Besides, Rotten-Life Ju had already hacked most of their men to the ground. The men who could fight him to the death were those Fuyixing toughs who ruled the roost in Kowloon Walled City and also held the title of Double Red Pole, not Brother Hua, a mere Straw Sandal, or herself, a woman who had never even been given a rank and was only a veteran Forty-Nine.
Most importantly, she had just shouted that she would hack the Chu Family's secretary to death and cursed his mother. The Chu Family might not care, but Song Tianyao had made himself perfectly clear: he would not touch her, but he could force Fuyixing's chairman, Golden-Tooth Lei, to deal with her.
Song Tianyao paid the woman no further attention. He took out another two hundred dollars and divided it between the two terrified cops, then sent them on their way. The two uniformed officers thanked him repeatedly as they left, overwhelmed by the favor. Given Song Tianyao's current standing, if he were to mention their names to the Chu Family in passing someday, it would take mere minutes for them to transfer from uniformed duty to plainclothes.
So as they left, the two made sure to assure Song Tianyao that, as for what had happened today, Brother Hua had fallen on his own and landed on the knife. There was no need to consider why a single fall had left him with two knife wounds. As for Rotten-Life Ju hacking people afterward, like Song Tianyao, they had seen none of it; they had been drinking tea with Secretary Song at the teahouse that whole time. In any case, Fuyixing probably would not call the police either. The jianghu gangs of this era still upheld the fine tradition of never troubling the authorities, no matter how serious the dispute.
The Hong Kong Police Force was also happy to leave matters alone when nobody filed a complaint, pretending not to see even when they did.
Song Tianyao wanted to ask Zhao Wenye to go home with him, but when he turned, his younger cousin was nowhere to be seen. Rotten-Life Ju walked over to where Zhao Wenye had been standing and picked up the roast goose and fruit he had left there. "A-Yip probably went to call his gang brothers."
"Thanks for the effort, Brother Ju. I didn't expect you to show up," Song Tianyao said mildly to Rotten-Life Ju before turning to knock on his own door.
Only after he had knocked several times did his younger sister, Song Wenwen, cautiously open the door a crack. Once she saw that it was her brother, she opened it all the way, but the sight of the blood and wounded people scattered outside made her retreat two steps in fright.
Song Tianyao pinched her cheeks, still slightly rounded with baby fat, and smiled. "If you're scared, don't look. Go hide in the second-floor loft, so the smell of blood doesn't get to you."
After speaking to Song Wenwen, Song Tianyao turned and addressed Rotten-Life Ju as though giving orders to a servant. "Brother Ju, when the Chao Yong Yi people get here, ask them to help clean up. Blood attracts flies very easily."
Rotten-Life Ju froze for a moment. Song Tianyao's response was very cold. He had saved Song Tianyao's life; even if Song Tianyao did not open his heart to him and shower him with gratitude, surely he should at least show some outward courtesy. It would not have been too much to invite him inside to sit down and have a glass of water. But from what Song Tianyao had said, he clearly meant for him to stay outside and had no intention of letting him in.
Yesterday, Song Tianyao had chatted warmly with him and Fish Stall Kun, and had even generously given them five hundred dollars each for their trouble. Why did he seem displeased with him today?
Rotten-Life Ju was a little quicker on the uptake than Fish Stall Kun, and immediately recalled how Chu Xiaoxin had cursed Chan Ah-sap and the rest of them last night. Could Young Master Chu Xiaoxin have dealt with the matter of Cheung Wing-kam and be preparing to settle with Chao Yong Yi? Was that why Secretary Song no longer wanted to show him any warmth?
Song Wenwen stared at her brother in something of a daze. She was Song Tianyao's own younger sister, and the two had grown up together. Ordinarily, they could hardly have known each other better, and a single sentence from Song Tianyao was enough for her to sense the obvious change in him. Her brother had always been loyal to his friends, cheerful, openhearted, and easy to approach. But just now, when he looked at that Brother Ju, his gaze had been sharp and his words had sounded cool. He had not seemed like an eighteen-year-old young man. His tone was more like that of the rich people she met at the teahouse, bland and unhurried, yet a casual remark from them could send a chill into someone's heart.
Leaving Rotten-Life Ju standing in a daze at the door, Song Tianyao put an arm around his sister's shoulders and ushered her into the room. Inside, his father was patting his mother on the back to help her breathe. Zhao Meizhen's eyes were half-open as she drew long breaths and muttered weakly to herself:
"This time we're done for. A-Yao stabbed someone in the street. Even if the police don't pursue it, Brother Hua won't let him off... Why is my A-Yao's life so bitter? He can't be a policeman anymore, and now he's gone and offended those gangsters..."
Song Tianyao pulled a chair with a wobbly leg over to the bed and sat down. He waved a hand in front of his mother. "Hey, Mom, I'm still here. The cops have already left, and the Fuyixing people outside have all been dealt with. Before the cops left, they said Brother Hua accidentally fell down and landed on Li Laoshi's knife. It had nothing to do with me."
"Huh?" Zhao Meizhen's half-lidded eyes suddenly went wide and brightened. She looked at her son, whose suit was neat and clean. "What did you say?"
"The cops took four hundred dollars and treated it as though nothing had happened. Brother Hua's men were also cut down by A-Yip's boss. From beginning to end, it had nothing to do with me." Song Tianyao repeated himself to his mother.
He did not think much of his sister or his father. His younger sister, Song Wenwen, was the youngest child and was more spoiled by their parents and him. Although she came from the Squatter Area, she was somewhat willful and unpleasant. As for his father, he was an honest man, dutiful and spineless, with the mentality of a typical petty townsman: he rushed toward any advantage he saw and was terrified whenever he encountered trouble, without a trace of manly responsibility.
Only his fierce mother had truly been the pillar of this family. Over the years, she had propped it up on all sides, keeping it from falling apart while working hard to raise her son and daughter. Though she was mercenary and possessed a poor person's cunning, she was not bad at heart. She was also considered warmhearted in the Squatter Area and often stood up for her neighbors; otherwise, she would not have been able to scrape together the three thousand dollars for Song Tianyao's police academy application so quickly. She was a woman who had not been crushed by poverty and hardship. She did not deserve to be extolled, nor could she be called great, but at least she deserved the respect and filial devotion due to her from her son, Song Tianyao.
Chapter 33: Pay Back the Money!
"Really?" Zhao Meizhen asked again, uncertain.
Song Tianyao looked down at himself and smiled. "If it weren't true, wouldn't Brother Hua's men have hacked me to death by now?"