Chapter 147 — The Long-Awaited...
Years of Heartflutter · Page 383 of 501
Before long two steaming bowls of curry beef brisket noodles were set down. Yang Ce and Wang Yanqiu made short work of them, then settled the bill. Yang Ce wanted to pay for four bowls, but the owner insisted on charging for only two. The unpleasantness had happened in his shop, after all, and he bore some responsibility for it, so those two bowls were on the house.
Once outside, Yang Ce hailed a taxi, and the two of them again sat side by side in the back. Yang Ce told the driver they were going to Xinhua Shopping Mall.
They had scarcely left when a grayish-white minivan screeched to a halt at the door of Old Five's Beef Brisket Shop. Watermelon Head leapt out first, a gleaming machete in his hand, followed by four or five sturdy young men armed with iron rods and cleavers.
Watermelon Head swaggered into the shop and swept his eyes over the room, but there was no sign of Yang Ce or Wang Yanqiu. He scowled at once. Damn it, had the two of them already run off?
"Boss! Where's that pair of dogs from just now?" he barked at the owner, who was carrying a tray of beef brisket noodles.
"Brother Kong, they left long ago," the owner said cautiously.
"Left? When did they leave?" Watermelon Head asked, vexed.
"Must be five minutes ago now." In truth only two or three minutes had passed since Yang Ce and the others left, but the owner deliberately said five, stretching it a little.
"Five minutes? Damn, they run fast—like fucking rabbits." Watermelon Head knew at once he would not catch them; in five minutes a man could get a long way.
"Brother Kong, why don't you and your brothers have a couple of bowls of noodles? On the house," the owner said with a smile.
"Noodles my ass!" Watermelon Head flung out his hand and stalked out of the shop with his men in tow, sulking. He had meant to bring his crew and give that man and woman a proper lesson, but they had slipped away.
But Watermelon Head had never imagined that this trip back would be nothing short of stepping through the gates of hell. Had he not been nursing a grudge and come looking for trouble, he might have escaped disaster. But now Yang Yongjin was after him—and someone else was waiting for him too. To be continued.
845. The Middle-Aged Man
845 The Middle-Aged Man. Watermelon Head climbed into the minivan, cursing and swearing, and the van slowly pulled away from Old Five's Beef Brisket Shop. He grumbled as he drove: "Fucking coward. Didn't dare wait for me to show up, did he?"
The van turned this way and that before slipping into an alley. This was Watermelon Head's headquarters—an abandoned warehouse.
"Screech—" Watermelon Head slammed the brake to the floor, and the van jerked to a dead stop.
A middle-aged man stood in front of the van, his face utterly blank. The van had stopped right before him.
"Motherfucker, you got a death wish?" Watermelon Head rolled down the window and stuck his head out. "Get the hell out of the way! I run you over, don't blame me!"
Despite his words, Watermelon Head did not dare actually hit him. If he were going to, he would have done it already instead of stopping. Thug though he was, he dared not take a life. Thuggery was thuggery, but a dead body made things very serious indeed.
The middle-aged man stood there before the hood of the van, still expressionless. He had not moved an inch, nor said a word.
"Are you fucking deaf?" Watermelon Head shoved the door open and jumped down, reaching out to push the man.
The middle-aged man sidestepped lightly and evaded his hand.
"Well, look at you, acting all tough, dodging me now, are you?" Watermelon Head had been nursing a bellyful of rage ever since failing to find Yang Ce, and the man's move set him off again. "Boys, get out here! Let's teach this dumbass some manners!"
At his word, several underlings grabbed their weapons and leapt out of the van, eager to rough up this middle-aged man who was putting on airs before their boss. In an instant, the man was surrounded.