Even You Bully Me

After Chu Qiguang barged into his home and slapped him unconscious once again, Chen Gang realized that this matter was probably not going to be that simple. Chen Gang's second brother looked at the bruises on his older brother's face and asked, "Brother, what do you think this Ergou is playing at?" Chen Gang pondered. "Zhou Ergou is out for payback?" ... Chu Qiguang left Chen Gang's home feeling thoroughly refreshed. Walking alongside him, Qiao Zhi asked, "Beating him every day like this... won't something go wrong?" Chu Qiguang said, "For an oaf like him who's dreamed of roaming the jianghu and being an outlaw since he was a kid, reasoning is useless. When it comes to teaching him, there's only one word: beat him. Beat him within an inch of his life." Chu Qiguang asked again, "Tell me more about what happens to him later on." Qiao Zhi thought to himself, *Sigh, whatever. I've already told him so much; whatever he asks from now on, I'll just tell him.* So Qiao Zhi spoke frankly: "This Chen Gang... has no real sense of right and wrong. He's just a muddleheaded fool. But there is one thing: he is fiercely loyal to anyone who shows him kindness. "Do you know why he was killed in a single strike by Huang Daoxu, the greatest under heaven? He made the first move himself, hurling a thousand-jin boulder at Huang Daoxu. "And the only reason he attacked Huang Daoxu was that Huang Daoxu had killed his master. "After Chen Gang entered the Northern Martial Academy, he took a master named Liu Qisen, an assistant general in a northern military garrison. That man was a fickle opportunist. Because he slaughtered frontier villages and murdered innocent civilians to claim military merits, Huang Daoxu pursued him over a thousand li and lopped off his head with a single sword strike." Chu Qiguang nodded. He knew that military garrisons were often established along the borders of the Great Han Dynasty. Some were even larger than an entire province. Within these garrisons, there were no civil officials like prefects or magistrates; the military held absolute sway. The army was the true ruler, and the garrison's supreme governor was practically a local emperor whose word was absolute law within its borders. For Chen Gang to attack the greatest under heaven for the sake of such a master spoke volumes about his character. Chu Qiguang nodded. "A man like that is perfect to recruit as an enforcer. Hmm... I can find a way to take in his two younger brothers as well." Puzzled, Qiao Zhi asked, "Those two brothers of his aren't any good. Why recruit so many people?" Chu Qiguang replied, "Master Qiao, we'll soon be heading from Wang Family Village into Qingyang County, right when our enterprise is on the rise. We'll be needing more and more talent of all kinds. Chen Gang's two brothers may be a bit dull, but even trash has its uses." Curious, Qiao Zhi asked, "So what are you going to do next?" Chu Qiguang said, "Chen Gang has always run with Zhang Da and his crew. Now that he can't take the heat, he's bound to turn to his brothers for help. But I've already named Chen Gang to Wang Cailiang, saying I want revenge. How would hangers-on like Zhang Da dare offend their patron? No one will stand up for him. "I want to cut off his foundation first, and then use some methods to pull this leek right into my grasp." Just then, a sparrow chirped as it fluttered down onto Qiao Zhi's head. It chattered and rustled as if reporting something, then flew off a moment later. Qiao Zhi said to Chu Qiguang, "Chen Gang has left his house." ... Chen Gang felt that Zhou Ergou had probably set his sights on him. Recalling how he had bullied the other boy in the past, he felt he couldn't just sit and wait for doom. *Good thing I have plenty of brothers. I can go ask them for help.* With that in mind, he left his house and went to look for the brothers he usually knocked around with. Yet after visiting several households in a row, he found that they either refused to see him and drove him away on the spot, or brushed him off with vague excuses before claiming they were powerless to help. Only when he finally reached Zhang Da's home did the man shake his head and invite him inside. Chen Gang complained, "Those bastards Chen Er and Wang San! Who lent them the silver when they got married and had kids? Now they won't even look at me. How was I so blind back then to take them as brothers?" Zhang Da said mildly, "Why do you think they borrowed silver from you in the first place? Why didn't they borrow from Master Wang? Isn't it because failing to repay Master Wang would ruin them completely, whereas failing to repay you... at worst costs them a brother?" Chen Gang was taken aback. He had genuinely never considered such things, and Zhang Da seemed somewhat different from usual today. He looked at the man, only to hear Zhang Da continue, "Roaming the jianghu—what do you think that really means? If my family hadn't gone bankrupt, why would I have become a hanger-on, running errands, pandering for brothels, and doing all those dirty deeds for the Wang family? "Brotherhood and loyalty are fine words to toss around, but when it comes down to it, isn't silver what matters most? Without silver, who cares about the Wang family or the Zhang family? "Chen Er, Wang San, even me—if any of us truly had the silver to run an honest business, would we still be doing this? Out of all my brothers, only an idiot like you stays muddled all day, genuinely dreaming of roaming the jianghu." As they spoke, a little girl ran inside. "Daddy! Mommy wants to know when you'll be done here!" Zhang Da smiled warmly and patted his daughter's head. "Go tell your mother I'll be done in just a moment." Chen Gang listened blankly to Zhang Da's words, watching a side of the man that had never once been shown before. It felt as though his entire worldview had been turned upside down. Watching his daughter skip away, Zhang Da let the smile fade from his face. He looked at Chen Gang and said, "All of us brothers rely on scraps from the Wang family's table to get by. Zhou Ergou is favored by Master Wang now, so no one is going to stand up for you. "If you refuse to accept it, everyone will turn on you." Chen Gang muttered, "Then what should I do?" Zhang Da said calmly, "Apologize and admit you were wrong." He patted Chen Gang on the shoulder. "Brother, when you roam the jianghu and work as hired muscle, what does it matter how fierce or tough you are? All it takes is one word from those masters, and you're conscripted and exiled to the frontier. Everyone who gets into this just wants to earn a bit of silver. "Bowing your head to survive isn't shameful. No one will laugh at you." ... Chen Gang walked out of Zhang Da's house with a crestfallen look on his face. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that brothers who once shared life and death could turn out like this. *Do I really have to back down and submit to Zhou Ergou?* Chen Gang walked dazed toward home when a sudden pain shot through his right calf. He looked down and saw an orange feral cat biting into his leg. The cat darted ten meters away, then turned around to look at him with a provocative smirk. "Isn't that the cat Zhou Ergou is always carrying around?" Furious, Chen Gang roared, "Even you bully me?!"