Chapter 5: The Feudal Family

“Happy Birthday, Brother Zheng!”

The 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month is Zheng Yao’s lunar birthday, and it’s also a traditional festival in the north, known as Little New Year.

Sixteen-year-old Cha Kexing, after attending a family banquet, changed out of his fancy clothes into a down jacket, secured the three-layer cake he had ordered on the back seat of his electric bike, and hurried to a small Sichuan restaurant near the night market to celebrate Zheng Yao’s eighteenth birthday.

Cha Kexing’s parents knew about his rebellious phase. Zeng Mei even shared it as a novelty at the family banquet, with a tone full of indulgence for her son’s rare rebellious behavior. The relatives all chimed in, saying yes, yes, Kexing is the most sensible, but after all, he’s only sixteen, usually too mature for his age, so it’s good for him to go out and play more. Who hasn’t had a bit of youthful recklessness?

No one thought that this childish “playing at being a delinquent” would have any impact on Cha Kexing’s destined bright future, including Cha Kexing himself.

The younger brothers pooled their money to book the largest private room in the Sichuan restaurant, ordered a table full of dishes, and brought several boxes of beer. The cake Cha Kexing brought was placed in the center. With the year-end approaching and it being the boss’s birthday, everyone was in high spirits, drinking until nearly midnight, with the room full of people drunk and slumped over.

After being forced to drink round after round and knocking everyone else out, Zheng Yao casually waved at Cha Kexing, “Who threw up in here? It stinks. Let’s go out for some fresh air.”

Cha Kexing obediently followed him out. He was underage and didn’t drink.

Zheng Yao, known for never getting drunk, was a bit unsteady on his feet. When he jumped onto a stone block used to block cars, he slipped, wobbled, steadied himself, squatted down, and pulled out a cigarette to hold in his mouth. It was deep winter, and he only wore a leather jacket over his T-shirt, with ripped jeans on the bottom, exposing some skin through the holes, not even wearing long johns.

Cha Kexing recently often had the urge to poke his fingers into the holes in Zheng Yao’s jeans and give them a little twist.

“So quiet…” Zheng Yao looked at the moon, which wasn’t round or crescent-shaped, but like a big mango. “It’s almost New Year, and it’s still so quiet. It’s not as lively as Chinatown. Every year at this time, Chinatown is all lit up with dragon and lion dances. It’s so much fun.”

Cha Kexing immediately caught the underlying meaning. He was homesick!

“Brother Zheng, school’s on break. Aren’t you going back to New York?”

“My old man won’t let me go back!” Zheng Yao said resentfully. “I don’t want to go back either. Seeing that big crowd annoys me—it’s better to be with you guys, relaxed and free. But with the New Year coming, you all have families to be with and relatives to visit. I guess after today, we won’t be able to hang out for a while.”

This was the first time Cha Kexing saw Zheng Yao show a lonely expression, but it wasn’t the first time Zheng Yao felt lonely. Cha Kexing had long noticed that Zheng Yao was someone who feared loneliness. Every time he said “I’m leaving,” he would disappear quickly without looking back, as if he didn’t want to face goodbyes.

So he said, “Brother Zheng, you can come home with me for the New Year.”

Zheng Yao was taken aback, “Your parents would be shocked if you brought a little hooligan home!”

“My house, my rules.”

“Pfft!” Zheng Yao laughed, his eyes bending into crescents. “I wouldn’t dare go back with you. What if you insist on marrying me? There are plenty of admirers waiting for me in Chinatown!”

He was bragging again. Cha Kexing had never seen Zheng Yao call or text any girl. Whether at school or hanging out, he never did. He even thought Zheng Yao was quite “pure-hearted and desireless.” Many girls in the night market liked him, but he didn’t even add them on WeChat.

Cha Kexing simply sat on the stone block and looked at the sky. He thought that by next Spring Festival, he wouldn’t be in the country. He wondered if the Spring Festival in London would be lively.

“Hey, let’s chat!” Zheng Yao nudged him, “Is there anything you want to ask me?”

“Brother Zheng, your name sounds like a girl’s. Did your parents want a daughter?”

Yao… beautiful and blooming, it suited Zheng Yao well.

But Zheng Yao burst into laughter, “Because my old man doesn’t have a wife, but he has five, six, seven, eight mistresses, and they gave birth to a dozen kids, named Zheng Cheng, Zheng Xu, Zheng Hao—anyway, the kids take their mother’s surname, and if there are many, they get a number at the end. The most favored mistress’s youngest son is called Zheng Yangsan.”

Hearing such an unbelievable reason, Cha Kexing didn’t know what expression to make. He wondered if he had accidentally touched on a sensitive topic for Zheng Yao, but Zheng Yao seemed quite at ease with it.

“My old man is some president of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce. Sounds impressive, but he’s just a big shot in the Chinese community, doesn’t dare to make a peep outside. Even the H-country guys and Y-south monkeys can provoke him. He works hard to earn money just to pay off those congressmen, always preaching about ‘He who does not compete, no one in the world can compete with him.’ Bah!” Talking about his family, Zheng Yao seemed to have been holding it in for a long time, and he just let it all out like pouring beans from a bamboo tube: “At the beginning of the year, a Mexican gang leader’s son came to Chinatown to do drugs and tried to rape a waitress. I kicked him and broke his manhood! My old man was scared to death. He paid a lot of money and was afraid I’d be retaliated against, so he sent me to China. Until the matter is settled, I’m not allowed to go back.”

Zheng Yao’s legs were indeed long. Standing, he was tall and heroic, but squatting, he was just a small bundle, like a polar rabbit.

Under the dim moonlight, the little Zheng rabbit looked somewhat pitiful.

Cha Kexing resisted the urge to touch the rabbit fur, “Your dad has so many kids, but he still cares about you.”

“That’s his only good point. He has so many kids, he might not match names to faces, but as long as they’re his kids, he protects them. A few years ago, a sister died young, and he cried for three days, his hair turned half white.”

“You miss your dad, don’t you?” Cha Kexing decided to give Zheng Yao a way out, “Why not give him a call?”

Zheng Yao refused, “No call! There’s a time difference. Who knows which congressman he’s sucking up to at this hour!”

“Then call your mom?”

“My mom can’t take calls.”

“Huh?!” Cha Kexing frowned, looking serious.

“Don’t overthink it, there’s no melodramatic family drama.” Zheng Yao said nonchalantly, “When I was six, my mom ‘went straight,’ took some money from the old man, and married a decent businessman. Now they grow cherries in Chile, have kids, and live well. I don’t bother her unless necessary. I was raised by Zheng Yangsan’s mom. They get along well. My old man’s mistresses all get along, playing mahjong together, and they help raise each other’s kids.”

Cha Kexing imagined the scene and felt that Zheng Yao’s family was like something out of a feudal society. The thought of a group of women surrounding an old man asking, “Master, whose turn is it tonight?” gave him chills.

Of course, Cha Kexing also knew that to produce a handsome guy like Zheng Yao, the “old man” must not look too bad.

“Enough about me, let’s talk about you.” Zheng Yao flicked Cha Kexing’s ear with his finger, “Why not be a good student and come out to mix?”

Cha Kexing covered his ear, thinking, can I say I’m just looking for excitement, and you guys are just NPCs in my delinquent VR game?

He couldn’t say that, so he said, “Because of you.”

“Don’t talk nonsense!”

“Because Brother Zheng is so handsome, like a flower attracting bees, a flame attracting moths, drawing me irresistibly closer to you.”

Zheng Yao wasn’t immune to compliments, and he immediately beamed, “Really? Am I that charming? Tell me more!”

“Really, the romantic aura around you is particularly captivating.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re like a chivalrous hero from a classic Chinese novel. I know you picked up these little brothers one by one. Brother Yang Dan was caught by you stealing a phone on the bus, Brother Liao was saved by you when he couldn’t take school bullying anymore and pulled a knife, Brother Mi Xian was caught by you when he wanted to sell ecstasy to pay for his sister’s medical bills—without you, many of them would have ended up in juvenile detention.” Cha Kexing looked into his eyes and said word by word, “In my heart, I admire you and want to be like you.”

Cha Kexing didn’t often show his ability to compliment someone so sincerely that it could make them cry and want to swear brotherhood with him, willing to die for a confidant.

Zheng Yao was clearly flattered, rubbing his nose in embarrassment, “Suddenly being praised like this by you…”

“But I can’t be like you. The more I can’t, the more I want to get closer, as if under your wings, borrowing your wind, I can fly to any place I want to go—”

“Muah!”

Zheng Yao suddenly leaned over and kissed Cha Kexing on the cheek, a strong peck that almost pinched his cheek.

Cha Kexing was stunned, his mouth half-open in a “square” shape.

Zheng Yao’s mysterious and distant eyes stared at him for a few seconds, then leaned over again, this time, the kiss landed on his forehead, as light as a snowflake.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take you flying.” He jumped off the stone block, grinning, “That’s your reward for appreciating me, just those two, no more, don’t push your luck!”

Cha Kexing held his head in his hands, not wanting Zheng Yao to see his flushed and hot face, his molars grinding with a squeak.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

And his heart, “angry” enough to jump out of his chest.

#

The remaining two rings were even tighter, the two boys’ thick necks made the operation space smaller, and Miss Yi had to be more careful with the dismantling.

The girl, barely clothed, wrapped in a towel, hugged her shoulders and sobbed softly. Cha Kexing instructed Miss Yi to tidy up the girl after the dismantling, then dragged the panicked Cha Kenuo out of the room.

He wanted to have a good talk with Little Pervert Cha. He was unsure whether to call the police about this situation, but the hallway was even more awkward than the room. The soundproofing in this shabby motel was poor, and the thin door couldn’t block the moans coming from the various rooms.

They had to leave the motel and walk to the streetlight at the alley entrance. The cold wind jolted Little Pervert Cha awake, and he grabbed Cha Kexing’s shoulders excitedly, “Second Brother, don’t tell Mom about tonight!”

Don’t tell Grandpa, don’t tell Dad, don’t tell Mom… Why does everyone who causes trouble come to me, and then tell me not to report it up? Can’t you just not tell me at all?!

Am I destined to be the fire extinguisher for you useless sissies and perverts?!

Cha Kexing took a deep breath, his attitude gentle, his tone soft, guiding, “Little Nuo, how did you meet those people in the room?”

Cha Kenuo’s eyes darted, “Just met online…”

“What site?”

“You wouldn’t understand!”

If I don’t understand, then don’t tell me! Who wants to deal with your messy affairs?!

“Tell Second Brother, if you don’t tell, how can Second Brother understand? If Second Brother doesn’t understand, how can he help you? Second Brother promises not to tell anyone.”

Cha Kenuo bit his lip and finally spoke, “It’s a forum I often visit. I’m into corpse party stuff, that sister is from od Yumei, then we got pulled into a beginner group, the group leader said we had to complete a scar customization ritual to join the advanced group… those two boys were also there for the ritual…”

Cha Kexing, at twenty-six and a half, considered himself young, working in media, always thought he was well-versed in the internet, had a good sense of the web… but what was Little Pervert Cha talking about? Was it Chinese? Why couldn’t he understand any of it?!

“What’s od…” He was about to ask more about the jargon when suddenly fireworks went off behind them, followed by a series of fireworks blooming in the sky.

Today was Little New Year, so fireworks were normal, but these fireworks were too concentrated and loud, making it hard for him and Little Pervert Cha to hear each other even when shouting face to face.

Not good!

Cha Kexing’s alarm bells rang, and he grabbed Little Pervert Cha, trying to run back to the motel, but as soon as he turned, a minivan sped towards them. If Cha Kexing hadn’t retreated in time, they would have been hit.

The van hadn’t even stopped when the door opened, and several men with baseball bats rushed out.

The way back to the motel was blocked, and Cha Kexing, with no other choice, ran into the opposite alley, one hand pulling the still confused Little Pervert Cha, the other pulling out his phone to call Miss Yi, but a baseball bat flew over, hitting his wrist, and the phone flew out.

Cha Kexing gasped in pain, pushing Little Pervert Cha hard, “Run!”

Then he turned and shouted, “Little Yi—”

But amidst the roaring firecrackers, his shout was hard to hear inside the motel.

He had been careless!

The recent calm was an illusion, these thugs had been watching him, waiting for him to be alone!

The thugs quickly caught up, kicking Cha Kexing hard in the back, making him stagger and kneel on the frosty ground.

There were five thugs in total, none of the usual talkative villains from movies. One silently raised a baseball bat aimed at his knee.

Cha Kexing’s voice was still calm, “I’ll pay ten times the price, transfer now, cash is fine, let me go, I won’t pursue—”

“In this line of work, we have to keep our word!” The thug sneered, swinging the bat down.

Watching the bat’s shadow, Cha Kexing felt a bit relieved, at least it was a bat, not a knife, at least they wanted to break his knee, not cut off his leg—

“Second Brother!” At the critical moment, Cha Kexing thought Little Pervert Cha had already escaped, but he crashed into him, the bat grazing the boy’s head and smashing into the exposed brick wall, sending debris flying.

Cha Kexing took the chance to get up, but after two steps, he stopped, looking back, Little Pervert Cha was being choked by a thug, struggling to breathe, eyes rolling back.

“If you run, we’ll break this kid’s leg!”

Cha Kexing couldn’t move anymore, even a moment’s pause made him miss the only chance to escape.

Two more thugs rushed up, this time the bat aimed at his head—at the same time, footsteps quickly approached from behind, he was already surrounded with nowhere to escape.