North Pass Street, Boss Ze

The saying "poor in the east, rich in the west, wealthy in the south, chaotic in the north" was widely known across the Tai'an Metropolitan Area.

The "poor in the east" referred to Old Factory Street, located in Dangyang's Eastern Suburbs.

As industries moved away and factories shut down one after another, this old district seemed forgotten. Like a dying patient who had lost too much blood, it struggled to breathe, barely clinging to life.

But like weeds growing in the cracks between rocks, the harsher the environment, the more it brought out their tenacious life force.

Old Factory Street hadn't grown desolate and lifeless. Instead, it had settled into an even more vibrant, down-to-earth neighborhood.

A little after seven in the evening, the streets and alleys gradually grew lively.

Men and women in sandals wandered about, waving palm fans. Street vendors pushed carts out to sell spicy fried skewers. A loudspeaker kept repeating its maddening jingle: "Bobo chicken~ Oh, bobo, bobo chicken~ One yuan a skewer!"

"A Shi, let me treat you to some grilled chicken frames! This place makes the best. I used to pester my mom to buy them every day!"

Li Yuan stopped in front of a cart topped with a wire mesh, charcoal glowing beneath it.

Seven or eight chicken frames were flipped back and forth, grilled to a golden brown with slightly charred edges. Their mouthwatering aroma made people's mouths water.

"Thanks, Brother Yuan. I'm hungry, actually. It's been so long since I came to North Pass Street, I'd almost forgotten what grilled chicken frames tasted like!"

Qin Shi didn't stand on ceremony. He spoke directly to the vendor:

"One spicy, no vinegar, and extra cumin."

At first glance, Li Yuan seemed rather aloof and difficult to get along with. Only after getting close to him did you realize how easygoing he was.

He reminded Qin Shi a little of the roguish heroes he'd known in his previous life, who lived by the old movies' principle of putting loyalty first.

"Brother Yuan, I want some chicken too..."

Xie Yucheng sidled up with a grin.

"Get lost! You've stuffed almost half a box of Nutritional Paste into your belly. You can still manage a chicken frame? What a glutton!"

Li Yuan grumbled, but paid the vendor for three servings.

Xie Yucheng pushed his luck and said on purpose:

"If we had a bottle of Hongbao Soda to go with it, that'd hit the spot."

Li Yuan took out a few small bills.

"Quit whining and go buy it yourself! If you win a prize, give me the bottle cap. Don't hide it from me!"

Xie Yucheng looked wronged.

"That's unfair, Brother Yuan. Why would I do something so low?"

Before long, Qin Shi got a bottle of orange-flavored Hongbao Soda. He clamped his lips around the straw and took a long drink. The icy chill shot straight to his brain. Paired with the piping-hot grilled chicken frame in his hand, it was the perfect combination!

"My mom used to work at the slaughterhouse. Every so often, she'd bring home frozen chicken frames for me and my sister to fry."

Xie Yucheng smiled as he spoke, clearly pleased.

"After the factories went downhill, she got laid off and started cleaning buildings and washing clothes for people. We hardly ever got to eat them after that."

Li Yuan gave a cold laugh.

"When my dad worked at the steel mill, he was a model worker every month! The factory handed out benefits—boxes of apples and ribbonfish to take home. At New Year, they even gave out soap, towels, big wall calendars... Then the New Star development project ended, and everything moved to Tai'an New City to build a huge metropolitan area. No one remembered Dangyang!"

Standing beside them, Qin Shi listened with a sense of nostalgia. Back then, production in Dangyang's Eastern Suburbs had been in full swing. Workers poured out in droves, crowding the streets at the end of every shift.

The factory buildings and machines ran around the clock. Every corner was plastered with banners and slogans like "Keep production going without pause; advance steadily and in good order," "Quality first; strive for excellence," and "Push hard to hit targets; increase output and efficiency."

Chicken frames had become Old Factory Street's top working-class food precisely because Hengzhou's largest chicken farm and slaughterhouse had once been located here.

The workers and machines separated the meat from the rest of the chicken, packed it all up, and sent it to the Metropolitan Area.

The leftover chicken frames were dirt cheap, and tasted especially good after being fried. They'd become a popular drinking snack.

"Those unforgettable days, so busy and glorious, can only be heard about now from the older generation, around the tables at roadside stalls and restaurants."

Qin Shi sighed inwardly and caught up with the two chatting ahead of him.

They walked through the deepening night and entered the liveliest part of North Pass Street.

The old district of Dangyang had a complicated layout.

Factories, corridor-style buildings, and residential compounds crowded together, leaving narrow alleys and passageways that formed a winding, spiderweb-like maze.

The old residents of Old Factory Street usually called north-south streets "streets" and east-west streets "roads."

North Pass Street was an exception. It had originally been called Xingshun Road, and sat right where the north-south and east-west routes intersected. A pedestrian overpass split it down the middle.

With crowds pouring through, countless shops had opened there. Trendy clothes, the latest electronics, and all kinds of entertainment venues drew the fun-loving young men and women of Old Factory Street in droves.

Qin Shi sucked on his straw and shook the empty bottle, then asked quietly:

"How did you meet Brother Ze?"

As a straight-A student everyone knew on Baogong Street, he obviously didn't have time to wander the night market.

On his first visit to North Pass Street, everything around him seemed unfamiliar.

Qin Shi gave the place a quick look. Among the bustling crowds, many young people wore sailor-striped shirts and slung little green bags over their shoulders.

They gathered in groups of two or three. Some leaned against the curb, smoking and drinking; others stood outside karaoke lounges and nightclubs, handing out little flyers to passersby.

When he was still too young to go to school, his parents had always told him to keep his distance from people like them.

Later, Qin Shi overheard the neighbors talking and learned they were called the Cleaver Gang, local thugs who hung around the streets.

Their military-green shoulder bags usually held bricks or cleavers, so they could grab a weapon and fight whenever trouble arose.

Compared to the lively atmosphere around the residential compounds, where rows of food stalls and corner shops stood beneath the shade trees as the older residents listened to the radio, this place gave off an intoxicating, liquor-like haze. It was like another, seedier side of the glittering Metropolitan Area.

"How did I meet Brother Ze? Of course it was because I got into a fight."

Li Yuan didn't hide anything. He spoke unhurriedly:

"A'cheng and I had just started high school. During summer vacation, we came to North Pass Street looking for part-time work. A labor broker took advantage of our age and sent us to a karaoke lounge to serve drinks and clear tables. He promised to pay us fifty a day, plus commission if we sold drinks.

"But the broker took twenty yuan from each of us and withheld our drink commissions, too. I couldn't take it anymore, so I smashed a bottle over his head."

Xie Yucheng picked up the story, his expression rueful:

"Labor brokers take people around to pick up all kinds of jobs. They're old hands at it. The moment Brother Yuan threw a punch, I knew we were in trouble. I grabbed him and ran, but we didn't get away. The thugs at the door blocked us and dragged us into a private room, where they beat us like a pair of dogs.

"That old bastard demanded ten thousand yuan in medical expenses from Brother Yuan and me. If we couldn't pay, he said he'd cripple one hand each."

Li Yuan shrugged.

"Brother Ze stepped in after that. When he found out we went to Ninth High School, he told A'cheng and me to work at the places he looked after. We worked at Banana Karaoke before, and recently we switched to Midnight Palace, next to Hongxia Hotel."

Qin Shi tossed the soda bottle into a trash can.

"Brother Ze sounds pretty loyal."

Li Yuan nodded.

"Brother Ze went to Ninth High School for a year, too. His family fell on hard times, so he went sailing with some relatives. I think it was on a big sand-dredging ship. They could make more than a hundred thousand yuan in one night! Now he looks after the place for the Big Boss.

"Brother Ze takes good care of the guys under him, so everyone's willing to work for him. Otherwise, why would people say, 'West of North Pass Street, Boss Ze is number one'?"

So he really was "Chen Haonan of Causeway Bay."

Qin Shi smiled, wondering whether Brother Ze also had flowing long hair and a gang of friends who played with lighters.

"We're here, A Shi. Midnight Palace is right up ahead. It's the most lavish nightclub on North Pass Street. I've heard plenty of rich people from around the Metropolitan Area sneak over here to have fun."

Li Yuan led the way, taking Xie Yucheng and Qin Shi into a shadowy alley piled with black garbage bags. He raised a hand and knocked on the locked iron door.