Four-Faced Buddha [To My Shore] - Chap 97
Chapter 97 Punishing Evil
2024-10-13 07:37 Category: Four-Faced BuddhaTurn off the lights
“I don’t like the smell of hospitals.”
Fan Xiao flicked his cigarette butt with his thumb, a slight smile on his face: “But since the Third Young Master is sick, I have to come and visit him.”
Bai Yupeng lay on the hospital bed, his head wrapped tightly in bandages, his face bruised and purple, and thick scabs on his lips. When he spoke, the scabs would burst open, oozing a thin trickle of blood.
“Fan Xiao!” he cursed through gritted teeth, “You attacked me in secret, and now you’re putting on an act?!”
“You can’t just say things like that.” Fan Xiao held the cigarette between his teeth and peeled an orange for Bai Yupeng. “Isn’t Third Young Master wronging me?”
Fan Xiao peeled the orange in a few quick movements and handed it to Bai Yupeng, saying slowly, “Third Young Master treats me like a friend. Even when I was down on my luck, he kept inviting me to get together. I’m so grateful. How could I possibly harm you behind your back?”
Ju Zi was slapped away by Bai Yupeng. He roared through the pain in his mouth, “I fucking got revenge on that guy surnamed You, and you came to help him vent his anger. You two are really a loving couple! Fine, fine, I admit defeat. I’ll avoid you two from now on, okay? You’ve hit me and vented your anger, what else do you want?”
Fan Xiao bent down to pick up the oranges from the ground, slowly walked to the bedside, and said with a smile, “I don’t want to do anything, I just want to remind Third Young Master to eat more fruit while he is sick.”
He suddenly grabbed Bai Yupeng’s hair, forcing him to raise his face: “These oranges are very sweet, Third Young Master, have a taste.”
With a cigarette in his mouth, a smile on his face, and an almost gentle tone, Fan Xiao crushed the whole orange in his hand, letting the gushing, tangy juice seep into the wound on Bai Yupeng’s lips.
“Fuck you, Fan Xiao! It hurts, it hurts so much! Take it away, you fucking take it away!”
“Don’t waste it. I’m so poor right now, it’s not easy for me to buy this little thing.” Fan Xiao coldly lowered his eyes and forcefully stuffed the orange, which was almost devoid of juice, into Bai Yupeng’s mouth!
The mouth opened and closed to the extreme, causing the newly scabbed corners of the lips to split open into multiple deep, bloody gashes that exposed the flesh. The orange juice on the face flowed into the wounds, triggering a new round of wailing and howling!
The painful screams attracted the nurse. Before she could ask, Fan Xiao straightened up, wiping his hands with a tissue while explaining with a smile, “Sick people are always in a bad mood. He got angry when I suggested he eat more fruit.”
The nurse was skeptical but didn’t want to get involved. This patient was lewd and had already harassed several nurses. Seeing that Bai Yupeng was alright, she simply said “Quiet” and left the ward.
“Fan Xiao, have you had enough fun?!” Bai Yupeng covered his lips, his eyes blazing with fury.
Fan Xiao tossed aside the tissue, nodded simply, and said coldly, “Bai Yupeng, you may respect me, but I may not respect you. However, if you mess with me, I will definitely get my revenge tenfold. The grudges between you, me, and You Shulang end here. If you are still not satisfied, I, Fan Xiao, will accept whatever means you use.”
Bai Yupeng was surprisingly agreeable this time: “Okay, okay, I understand. I’ll avoid you two from now on.”
Fan Xiao threw away his cigarette, stubbed it out with his toe, and smiled again: “Then it’s a deal.”
Leaving the hospital and turning into a back alley, a flashy sports car was parked on the narrow road. Fan Xiao opened the passenger door and got in.
The man in the driver’s seat was on the phone and only glanced at Fan Xiao as he got in.
He said into the phone, “Fan Xiao’s entire family has been ruined. He’s got nothing to lose now and isn’t afraid of anything. Why did you provoke him? I told you he’s vengeful.”
The person making the call switched the phone to their ear, and held it between their middle and index fingers with their free right hand. Fan Xiao smiled, offered them a cigarette, and then solicitously lit it with a match.
The car window rolled down a crack, and the man took a drag of his cigarette before continuing his phone call: “You beat up You Shulang, and Fan Xiao beat you up. Knowing Fan Xiao as I do, this matter is even. He won’t be keeping an eye on you anymore.”
“Me and Fan Xiao?” The man with the cigarette glanced at the passenger seat. “Me and him? What are we doing together? I hear his family’s mess isn’t over yet, so I’d better stay away. Want me to put in a good word for you? Fine, fine, you got into this mess because of me. I just arrived in the country, I’ll arrange a get-together for you sometime. Don’t worry, Fan Xiao needs to earn money to support himself now. Once he’s vented his anger, he won’t be bothered with you anymore. I’ll come see you at the hospital sometime, I just landed, it’s freezing! Bye!”
The phone call ended abruptly, and half a cigarette was tossed out through the window crack.
Fan Xiao looked at the quickly closed car window and said with a smile, “Shi Lihua, Bai Yupeng is also your friend, right? You seem to have no pressure selling to him.”
“A fair-weather friend, why would I betray him or you?” Shi Lihua tightened his coat. “You deliberately beat up Bai Yupeng just to put his mind at ease and make him think you won’t be keeping an eye on him anymore?”
“Yes.” Fan Xiao pulled out hand cream from his pocket, squeezed out half a pump and carefully applied it to his hands. “He’s been a bit wary lately, probably afraid I’ll investigate him. He’s stopped all those shady dealings he was doing. I couldn’t wait any longer, so I beat him up to put his mind at ease.”
“Wait until he continues doing those shady things before you take action?”
Fan Xiao raised his moist hands and looked at them: “One strike to kill.”
Shi Lihua clicked his tongue: “Fan Xiao, you’re getting more and more gay.” He held out his hand, “Give me some too, this damn weather, so dry and cold.”
Fan Xiao tossed the hand cream over: “Take this to where I parked.”
“Where to park?” Shi Lihua rubbed the back of his hand against the back of his hand. “Your beat-up motorcycle? Fan Xiao, why are you doing this? You have a company in Thailand too. Going back won’t be the same as before, but no one will dare to do anything to you. Why do you insist on staying in this damn place? Didn’t You Shulang abandon you?”
The hand cream was snatched back, and Fan Xiao’s face fell: “Let’s drive.”
Shi Lihua wasn’t one to stay idle; after hiding for two days, he started hanging out in nightclubs.
“Really not coming?” He called Fan Xiao. “Unloading? With the workers? Damn, I suspect you’ve been replaced.”
After hanging up the phone, he pushed open the door to the private room, opened his arms, and shouted, “Happy birthday!”
The person celebrating the birthday was a second-generation rich kid, yet another drinking buddy of Shi Lihua.
Unfamiliar faces, familiar faces, and half-familiar faces mingle together, bustling and enthusiastic. To one side they are close friends, but to the other they are strangers on different paths.
Everyone was having a great time, except for one person who seemed out of place, like a hole torn in a giant, decadent net, and he just happened to be right outside the hole.
The man sat upright in the corner, drinking alone. Occasionally he would greet someone with a faint smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
“Who is it?” Shi Lihua asked, peering into the corner.
“Oh, he’s my dad’s business partner. He came to celebrate my birthday to curry favor. The birthday present was pretty good. I’ll mention it to my dad another day.” The birthday boy asked, “He works in new energy. Should I introduce you two?”
Shi Lihua lazily declined, “Forget it, what would I do with him if I were just a rice seller?”
The man in the corner didn’t stay long before getting up to leave. The birthday celebrant treated him quite politely and saw him off to the elevator, where he unexpectedly saw Shi Lihua waiting for the elevator.
“Are you leaving too?” the God of Longevity asked.
“Screw leaving, I’m going to get something from the car.”
The elevator arrived, and Shi Lihua and the man naturally rode together. During the descent, neither of them spoke, but they simply nodded to each other.
With a ding, the yellow light came on, and the elevator stopped on the basement level. The temperature in the underground parking lot wasn’t exactly warm for Shi Lihua either; he wrapped his coat tighter and followed the man out of the elevator.
A horn blared, and the man in front paused slightly before turning around and walking toward the car with its lights flashing.
Shi Lihua’s gaze followed the person unconsciously, and upon seeing the person in the driver’s seat, he blurted out, “You Shulang?”
Of the three people standing together, only Shi Lihua looked awkward.
You Shulang remained indifferent; the man involved in new energy was composed. He smiled and asked, “Young Master Shi, are you acquainted with Shulang?”
“I guess so.”
“That’s quite a coincidence, I’m his boyfriend.”
Shi Lihua’s voice trailed off: “What are you to him?”
“Boy friend.”
Shi Lihua’s eyes darted around, and finally he scoffed, “Then you fucking groped the butts of male models in that upstairs club!”
