What Were You Thinking

Chen Diansheng leaned against the sofa, closed his eyes to rest for a moment, and then opened them again to look at Zhao Jianguo.

"How is your dad doing recently?"

Zhao Jianguo smiled.

"My dad is doing quite well. Every day he plays mahjong with a few old brothers from the village, loses eight or ten yuan, and then comes back to report to my mom that he won fifty."

The corner of Chen Diansheng's mouth twitched. "That old Zhao, he always loved to brag back in the day."

Zhao Jianguo chuckled along with him.

His father, Zhao Tiezhu, and Chen Diansheng were decades-old brothers. Back then, they came out of their hometown together, carried heavy loads on the docks of Deep City together, got bullied together, and carried clubs to fight back together.

The name Hung Hing was coined together by these few old brothers.

"Tiezhu has more fortune than I do."

When Chen Diansheng said this, his gaze turned toward the window, and his voice dropped lower.

"Back then, we few old brothers came from all over the country to Deep City to make a living, carrying loads on the docks and moving bricks at construction sites, earning eight yuan a day, and still getting bullied by local gangs. Later, the few of us pooled one yuan and twenty cents together, bought three bottles of beer, and took blood oaths in a rented room, making a pact that we would share adversities and fortunes together. That was how Hung Hing came to be."

Zhao Jianguo had heard his father mention these things when he was a child, but he hadn't expected Chen Diansheng to say them as well. This came as a bit of a surprise to him, as the older man was always more willing to look forward.

"A bumpy road all the way!"

Chen Diansheng's voice grew even lower.

"Tiezhu was the best fighter, and every time, he charged right to the very front. One time we were cornered in an alley by the opposition, and he fought four people by himself, making me take the brothers and retreat first. When we went back to find him, he was lying on the ground with seven knife wounds on his body, and the blood had dyed the entire alley red. When we got him to the hospital, the doctor said if we had been ten minutes later, he wouldn't have made it."

Zhao Jianguo's nose felt a bit sore.

"Later on, the business grew, we washed our hands of the underworld, and life got better."

Chen Diansheng glanced at Zhao Jianguo.

"Your dad said he wanted to return to his hometown instead. He said he owed your mom in this life, having made her worry for a lifetime, and now that times were good, he wanted to go back and accompany her. To grow some vegetables, raise a few chickens, and live a peaceful life."

As Chen Diansheng spoke, his voice grew a bit hoarse.

"I was very angry back then. I scolded him, saying that we had survived those difficult times, and now that life was good, you were going to leave? If you left, who would I drink with? Who would I pour my heart out to?"

He paused and reached out to rub his eyes.

"But now I understand. Your dad did the right thing! His life was worth it. He has a wife, a son, and a bunch of old brothers back in his hometown to play mahjong with. I'm happy for him."

Zhao Jianguo looked at Chen Diansheng, his eye sockets also growing slightly warm.

This elderly man, who had wielded wind and rain in Deep City for a lifetime, now sat quietly on the sofa, recalling the days of the past, and his eyes were actually turning slightly red.

"Uncle." Zhao Jianguo leaned forward. "You shouldn't think too much either. Your health is great right now, and Jingzhen—"

"Don't mention that brat!" Chen Diansheng waved his hand, but his tone wasn't as harsh as before. "Mentioning him makes me angry."

Zhao Jianguo smiled and didn't speak again.

Chen Diansheng closed his eyes once more, leaning back against the sofa. The living room grew quiet for quite a while. The light from the crystal chandelier shone on his face, tracing out his wrinkles line by line.

He suddenly opened his eyes, sat up straight, and shouted with full breath, "Lei Zhen!"

Movement immediately came from the doorway.

Lei Zhen poked half his head in from outside the door, his usually fierce-looking face piled with a smile, looking like a completely different person compared to the one who had just been scolded until he couldn't lift his head.

"Boss, I'm right here."

Chen Diansheng gave him a sideways glance. "If you aren't waiting by the door, where else would you be?"

Lei Zhen chuckled twice and scurried over eagerly.

Such a big guy ran like a big bear, his slippers slapping loudly against the floor. He stood straight in front of Chen Diansheng, waiting for instructions.

"The surveillance video from the intersection of the car accident that day, do you have it on your phone?" Chen Diansheng asked.

"I do." Lei Zhen hurriedly pulled out his phone. "I saved it, high definition."

"Send it to Jianguo. Have him help look into it as well."

Lei Zhen was stunned for a moment, glanced at Zhao Jianguo, and then looked back at Chen Diansheng.

"Boss, have Jianguo look for it?"

"If I told you to send it, just send it. Why so much nonsense?" Chen Diansheng glared at him.

Lei Zhen hurriedly lowered his head to swipe on his phone, muttering as he scrolled:

"I was just asking..."

After swiping a few times, he looked up at Zhao Jianguo.

"Jianguo, is your WeChat on this phone number?"

Zhao Jianguo nodded. "It is."

"Sent." Lei Zhen tapped send, then smiled at Zhao Jianguo again. "It's sent over, check it."

Zhao Jianguo took out his phone and took a look; the video was already in the chat window, with a cover showing a hazy intersection where a black car could faintly be seen overturned on the ground.

"Received."

Chen Diansheng looked at him and said earnestly:

"Jianguo, put some effort into this. This young man saved my life; if it weren't for him, this old bone of mine would have been left right there."

Zhao Jianguo put his phone away.

"Don't worry, Uncle. I'll arrange for people to look into it first thing tomorrow morning. We'll pull the surveillance from all the surrounding intersections, trace the route, and we should be able to find him."

"Mhm." Chen Diansheng nodded, the expression on his face finally relaxing. "Finding him would be best. I need to properly thank him."

Zhao Jianguo asked again, "Uncle, regarding the car accident, what did the traffic police say?"

Chen Diansheng waved his hand, his expression changing for a moment before quickly recovering.

"Don't worry about that. I'll investigate it myself."

Zhao Jianguo opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but seeing Chen Diansheng's expression, he swallowed his words back down.

Whatever Chen Diansheng didn't want to talk about, no one could get out of him. He had known this since he was a child.

After sitting for a little longer, Zhao Jianguo stood up.

"Uncle, it's getting late, I'm heading out. Get some rest early."

Chen Diansheng nodded and didn't ask him to stay.

"Lei Zhen, see Jianguo out."

Lei Zhen acknowledged the order and followed Zhao Jianguo outward.

The two of them crossed the living room, walked down the marble-paved corridor, and went out the front door.

The air outside was much cooler than inside, carrying a hint of grassy moisture. The leaves of the ginkgo trees in the courtyard were rustled by the wind.

Walking over to the car, Zhao Jianguo stopped and looked back at Lei Zhen.

Lei Zhen's face still looked fierce under the courtyard lights.

Square jaw, thick eyebrows, and corners of the mouth turned down, as if someone owed him eight million yuan.

Zhao Jianguo burst out laughing.

Lei Zhen glared at him. "What the hell are you laughing at?!"

Zhao Jianguo laughed even harder, his shoulders shaking.

The fierce look on Lei Zhen's face couldn't hold up anymore, and he said indignantly:

"You and Chen Jingshen are both no good! Because of the two of you, how many times have I been chewed out by the boss? Half the scolding I took today was taking the blame for you guys!"

Zhao Jianguo laughed until his waist was bent, holding onto the car door and panting.

"You're still laughing!"

Lei Zhen grew anxious, reached out, and gave him a push.

"That bastard Chen Jingshen has been gone for almost twenty years without making a single phone call. Every time the boss misses him, he takes it out on me."

Zhao Jianguo finally managed to stop laughing and wiped the corner of his eye. "Fine, fine, it's all our fault."

Lei Zhen gave him a sideways glance, helped Zhao Jianguo open the car door, and suddenly asked, "Jianguo, I've always wanted to ask you something."

Zhao Jianguo looked back at him.

"Your dad is in the underworld, and you grew up in Hung Hing since you were a kid, so how on earth did you end up becoming a police officer?" Lei Zhen looked at him with complete seriousness. "What were you thinking?"

"People have different aspirations, I suppose."

Lei Zhen stared at Zhao Jianguo for two seconds, then waved a hand. "Get lost already, I can't be bothered to say another word to you."

Zhao Jianguo shook his head with a smile, climbed into the car, and pulled the door shut.

The car window rolled down, and he waved at Lei Zhen. "I'm heading out."

Lei Zhen stood at the doorway with his hands tucked into his trouser pockets. "Drive slow."

His voice was much softer than before.

Zhao Jianguo started the car and slowly drove out of the courtyard. In the rearview mirror, Lei Zhen stood there, growing smaller and smaller.

Zhao Jianguo drove the car onto the main road and rolled his car window down a crack.

The night wind poured in, carrying a touch of coolness.

Zhao Jianguo thought again of the question Lei Zhen had asked—what were you thinking?

He hadn't really been thinking anything.

It was just that when he was little, he watched Chen Diansheng and his dad and those people fighting this guy today and that guy tomorrow, running away after a fight, and coming back to fight again afterward.

His mom cried every day, and his dad never came home. Then one day his dad was carried back covered in blood, and his mom knelt on the ground begging him to stop doing it anymore.

Zhao Jianguo had thought to himself that when he grew up, he must never be like this!

Later on, he took the police academy exams, and after graduation, he was assigned to a local police station, where a flash of time had already spanned over a dozen years.