Yang Laoliu hurried home, half out of fright.
Talking about it over drinks had seemed harmless, but once he finished drinking and started home, fear began to catch up with him.
Although Li Long had made it very clear that, judging by the timing, that man's death in the line of duty actually had nothing to do with him.
After all, he had already left his job-been fired-for embezzling money to gamble.
But if anyone really investigated, that one thing he had done would be impossible to explain away.
The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became. By the time he reached home, he was drenched in sweat, scared completely sober.
Growing increasingly panicked, Yang Laoliu had no desire to sleep. After turning it over in his mind, he decided that young fellow Li Long was still too much of a risk.
In these times, people would even turn in their own relatives for a chance to earn merit, let alone someone like him, who was no relative of Li Long's, just a fellow villager.
So Yang Laoliu really did not dare gamble on whether Li Long would report him-he chose to leave.
After packing his things that night, Yang Laoliu slipped out and headed swiftly west on those ill-omened legs he had trained at Whampoa's Tenth Branch School.
Now he regretted showing off at Lao Luo's place and saying he had been a staff officer with the rank of colonel.
What damn good had that done? It had only given people something to use against him.
He trusted Lao Luo, but he had dealt with Li Long too little to trust him.
By the time Lao Luo learned that Yang Laoliu was not home, two days had passed. People in Five-Guarantee Households had few relatives to