Electronic Nezha

Chapter 53 Disillusionment
Back in the private room, Wu Lianfeng explained what had happened, and everyone said, "This brother has the heart of a bodhisattva."

I then offered a round of cigarettes, and the atmosphere became exceptionally harmonious.

Sun Zhancheng took a puff of his cigarette and said, "Fengzi."

I quickly said, "Brother Sun, you go ahead."

Everyone laughed again.

Wu Lianfeng patted me and said, "He's calling me."

I felt ashamed. Outside, I could be "Fengzi," but inside this house, there could only be one "Fengzi," and that was Wu Lianfeng.

Speaking of names, the elders all say that "Sun Zhancheng" is a good name, it exudes such domineering power. And look at his brothers, Shoujiang, Sihai, and Lianfeng, they are all so magnificent and imposing, making people think of them. It's no wonder that the four of them became sworn brothers. — Wait, do they not want names that don't sound good?

Sun Zhancheng said, "Fengzi, let's get down to business."

Wu Lianfeng said, "Brother, you should say it; it'll seem more formal."

“What’s so formal about it?” Sun Zhancheng said. “This brother’s name also has ‘Feng’ in it, so I’ll call you Xiao Feng.” I felt a little awkward; ever since I turned thirty, only my parents have called me that.

Sun Zhancheng said, "Xiaofeng, a friend of mine wants to get to know you, and he's asked me to do it for him."

I said, "It's so easy to get to know me. Just buy anything from my stall, and I'll give you my business card."

Sun Zhancheng said, "However, you two have had a misunderstanding, so I've come to mediate between you."

Alarms went off in my head as I said, "You're not talking about Chen Bing, are you?"

Sun Zhancheng said, "It's President Chen. It seems there's quite a deep misunderstanding between you two."

The waiter started serving cold dishes. This time, the person who came to our private room was older. Duan Shoujiang said, "Get out and call that person back!"

"Defend the borders!" Sun Zhancheng shouted at him.

Duan Shoujiang then gave up.

Sun Zhancheng said, "Fengzi, close the door!"

Out of habit of getting ahead of the customers, I stood up first, and then I saw a scene that made me grit my teeth: several burly men at the table at the corner of the stairs were pouring alcohol for Hao Hao.

Hao Hao has the mental capacity of a child under three years old. He'll put anything you give him into his mouth. These men bought a bunch of beer and handed him a bottle. Hao Hao drank it while burping. He instinctively wanted to refuse, but the bald man kept holding up the bottle, saying, "Drink! I'll give you some food after you finish."

I dashed out to their table, snatched the bottle from them, threw it on the table, pointed at the bald man, and cursed, "We're all born of parents, aren't you afraid of incurring bad karma by doing this?" After saying that, I ignored him, untied Hao Hao's rope, and led him away.

The bald man stood up, wanting to say something harsh, but considering that I was Wu Lianfeng's "friend," he muttered something and sat down again.

I led Hao Hao back to the private room, sat him down next to me, and gave him a plate with half a plate of peanuts. Hao Hao picked it up and scooped some into his mouth with his hands, grinning at me.

The people in the private room were a bit confused. I didn't do that earlier because I was considering that they were all important people and we were going to talk business. But now I have no such concerns. No matter how good the wine or how good the banquet, the reason I didn't leave was to see what they were going to say.

"Go on, where were we?" I leaned back in my chair and threw out a question.

Sun Zhancheng looked embarrassed, took off his photochromic sunglasses and wiped the temples with a tissue, saying, "President Chen said that he is definitely going to do unmanned fruit supermarkets, and he is sure he can do it. I hope you won't cause him any trouble."

I sat up straight and said seriously, "Brother Sun, you're my idol! How come you're doing errands and relaying messages now?" Cheng Sihai angrily retorted, "What are you saying?"

Sun Zhancheng said, "Xiaofeng, you've heard the saying 'Many friends, many paths; many enemies, many walls.' Of course I've heard it, but the last time I heard it was in a storytelling performance, at least 20 years ago."

Sun Zhancheng continued, "Mr. Chen is a big boss who spends hundreds of millions or even billions of yuan at a time. What are you? You only have a business of three apples and five oranges. What do you have to compete with him? I'm just reminding you because I think you're a decent guy. Don't let others use you as a pawn. There are so many people in the fruit market, why are you the one who stands up for them?"

Having said all that, I was really ready to leave. I thought I could make some money, but it turned out to be a trap. However, from a certain perspective, it means that Chen Bing took my outburst yesterday to heart. He thought I was a "local bigwig," so he brought a few local bigwigs to talk to me. In terms of status and position, these people are indeed capable of handling everything in our area. This made me very disillusioned, like the disillusionment of a naive young man who idolized the wrong person—to disappoint a fruit vendor like this, look at what they've done!

I stood up and said, "Brother Sun, don't get involved in our business. If you want to pass on a message, please do so: if he wants to abide by the law, he'll just have to pay some money at most. But if he insists on resorting to crooked means, I'll say it again: I'll fight him to the end!"

Cheng Sihai shouted, "Who are you calling heretical?"

I suddenly remembered what happened yesterday and asked, "You weren't following me yesterday, were you?"

Sun Zhancheng asked, "What identity do we have to follow you?"

Cheng Sihai said, "Having a meal with us is enough for you to brag about for half your life!" That was a bit of a jabs at me, because if it weren't for what happened later, I really was planning to go and brag to Old Wang...

Since things had come to this, I grabbed Hao Hao and left.

Duan Shoujiang shouted, "Did we say you could leave? We brothers came together, and you think you can just walk away without giving us an explanation?"

Sun Zhancheng said, "Fengzi, block the door and don't let anyone in!"

Wu Lianfeng picked up a wooden chair and leaned it against the back of the door.

A room full of middle-aged men stood up angrily, rolled up their sleeves, and revealed all sorts of tattoos.

I was stunned: "You're going to fight me?"

Cheng Sihai said, "So what if I hit you? Do you think our empire came about this way?"

My hand quickly reached into my pocket.

The next step is: take out cigarettes, find the chips, and take them down!

Duan Shoujiang pointed at me and shouted, "Watch out, this kid might pull out a knife!"

I'm speechless. Why would a fruit vendor like me, who's here to do business, carry a knife? Am I going to perform peeling fruit on the spot?
But Duan Shoujiang's words immediately turned the tide. Wu Lianfeng grabbed my right arm from behind, and Cheng Sihai jumped and kicked over two chairs to help. My right hand was pulled out of my pocket, and I was holding a cigarette case.

Everyone in the room was a little stunned. They even lit up a cigarette while fighting. Were they that addicted?
While I was doing this, I started tearing off the plastic seal on the cigarette pack...

Years later, I still regret putting the chip in the plastic seal of the cigarette pack. If you're about to light one now, you can try it; that thing is extremely difficult to tear! The reason I chose to stretch the life-saving chip inside the plastic is because I've stretched many things there—toothpicks, dental floss, access cards, keys without keychains—and it always worked perfectly; I could take it out whenever I wanted.

However, prying something out from inside and tearing it apart are two completely different things. This thing is tight and tough, and after my vigorous rubbing, it only had a few more wrinkles on the surface.

Duan Shoujiang pointed at me again and shouted, "This kid has something strange about him!"

Wu Lianfeng and Cheng Sihai tried to restrain me from the left and right. I put one finger from each hand into the plastic cover and, with their help, I ripped it open. The chip wrapped in plastic wrap jumped to the edge of the table. Fortunately, it was so inconspicuous that it didn't attract anyone's attention.

That doesn't seem to be entirely accurate. Hao Hao saw something jump out of my hand, and perhaps out of trust in me, he picked up the chip, put it in his mouth, and swallowed it!
(End of this chapter)