Episode 44

“I’ve known you all my life and I never knew you were this amazing.”

“Brother Su, you’re amazing! Those men are from one of the most powerful gangs around here and everyone’s really scared of them.”

The two girls were in awe of Su Jin’s heroic actions earlier.

But Su Jin was getting really worried. If this went on, he might lose the morals and values he believed in. Would he still be himself if that happened?

“Don’t treat violence as something to be celebrated. Why were those people here?”

Su Qing started explaining everything in detail to her older brother. It turned out that this dumpling shop was actually owned by Yang Mengmeng and her mother. Yang Mengmeng’s mother was ill and had to be hospitalized but they couldn’t afford the hospital fees, so Yang Mengmeng had no choice but to ask her father for help even though her parents were already divorced.

Yang Mengmeng’s father had already remarried and not only was he unwilling to help with the bills after hearing what happened, he even started scheming how he could take over the little shop his ex-wife owned. On the contrary, it was his new wife who was magnanimous and willing to help. She eventually gave Yang Mengmeng $10,000 two days later.

Yang Mengmeng gratefully accepted the money and went to the hospital to pay the bills. She thought everything would get better from then on, but it was only the beginning of her nightmare because those gangsters started appearing at the shop.

The money that the new wife gave to Yang Mengmeng wasn’t her own money at all. Instead, the new wife had used the dumpling shop as a guarantee to borrow $30,000 from those gangsters, giving $10,000 to Yang Mengmeng and keeping the remaining $20,000 for herself.

The new wife was someone with some clout in this area as well because she was related to someone in that gang. So, even though Yang Mengmeng and her mother were victims, the gangsters refused to let her off no matter how hard Yang Mengmeng tried to explain things. They wanted to repossess her shop and collect the interest of the debt from her. At this point, the interest was even higher than the original loan itself, so it was impossible for Yang Mengmeng to repay them.

“So…they decided to get violent? Did you girls call the police?” Su Jin frowned in disbelief. The government had a tough stance towards gangsters, so they were either all in jail or operating covertly, not boldly banging on doors and threatening school girls like that.

“We didn’t dare to call the police. Mengmeng is all alone at home and her mother is still in the hospital. If we call the police and they fail to apprehend the gangsters, things will only get worse and it could also affect her mother’s treatment,” explained Su Qing.

Su Jin nodded. He understood where the two girls were coming from. Yang Mengmeng had taken everything upon herself and was afraid that the police would tell her mother about what happened if she called them for help. Her mother wouldn’t be able to rest well in the hospital if that happened.

While the two girls had the best of intentions, they weren’t mature enough to handle the situation. They were best friends, so Yang Mengmeng told Su Qing about her situation and because Su Qing was worried about Yang Mengmeng, her grades slipped and she even moved in with Yang Mengmeng.

“Both of you are brave young ladies, but…you are also a little too rash and you’ve not covered every possibility. Just imagine – what would have happened if I weren’t here just now? What if they managed to remove the planks and get in here? Do you know how dangerous your situation is?” Su Jin spoke very sternly to them. They had good reasons for doing what they did, but it endangered their lives and he felt that he should not condone such behavior.

Su Qing and Yang Mengmeng hung their heads and he knew they understood the gravity of the situation. He sighed and said, “All right, I’ll go settle this matter tonight. You two just stay put here and call me if anything happens.”

“Where are you going at this hour? Why don’t you wait till tomorrow?” Su Qing pulled her brother back.

Su Jin glared at her to tell her to stay put, then patted her head to assure her. After Yang Mengmeng told him where her father stayed, they replaced the wooden plank he yanked out earlier, made sure it was safely in place, and then, Su Jin left the shop.

Since this entire problem started with Yang Mengmeng’s father’s current wife, it had to end with her.

Actually, Su Jin didn’t have to do anything about this whole situation. In fact, he didn’t really feel bothered by this matter at all. But the more unbothered he was, the more worried he felt. He knew he was different from before. In the past, even if he didn’t have the means to do anything about the situation, he would have at least felt angry or aggrieved. But now…he didn’t feel anything.

This change of heart made him very worried, so he decided that he had to do the right thing. If he was going to become completely evil, then he had to do as much good as he could before that happened. And perhaps…if he did more good deeds now and felt more love and warmth from others, evil might not seep into him so quickly.

It was past 10pm by the time Su Jin arrived at his destination. The lights in the house were still on, so he marched up to the door and knocked on it.

A woman in very thick makeup opened the door. Su Jin nearly burst out laughing. This woman was so vampish, she fit the stereotypical look of a man’s mistress in dramas and movies.

“Who are you looking for?” asked the woman.

“Is this Yang Qiyan’s home?” asked Su Jin with a faint smile.

“Who’s looking for me?” said a man from inside before walking to the door. He wore a pair of glasses and had a nice blue tie on his neat white shirt. From just his outward appearance, no one would have guessed that he was such a heartless man.

“Hello, Mr. Yang. My name is Su Jin and I would like to talk to you about your daughter,” Su Jin went straight to the point in hope of settling this matter as quickly as possible.

“Mengmeng? What’s happened to her? Her mother and I are already divorced and her mother is now her legal guardian. Please look for her mother instead,” said Yang Qiyan impatiently as he pushed his glasses up.

“Her mother is now in the hospital for treatment, so I’m afraid you will need to help to deal with certain matters since you are her father,” said Su Jin icily with a frown.

“Didn’t you hear what my husband said? Look for her mother instead! Are you deaf? Get lost!” The woman reached out to push Su Jin away from her door.

Su Jin shifted slightly and flicked his fingers at her in a place that was out of their line of sight. It was a simple technique for stealth weapons, and this flick was enough for her to lose her balance and end up falling flat on her face.

“Ouch!!” She wailed in pain as she landed on the rough cement floor. The skin of her palms were grazed and she started wailing even more loudly when she saw that she was bleeding.

“How dare you hit her! I’m going to call the police!” said Yang Qiyan as he pointed a finger at Su Jin.

Su Jin glanced at him and said calmly, “Mr. Yang, I’d advise you to watch your mouth. It was your wife who tried to push me and all I did was to dodge it. Did you expect me to stand there and let her push me instead?”

“Why, you!” Yang Qiyan didn’t know what to say to that. It did look like his wife was the one who tried to push Su Jin and landed on the floor only because she lost her balance while doing so.

“Why are you still reasoning it out with him? Call my younger brother and his men to come over right now! I’m going to make sure they beat this boy to a pulp!” The woman held up her bloodied hands and did look rather pitiful.

Yang Qiyan pulled his phone out to make a call while Su Jin ignored their antics and continued saying what he came here to say, “Your ex-wife is now in hospital for treatment and your daughter, Yang Mengmeng, came here to ask if you could help with the hospital bills. You refused to help, but your wife did. She gave Yang Mengmeng $10,000. Did you know about that?

“Hello? Gouzi? Come over here quickly! Someone’s bullying your older sister!” Yang Qiyan ignored Su Jin once the other side picked up the phone.

Su Jin wasn’t bothered either and continued, “But where did this $10,000 come from? Your wife used your ex-wife’s store as a guarantee to borrow $30,000, gave Yang Mengmeng $10,000 and took the remaining $20,000 for herself. And now, the moneylenders are forcing Yang Mengmeng to pay up. What are your thoughts on THAT?”

Yang Qiyan pursed his lips angrily. He didn’t know that his wife had done such a thing. At the same time, tears welled up in his wife’s eyes as she yelled at him, “Yang Qiyan, I did this for your own good! Those two burdensome women keep trying to take advantage of you! If I don’t teach them a lesson, you won’t be able to live in peace!”

“But…you’ve gone a little overboard too. How much trouble could those two women give me?” said Yang Qiyan quietly as he tried to calm her down.

“That’s bullshit! Don’t you know what that mother and daughter is up to? They can see that we’re childless, so they’re waiting to gobble up your assets once you’re dead! If I didn’t find a way to keep them off your back, those two would definitely find a way to kill you sooner or later!” the woman shrieked back.

Su Jin could hardly believe what he was hearing. This woman was making up an even better story than the one he had deduced out of Fengxi Town!

Yang Qiyan was obviously afraid of his wife, so even though this woman’s view of the other two women was clearly twisted, he didn’t speak up. Su Jin could only sigh and said, “I’m not going to comment on anything else. I’m just here to say that your wife’s the one who borrowed the money, so she ought to be the one to repay the loan. It’s hard enough for Yang Mengmeng and her mother to make ends meet. I’d advise you not to burn bridges like this.”

Just when Yang Qiyan started to hesitate, the sound of metal hitting the floor could be heard from downstairs. A man shouted, “Who the fuck is making trouble for my older sister? Are you tired of living?!”

Su Jin found this voice and manner of speech very familiar, but couldn’t place it. But before he could recall who this voice belonged to, six men came walking towards him.

Once he saw their faces, he immediately chuckled. These were the exact same six men he slapped outside Yang Mengmeng’s shop earlier.

“You…how dare you find your way to my sister! Bros, show your weapons!” shouted the leader. All six of them immediately brandished the knives they were holding.

But despite being armed, the six of them were still a little afraid of Su Jin and none of them moved. Su Jin tapped his nose and chortled, “So, this whole thing was an inside job. What a great deal.”

“Gouzi, what are you waiting for?! Beat him up now! Chop one of his legs off too! Don’t worry about anything else, I’ll clean up the mess for you!” the vampish woman yelled at the leader of the six men.

“Are you guys here because you realized your faces are asymmetrical now and you’d like me to help you fix that problem?” Su Jin grinned at the six men. Everything the vamp said earlier had really riled him up and he was looking for a place to vent his frustrations. And now, a few punching bags had come knocking on his door.