After Liang Chuang was scolded and dismissed by Jiang Qingbo, I pretended nothing had happened. It wasn't until Jiang Qingbo finished reading the ledger that he stood up and sat down opposite me from across the desk.
He chuckled bitterly, shaking his head. "Damn it. When I started hustling, I didn't even recognize that many characters. I never thought I'd be spending my days here calculating accounts."
I immediately put on a smile and flattered him, "For small things like this, Big Brother, you could just find someone else to do it."
Jiang Qingbo shook his head. "Number Two, you don't understand. When a person reaches a certain position, you can't trust anyone. You can only trust yourself."
"Especially for people like us in the underworld. We aren't clean, and our money isn't clean either. How could we dare trust anyone else?"
Thinking about it, he was right. How could one place their life and fortune in the hands of another?
Actually, many friends probably can't tell the difference between mere hooligans and the heidao (organized crime).
A group of people hollering on the streets, setting up a fight with this guy today, watching over a venue tomorrow, hooking up with a woman the day after... tattoos of dragons and tigers all over them, carrying steel bars, threatening to kill you today or murder someone's whole family tomorrow.
At most, they just fight group brawls, maybe accidentally injure someone badly. Calling this one "Big Brother" and that one "Little Brother" today, a bunch of people with nothing to do banding together under some loud name like the Green Dragon Gang, the Fierce Tiger Society, or the Thirteen Guardians of Wherever.
But when real trouble comes, they go soft faster than anyone.
In my view, these are just third-rate punks. Yeah, they're "Guardians" (Tai Bao)—eating too much (Tai Bao) and having nothing to do.
Friends, remember this: nicknames are never chosen by oneself; they are given by others. If others call a few underworld bosses the "Several Guardians of Wherever," that means those bosses are truly ruthless.
But if a few guys call themselves the "Number One Guardian of Wherever," that's bullshit. Most likely, they're weak-legged shrimp.
Real heidao and heidao bosses don't mobilize dozens or hundreds of underlings just to fight to the death over a moment of anger.
Hooligans, at most, break the law. The heidao commit crimes.
The methods of the heidao are far more sophisticated and brutal than those of hooligans. If a heidao boss wants to take someone out, he won't call a van full of people to hack you in broad daylight just to look impressive.
If a boss does that, it proves he doesn't really want to do any serious damage; he just wants to give you a warning and make you afraid.
When it reaches the point of "until one of us dies," a heidao boss will wait for a dark, windy night, take a few trusted lieutenants, find you when you're alone, and snatch you away directly.
When that happens, if you fall into the hands of a heidao boss, you'll end up dead or crippled.
Of course, the jianghu bosses of the eighties wouldn't do this. They would openly find a place, give you time to call your people, and have a head-on collision.
As mentioned before, a "Society Big Brother" is a transition between a jianghu Big Brother and a heidao Big Brother.
A Society Big Brother has some of the jianghu loyalty, but also the adaptability of a heidao boss who has to change with the coming new era.
Jiang Qingbo was undoubtedly the Society Big Brother most like a heidao boss that I met in the nineties.
He focused on running his business, never actively participating in fighting and killing. Usually, he was very low-key and never swaggered through the streets.
But when it came to handling business and handling people, he never went soft.
I saw a trace of melancholy on his brow after he finished reading the ledger.
So I asked, "Big Brother, did you run into some trouble?"
Jiang Qingbo glanced at me, his eyes flickering, his thoughts unknown.
"You don't say. There really is a headache of a matter. There's a guy who owes me over ten thousand yuan. With interest rolling on interest, it's almost forty thousand now, and he hasn't paid back a cent."
I raised an eyebrow. "In Lincang, is there anyone who dares to owe you money and not pay, Big Brother?"
Jiang Qingbo laughed heartily. "Me? I'm just a dick hair. Number Two, there are plenty of people in society tougher than you. Don't think you're unkillable. Just in Lincang, there are plenty of people who can handle me."
I kept my composure and continued asking, "Oh? Is the debtor a Big Brother too?"
Jiang Qingbo leaned back in his chair and exhaled a breath of stale air. "If it were a Big Brother, that would be fine. What Big Brother is shameless enough to renege on a forty-thousand-yuan debt?"
"It's a scoundrel. He used to hustle in Southern Hunan. He knows all our tricks. Beating him up or cutting him a few times doesn't scare him."
"I can't just take his life for forty thousand yuan, can I?"
Killing someone is never as simple as saying it.
Unless there is deep hatred, a Big Brother will absolutely not kill easily.
Only when all other means are exhausted, but the person must be removed, will they consider solving the problem with murder.
At this point, I understood what Jiang Qingbo meant.
"Big Brother, who is this person? Where does he live? Tell me, and I'll collect for you."
Jiang Qingbo looked at me with a faint smile, a hint of appreciation in his eyes.
There are many ways to follow a Big Brother. Serving him tea, pouring water, buying cigarettes—you're his little brother.
But if you take a knife and handle people for him, gaining his trust, then you aren't just his little brother; you are his brother.
Could Jiang Qingbo really not collect forty thousand yuan from a scoundrel?
He brought this up only to hint that I should settle this scoundrel and show him my ability.
If I botched this, he wouldn't blame me, but I wouldn't be able to enter his inner circle. At most, I'd watch over venues and fight brawls for him.
"Number Two, Lincang isn't like Qianyang. It's very chaotic here."
Jiang Qingbo softly reminded me to think clearly. Those who dared to hustle in Lincang were all reckless characters who didn't care about their lives.
It was different from Qianyang, different from Liu Xiang Town.
I gave a cold laugh. "Big Brother, don't worry. When we come out to hustle, we all have just one life. None of us is a cat with nine lives."
Jiang Qingbo nodded with a smile. "Good. Alright. Number Two, go find Liang Chuang. He'll explain everything clearly. Whether you need guns or men, you can tell him."
I didn't waste any more words. I nodded to him and left a sentence before pushing the door open to leave.
"Big Brother, rest assured. If I, Chu Lao Er, don't handle this to your satisfaction, you won't need to chase me away. I won't have the face to follow you myself."
Wasn't this just perfect timing, like finding a pillow when you're sleepy? The important guest from outside would arrive in four days, and I could use this time to handle this debt-dodging scoundrel for Jiang Qingbo and gain his trust.
The best way to get close to a Big Brother is to constantly handle business for him, handling every single matter well, handling every single matter until he feels comfortable.
I took the elevator down to the first floor alone. Liang Chuang was feeling up a few waitresses, his hand burrowing right under someone's skirt.
I coughed lightly. "Liang Chuang, Big Brother said someone owes our venue forty thousand yuan. Who is that person?"
Liang Chuang had been in the game longer than me, so naturally, he knew what I meant by asking.
He pulled his hand out from under the waitress's skirt. As his two fingers separated, a few transparent threads of fluid lingered. He didn't care, wiped his hand casually on his clothes, and went behind the counter.
After quickly writing down an address, he took out something wrapped in newspaper and handed it to me.
One touch, and I knew there was a gun inside.
"Brother Chu, Lincang isn't like other places. When handling business, take this for self-defense."
I blinked and didn't refuse. I opened my jacket, placed the thing inside, and tucked it under my armpit.
Liang Chuang described the address, the person's name, and what he looked like to me.
I memorized everything and strode out of the tea tower.
Liang Chuang shouted behind me, "Brother, do you want me to send a few guys with you?"
I replied loudly, "No need. He's one man, I'm one man. Besides, I've got a gun."