Chapter 2#
The Liar Who Deceives Himself#
Because he surrendered voluntarily and was treated with leniency, the police only gave him a lecture and let him go.
Zheng Li left with his men, cursing and swearing. Before leaving, he threatened to make Lin Xiaodong pay. Brother Long gave his back the middle finger and laughed loudly, slapping Lin Xiaodong hard on the shoulder: “As expected of a high school graduate, you’re smart!”
Lin Xiaodong: I think you might have some misunderstanding about high school graduates.
But if Lin Xiaodong hadn’t called the police today, Brother Long’s group of yellow-haired punks—with their different heights and builds but surprisingly uniform hair colors—probably wouldn’t have been able to handle that guy surnamed Zheng.
Lin Xiaodong listened to his complaints for a while and learned that Zheng Li was now a trusted aide of a big shot in this city, which was why his subordinates had all followed suit and put on suits.
Brother Long: “Bah! I think he’s just a pig with onions in its nose, pretending to be an elephant!”
Brother Long was a debt collector. As everyone knows, debt collectors can’t hit people; they can only rely on intimidation.
So even the “tattooed arms” of these guys were just made up of tattoo stickers.
Lin Xiaodong checked the time. If he went back now, he would probably be lectured by Lin Xiamian again. He might as well stay at an internet cafe for the night.
This suggestion was met with unanimous approval from all the yellow-haired punks present.
Walking along the road, there weren’t many people on the street. Certain entertainment venues were just at their peak business hours.
Brother Long bought a pack of cigarettes at a convenience store. When he came out, he found Lin Xiaodong squatting on the roadside, staring blankly at the glittering door of the Wanxiao Club opposite. He sighed and squatted beside him.
“Don’t look,” he said. “That place isn’t for people like us. The cheapest private room for a night costs thirty to forty thousand, and opening a bottle of wine costs fifty-eight thousand. You’d better just dream about it.”
“Can’t I just look at the beautiful women?”
Lin Xiaodong said, but his eyes were fixed on the sports car parked at the door.
To be precise, he was looking at the black-haired man standing next to the sports car.
The man leaned against the car door, lowering his head to unbutton his shirt cuffs. He was wearing a black suit vest over his upper body. From a distance, his long, slender back with wide shoulders and a narrow waist was simply breathtaking.
“So hot,” Lin Xiaodong couldn’t help but say.
This butt, this waist, these legs—perfect!
The System knew he liked men, but…
“Control yourself,” its flat voice contained a hint of disdain. “Your saliva is about to drip out.”
Lin Xiaodong subconsciously wiped his mouth—nothing. He then realized the System was fooling him.
The bald man beside him thought he was praising the scantily-clad beauty opposite. There were always “wine-scouters” like her at the entrance of Wanxiao, and she had been looking around for a long time tonight. Seeing the man come up, she immediately showed an expression mixed with surprise and shyness. She took the initiative to step forward and wanted to grab his arm, but was pushed away without any pity.
The bald man cursed: “Tch, some are dying of thirst while others are drowning.”
He gloomily took a puff of his cheap cigarette and handed one to Lin Xiaodong.
Lin Xiaodong hadn’t tried this before. He took a puff and almost choked to death.
Fortunately, the System wasn’t strict enough to warn him about smoking.
“No, Xiaodong, you can’t do it.” The bald man laughed and patted his back.
Lin Xiaodong took a few breaths and stood up by his knees: “Let’s go. My legs will go numb if I keep squatting.”
But for some reason, before leaving, he still looked back as if possessed.
He happened to meet the man’s dark and deep black eyes.
But soon, the other party looked away and disappeared into the entrance of Wanxiao.
Lin Xiaodong couldn’t help shivering. He asked the System: “Are you sure he’s a law-abiding citizen? That look… even Master Zheng, who lives across from me, isn’t that scary.”
System (curiously): “Who is Master Zheng?”
Lin Xiaodong: “The one who kills pigs at the vegetable market.”
System: “…”
System: “I don’t want to answer that question. But don’t worry, for you, getting into trouble with this kind of person might not necessarily be as big as getting into trouble with Zheng Li.”
“How so?”
“There’s a big difference between instant death and being cut with a blunt knife.”
Lin Xiaodong: “…If you can’t talk properly, just shut up, thanks.”
He stayed at the internet cafe all night and wobbled back home early the next morning.
“Brother, where did you go last night?”
Lin Xiamian asked impatiently as soon as he entered.
“Out with some friends,” Lin Xiaodong said vaguely.
But how could Lin Xiamian not know what kind of people Lin Xiaodong’s so-called “friends” were? He frowned but didn’t say anything, only saying: “Go take a shower quickly. You smell of smoke. Remember to call me next time you go out at night.”
As he spoke, he also urged Lin Xiaodong to take off his dirty clothes, saying he wanted to wash them properly.
“Sys,” Lin Xiaodong closed his eyes while washing his hair, “if it were a normal person who found out their biological brother was making money and hanging out with punks every day, what would their first reaction be?”
The System searched various film and literary works in its database:
“…Advise him to get on the right path as soon as possible?”
“Bingo, you’re right.”
Water trickled down the wet ends of the young man’s hair. Lin Xiaodong raised his head, running his fingers through his hair and pushing it back. The rising steam in the bathroom blurred the upward curve of his lips.
“Whether it’s brothers, friends, or lovers, only those who don’t care about the other person at all can remain indifferent to this kind of thing. But it’s obvious that Lin Xiamian doesn’t ’not care’ about me.” He turned off the faucet and analyzed with the System with interest. “So, why does he show such a contradictory attitude?”
System (subconsciously): “Why?”
“How should I know?” Lin Xiaodong shrugged. “I’ve only known him for two days.”
However, from his performance in these two days, this “cheap” younger brother was clearly not as simple as he appeared.
Interesting.
By the time Lin Xiaodong came out, Lin Xiamian had already prepared breakfast. He sat down, tasted the soup, and praised jokingly: “It tastes good. You can pack up and get married now.”
To his surprise, Lin Xiamian immediately served him another bowl.
“As long as you like it, brother,” he said. “I’ll cook for you for the rest of my life.”
After he said this, the dining table fell into a brief silence.
Lin Xiamian looked a bit anxiously at the calm face of the young man opposite, thinking: Brother shouldn’t have discovered anything, right?
“Xiamian,” suddenly, Lin Xiaodong asked as if casually, “you’re in your second year of high school now, right?”
“Yes.”
Lin Xiaodong said: “With such a busy study schedule, it’s not a good idea for you to always cook for me every day. It’s not like I can’t take care of myself. Doesn’t your school have dormitories? How about trying to live on campus next semester?”
With a “thud,” Lin Xiamian slammed the bowl in his hand onto the table.
“Brother,” he took a deep breath, his voice trembling slightly, “am I causing you trouble?”
“No, why would you think that?”
“Then why are you driving me away?” Lin Xiamian questioned loudly.
Hearing this, Lin Xiaodong lowered his eyes and sighed intentionally: “Your brother has gotten into some trouble outside recently. I’m afraid those people might take revenge on you.”
“What happened?” Lin Xiamian asked with wide eyes, looking nervous.
“Don’t worry, I can handle it,” Lin Xiaodong comforted him. “But it’s better to be safe than sorry. That’s why I’m asking you to live on campus after the summer vacation. You’ll be able to study more that way.”
But no matter what he said, Lin Xiamian was unwilling to live on campus. When he left, he deliberately slammed the door loudly.
“A kid in his rebellious teenage years.” Lin Xiaodong looked at the peeling paint on the ceiling and curled his lips. “If the landlord sees this, he’ll probably come looking for trouble again.”
After a long time, he sighed: “Sys, I’m so poor.”
System: “It’s okay. When this world is over and a thousand points are credited, you can go to the mall to exchange items.”
Lin Xiaodong wasn’t much happier, because future money couldn’t make him happy now.
He thought for a while and asked expectantly: “Then do you think my looks are good enough to be a doorman at Wanxiao?”
System: “Wake up. You don’t have a driver’s license, and you can’t drive.”
Lin Xiaodong: “…”
He had never felt the System was so annoying.
But having no money was indeed a big problem. Although Brother Long had told him at the police station to stay at home for a while to avoid trouble, Lin Xiaodong weighed the risk of starving to death against the risk of being retaliated against and decisively chose the latter.
“A high school dropout,” he walked on the street under the hot sun, looking as if he was talking to himself to others, “undergraduates can’t find jobs these days. What else can I do? Move bricks?”
System: “Based on the popularity of nine-year compulsory education, you should be able to find your peers there.”
“Shut up.” Lin Xiaodong rubbed his yellow hair irritably.
“Looking at me, I doubt even those who move bricks would want me.”
“Is there any work lately, brother?” Finally, he chose to send a message to the bald man.
“Yes,” the bald man replied quickly. “But are you sure you want to come? This isn’t a small business.”
Lin Xiaodong snorted and called him: “Alright, stop being mysterious. Just tell me the place.”
The bald man sent him a set of coordinates, which was at a high-end restaurant.
The deadbeat they were targeting this time was called Qi Huaishui, a famous profligate of the Qi family, also known as Qi the Second.
“His brother, Qi Jianghe, is the big shot Zheng Li is following,” the bald man added when he arrived the next day. “If we hadn’t found out that Qi the Second has a very bad relationship with his brother and often causes trouble for him, Brother Long wouldn’t have taken this business.”
“The one who owes money is the boss, I understand.”
They squatted in the small bamboo forest outside the restaurant, observing everyone entering and leaving according to the photos sent by the employer.
A man in a suit wearing sunglasses stood not far away. His tall figure looked a bit familiar.
He seemed to be talking on the phone. After hearing the sound, he glanced at Lin Xiaodong.
Lin Xiaodong didn’t pay much attention to him. Anyway, he was just an irrelevant person, not important.
The most important thing was the next task. The bald man had only brought three people this time. Lin Xiaodong looked at Qi the Second, who was accompanied by bodyguards, and frowned: “No, this guy always has a squad of people with him. We have to use our wits.”
The bald man had been hanging around since he graduated from primary school. He also knew that Lin Xiaodong had good grades and was smart, so he asked humbly:
“How do we use our wits?”
Lin Xiaodong opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly a short scream came from a distance. It turned out that a van had accidentally dropped a box on the ground while unloading, and the apples in the box rolled all over the floor.
Before the bald man and the others could react, they saw the young man who was just standing with them rush forward and quickly pick up all the apples. He even went all the way and considerately helped the lobby manager move the box into the restaurant.
“You’re…”
By the time Lin Xiaodong came back wiping his sweat, the bald man was still in a daze. He stared at Lin Xiaodong as if he were an alien: “Did you take the wrong medicine?”
“How are you talking?” Lin Xiaodong said expressionlessly. He couldn’t help it; the System was too noisy. “I’m being a Good Samaritan like Lei Feng. Although I smoke, drink, and have a perm, I’m a good person, get it?”
Bald Man: “…”
A low laugh came from not far away. Lin Xiaodong and the man in sunglasses looked at each other and were surprised to find that the other party was exceptionally handsome, not at all inferior to the man he saw last night.
Why hadn’t he noticed it just now?
Unfortunately, it was working time, and he didn’t have time to ask for WeChat.
Lin Xiaodong looked away with some regret and patiently explained his plan to the bald man and the others.
After listening, the bald man’s eyes widened instantly: “No! This is too dangerous. What if something really happens?”
“Brother, it’s two million for one deal!” Lin Xiaodong patted his shoulder in frustration. “After giving Brother Long his share, the five of us will split it, and each of us will get a hundred thousand!”
“But…” the bald man was still a bit hesitant, “won’t the impact be bad?”
“What are you thinking?” Lin Xiaodong was speechless. Even the System hadn’t said anything. “We’re here to collect debts. The one who owes money and doesn’t pay is Qi the Second, not us. We are upholding justice! Even if we don’t put it that highly, we’re just getting paid to do a job. Haven’t you heard that saying?”
The bald man asked blankly: “What?”
Lin Xiaodong glanced at the man who had walked over at some point and was silently staring at him. He looked away, cleared his throat, and said:
“With a monthly salary of three thousand, I’m the boss’s father; with a monthly salary of thirty thousand, the boss is my dear uncle; with a monthly salary of a hundred thousand, I’ll carry the boss through fire and water, and whoever stops me will have to deal with me!”
The young man’s expression was firm, and his voice was full of passion and power.
As fellow workers, the bald man and the others were stunned by his lofty ideological awareness.
The man in sunglasses laughed softly.
He put away his mobile phone and asked as if inadvertently: “What if I give you a million?”
Lin Xiaodong curled his lips: “What’s there to say for a million? I’ll just lie flat. I’ll do whatever the boss says. The company is my parents, and I’ll live and die with the company.”
The man said “Oh,” laughed, and left.
Lin Xiaodong thought this guy was also quite strange. Seeing a bunch of men from a debt collection company, he didn’t avoid them but even came up to talk. He was quite brave.
Could he be a competitor here to steal their job?
Translator’s Note: “Lei Feng” is a famous Chinese soldier known for his selflessness and helpfulness. “985” refers to a group of elite universities in China.