He then calmly released the bayonet.
A-Lok's body was still inside the door, half of his head stuck in the door frame. The bayonet that had pierced A-Lok's temple now acted as a latch, wedging half of A-Lok's head in the door frame, while his body writhed and convulsed helplessly inside the door.
"Ah~" Ah Ying happened to be passing through the outer room of the living room at that moment. She had just heard A-Lok's warning and was terrified when she saw A-Lok's body convulsing!
Having followed Golden-Tooth Lei for so many years, Ah Ying had seen her share of the ways of the underworld. She screamed and turned to run inside, signaling to Golden-Tooth Lei and Sister Qiu, "Master, Madam! Run! Out the back window!"
"Swoosh!" The powerful arm pulled out the bayonet, and A-Lok's head, now without its buckle, immediately retracted along the small door, collapsing to the ground as his body was dragged along.
The arm reached in through the small door and unlatched the bolt inside.
Ah Ying hurriedly ran back to the mahjong room, only to be startled by what she saw. Golden-Tooth Lei Shou was still sitting in his original spot with Sister Qiu, with his hands on the mahjong table. At the doorway leading to the kitchen and tea room, two dark-skinned Thailand men were standing, holding not the machetes she was used to, but two dark handguns.
Chapter 496 The Noisy Harp Restaurant (Part 5)
Chan Ah-sap sat near the Tsim Sha Tsui Pier, in front of a stall with a sign advertising Ningbo glutinous rice balls. He looked at a girl of about sixteen or seventeen with long braids, her face slightly flushed, as she brought him a bowl of steaming hot glutinous rice balls. When Chan Ah-sap touched the bowl, he deliberately touched the back of the girl's hand, startling her. She quickly pulled her hand back, but the movement was a little too abrupt, spilling some of the glutinous rice balls onto the table.
Chan Ah-sap laughed heartily. The old man, who was tending the pot, hurriedly turned around, seemingly angry but actually protective. He pulled his daughter behind him and scolded, "Clumsy! Go and tend the firewood!"
Then, forcing a smile onto her wrinkled face, she bowed obsequiously to Chan Ah-sap, saying, "Brother Ten, this little brat is young and clumsy. Please forgive her. This bowl of glutinous rice balls isn't worth much. I'll sell a few more bowls tomorrow and buy some braised meat to make amends."
"Huang Laogui, I told you to think it over, what's your decision?" Seeing the old man apologizing in front of him, Chan Ah-sap's face turned cold. He turned his head away disdainfully, looked at the girl with her back to him, and said in a cold tone.
The old man, who had been called "Huang Laogui," smiled obsequiously, his back hunched, maintaining the same posture throughout. "Brother Ten, A-Yu is still young. She's my only daughter, and I don't want her to leave home too early, besides..."
Before Old Huang could finish speaking, Chan Ah-sap raised his hand and slapped the old man across the face!
"Haven't I told you hundreds of times? If your daughter marries me, you'll just have another son-in-law. What! Are you afraid I can't afford to support you?" Chan Ah-sap glared at the old man, not bothering to lower his voice, seemingly unconcerned that the girl nearby would hear his threats.
The girl who was cooking glutinous rice balls shuddered upon hearing these words, keeping her back to Chan Ah-sap and her father, not daring to turn around.
There were several stalls nearby, with signs advertising Beijing dumplings, boat congee, and Nanyang skewers. Judging from the signs, you could tell that these stall owners were poor people who had been coerced or deceived by Kuomintang soldiers around 1949 and fled to Hong Kong. They were lucky to have some skills, but they couldn't afford to rent a shop, so they could only carry their food on a shoulder pole and sell it in crowded places to make a living.
People at the other stalls turned to look when they heard the noise. Chan Ah-sap and his men, pulling at their undershirts and revealing various weapons around their waists, roared menacingly, "What the hell are you looking at! Get the hell away from me!"
At a stall with a sign that read "Hua County Baked Buns," a young man who was kneading dough frowned upon hearing the cursing. He wiped his hands with his apron, straightened up, and looked at the other stalls nearby. The people working at these stalls were all quite young, the oldest being in their forties and the youngest in their twenties. Seeing the young man selling baked buns straighten up, the other stall owners also straightened up and turned to look in Chan Ah-sap's direction.
The young man, gripping the red-hot iron handle stuck in the oven, was about to unleash his full power when Tan Jingwei, who was sitting at his stall, holding a golden-brown Henan Hua County flatbread in his left hand and a bowl of Anyang rice noodle soup in his right, looked up at just the right moment. Sweat beaded on his forehead from eating, and seemingly unable to bear the peppery taste any longer, he sniffed heavily twice, then wolfed down the half-eaten flatbread. "Boss! Two more flatbreads, please!"
Taken aback by Tan Jingwei's sudden question, the young man glanced at the glutinous rice ball stall in the distance, seemingly unsure of Chan Ah-sap's next move towards Old Huang and Old Huang daughter, and said to Tan Jingwei:
"It's here! Please enjoy your meal!"
The young man deftly retrieved two flatbreads from the oven, placed them on lotus leaves, and presented them to Tan Jingwei. Tan Jingwei glanced at the exposed tiger's mouth (the area between his thumb and forefinger) as the young man handed him the flatbreads, took a sip of soup, and swallowed the flatbreads. He then wiped his mouth somewhat unkemptly with his palm and said, "Boss, are all of you brothers from Hanging Neck Ridge? Your skills are good. Did your family sell flatbreads and soup before you joined the army? I was also a soldier, just came down from Hanging Neck Ridge, and I'm trying to find a way to make a living for the people around me."
The shopkeeper sized up Tan Jingwei: "You're also at Hanging Neck Ridge? Judging by your attire, that military-style wool overcoat alone would be enough to feed all the brothers on Hanging Neck Ridge for a month or two."
"This was only bought after I finally found a way to make money. Before, I was eating cornbread and pickled vegetables in Hanging Neck Ridge, and my teeth ached from chewing on them."
At this point, seemingly receiving no response from Old Huang, Chan Ah-sap slapped Old Huang again. "They all set up stalls and did business at the docks, either joining my gang or paying money. You didn't pay a single penny, yet I let you set up a stall for seven days. Don't you know what that means? The money I owe you for those seven days is your daughter's wedding gift!"
The owners of the other stalls all looked at the young man selling sesame cakes. The young man turned to go back to the oven to get the iron, but Tan Jingwei reached out and grabbed his wrist.
The young man looked at Tan Jingwei Tan Jingwei, who finished the bowl of soup in his right hand in one gulp, exhaled a breath, and looked up at the young man. "Buddy, we've both been soldiers. It's not worth it to fight these kinds of people. Even if we win, it'll be embarrassing. And if they outnumber us, losing and dying would be even worse. Let someone else handle this."