I've read plenty of novels about the jianghu, about bosses, and even about the gangland.
They are written beautifully, especially the parts about soulmates and the bonds of brotherhood. They make it sound enchanting.
Like a vivid, perfect utopian world.
I can't write novels that good, especially not about the jianghu or the gangland.
Because I can't find a single word to embellish it and make it something to yearn for.
Let me remind my friends again: my position is very clear. I am strictly anti-gang.
Whether you call it the gangland or the jianghu, whatever the name, it does not deserve to be sung about or praised.
The real gangland is often cruel, cold, and bloody.
For example, the "brotherhood" often linked with the gangland is complete bullshit.
In the gangland, there is no brotherhood.
Perhaps that's too absolute, so let me put it another way.
Beside a gangland boss, there are no true brothers.
In a group that can be called a gangland organization, there is no such thing as sitting as equals, where brotherhood is greater than the sky.
A boss's brother can only be another boss. Beside a boss, there are only underlings, not brothers.
Two men can be brothers only because neither of them has become a boss yet.
Just like Tumor and Chen Qiang. When my biological brother, Chu Jianghai, was still alive, they were fellow disciples, brothers—just like Xu Rang and I are now.
My brother was handled by the authorities, sent to the execution ground, and ate a bullet. When it was their turn to rise, they each became bosses. Now, for the sake of a business deal, they are pointing blades at each other.
That kind of story where brothers are respectful and loving, working together to build a criminal empire? In my nearly thirty years in the jianghu, aside from actual blood relatives, I have never seen it.
Once you become a boss, you have underlings to feed and relationships with officials to maintain. Many things are no longer up to you.
The jianghu isn't just about fighting and killing; it's about worldly wisdom and social maneuvering. But mostly, it's about having no choice.
I say all this rubbish just to tell you friends: the jianghu under my pen might be different from what you expect.
Back to the story.
After Xu Rang and I became sworn brothers, I slept until noon the next day. My mother had gone to the town to sell vegetables, so there was no one to cook. I washed my face haphazardly and wandered out, planning to get some rice noodles on the street.
Liuxiang Town is close to Qianyang City and not far from the county seat. After the Reform and Opening Up, it was considered a rapidly developing small town in Qianzhou Province.
When I was a child, the town was only lively on market days.
But now, many merchants opened their doors for business even on ordinary days.
"Auntie Chu, cook me a bowl of Xiazi lamb rice noodles. Put in extra chili."
Niangniang (Auntie) is a special term. In the three southwestern provinces, we call an auntie Niangniang.
Of course, there are also little hooligans who flirt with newlywed young women by calling them Little Niangniang.
Auntie Chu was in her forties. Many people my age in town grew up eating her lamb rice noodles.
When she brought the bowl over, she looked at me as if she wanted to say something but stopped. She seemed a little afraid of me.
I pretended not to notice and asked, "What's wrong, Auntie Chu? Is something the matter?"
Auntie Chu forced a smile. "No, nothing. I just suddenly thought of your big brother."
My hand paused mid-motion. It seemed the news that I had handled Wang Hai and set fire to Tumor's fish farm had already spread through Liuxiang Town.
This place was only so big. It didn't take a day for a little breeze to turn into a storm; word of mouth ensured everyone knew.
I shoveled the noodles into my mouth in a few bites, paid, and left. I figured I would have to endure these strange looks for a long time to come.
I headed toward the market, planning to pick up my mother and bring her home.
On the way, I met a person—a man who changed my destiny twice in my life.
Liuxiang Town (Willow Alley Town) got its name from a specific alley. Fourteen willow trees were planted on both sides of this alley, said to date back to the Ming Dynasty.
Every spring, walking through this alley really gave you the feeling of "ten thousand green silk ribbons hanging down."
But now it was winter, and as I walked through, there were only bare branches.
Wang Hai had just been handled by me and should be in the hospital. Tumor, after the events of the day before yesterday, should be overwhelmed with problems and have no time to deal with me yet, so I was feeling relatively relaxed.
As for settling Tumor within five days, that was Chen Qiang's business.
"Chu Shanhe! Chu Shanhe, is that you?"
The sudden shout made me shudder.
Damn it. I just said Tumor didn't have time for me. Did I jinx myself that fast?
I didn't have a single weapon on me. If I ran into Tumor now, I was dead meat.
I turned around and saw a few people not far behind me. I let out a slight sigh of relief.
It wasn't Tumor's men. It was someone I knew from my time in "college" in the county seat.
The leader of the group had long hair, styled just like Chan Ho-nam (from the movie Young and Dangerous).
But Chan Ho-nam was the boss of Causeway Bay. This guy wasn't. His life was dim and lackluster.
Only at the very end did he trade his life for a chance to shock the entire county.
His name was Lin Changzai. Changzai means "always present," but he only lived to be 23 before he was gone.
Before writing down the name Lin Changzai, I hesitated for a long time. In the end, to avoid taboo against the dead, I changed the last character of his name.
In my writing, whether it's my biological brother Chu Jianghai, my sworn brother Xu Rang, or many other bosses dead or alive, I have never shied away from using their real names.
Only for Lin Changzai do I maintain this respect.
In my life, I have a clear conscience; I haven't wronged anyone. The people I handled were all from the jianghu, just like me. They deserved what they got; it wasn't unjust.
But Lin Changzai's fate was unjust. If he hadn't met me, his life shouldn't have been so short, ending in his most vibrant years.
Lin Changzai was a Ba Lao Er—a pickpocket, a thief, someone who cuts open purses on the street. I knew him because he was being bullied while we were in the county jail.
I spoke up for him a few times. Back then, having just beaten Tumor's men half to death, I had a bit of face in that "university."
He got out two months before me. He wasn't from Liuxiang Town, but he roamed between the county seat and the surrounding towns to commit crimes.
I hadn't expected to run into him in Liuxiang Town today.
Lin Changzai rushed up with his crew, threw his arm around my shoulder, and said to the others:
"This is Chu Shanhe! The Chu Shanhe who just handled Wang Hai. He's my brother. Hurry up, call him Big Brother."
The kids following Lin Changzai were all fourteen or fifteen years old. They were probably little pickpockets just like him.
I felt awkward and quickly shook off Lin Changzai's hand.
Truth be told, I looked down on him from the bottom of my heart. He was a pickpocket; he earned the dirtiest money.
In my eyes, he was less worthy of respect than the Niangniangs who stood by the telephone poles (streetwalkers).
"Lin Changzai, don't talk nonsense. I'm not some 'Big Brother.' Don't call me that."
"And don't put your arm around me. We aren't that close."
My attempt to draw a line and distance myself made Lin Changzai a bit embarrassed. He rubbed his hands together.
"Alright, alright. Not Big Brother, then Second Brother. Second Brother. Call him Second Brother."
The kids obediently called out "Second Brother." Although I didn't like it, I couldn't say anything too hurtful.
I could only force a laugh and nod in agreement.
After the millennium, many people didn't dare call me "Old Second Chu" anymore; instead, they respectfully called me "Brother Two."
And the very first "Brother Two" of my life was shouted by Lin Changzai and his little pickpockets in this Willow Alley.
Lin Changzai was overjoyed to see me and insisted on dragging me out for a drink. I refused several times, but in the end, I was half-dragged, half-pulled away by him and those kids.
Not long after we left, a man wearing a green military greatcoat with a tumor on his neck walked through Willow Alley, smoking a cigarette.
Under that military coat, he was clutching a shotgun.
If I hadn't been dragged away by Lin Changzai to drink, and had insisted on going to the market, I would have run straight into this man with the shotgun.
Tumor took the gun to my house and fired three shots at my courtyard gate.
"Old Second Chu! I won't make trouble for the old mother in your house. If you're ruthless, if you're a man with seeds, come find me yourself."
"Otherwise, next time, this shot hits a person."
This was the first time Lin Changzai saved me. Without him, I definitely would have been dropped by Tumor's shotgun that day.
...
Lin Changzai, native of Tianfu (Sichuan). An orphan since childhood. At thirteen, he drifted from Yicheng, Tianfu, all the way to Qianyang.
To survive, he learned the skills of a pickpocket from an old man who only had four fingers on both hands.
Born in 1976, died in 1999. Aged 23.
He was also the fuse for the Liuxiang Town '99 Gun Case.