Golden Scale [EN]: Chapter 13

The night descended, and darkness became the perfect cover for unpardonable secrets. At 10:00 PM, Hou Longtao, Lin Long, and Liu Hongda entered a restaurant tucked away in the outer area of Deshengmen. Inside, more than a dozen people were waiting, including the Four Tigers of Deshengmen and several local toughs with some standing in the area. However, Cui Xiang and his cousin were nowhere to be seen.

The three men sat down, eyeing the four individuals at the head table – presumably the Four Tigers of Deshengmen. Hou Longtao, visibly trembling, leaned forward with a forced, flattering smile, extending his hand. “I’ve heard so much about you four. I’m Hou Longtao.” Cui Jingchuan observed his pathetic display and sneered inwardly. *”This guy is just a bully who preys on the weak and cowers before the strong. A little pressure and he crumbles.”* His outstretched hand was ignored, forcing Hou Longtao to retract it and sit back down, rubbing his hands together awkwardly. “Did you bring the money?” Zhao Deshan asked, propping his feet up on the table like a boss, looking down at the “East Star” boss who looked like he was about to wet himself. “Well… how about this? I think we… we could become friends, and this whole matter could just… just be forgotten. In the future, we can help each other out, and things will be easier for everyone, what do you think?” Had these words been delivered with any conviction, they might have been considered. But Hou Longtao stuttered, his tone laced with fear.

“Fuck your mother,” the fourth brother, Li Qing, cursed, slamming his hand on the table and jumping to his feet. “Look at you, you cowardly piece of shit, your legs are shaking so much, it’s obvious you’re scared to death, and you’re still trying to act like a big shot. You must have a death wish.” He flicked the cigarette butt in his hand at him.

Hou Longtao ducked his head to avoid it, pressed his hands on his knees to try and stop his legs from shaking, and thought, *”This is your last chance. You’re all forcing me to do this.”* “I’m not pretending…” Before he could finish, the third brother, Li Gong, slapped him across the face. “Stop talking nonsense and give us the money.” Da Pang, seeing his boss hit, immediately stood up and pulled out a switchblade. “You motherfucker, if you hit him again, I’ll fight you to the death.”

“Oh, you dare to pull out a weapon?” Cui Jingchuan grabbed Hou Longtao’s collar, slammed him onto the table, pulled out a five-shot BB gun, and pointed it at his temple. The other three tigers also drew their shotguns, pointing them at Da Pang and Long. “Come on, make a move, I’ll kill you bastards.”

Hou Longtao stretched out both hands, placing them flat on the table. “Brothers, you just want money, there’s no need for this.” A cold smile flickered across his face. Cui Jingchuan patted his face a few times. “You’re a smart kid.” He waved his hand and shoved him back into the chair. Da Pang and Long also sat down again, as several men immediately stepped forward, holding machetes to their necks.

At that moment, Cui Xiang entered with a few of his classmates, followed by a woman who bore a striking resemblance to Ryoko Hirosue [a famous Japanese actress]. The woman was complaining, “Why did you drag me out so late? I have to…” She suddenly sensed the tense atmosphere in the room and saw Hou Longtao’s face. “Ren Jingyao…” “Hou Longtao…” Neither of them expected to run into their high school classmate in this situation.

Ren Jingyao had a youthful, baby face, making her look perpetually cute.

She had an innocent look, with a voluptuous figure. When Hou Longtao first entered high school, she was his first crush. But at the time, Hou Longtao firmly believed in the saying, “still waters run deep,” so he kept a low profile in school. Ren Jingyao was the type of girl who “admired the cool kids,” and she got together with a rather arrogant boy in the class. Since he was his buddy, Hou Longtao didn’t pursue her, especially since there were other women to play around with. During the school sports meet in their second year of high school, he saw her squatting on the ground doing warm-up exercises, her loose sweatpants slipping down a bit, revealing a tantalizing glimpse of her butt crack, which made Hou Longtao really want to get with her. Knowing that she had broken up with his buddy, he started pursuing her again.

But after only two days, she got together with a third-year delinquent who had been held back for two years, that grandson was known as the school’s *laoda* [老大, meaning “big boss” or leader]. Hou Longtao fought with him over Ren Jingyao, and secretly arranged for someone to force him to leave for Shenzhen, and he hasn’t returned to this day. The appearance of Chen Qian made Hou Longtao completely give up on Ren Jingyao. Today was the first time they had met since graduation, and she saw him in such an embarrassing state, which was a bit annoying. It turned out that she was now a part-time accounting teacher at Cui Xiang’s school. Although she had aged slightly, her preference for arrogant men hadn’t changed.

Cui Xiang, emboldened by his father’s connections, believed that no woman was beyond his reach, and disregarding the teacher-student dynamic, he pursued Ren Jingyao relentlessly. But she looked down on him, so today he brought her to see how powerful he was. “You know each other?” Cui Xiang asked with a dark expression. “We were high school classmates, he used to chase after me.” Ren Jingyao, seeing that Hou Longtao was in a tight spot, deliberately put on an arrogant air, moving closer to Cui Xiang. “He got with you?” “Of course not, I wouldn’t look at him.”

“Hmph,” Cui Xiang walked behind Hou Longtao, leaned his head close to his face, “My girl looks down on you, you should feel honored. Right?” He suddenly grabbed Hou Longtao’s hair, yanked him to the ground, and kicked him hard in the stomach.

Hou Longtao clutched his stomach, gritting his teeth to suppress any sound. “You motherfucking bitch, you still dare to hit me, I’ll kill you today.” He kicked him twice more, then grabbed a wooden stick from under the table and smashed it over his head, blood immediately gushing out. “Alright, Xiang’er, stop hitting him, he’s our cash cow.” Cui Xiang stopped when he heard his father’s instruction. Two men came over to lift Hou Longtao up and put him back in the chair. Ren Jingyao sat on the side throughout the whole ordeal, watching Hou Longtao get beaten with a look of disdain.

“Boss Hou, shouldn’t you give us the money now?” Zhao Deshan looked up, a smug expression on his face. “In… in my car,” Hou Longtao said weakly. “You go get it,” Zhao Deshan pointed at Da Pang. “Boss Hou, if you had cooperated earlier, you wouldn’t have suffered this beating.”

Cui Xiang walked up to Long again. “You were the one who hit me last time.” He punched him in the nose, and Long’s nose immediately started bleeding. With a knife held to his neck, he could only glare at the triumphant Cui Xiang with angry eyes. “Looking at your mother,” he punched him again, making Long’s nose throb. He had to close his eyes, and tears welled up. “What the fuck, Brother Long, you cry like a girl after being punched a few times, hahaha.” Ren Jingyao also giggled.

“Fourth brother, you have to teach this woman a good lesson, otherwise I can’t swallow this anger,” Long shouted. “Don’t worry, I will even if you don’t tell me to.” Hou Longtao glanced at Ren Jingyao, and the woman saw a fierce glint in his eyes, and couldn’t help but shudder.

“Who the fuck are you going to teach?” Cui Xiang punched Long in the eye again, giving him a black eye. “She’s my girl, if you dare to touch her, fifty thousand won’t be enough to settle it.” He turned his head to look at Ren Jingyao, and saw that she was also smiling at him. Cui Xiang was even more smug, and slapped Long twice across the face.

Under the escort of two men, Da Pang brought in a leather suitcase and placed it on the table. Li Gong put the gun aside, opened the suitcase, and began counting the money. There were fifty bundles of hundred-yuan bills, each with a bank seal. Most of the people in the room were seeing so much money for the first time, and more than twenty pairs of eyes were glued to it.

Hou Longtao glanced at his watch. It was five minutes to 11:30. He nodded to Da Pang. Da Pang reached into his pocket and pressed the send button on his phone. “You’ve got the money, can you let Boss Hou go now?” Everyone’s attention was fixed on the suitcase of money, and they didn’t notice the change in Da Pang’s way of addressing Hou Longtao.

Cui Jingchuan raised his head. “I’m very happy to do business with Boss Hou. Next time the brothers are short of money, we’ll have to trouble you again, hahaha.” Hou Longtao used a fearful and overly weak voice: “Yes, yes, next time you brothers need money, I definitely won’t resist, I’ll definitely give you the money obediently.”

“Okay, okay, let’s go, let’s go.” The three men stood up, and Long suddenly shouted: “What are you doing? We’ve given you the money, don’t kill us, are you going to ‘tear up the ticket’ [kill the hostage after receiving the ransom]?” Da Pang reached out and hung up the phone again. “What are you talking about?” Just as everyone was confused, three police cars with flashing lights screeched to a halt outside the restaurant. The Four Tigers of Deshengmen reacted quickly, hastily stuffing the ‘shotguns’ into the hands of their subordinates. Several policemen with guns rushed in, led by Wang Gang and Bao Ding. Several local toughs immediately threw the ‘shotguns’ on the ground.

Hou Longtao shed his servile facade, took the tissue that Bao Ding handed him, and pressed it to his head. “Kidnapping and extortion, assaulting the victim, resisting arrest with a gun, killing one victim and one police officer. Adding these crimes together, you’ll either die or be sentenced to decades in prison.” “What bullshit are you talking about?” Several people knew that the first two charges were undeniable, but where did the last two come from? Hou Longtao asked Wang Gang in his ear: “Can you trust the people you brought?” “Don’t worry, all the people on duty tonight are my trusted men.” He turned to the Four Tigers of Deshengmen again. “I knew you wouldn’t admit it.” He put on a white glove, picked up the ‘shotgun’ that Li Gong had placed on the table, sat back in his original chair, and shot himself in the left upper arm. The bullet passed through the muscle and hit the ground. “Ah!” Amid Ren Jingyao’s screams, Hou Longtao jumped up, threw the ‘shotgun’ away, bit off the glove, pressed his right hand on the bleeding wound, and walked around the room quickly, grinning. “Fuck your mother, fuck your mother, I fuck your mother, ah, it hurts me to death.” He stopped, gritting his teeth. “The person involved in the shooting is here.”

The people from Deshengmen were all stunned. They now understood that this seemingly gentle young man was actually a wolf in sheep’s clothing. They admitted that they could never shoot themselves without batting an eye like he did. Long tore off a piece of his shirt to bandage him. Hou Longtao sat down on the side, panting heavily. “Ding’er, it’s your turn.” Bao Ding walked to the door, posing with a gun. Wang Gang picked up a BB gun and aimed at Bao Ding’s shoulder. After a crisp sound, Bao Ding fell to the ground, the injured police officer was also here. Ren Jingyao and Bao Ding were also classmates. Seeing these two people who were so quiet in school suddenly doing such ruthless things, and seeing the blood, she felt dizzy and fainted. “You… you motherfucker, you’re playing dumb, tricking us.” Zhao Deshan finally came to his senses, hatefully said, “Wang Gang, you ungrateful bastard, you took my money and still helped outsiders to screw us over.” “A good bird chooses a tree to perch on. A talent like Director Wang should of course rely on a wise leader. Besides, you thought that giving a little money would allow you to disregard him, and you always made him take the blame for you, of course he would want to find a way to get rid of you.” Hou Longtao lit a cigarette, his forehead covered in sweat.

Long looked at his watch. “Fourth brother, let’s send you to the hospital first.” “Wait a little longer, I need to bleed a little more.” Hou Longtao took two deep puffs of his cigarette. “Friends from Deshengmen, I want a word from you now, are you going to follow me in the future, or die with the Four Tigers of Deshengmen.” Seeing that the gangsters from Deshengmen didn’t quite understand what he meant, he continued: “I, Hou Longtao, am clear about gratitude and grudges. The only people I have a grudge against are these five people. As long as you help me well in the future, I guarantee you’ll eat well and drink well.” These local toughs originally thought that they would not be able to escape today, and they were unwilling to go to jail for these brutal Four Tigers of Deshengmen, who treated them like tools. They didn’t expect that there would be a way out, and they could see that Hou Longtao was more ruthless and richer than the Four Tigers of Deshengmen, so of course they agreed readily.

Long took out three bundles of money from the box and threw them to one of them. “You all go. Tonight you were playing cards outside, and you never came here. If you want to live long, it’s important to keep your mouth shut, understand?” “Yes, yes, yes.” The few people took the money and left, bowing and scraping. Thirty thousand yuan, each person could get more than four thousand, the Four Tigers of Deshengmen had never been so generous.

Hou Longtao looked at the students again. “You little bastards, if I let you go, do you all know what to do?” “We don’t know anything, we haven’t been here, we haven’t seen you.” The students were already trembling with fear. “Good, this is yours, if you talk nonsense, you know the consequences, go.” One child glanced at Ren Jingyao lying on the ground. “That Teacher Ren…” “Do you want to stay here with her?” “No, no…” Only the Four Tigers of Deshengmen, Cui Xiang, Ren Jingyao, and Hou Longtao’s men were left in the restaurant. “What are you going to do to us?” Cui Jingchuan’s voice was already trembling. “‘The kidnappers were all shot dead in a gun battle with the police.’ It’s not that I didn’t give you a chance, but you didn’t want to be my friends, so I can’t help it.”

“We’re willing, we’re willing,” Li Qing shouted. “Isn’t it too late?” Hou Longtao stood up and walked towards the door. Two policemen dragged Ren Jingyao out and put her in a police car. “Let my son go.” Cui Jingchuan knew that he couldn’t escape, but he still wanted to leave a descendant.

“I understand the principle of ‘not harming wives and children,’ but your son… Cui Xiang, did you feel good hitting me just now?” “This… this…” Cui Xiang, a seventeen or eighteen-year-old kid, was so afraid of death that his nose and tears were flowing. Watching Hou Longtao and Wang Gang walk out of the house, Zhao Deshan seemed to suddenly wake up and shouted, “Anyway, we’re going to die, let’s fight them!” The four men rushed towards the ‘shotguns’ lying on the ground at the same time. The police calmly waited outside the door, and only pulled the trigger after they each picked up a gun…

“Director Wang, clean up the scene and fire a few more shots outwards with their ‘shotguns’.” Hou Longtao and Bao Ding got into the police car and went straight to the hospital. Wang Gang finished deploying everything, and several police cars from the branch criminal investigation team arrived late. It turned out that Da Pang dialed the 110 emergency number [China’s emergency hotline, similar to 911], but because it was a mobile phone and the time was short, it was impossible to track it. 110 could only notify the branches that a possible kidnapping case was happening, and judging from the voice of the person involved, he was likely injured. It wasn’t until someone reported again that gunshots were heard in a restaurant in Deshengmen that the branch sent people over.

In Wang Gang’s report to the higher-ups, his close friend Li Bao Ding, the chief of the police station, came to accompany him on his shift to chat tonight. After receiving the report, they suspected that someone was gathering to gamble in the restaurant. They went over with only a few people, but they didn’t expect it to be a kidnapping case. The perpetrators were about to tear up the ticket and even shot at the police. After the warning was ineffective, they had to shoot them dead. During the gun battle, Chief Li Bao Ding took the lead and was shot by the gangsters.

Hou Longtao said in his statement that he and Long had to come to deliver the money tonight because they were threatened by the underworld, and they wanted to resolve the conflict with Cui Xiang. Because they showed that they were unwilling to give the money, they were beaten and held hostage by the bandits with guns, and were injured. Da Pang, who was waiting in the car, saw that the two of them hadn’t come out for a long time. After entering the house, he discovered the situation and dialed 110, but was discovered by the bandits and his phone was smashed. Da Pang and Long’s statements were also consistent.

Wang Gang also mobilized local residents and businesses to report the crimes of the Four Tigers of Deshengmen. Some were true and some were false, and the statements totaled more than two hundred pages. However, they were indeed guilty of many crimes in Deshengmen. Their deaths were also very satisfying, and some people even sent Wang Gang a banner with four golden characters: “Eliminating Harm for the People,” which was truly well-deserved.

Due to the significant decrease in the number of cases in the jurisdiction, the Municipal Bureau not only withdrew the internal warning against the Deshengmen police station, but also awarded them a collective second-class merit. Wang Gang and Bao Ding also each received a personal third-class merit, and their salaries were increased by one level. Of course, that’s all in the future…(金鳞岂是池中物) [“How can a golden dragon be confined to a pond?” – meaning someone with great potential is destined for greater things]