Golden Scale [EN]: Chapter 6

## The Sixth Chapter: Desperate Circumstances – How Could a Golden Dragon Be Confined to a Pond?

I received a call from Er Dezi at noon, inviting me to dinner that evening. After getting off work, I dropped Ru Yan off at the hospital, assuring her not to worry about the surgery fees and to arrange her father’s affairs as soon as possible. After a passionate kiss, we reluctantly parted. Arriving at Shunfeng Seafood City in Xibianmen, I cursed as soon as I entered the private room, “It must be Third Brother who chose this place again, right?”

“I chose it, so what?” Liu Nan walked in from outside the door and slapped Hou Longtao on the head. “I’m not used to such high-end places; I don’t feel comfortable.”

“Stop talking nonsense. It’s not like you can’t afford it. Just sit here.”

After a few rounds of drinks and several dishes, Ma Lian dismissed the girl serving on the side, “Fourth Brother, how are you going to handle this?”

“Handle what?”

“Are you just going to let it go? When have we ever suffered such a loss?” Ma Lian was the most eager to stir up trouble.

“That grandson is much stronger than me, and I’m not seriously hurt. Let it go. Let’s not cause trouble everywhere.” Hou Longtao, having enjoyed Ru Yan’s beauty the previous night, didn’t feel the need for revenge.

“I think what Sixth Brother said makes sense; you can’t just swallow this loss.” Liu Nan, who was always on my side, was now helping Ma Lian, making Hou Longtao feel that this matter wasn’t just about a simple beating. “Tell me your reasons.”

“Big Brother asked his friends who collect protection fees in the Sanlitun area to investigate. Those two grandsons are brothers, one thirty-six and the other thirty-four. The older one is called Zhang Guo, and the younger one is called Zhang Jun. They are both legitimate businessmen with no background. They only got into a fight with you last night because they were drunk.” It seemed Liu Nan had done some serious research.

“There’s even less reason to bully honest people.” Hou Longtao only liked to chew on tough bones. Hearing they were two soft persimmons [easily manipulated individuals], he immediately lost interest. Liu Nan glanced at him, “You don’t know anything; just listen.” The two began to argue back and forth. Hou Longtao’s phone rang, “Hello.”

“Is this Brother Tao?” It was a delicate female voice. Although it sounded familiar, I couldn’t remember who it was. I couldn’t guess blindly, in case I was wrong and made trouble for myself. “Who is this?” Hou Longtao scratched his head. The female voice immediately became dissatisfied, “Hmph, I knew you’d forget me. It’s Zhang Yuqian.”

“Oh, Yuqian, Yuqian, how could I forget you? I just didn’t recognize your voice for a moment. I’m really sorry.” Hou Longtao quickly apologized.

“Forget it, I don’t have time to scold you. I’m going back to America the day after tomorrow. Let’s have dinner together tomorrow night.”

“Tomorrow? I have something to do.”

“Oh, then forget it.” I could clearly hear her disappointment.

“Even if I have something important, I have to put it down. It’s most important to see Yuqian off. Where should I pick you up?” Remembering Yuqian’s beautiful body, how could I refuse?

“You’re so annoying. You don’t need to pick me up. Tomorrow night at 7:00 at ‘Nine-Headed Eagle’ in Anwai [an area outside the second ring road of Beijing].”

“Okay, it’s settled.” Hanging up the phone, I saw Liu Nan and Ma Lian still arguing. “Alright, alright, Ma Lian, let Third Brother continue.”

“Your bar is quite famous in Baoding’s jurisdiction, but its overall reputation is not high, and there is a large consumer group that has not yet been tapped.”

“What group?” Hou Longtao immediately perked up when he heard it was related to his bar.

“One important reason why the city is vigorously rectifying bars is that they have become the main haunts for hooligans to provoke trouble. Robbery, fighting, and even rape and gang rape occur from time to time. Many decent students or slightly weaker hooligans are afraid to go to bars for this reason. They are the majority. Think about it, if these people all went to ‘East Star’…”

“Stop beating around the bush. How can these two things be connected?” Ma Lian couldn’t hold back. Hou Longtao smiled, “That’s right, Third Brother, don’t keep us in suspense.” He threw Liu Nan a cigarette.

“Nowadays, kids watch too many ‘Young and Dangerous’ movies [a popular Hong Kong gangster film series] and treat those triad-related things as heroic deeds. Whether they’re just listening or actually participating, they love to spread it around. Tomorrow night, have Big Brother and his friends catch those two grandsons. Then, have Ma Lian and Big Brother find twenty or so young punks to participate. As long as we make it look real enough, they’ll treat us like triad bosses. It would be best if Baoding could also get involved, creating an atmosphere of police and gangsters being in cahoots. In less than a month, all the young punks in Beijing will know our names and ‘East Star,’ and they’ll know that no one will dare to cause trouble in your bar. Those who wanted to go to bars but were afraid to go, guess which bar they’ll go to now?”

“Haha, Third Brother is indeed in advertising. Let’s do it that way. Those two grandsons can only blame themselves for being unlucky.” Hou Longtao seemed to already see ‘East Star’ bustling with activity. He called Baoding, and everything was arranged.

The next evening, Hou Longtao arrived at ‘Nine-Headed Eagle’ outside Andingmen [another area in Beijing] first. Soon, he saw Yuqian getting out of the police car that picked her up at the airport. “Pick me up again at 9:30,” Yuqian told the driver.

“Ah! Brother Tao, what happened to you?” Yuqian saw the gauze on Hou Longtao’s head and reached out to touch it gently. Hou Longtao held her soft hand. “It’s nothing, just a bump.” The two sat down. “You’re really obedient.” Hou Longtao looked at Yuqian with a smile.

“Obedient to what?” The girl looked at him in confusion. Hou Longtao pointed to her hair, which had only a few strands of golden color left, indicating she hadn’t dyed it again. “Hmph, it’s not that. I just didn’t want to dye it anymore.” Yuqian pulled back her soft hand from the man’s grip, pouting and looking aside.

The two chatted while eating, getting along very well. I really regretted not finding her sooner. At 9:20, they walked out of the restaurant. The police car was already waiting by the roadside, and a young policeman was smoking beside the car. “Your boyfriend?”

“No.”

“Then I wish you a safe trip.”

“Don’t you want to know what my family does?”

“You’ll tell me when you think I should know, right?”

“Um… then… I’m leaving.” Yuqian lowered her head and turned to walk towards the police car, feeling a little sad. Hou Longtao grabbed her hand, pulled her back, and looked into her eyes. “Brother Tao…” The girl’s eyes were full of anticipation. “Contact me as soon as you come back next year, okay?”

“I will…” Yuqian kissed him on the cheek and quickly walked towards the police car. Seeing the policeman give him a very unfriendly look, “You motherfucker, what are you looking at? I’ve already fucked her, what’s wrong with a kiss?” My mood immediately turned sour. The police car disappeared into the distance, and Hou Longtao got into his car and drove towards the mountains of Mentougou [a district in Beijing]…

The “Blue Dream” bar wasn’t doing particularly well. It was usually empty by 1:00 AM, but tonight was different. It was almost 2:00 AM, and there were still four or five men drinking. Zhang Guo, Zhang Jun, and Zhang Jun’s wife were chatting behind the bar, while two waiters were cleaning up.

Five black PT Cruisers stopped in front of the door like ghosts. A dozen burly men got out of the cars and rushed into the bar, working with those already inside. A few minutes later, four men and one woman were tied up with their hands behind their backs, blindfolded, and stuffed into the cars.

“You, who are you? What are you arresting us for? Where are you taking us?” Zhang Guoqiang, sitting in the second car, tried to ask calmly, but his voice couldn’t help but tremble. “You’ll find out when we get there. Someone wants to see you.” The burly man beside him only said this and then ignored him. The five cars drove towards Mentougou…

In an abandoned warehouse, four men were forced to kneel in a row, while the woman was pulled aside and watched. The blindfolds were removed, and their eyes couldn’t adjust for a moment. When they could see clearly, they were shocked. A dozen meters in front of them was a dark mass of people, at least thirty or forty, including twenty or so seventeen- or eighteen-year-old boys dressed in various styles, and the rest were all in suits and leather shoes. A man with a bandage on his head was in the front, and six men were sitting on two large sofas in the corner, smoking.

The man with the bandage on his head was Hou Longtao. He waved his hand, and several burly men in suits with clubs came up and beat the four kneeling men. For a moment, the men’s screams and the woman’s shrieks filled the large warehouse. Soon, the four men were spitting blood. “Alright.” Hou Longtao walked over, straddling a chair turned backward, with his arms resting on the back of the chair. He pointed to Zhang Jun, who was lying on the ground. Two burly men pulled Zhang Jun up, made him kneel, and grabbed his hair, forcing him to look up.

“Brother Jun, do you still recognize me?”

“You… you are from last night… last night…” Zhang Jun looked at the man in front of him. Although he looked refined, he gave off a more sinister feeling. “Good! It’s good that Brother Jun still recognizes me. I don’t need to say much. How do you think we should resolve this matter?” Hou Longtao took out a handkerchief and wiped the blood from Zhang Jun’s face.

“What… what do you want?” Zhang Jun really regretted drinking so much last night.

“What’s wrong, Brother Jun? Have you forgotten why we fought?” Hou Longtao glanced at the woman beside him, who still had some beauty, with malicious intent. “Who is this woman?”

“Ser… waitress…” Zhang Jun instinctively sensed that danger was about to happen.

“Is that so?” Hou Longtao asked one of the waiters. The waiter was already on the verge of death and didn’t dare to lie for his boss. “She… she is the boss’s wife… Big Brother… it really has nothing to do with me… I’m just an employee…”

“Yes… Big Brother… please let us go…” Another waiter quickly begged. Hou Longtao got up and kicked each of them hard. “It’s none of your business? You two were among those who shouted to kill me last night, right? Motherfucker, now you’re backing down. Where was this earlier?” He turned to Zhang Jun again. “Brother Jun, you’re not being honest.”

Zhang Jun saw Hou Longtao walking towards his wife. “What… what are you going to do?”

“Nothing, just want to play with your wife. Is that any of your business?” Mimicking Zhang Guo’s tone, he tore open Zhang Jun’s wife’s shirt. “Ah! No… don’t…” The woman tried to struggle, but she was held by two burly men, and her upper body couldn’t move at all.

She raised her foot to kick Hou Longtao, but her legs were immediately clamped by the man’s legs. “You’re quite wild, huh? I like it.” Two more burly men came up, grabbed her ankles, and pulled them apart, completely immobilizing her. “Stop it, you bastard… Wang Ba [a Chinese curse word, meaning ‘turtle egg,’ implying bastard], let go of my sister-in-law…” The two brothers shouted. “Hmph, you’re still quite tough. Keep beating them.” Several burly men went up and gave them another beating. “These breasts look quite tender.” He tore off the woman’s bra and grabbed her breasts hard, pinching her nipples and pulling them outward.

“Ah… it hurts… let go…” The woman cried out loudly. “Shut her up.” Hou Longtao released the breasts he had been playing with, which were now bruised, and stepped back a few steps. A burly man came up and slapped the woman twice, and blood immediately flowed from the corner of her mouth.

“Hey, hey, hey, who told you to hit her?” Pushing the burly man away, “Women are meant to be cherished, not beaten.” He turned to Zhang’s wife. “I feel sorry for you. Did it hurt?” He stuck out his tongue and licked her swollen face. “I told you to shut her up. You only need to do this.” He pulled down the woman’s purple underwear from her skirt and stuffed it into her mouth. Hou Longtao patted the woman’s big butt. “Blame your husband. He harassed my woman last night, so today I’m going to fuck his wife.”

After saying that, he pinched the woman’s buttock with one hand and ruthlessly inserted two fingers of the other hand into her still dry vagina, digging hard. A burning pain came from inside her vagina, and the woman shook her head in agony, unable to make a sound. “Your pussy is quite tight. It seems your husband isn’t very good. Today, I’ll let you taste a real big dick.” He sucked on her nipple.

“Please… don’t touch my wife… do whatever you want to me…” Zhang Jun shouted, enduring the pain all over his body. “You have guts!” Hou Longtao pulled out his fingers from her vagina, smeared the secretions on the woman’s face, and sat back in his chair. He didn’t plan to actually rape the woman. It was just acting, after all. This was Beijing, the capital, and it wouldn’t be good if things got out of hand.

“You’d rather suffer yourself than let your woman be humiliated. I value people like that the most. I originally wanted to have someone gang rape her in front of you, but now I’ve decided to let you die quickly.”

“What!? You… you… you want to kill us?” The men were shocked. They never thought that a broken bottle would cost them their lives.

“Is it strange? You offended my Fourth Brother. Did you think you’d get away with it? Fourth Brother, don’t waste time with them. It’s getting late. Let’s do it.” Er Dezi walked over and waved his hand. Several burly men gathered the five prisoners into a pile and poured gasoline on them from head to toe. The five people were terrified. “Help!” “Big Brother, spare us!” “Please, spare our lives!” Cries for help were endless. Even the kids who had been brought to “observe” became restless. They thought they were just coming to see the world and beat people, but they didn’t expect people to die. The nature of the situation was completely different.

Hou Longtao held a cigarette in his mouth, and Er Dezi lit it for him. “I’ve always been one to not offend others unless they offend me. The two things I can’t tolerate are someone bullying my woman and someone causing trouble in my business. You’ve violated one of those, so don’t blame me for being ruthless.” He was about to throw the cigarette butt at them.

At that moment, two men who were on guard at the entrance ran in. “Brother Tao, the police…” Before they could finish, two “Iveco” 110 emergency police vehicles stopped at the door, and seven or eight policemen with “submachine guns” got out of the cars and rushed into the warehouse. (Editor’s note: Except for the special police, other police stations in Beijing are not equipped with guns. However, the emergency police are indeed based in various police stations. I was once stopped by them in the middle of the night, and those policemen were all armed. For the sake of the plot, please don’t delve too deeply into this.)

“Don’t move, put your hands up!” The leader shouted. This caused even more chaos. Some of the kids had already obediently 趴 [pā – to lie prone] on the ground, and the rest were terrified. The five people on the ground were like they had seen a savior. “Save us!” “They’re going to burn us to death, save us!”

“What are you shouting about?” Hou Longtao roared and walked towards the leading policeman. That person was naturally Li Baoding, and Hou Longtao recognized all the remaining policemen. He often had meals with Baoding, so he naturally invited them along, and they had become very familiar.

Baoding looked surprised. “Oh, isn’t this Boss Hou? What are you doing here?”

“I’m resolving some personal disputes here. Is there a problem?” He handed Baoding a cigarette.

“Thank you, thank you. No problem, of course, no problem. What happened to your head?” Baoding’s servile manner was quite convincing.

“He hit me. He harassed my woman and then hit me.” Hou Longtao pointed to Zhang Jun, who was still in shock. “Motherfucker, how dare you be so bold? You even dared to hit Boss Hou. You’re really asking for death.” Baoding went over and kicked Zhang Jun a few times. The five people cried out even louder. It was no wonder. They thought a savior had come, but they didn’t expect it to be with the bad guys and seemed to be very afraid of them. How could the five not be desperate? The kids were even more convinced that Hou Longtao had connections to the heavens. Even the policemen with guns were afraid of him. Who else would dare to provoke him?

“Alright, this has nothing to do with you. Go back.” Hou Longtao said to the policemen.

“Don’t be like that. We’ve already come. Don’t let us make a wasted trip. How about this?” Baoding whispered a few words to Hou Longtao.

“Okay, a policeman is a policeman. Have you been doing this kind of thing for a long time?”

“Occasionally, occasionally.” The two looked at the five prisoners and smirked.

Zhang Guo and the others were pulled to the open space outside the warehouse. Only then did they see that it was an abandoned quarry surrounded by mountains on all sides, with only a dirt road leading to the entrance. Actually, on closer thought, Hou Longtao’s plan had many flaws. If no one reported the crime, how would the police come to this place? Even if someone reported it, it wouldn’t be a matter of a day or two to find this place. But most people couldn’t think that much at this moment.

The ropes of several people were untied. “You can go.”

“What?”

“You’re letting us go?”

“Really?” None of them dared to move. It was too unreasonable to let them go now. “What’s wrong? If we don’t let you go, you’ll shout to leave. Now that we’re letting you go, why aren’t you leaving? Hurry up and run. If I change my mind, you’ll be in trouble,” Hou Longtao said casually.

The five people looked at each other, helping each other up. Suddenly, they saw several policemen wiping their guns on the side, looking at them with a smirk. “If we run, they’ll shoot and then accuse us of resisting arrest…” The men thought in unison.

In the face of death, few people can truly be indifferent, let alone for such a small matter. Zhang Guo couldn’t hold on any longer and knelt on the ground. “Big Brother, I know I was wrong. Please… please spare my life.” The remaining four had long wanted to kneel and beg for mercy. Now that someone had taken the lead, they all knelt down and begged again.

After begging for a while, a policeman pulled the bolt of his gun. The “click” sound startled them, and Zhang Jun and one of the waiters wet their pants. Hou Longtao saw that enough had been done, and it was time to end it. He had to go to work in the morning. “Hmph, grown men wetting their pants. You’re really embarrassing. Alright, I’ll spare you. However, you owe me a favor. If I need you to do something in the future, you won’t refuse me, right?” It wouldn’t be realistic to let them go just like that. He had to set a condition to make it reasonable.

“We wouldn’t dare, we wouldn’t dare refuse.” The men saw hope of escaping and naturally agreed quickly. “Then get out of here. Do you want me to send you off in a car?” The five quickly thanked him (not knowing what they were thanking him for) and stumbled away…

Sitting in the large swivel chair, I thought about how the business of “East Star” had been getting better day by day for the past half month. It was often packed. It was time to expand. “Knock, knock.” Ru Yan knocked on the door, walked in, and closed the door behind her. “Boss Hou, this document needs your signature.”

“Come here, baby, let me hold you.” The man smiled.

Ru Yan obediently walked over and sat on Hou Longtao’s lap. Being intimate in the office had become a daily routine for the two. “Baby, what color underwear are you wearing today?” He kissed the beauty’s neck and unbuttoned three buttons on her shirt.

“Ah… you bad boy…” Although she was afraid of being discovered, the feeling of being intimate secretly in the office was even more stimulating. This beautiful enchantress found herself becoming more and more attached to Hou Longtao. Even if she had to die for him, she wouldn’t hesitate.

The man’s hand had already reached into her short skirt, stroking her thigh covered in pantyhose, while his tongue was licking the flesh of her breasts peeking out from her light green bra. “Brother… you’re so bad…” Ru Yan felt the man’s erect penis pressing against her butt. “Ring, ring…” The phone on the desk rang, startling Ru Yan. She got off Hou Longtao’s lap, kissed him on the face, looked at him affectionately, and left the office. “Damn it, who is it? They really know how to pick their moments.” The man was naturally very dissatisfied.

“Hello, IIC [Industrial and Investment Corporation].” Hou Longtao picked up the phone in a bad mood.

“Monkey, something happened. Can you come out?” Wu Da’s frantic voice came from the other end of the phone.

“What’s wrong? Just tell me what’s going on.”

“It’s not convenient to talk on the phone. Come to my house, quickly.” It seemed something really urgent had happened, or Wu Da, who was usually calm and steady, wouldn’t be so flustered.

“Do you know that our head office president has been arrested?”

“How would I know? The news hasn’t reported it.” Hou Longtao had arrived at Wu Da’s house.

“I only found out at an internal meeting today. He was secretly arrested and has been in custody for almost half a month.”

“What does that have to do with us?” I lit the cigarette Wu Da handed me.

“He’s been embezzling and creating fake accounts, with amounts as high as tens of billions. He’s definitely going to be executed, so he’s been resisting stubbornly, refusing to confess which accounts are fake. So the National People’s Congress and the Discipline Inspection Commission issued a notice that all accounts in our bank with more than ten million have been frozen for half a year, and they can only be unfrozen after they are confirmed one by one.” This news stunned Hou Longtao.

“Does that include my account?”

“Yes.” Wu Da sat on the side like a deflated ball. “But… but Director Xu is supposed to audit the accounts in two months. If that fifty million can’t be made up by then, it won’t just be a simple matter of being fired.” The problem was serious.

“Second Brother, how could this happen? You’ve always been very cautious in your work, how could…” Hou Longtao suddenly felt a little dizzy.

“Monkey, I’m sorry…” Wu Da couldn’t continue. After a moment of silence, Hou Longtao wiped his face and stood up. “It’s okay. If we’re brothers, there’s no need for such words. I’m just embezzling public funds, and it can all be recovered. At most, I’ll get three to five years. When I get out, we can start over.”

“No, Monkey, you always have a way. It won’t end like this.” Wu Da was already a little neurotic.

“Second Brother, Second Brother, calm down. There are still two months. Maybe there will be a turning point.” Although he said that, Hou Longtao knew in his heart that he probably wouldn’t be able to avoid this disaster. Who would have thought that half an hour ago, he was still full of vigor, holding a beauty and being intimate, and half an hour later, he was not far from an iron window [prison]. Maybe that’s how close hell and heaven are… (How Could a Golden Dragon Be Confined to a Pond?)