Chapter 9
Predators and Prey
Master Zhou was dumbfounded listening to Jiang Ming’s nonsense. He did not know if Jiang Ming was really confident or if his brain was fried.
“Alas, young people nowadays are really different from when I was young.” After a long time, Master Zhou shook his head with a bitter smile.
“I hope things will go as you wish,” he warned. “However, I advise you to be prepared. If the situation turns bad, escape immediately. ”
Jiang Ming nodded and continued to drink.
Master Zhou did not say anything more but did not get up and leave. He was already thinking in his heart that if things really got out of hand later, he should be able to save Jiang Ming’s life with his reputation in the town.
Outside the bar, Guo Heizi was still groaning, but there were more and more people in the bar. All the eyes were focused on Jiang Ming, and constant whispers were flying around.
“Jiang Ming is usually an honest man. How could he do such an evil thing?”
“Maybe he has been bullied for too long and wanted to vent his anger.”
“Although he’s out of breath, he’s going to be miserable. At least one of his hands will be broken by Uncle Ba!”
“I think it’s at least two hands! What kind of person is Uncle Ba? How can he be provoked like this?” one of them confidently said.
“Isn’t that so? This man is really young and frivolous. He has never seen the means of Uncle Ba.”
Among the buzzing discussions, more than half of them were actually waiting to watch the show.
Even many people who Uncle Ba had bullied were excited this time.
Jiang Ming heard it and laughed silently. He understood what they were thinking.
Some people were usually bullied to the point where they could not even lift their heads. When they suddenly saw someone who dared to resist the people who bullied them, their first thought was not to cheer for the resistance but to think, “Why should he resist? Wouldn’t that make me look like a coward? You’re just a lowly commoner like me; how dare you be so arrogant. I must be beaten until I obediently lower my head. Only then will my heart be balanced, and I will be able to move smoothly.”
Cattle and sheep would lose the will to resist after being kept in captivity for a long time.
Jiang Ming shook his head and stopped thinking about it.
Soon, there was a flurry of footsteps outside.
A scarred face appeared in the bar.
The bar fell into silence.
Uncle Ba looked around coldly and finally fixed his eyes on Jiang Ming. He walked to the front quickly, pulled a chair over, and sat down.
Behind him, seven or eight of his followers surrounded the table.
The atmosphere suddenly became tense.
“Ming, you’re really good at this!” Uncle Ba said with a rough voice. He took a bowl of wine and drank it all.
“It’s about to start!” The onlookers were excited, “Jiang Ming is going to pay the price for what he has done, hehe.”
“I’m still far from Uncle Ba,” Jiang Ming said with a calm smile.
Uncle Ba seemed to be so angry that he laughed. He leaned back and slapped the table, “Tell me, what happened? You have to give me an explanation today.”
Many onlookers stretched their necks and waited for Uncle Ba to launch an attack.
However, Master Zhou and a few other old foxes were puzzled. This was not the usual style of Uncle Ba.
Normally, if someone dared pay less than a few copper coins, Uncle Ba would break one of his fingers without saying a word.
Jiang Ming had made such a big mess, but why was Uncle Ba giving Jiang Ming a chance to explain?
Jiang Ming was about to speak when Master Zhou coughed and said, “Jiang Ming, explain it to me. If you have any difficulties, tell me.”
The meaning of his words was to let Jiang Ming shirk the responsibility and push it to Guo Heizi and the others. After all, everyone knew what kind of people Guo Heizi and the others were.
Jiang Ming shook his head in his heart. “I didn’t spend dozens of copper coins to be a good person. And to be a good person now was like a cow or a sheep pretending to be pitiful in front of a predator,” he thought to himself.
“It’s nothing much.” He did not think and said casually, “I’ve been spending too much these days, so I’m a little tight on cash. I just heard that Guo Heizi and his gang were always up to no good, causing trouble in the village, so I went to their house to teach them a lesson and borrowed some money to spend. It’s just a few broken bones. It’s not like they can’t grow back. It’s no big deal.”
Jiang Ming’s expression was casual and indifferent.
It was as if he had been pretending to be low-key and honest in the past, and today was his true self.
At the entrance of the bar, Guo Heizi leaned against the door sill, tears flowing.
In the bar, there was an uproar. Everyone looked at Jiang Ming in disbelief.
They thought that Jiang Ming was an honest man who could not stand being bullied, so he was angry and fought back to take revenge on these punks.
No one would have thought that Jiang Ming’s honesty was actually a disguise. In fact, he was actually an evil tyrant who did all kinds of cruel things. He did evil things like robbing money and beating people, but he did not take it seriously.
“Jiang Ming is hiding too well!”
“That’s right. His honest face almost deceived me in the past.”
Everyone was talking about it, but the strange thing was that after Jiang Ming revealed his evil image, the gloating eyes from before quietly lowered and disappeared.
What replaced them were expressions of fear and respect.
Master Zhou was dumbfounded. He thought he knew Jiang Ming very well, but he really could not figure out why Jiang Ming would portray himself as a tyrant.
However, after hearing that, Uncle Ba stared at Jiang Ming for a moment and suddenly laughed, “Good, good, good! I didn’t know you were such a big shot before! Those few pieces of trash didn’t follow the rules. I’ve wanted to deal with them for a long time, but I didn’t expect you to help me. I really have to thank you for this.”
Jiang Ming did not say anything. Naturally, he would not be stupid enough to take this sentence seriously.
Uncle Ba asked Old Jiang to bring two more glasses of wine. He stood up, raised one glass, and said, “There’s no great enmity between us. After you and I drink this wine, we’ll consider today’s matter over. How about it?”
Jiang Ming smiled and stood up with a glass of wine. “We’ll listen to Uncle Ba.”
Their wine glasses clinked together, and the two of them drank it all in one go.
“Little Ming, if you have any problems in the future, feel free to look for me!” Uncle Ba put down his glass and said in a clear voice.
Then, he looked calm and stared at Jiang Ming.
“They’re calling for amnesty.”
Jiang Ming knew the meaning of this sentence, but he did not care.
Uncle Ba operated this town like it was his kingdom, but Jiang Ming would leave this place sooner or later. He did not care whether he bowed his head or not.
All he wanted was to solve the problem once and for all.
“In that case, many thanks to Uncle Ba!” Jiang Ming smiled and drank another glass of wine alone.
Only then did Uncle Ba laugh out loud. With a wave of his hand, he led a group of followers and left the bar, disappearing in a daze.
Everyone was dumbstruck!
The bar was silent for a long time before a buzz of discussion broke out.
“It’s over just like that?”
No one could understand what was going on.
It had only been a few minutes since Uncle Ba arrived. The originally explosive and bloody scene had actually been resolved with a glass of wine?
Master Zhou was stunned for a long time, and there was a trace of half-understanding in his eyes.
“I seem to be too old.”