Longjin Road, Chen's Noodle Factory.
"Aunt, I'm back."
When Li Xiuwen got back, Aunt was cooking dinner.
"Good timing. I made some sea cucumber porridge today," Aunt said with a smile.
"That sounds great!"
"It's your first day learning boxing, so we have to celebrate. Let me give you some proper nourishment."
"Thank you, Aunt. Don't go to any more expense. As long as I'm full, that's enough. Early-stage cultivation doesn't call for tonics."
Li Xiuwen felt somewhat guilty.
Tonics would certainly be better.
But his family's situation didn't allow it... He wasn't a soccer player, after all.
"Did boxing go smoothly today?"
"I haven't started training yet. Today I learned the basics you need before you can start boxing."
"You still have to study? Those fighters on the great ring don't look like educated people to me. I never thought there was so much to learning boxing."
"Where's my uncle?"
"Working overtime."
Li Xiuwen knew his uncle also wanted to save up enough money as soon as possible and move out with his aunt to improve their environment.
But Xianghai had little land and too many people; every inch of land was precious. Any apartment outside the Walled City was a dream ordinary people could long for but never attain.
At dinner, Aunt said casually, "Ah Wen, I got a call from someone named Zhao Dalong. He says he's a fellow villager and good friend who smuggled here with you?"
Li Xiuwen looked up, memories flooding back. "Yes. What happened?"
"He said he found a few good friends who smuggled here with him back then and escaped from the snake pit, and he's asking everyone to gather at Hongyun Building outside the Walled City."
"Good." Memories flooding back again, Li Xiuwen thought of Zhao Dalong, Ding Shao, Li Nanshu—these friends who had shared hardships; who knew how they were doing now?
...
At ten o'clock, his uncle finally got home, an OK bandage on his forehead to stop the bleeding, soaked through with blood.
"How did you get hurt?" Aunt helped her husband take off his coat, her face full of worry.
"It's nothing. Third Master and I talked about the protection money, and Brother Ji brought a few punks who broke his skin a little," Uncle said.
"Brother Ji again? What does he mean?"
"He wants me to hand the protection money directly to him from now on..." Uncle frowned.
"So we'd have to pay Third Master and Brother Ji? This punk really doesn't follow the rules of the road. If he pushes us too far, we'll fight him to the death!" Aunt cursed.
"You already said he's a punk. These damn bastards just take it day by day and never follow the rules of the road." Uncle looked worried.
"It would have been great if you'd learned boxing back then."
"I'm not cut out for boxing. Besides, times have changed. Even if an ordinary person studies boxing all his life, he still ends up shot."
"I'm still counting on Ah Wen. If this kid can learn a thing or two, we won't have to live in fear in this Walled City."
"Go to sleep early. Everything exists in dreams..."
"Don't tell Ah Wen about this today. Young people who just started martial arts are the most likely to act on impulse."
"And what about your head injury?"
"Just say you fell."
...
Wu Jun's Barbershop.
"Brother Jun."
"Coming in to work? I heard you started learning boxing."
"Just started learning."
"Once you've learned it, don't be my assistant anymore. Come keep an eye on my place instead. If nothing happens, I'll pay you two hundred a month. If something comes up, we'll figure it out separately."
"Really? Two hundred—that was quite a lot. Li Xiuwen was tempted. Besides, he wouldn't even need to come to work; Brother Jun would just call him over when something came up."
"In recent years the Walled City hasn't been peaceful. The Changle Society is overwhelmed, and small places like mine are about to be abandoned."
"What's going on?" Li Xiuwen also felt the Walled City had been getting less and less peaceful lately.
Although the Walled City was a three-no zone, with Mr. Ming and the Walled City's number one gang, the Changle Society, watching over it, things used to be relatively stable.
Even in Aunt's memory, the Walled City in earlier years was fairly warm, with neighbors living in harmony.
In recent years, large amounts of opium have poured into the Walled City, dragon-chasers have proliferated, turning the Walled City into a foul mess and making life unbearable for the people.
Groups of punks like the Tong Gang's Thirteen Taibao, who don't follow the rules of the underworld, have also begun to appear, growing increasingly arrogant.
"I don't know the specifics, but I learned from an old friend in Hequn Ying Society that it's very likely a super-large gang from outside the Walled City wants to get its claws into the Walled City."
"Which one?"
"The Tianyi Gang."
"This is a fight between gods..." Li Xiuwen muttered.
The Changle Society is the largest gang in the Walled City. Most gangs in the Walled City are actually halls under Changle.
The Tianyi Gang is one of the three great families of the underworld outside the Walled City. Its boss, Tianyi Hao, is also a major figure who calls the shots in Xianghai.
"In recent years, the increasing number of dragon-chasers in the Walled City is said to be secretly orchestrated by the Tianyi Gang. Word is that Tianyi Hao controls half of Xianghai's drug trade."
"Then I hope Changle wins."
"Right. Mr. Ming works for Yan Ling in the drug trade, has his limits, and is easier to deal with... I heard Tianyi Hao is a madman!"
"But he's having me watch his place, so Brother Jun actually thinks highly of me." Li Xiuwen said with a smile while helping out.
"You're young but you dared to follow others to smuggle into Xianghai and even survived the snake pit. You've got a big life! I think you can make something of yourself." Brother Jun joked.
"Isn't your friend from Hequn Ying helping you?"
"A third-rate gang like Hequn Ying from outside the Walled City wouldn't dare come in and get involved in this kind of thing." Brother Jun said.
"Then I dare even less. I'm just a small fry." Li Xiuwen said.
"It's different. You're from the Walled City. Mr. Ming said that Walled City residents look out for each other and watch over their own small places. Changle doesn't interfere; instead, they back you up."
"Oh, there's such a thing?"
Brother Jun lit a cigarette, sat down, and said:
"Ah Wen, you should know that although we haven't joined the Changle Society, from the moment we chose to settle in the Walled City, we were, to some extent, in Changle's camp. We small merchants and vendors pay 'Changle money' to the Changle Society every year. This money is essentially protection money, though it's lower than what other gangs charge. It's far lower than the taxes of the colonial government. Once you pay, Changle should protect us, and in fact that's what they used to do. But in recent years powerful enemies have surrounded the Walled City from outside, punks and louts gather inside the Walled City, and Changle is overwhelmed too. You watching my place for me is also sharing Changle's burden, so they naturally won't interfere."
Li Xiuwen smiled. "I understand, Brother Jun."
Brother Jun continued: "The Walled City is a three-no zone partly because of historical issues, and partly thanks to Mr. Ming. Because of him, we don't pay taxes to the colonial government and can be self-sufficient. Because of him, big gangs from outside don't dare just come in and bully us. The order in the Walled City is a bit chaotic, but for the common poor folk, the Walled City is the most suitable harbor. Without the Walled City, could Xianghai, where every inch of land is precious, accommodate hundreds of thousands of us at the bottom?"
After thinking it over, Li Xiuwen said: "Brother Jun, let me think about it. It's too early to tell."
"I'm just mentioning it... learning martial arts is hard. I thought about it when I was young, but my master said I had inferior aptitude, so I took the money and ran. I learned jack shit."
"Um, Brother Jun, can I get next month's wages in advance? I'm still short on money for the martial arts hall's food fee. Boxing makes you hungry, and dry rations don't fill you up."
"Take it."
"Brother Jun, this is 200, and you gave me another 70 on top."
"Just consider it funding for your boxing. Pay me back when you make money."
"Brother Jun is truly generous!"}
Chapter 7