Antidote - - - Chapter 9

Chapter 9 」

Cheng Ke followed Jiang Yu Duo into the restaurant. They were trailed by Jiang Yu Duo’s underlings. For a second, Cheng Ke had the awkward sensation of having usurped Chen Qing’s role as the head honor guard.

But compared to staring at Cheng Yi in front of the restaurant, this was a pretty perfect ending.

He was thought, without a clue. Was Cheng Yi still standing outside? Or perhaps he changed his mind and had entered. Either way, he didn’t turn back to look.

“How many will it be?” A server approached and asked.

“Six.” Jiang Yu Duo replied. “Is there still room on the second floor?”

“Yes.” The server answered.

Cheng Ke quickly counted the number of people in his head and realized that Jiang Yu Duo had counted him in as well. He felt a little embarrassed and wanted to call out to Jiang Yu Duo, but Jiang Yu Duo didn’t give him the chance and directly went upstairs.

On the second floor, Cheng Ke hurried to say as Jiang Yu Duo stopped to look for a table, “Third…”

Third Bro?

He might have been able to say that out loud before, but the rental agreement had come with Jiang Yu Duo’s personal ID. This “Third Bro” was only 21 and he really couldn’t address him as “older brother”. Even though he knew this form of address was more because of Jiang Yu Duo’s status among the garbage managers.

“You can call me Third.” Jiang Yu Duo looked at him.

“Third,” Cheng Ke nodded. “Thank you for earlier. I’m meeting someone so I won’t disturb you and your friends anymore.”

Jiang Yu Duo wrinkled his forehead. “Why are you talking in circles? Just say that you are meeting someone and not us. Drop the damned ‘do not disturb’.”

Cheng Ke couldn’t say anything in response. Even though that’s what he meant but having it pointed out so directly by Jiang Yu Duo made the entire thing awkward.

“Isn’t that right?” Jiang Yu Duo’s brow remained furrowed and he asked again.

“Yes.” Cheng Ke coud only nod.

“Not allowed.” Jiang Yu Duo replied straightforwardly.

“…eh?” Cheng Ke was stunned.

“I just asked if you wanted to eat with us and you agreed.” Jiang Yu Duo waved at his underlings and pointed to a table by the window.

It was a big table but two women and a man had just sat down. A few underlings immediately rushed over and sat across from them. They hesitated for a few moments and then got up and left.

Cheng Ke couldn’t bring himself to comment on this behavior.

“How many friends did you invite?” Jiang Yu Duo asked.

“One.” Cheng Ke answered.

“A girl?” Jiang Yu Duo narrowed his eyes and smiled.

“A guy.” Cheng Ke sighed.

“Fine, tell you friend the table number.” Jiang Yu Duo said, “we can eat together.”

In all of his life, Cheng Ke had never encountered someone who forcibly invited people to a meal. On one hand, Jiang Yu Duo just helped him out. Even though he strongly suspected that such a straightforward Jiang Yu Duo wasn’t really helping him out before but really had been asking him. On the other hand, he despised being forced into a meal together, no matter what the reason was.

“No,” Cheng Ke insisted, “I…”

“Are you a fucking girl?” Jiang Yu Duo seemed to get frustrated as well. “So indecisive! Do I have to ask you out for two months before we can grab a meal together?”

Did the walls around the mental hospital collapse? Why isn’t it repaired?

“I can’t eat if it’s not a private room.” Cheng Ke stopped trying to be subtle about it.

“The public room is too loud.”

“Private rooms don’t have ambiance. If nobody talks then it’s just silent, so awkward.” Jiang Yu Duo went as far as to debate with him, “also there are no more private rooms available.”

Cheng Ke looked at him.

Jiang Yu Duo waved over a server standing not far from them.

The server ran over, “Third Bro.”

“Tell him that there are no more private rooms.” Jiang Yu Duo commanded.

“Hello sir,” the server smiled awkwardly at Cheng Ke, “all the private rooms… have been booked.”

Just as Cheng Ke was stunned at the realization that Jiang Yu Duo’s influence seemed to extend beyond the garbage cans, Cheng Yi appeared at the top of the stairs.

“Fine.” Cheng Ke admitted defeat immediately.

Jiang Yu Duo glanced over at the stairs and smiled briefly. “Let’s go.”

Cheng Ke sat down at the table, in the “about-to-step-into-jail” underlings he had grabbed.

He intentionally picked a seat facing away from the hall. He really didn’t want to see Cheng Yi anymore.

Jiang Yu Duo’s underling poured tea for him and then looked over at Jiang Yu Duo. “Third Bro, what’s your friend’s name?”

“Name your ass, “Jiang Yu Duo said, “call him bro.”

The underling seemed very used to this reaction and merely smiled before turning over to call Cheng Ke, “bro.”

“Cheng Ke.” Cheng Ke didn’t have it in him to be as unreasonable as Jiang Yu Duo. “My name’s fine.”

“Ke Bro, nice to meet you.” Several of the underlings greeted him together.

“…Ah.” Cheng Ke picked up the tea and took a sip.

In order to alleviate the awkwardness, he took out his phone and messaged Xu Ding.

– Do you mind eating with others? I met some friends.

– Is it Yi and the others?

Xu Ding’s reply made Cheng Ke pause.

– Tiancheng just invited me and I said I didn’t have time

– Oh, not them

– No worries, I’ll be there in a bit

Cheng Ke texted Xu Ding the table number and then stared at the phone in thought.

Xu Ding was pretty close with Liu Tiancheng. But usually Liu Tiancheng wouldn’t call Xu Ding when he was out eating with these people. Cheng Ke furrowed his brow. What was the guy up to?

“Just now,” Jiang Yu Duo asked quietly next to him, “was that your older brother? You guys look alike.”

“My younger brother.” Cheng Ke said.

“By blood?” Jiang Yu Duo asked again.

“Yeah.” Cheng Ke agreed.

“Is that younger brother by a mistress?” Jiang Yu Duo followed up.

“… What?” Cheng Ke had to turn around and look at him.

“Bastard son of a rich family using all the tricks in the books to chase out his older brother in order to inherit millions.” Jiang Yu Duo explained.

“Should I applaud you?” Cheng Ke looked at the underlings across the table. They were having the time of their lives talking amongst themselves about legs, waists, and boobs, completely ignoring the script their boss was talking about. He sipped at the tea again and said, “why don’t you think it’s the older brother pushing aside the bastard son?”

“You had to dig through trash for a hundred yen. Isn’t it obvious who’s bullying whom?”

Jiang Yu Duo remarked.

If Jiang Yu Duo wasn’t still bleeding from his forehead wound, Cheng Ke really wanted to smash the cup in his hand onto his face.

“Joking,” Jiang Yu Duo smiled and leaned back against the chair. “Your brother looks like someone who’s more cunning than you. Also looks more mature. I thought he was your older brother.”

Cheng Ke tried really hard to smile.

After this, Jiang Yu Duo fell silent and simply watched his underlings laughing and chatting away.

Cheng Ke tried to tune in but really couldn’t figure out what was so interesting. In the end he concluded that silly people found everything funny.

Just as he was about to ask Xu Ding where he was, Jiang Yu Duo waved from beside him and shouted, “Dude, over here!”

Cheng Ke turned around in time to see Xu Ding walk over to them.

“That’s him right?” Jiang Yu Duo asked.

“If it isn’t?” Cheng Ke had to give it to Jiang Yu Duo’s confidence. To call someone over without checking if it was the right person.

“If it’s not him he wouldn’t come over.” Jiang Yu Duo said.

“Then why ask me?” Cheng Ke asked in resignation.

“What if they’re stupid?” Jiang Yu Duo retorted.

Cheng Ke had nothing to say to such a reasonable response. He stood up and smiled at Xu Ding. Just as he was about to pull out the chair next to his, one of Jiang Yu Duo’s underlings already did.

“Sit, bro.”

“Thank you.” Xu Ding smiled and nodded his thanks.

“My friend, Xu Ding.” Cheng Ke introduced.

“Xu Bro”, several of the underlings greeted one after the other.

Cheng Ke realized that they called him “Ke Bro” not “Cheng Bro” but when it came to Xu Ding it was “Xu Bro” not “Ding Bro”. The most important thing was that they didn’t discuss amongst themselves and called out the address uniformly. Maybe there was some unspoken rule about the terms of address?

He then introduced the others to Xu Ding. “This is Jiang Yu Duo, my… landlord.”

“Hello.” Xu Ding nodded at Jiang Yu Duo.

“Just call me Third.” Jiang Yu Duo said.

“These are…” Cheng Ke wanted to introduce the underlings but realized he didn’t know their names. He suddenly felt envious of Jiang Yu Duo’s total disregard for rules. If this had been Jiang Yu Duo, he would have skipped this social nicety completely.

“My buddies,” Jiang Yu Duo said, “too many to remember, so I’m not going to bother introducing.”

“Yeah,” some of the underlings nodded, “if you need anything done, just ask us.”

“Of course.” Xu Ding said with a smile.

“Can you handle spicy food?” Jiang Yu Duo summoned a waiter. “If we all then we’re not getting the two-broth pot. That’s not satisfying.”

“Ke and I can both eat spicy food.” Xu Ding said.

As Jiang Yu Duo started ordering food, Xu Ding bent his head towards Cheng Ke and asked, “Landlord?”

Cheng Ke nodded and confirmed, “Really.”

“He looks a bit…” Cheng Ke said quietly.

“Yup,” Cheng Ke laughed. Instead of a landlord, Jiang Yu Duo really did look like a loan shark. He paused for a few seconds but couldn’t resist asking, “Liu Tiancheng asked you to come here and eat?”

“Yeah, but I declined.” Xu Ding said. “Did you run into them?”

“I did.” Cheng Ke sighed. “You should have told me to find a different place. It’ll be hard to explain if they see you in a bit.”

“Don’t worry about.” Xu Ding said in a low voice. “If they see, they see. I really don’t want to get between you and your brother. We’re not that close. It’s fine if they see.”

“You and Liu Tiacheng…” Cheng Ke knows that Xu Ding and Liu Tiancheng had a good relationship. Not only were they friends but they also had business together.

“Not that close.” Xu Ding smiled as he sipped his tea. “Don’t worry about it. Where are you living now?”

“Pretty close to here.” Cheng Ke said. “At the Gold Water Bay a couple streets over, decent place.”

“That’s great.” Xu Ding said. “Having a place to live is good. What’s your next step?”

Cheng Ke didn’t answer. Xu Ding’s question caused him to panic.

Plans?

He had no plans.

So much has happened these days that he didn’t have time to make any plans.

But what shocked him was that even if nothing happened and he had plenty of time, he wouldn’t have made any plans.

“No idea.” Cheng Ke leaned back against the chair and sighed softly. “Fuck.”

“Take your time.” Xu Ding said. “You never had to worry about this before. Just don’t give up on your sand art. I still want to collaborate with you. Before you wouldn’t give us the time of day if you were in a bad mood. How do you feel now?”

“Pretty good.” Cheng Ke smiled.

When the hot pot arrived, Cheng Ke realized that Jiang Yu Duo ordered so much that not only was their table covered but plates also piled up on the cart next to them.

“So much?” He asked.

“Relax.” Jiang Yu Duo glanced at his underlings. “Not enough. If we don’t want to fight over the food we’ll have to order more later.”

An underling brought over alcohol and made to pour for Jiang Yu Duo and Xu Ding. Xu Ding blocked it and said, “I drove. Tea is fine.”

The underling stuck the bottle in front of Cheng Ke. Cheng Ke didn’t want to drink though he usually would. He didn’t know how to feel about tonight.

“You driving too?” Jiang Yu Duo looked at him.

Honestly, Cheng Ke admired Jiang Yu Duo. He had that ability to say whatever he wanted without caring about the other person. Every time it caught him by surprise since he was so used to subtlety.

The underling poured him a cup and then filled Jiang Yu Duo’s cup again.

Cheng Ke looked at the gauze on his forehead. With such a wound, Jiang Yu Duo didn’t stop drinking liquor or eating spicy food and his underlings didn’t seem to find it weird.

“Their marbled beef is really good.” Jiang Yu Duo picked up a plate of beef. “You guys come here often, right?”

“Yes,” Xu Ding nodded, “every time we…”

Before he finished speaking, Jiang Yu Duo already poured the entire plate into the pot and then stirred it casually with the colander.

And then the underlings descended upon it.

“Hurry up and eat,” Jiang Yu Duo instructed, “it’ll be overcooked in a bit.”

“Of course.” Xu Ding dug in with a smile.

That meant Cheng Ke also had to start eating. He really did enjoy this kind of beef and he has now figured out that if he waited any longer, there’d be no meat left.

Forget “it’ll be overcooked in a bit”. Looking at them, that would not be a concern at all.

Rather than worry about that, it’d be more realistic to worry about what to do if the meat was undercooked.

For the entire meal, Jiang Yu Duo would keep adding food to the hot pot in the same style.

Regardless of whether it was meat or vegetables, he’d dump the whole plate in all at once, and the entire table would fight to snatch any morsel.

Cheng Ke mused that he’s never eaten a meal with so “satisfactorily” before.

Xu Ding seemed used to this and looked like he had a great time talking with Jiang Yu Duo and his underlings. Xu Ding was different from Cheng Ke’s usual crew. His old crew, regardless of whether they were talented like Cheng Yi or useless like himself, had a family to lean on to some degree. Xu Ding had no such background and earned everything with his own hard work, so he could be comfortable around Jiang Yu Duo and his gang.

Even though Liu Tiancheng had business dealing with Xu Ding and was sort of close with him, he still looked down on Xu Ding in his heart. Cheng Ke didn’t use to give this any thought, but now that he looked at Xu Ding, he experienced a sudden bout of envy.

Don’t think about relying on your family for everything.

Xu Ding was probably the only person who had the rights to say that. And yet, they didn’t care for Xu Ding.

Cheng Ke smiled.

After finishing this war like meal, Cheng Ke finally learned what it meant to be… stuffed to the brim.

Not just his stomach, but also his brain. He spent the entire meal listening to the underlings chatter about the various things happening on their territory. From weird things to strange things and also the lascivious dealings. They were all a mix of fiction and fact but all incredible.

Truth to be told, Cheng Ke heard similar things when he was hanging out with others. In comparison, the stories the underlings told were much less sophisticated but more exciting.

Cheng Ke didn’t feel any revulsion, just a sense of the world being so big.

Big enough for people like this and for things like this.

As they left the restaurant, Xu Ding asked, “Drop you off?”

“No need. I want to walk around and orient myself.” Cheng Ke said. In fact, he wanted to go by the supermarket and buy… a mop. Even though he didn’t want to, he had to deal with all the dust on the floor.

“Sure thing. Keep in touch.” Xu Ding dropped the matter and cupped his fists at Jiang Yu Duo. “Third Bro, thank you for the meal.”

“Don’t be so formal.” Jiang Yu Duo waved it off. “Call me when you’re in the neighborhood.”

“Will do.” Xu Ding nodded.

When Xu Ding’s car drove off, Cheng Ke turned around to look at the restaurant.

“They’re not done.” Jiang Yu Duo said, “I’ve been watching and didn’t see them come out.”

“… Why would you track something like that?” Cheng Ke asked with incomprehension.

“No idea,” Jiang Yu Duo replied, “habit.”

“Oh.” Cheng Ke nodded in understanding and then pointed in the direction of the supermarket after a few seconds of silence. “I’m going that way.”

“I’m going that way too,” Jiang Yu Duo remarked, “let’s go.”

After all, they’ve shared a chaotic meal and drank liquor together. Add that to them helping out before, Cheng Ke felt like he could accept walking with them for a while.

But this was a new experience. He didn’t know if it was the arrogant way the underlings walked or something else, but Cheng Ke felt like he was patrolling the streets.

Half a street later, one of the underlings’ phone rang. He picked up and said, “Qing Bro.”

Probably the head honor guard.

And then the underling fell silent. All they could see was his expression change. “I’ll let Third… ok, got it.”

“What happened?” Jiang Yu Duo asked.

Usually Chen Qing would call him directly with anything. Him calling Da Bin all of a sudden led Jiang Yu Duo to think that something has happened.

“Third Bro,” Da Bin cleared his throat and stammered out, “Uh, Qing Bro wants me to…

fetch something. We’ll just…”

“Why do you need so many people to fetch something?” Jiang Yu Duo interrupted.

Da Bin cleared his throat again. “Don’t know, probably just…”

Da Bin wasn’t one to be flustered. He usually spewed nonsense more naturally than getting morning wood. If he struggled so hard today, then it must mean that Chen Qing was in trouble.

Jiang Yu Duo turned around to look at Er Tu standing next to him, “Did Chen Qing go see Zhang Daqi today?”

Er Tu didn’t sync up stories with Da Bin, so he nodded and said, “Yea.”

“Fuck.” Jiang Yu Duo turned around and started walking towards Zhang Daqi’s bar. “Da Bin, call people.”

“Third Bro, third bro!” Da Bin was agitated. “Qing Bro said to not tell you, that you’re wounded.”

“Not tell me?” Jiang Yu Duo looked at him. “If I don’t go, we’ll see how many of you walk out of there today!”

Da Bin hushed and started dialing numbers immediately.

Jiang Yu Duo ran forward a few steps, remembered that Cheng Ke was still there, and then stopped and turned around.

“It’s fine.” Though Cheng Ke was surprised, he said clearly, “See you around.”

Jiang Yu Duo glanced at him and then turned around to run toward the other end of the street. The underlings followed after like a whirlwind. The other pedestrians on the street backed off to the two sides. Someone watching would think they were shooting a movie.

Cheng Ke didn’t know whether it was the liquor or the boredom, but as he watched Jiang Yu Duo fade into the darkness, he felt a sudden impulse to follow along and watch the drama.

Eight times out of ten, he’d see a fight break out when going to bars. But honestly, because he didn’t know anyone and merely watched as a bystander, he hadn’t felt anything.

It’s like in school, just knowing the players on the field would turn a shitty ball game into an adrenaline filled event.

Cheng Ke thought about it and then crossed to the other side of the street and walked off into the direction that Jiang Yu Duo ran off to.

This entire street was filled with all types of bars and nightclubs. The lights flashed so hard that it filled his brain. Even without a fight Cheng Ke felt dizzy.

Cheng Ke was almost at the crossroads and still couldn’t figure out where the fight was happening.

But when he walked forward a few feet, he heard sounds.

There were voices raised in anger, loud shouts, screams, and the sound of something banging against each other. Immediately afterwards he saw several people run in from the other end of the street towards the right side of the road.

The underlings that Jiang Yu Duo summoned for help?

Cheng Ke took a few quick steps forward and suddenly felt uneasy.

He took out his phone subconsciously.

There’s someone he knows in there fighting. This was different from a soccer match. He thought about Jiang Yu Duo’s bloodied face and the wounds that almost crossed him in half on his back…

Cheng Ke looked down at his phone and considered calling the police Police sirens sounded behind him and Cheng Ke sighed in relief. Then he worried, would they get caught?

As the police siren sounded, a group of shadows suddenly emerged from the right side of the street and scattered amongst the crowd in all the directions Cheng Ke wanted to see the conclusion. Just as he took a step forward, someone grabbed his arm and yanked him violently backwards.

“Fuck!” Cheng Ke cursed. He almost fell over because of this.

He didn’t fall, but only because he was pushed against the wall next to him. He immediately raised his leg to kick at the person who yanked on him.

Though the person dodged, Cheng Ke still felt his kick connect at the waist. He heard a curse, “don’t you fucking look before you punch?”

“Jiang Yu Duo?” Cheng Ke was stunned.

“What are you doing here?” Jiang Yu Duo glared at him.

“…I wanted to see what’s up.” Cheng Ke answered.

“And then get beaten up together because you said hello to me?” Jiang Yu Duo asked.

Cheng Ke wanted to say that he had no plans of greeting Jiang Yu Duo, but felt embarrassed.

“Go back.” Jiang Yu Duo said. “What’s there to see? Nobody treats themselves as a human.

Better to go watch a dog fight.”

Cheng Ke looked at Jiang Yu Duo who disappeared once again into the darkness and sighed softly.

Time to buy a mop.

What kind?

The flat kind?

Or the string kind?

解药

(Antidote)

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