Chapter 223 — The Zou Father and Son

Because he had something more important to do today: Young Master Bing had come to Songshan, and he meant to gather a few brothers and go pledge himself to Bing's service. As for Tang Yun and Wei Zhao, he would not waste his time on them now.

Though he hated Wei Zhao with every fiber of his being, Lazy Li firmly believed that once he had Young Master Bing's backing, fixing Wei Zhao would be the work of minutes, and Tang Yun would sooner or later be his plaything.

Casting one look of pure hatred back at Wei Zhao, Lazy Li quickened his pace. He knew what Young Master Bing wanted with him now that he was offering him a place. He had hesitated before — after all, he was one of the shantytown himself, raised there since childhood, and helping Young Master Bing move against the shantytown's own people was hard to justify.

But Wei Zhao's appearance had hardened his resolve...

Wei Zhao, of course, had no idea what was going on in Lazy Li's head. Seeing him pass by without a word, he was rather puzzled: "He's not bothering you anymore?"

Tang Yun shook her head in equal confusion — not in answer to whether Lazy Li had stopped harassing her, but because she herself could not understand what had gotten into him today.

He walked Tang Yun to her door but did not go in. "I'll be off?"

"Mm..." Tang Yun was a little annoyed. If you're leaving, then leave — why tell me about it? Was she supposed to invite him in to sit? Wasn't that plainly fishing for the invitation? And if she did not invite him, she would look terribly rude. Helpless, Tang Yun said, "Won't you come in and sit a while?"

"I'm going straight back." Wei Zhao smiled.

"Oh..." Tang Yun was all the more annoyed. She had swallowed her pride and invited him, and still he would not come in — what was that supposed to mean? She turned on her heel, ignored him entirely, and ran quickly back into the house...

On Monday, Zhong Yongliang had barely reached school before he hurriedly asked Zou Ruoming to come out.

"Liang, you wanted to see me?" Zou Ruoming was in a foul mood. Yesterday's business had left him thoroughly displeased and thrown his whole plan into disarray. He had meant to do as Zhong Yongliang suggested: have someone snatch Tang Yun, and then take her by force.

He had already arranged it with his elder brother, Zou Ruoguang, to bring men and help. But when he got home last night he made the tragic discovery that his brother had been beaten by someone. Both hands were crippled; he would need a long while to recover, and the plan had to be postponed.

What had happened was this: Zou Ruoming came home to find his father, Zou Tiandi, sitting there with a face like thunder.

"Dad, what's wrong?" Zou Ruoming was puzzled. Why did his father wear that expression, as though he had been robbed?

Zou Tiandi had not been robbed of money — he had been robbed of a hospital room. In Songshan City, he was not the sort of man whose stamp could shake the ground, but he did have a certain standing, and a strong web of connections. Yet a few nameless bumpkins had taken his room from him. If word of that got out, would he not be laughed out of countenance?

How was he supposed to keep his place in Songshan's high society?

So Zou Tiandi had Zhao Guangdong call his eldest son, Zou Ruoguang, the top thug of the North District, and told him to bring men to the hospital and settle the score. If those bumpkins were not taught a lesson they would never forget, this grievance could not be swallowed.

But just as he sat at home waiting for his son's good news, word came that was anything but good. His son had been beaten by the people in that hospital room — the details were still unclear — and was already on his way home. Zou Ruoguang had taken a heavy loss as well.

Since the days he had made his fortune and opened his KTV parlor, Zou Tiandi had not suffered such a loss in a very long time. Especially after he had quietly bankrolled his eldest son's rise to top thug of the North District, Zou Tiandi had thrived, walking both the white road and the black.

"Don't ask so many questions! Go to your room and do your homework like a good boy! Our Zou family is counting on you to be the scholar, to run the business for me one day!" Zou Tiandi glared at Zou Ruoming and snapped.

Zou Tiandi placed great hopes on this younger son of his. He and Zou Ruoguang were both rough men, early into the ways of the streets, with no chance of schooling now — but both of them wanted Zou Ruoming to amount to something.

The bigger Zou Tiandi's KTV business grew, the more clearly he understood how vital good managers were. Money could hire them, but no outsider was ever as dependable as one's own blood. So he wanted Zou Ruoming to study hard, take a degree in business management, and come back to help him build the enterprise bigger and stronger.

Zou Ruoming played the part well enough, the obedient darling at home, hanging on Zou Tiandi's every word. But what Zou Tiandi never suspected was that his eldest son doted on this younger brother to the point of folly — helping him in his dirty work and keeping it all hidden from their father.

"Okay..." Zou Ruoming answered meekly and went back to his room. Once the door was shut, he did not open a book; instead he pressed his ear to the door and waited for his brother to come home, to hear what they would say...

Before long his brother Zou Ruoguang returned. Peering through the crack of the door, Zou Ruoming was stunned to see that both of his brother's hands were wrapped in bandages.

"Ruoguang, what happened to you...?" Zou Tiandi had run the streets in his younger days too, and was no longer much bothered by wounds from brawls. But ever since Zou Ruoguang had pacified the North District and become its number one thug, such things had all but ceased.

"Dad, that man is a real fighter. I couldn't beat him!" Zou Ruoguang was frightened of Wei Zhao down to the marrow, so he held nothing back. "None of my men are a match for him! My guess is that even if he hasn't reached Yellow-rank, he's close! And he may know point-striking!"

"What? That strong? Impossible, surely? Those two brats can't be more than twenty — how could they be fighters of that caliber?" Zou Tiandi was taken aback, unwilling to believe it.

"Dad, honestly, I don't believe it either, but he really is formidable. Let this business go — it's not as if we have any deep blood feud with him..." Here Zou Ruoguang's voice betrayed a flicker of fear...

"Damn it, you worthless thing!" Zou Tiandi snorted coldly. "How can your courage be so small? Even that good-for-nothing brother of yours has more nerve — he was preying on his female classmates back in middle school. And look at you. I made the wrong decision back then. I should have sent you to school and let Ruoming run the streets!"

Zou Ruoguang hung his head, not daring to look at his father.

"However tough he is, two fists are no match for four hands. That's an old saying, and old sayings carry truth — otherwise how would they survive so many years?" Zou Tiandi gave another cold snort. "Your Uncle Yan is a near-Yellow-rank fighter, and even he was surrounded and taken! It cost me enormous effort to get him out of prison!"

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