kong – Xia Liuyi was bold and clever; he acted casual but possessed deep consideration for others, and he had such potential – however, he was also very possibly watching his eventual fall.
A career in the black society did not have the opportunity for regret. It was rare for someone to live through safely to the end of their life. Xia Liuyi’s unconstrained and fearless personality could bring him success, but could also bring him disasters. On the other hand, these triads had done brutal things, even if they were not punished by their conscience, heaven would not forgive them – just like Xu Ying and the little leader on the rooftop, and even Big Boss Azure Dragon. Whom of them had received an “unmiserable death”? Heaven is wise and has never failed to be fair. They all got their karma.
He didn’t want Xia Liuyi to end up like them in front of him. He didn’t know why, but despite everything, he couldn’t treat Xia Liuyi as an unrelated bystander. He didn’t want to see Xia Liuyi hurt, nor did he want to see Xia Liuyi’s miserable end.
He Chusan, twenty-two years old, was graduating from college in a year. His childhood dream was to take his dad away from the rotten, stinky, mud someday, and now, he began to wonder if he could take one more person with him.
He lowered his head and walked into the rotten walled city covered by darkness, but the light of hope had sprouted within his heart. At that time, he was so young, inexperienced, naïve, and innocent. He thought that he could change the future.
TN: The translator and the editor are sad together for the end of this chapter TT, but don't worry this book has a HE. Chusan and Liuyi even got vaccinated together this year in the author's extra.