The training cost for a super soldier king is as high as 1 ton of gold, and there are no more than 20 in the whole country.

There is such a mysterious team. In order to train them, the state spent almost 1 ton of gold on each person! No one on the outside knows about them, and intelligence agencies of various countries cannot obtain specific information about them either. They can only guess! According to expert estimates, this unit's combat capability is comparable to the once most mysterious Blue Spider Special Forces and Red Scorpion Special Forces, and may even be stronger...

In the early hours of the morning, Liu Ziguang walked out of the train station in Jiangbei City. The pitch-black sky was dotted with shining stars. The dim yellow light bulb above the station exit cast his tall, straight figure onto the square. Seeing passengers pouring out of the exit, taxi drivers soliciting customers and clerks from small inns swarmed over like flies, but no one paid any attention to him, a man dressed like a migrant worker. Only a few middle-aged men holding cardboard signs called out to him listlessly: "Long-distance bus to X County and Y County, get on and we leave right away."

Liu Ziguang strode along the street lit by streetlamps, his heart full of mixed feelings. Eight years had passed, and he had finally returned. He did not know whether his home was still there, whether his parents were doing well, whether their hair had turned white, or how their health was. As he thought about it, he could not help but quicken his pace.

When he was still some distance from his home, Liu Ziguang suddenly stopped. His gaze fell on a cleaner by the roadside. She was an older woman with graying hair, wearing work clothes and sleeve covers, sweeping the road. He did not know what holiday it had been the night before; garbage had been thrown everywhere on the ground. From time to time she bent down to pick up drink bottles and waste paper and stuff them into a snakeskin bag. Her back did not seem to be very good, and every time she bent down it was difficult.

Suddenly he heard a low call from behind him: "Mom!" Her hand, which had been sorting the garbage, stopped. Then she shook her head, sighed, and continued busying herself. The voice sounded again. This time the old woman no longer doubted her ears. She slowly turned around. In the darkness stood a figure that seemed familiar. The old woman did not dare believe her eyes and said in a trembling voice: "Xiaoguang, is that you?"

"It's me. Your son has come back." Liu Ziguang rushed over. A long life of military campaigns had tempered the frail youth of back then into an iron-forged tough man. Over the past eight years he had shed blood and sweat, but not a single tear. Yet in this moment, hot tears burst from his eyes. This man of iron bones unexpectedly cried like a child.

His mother was also weeping bitterly. Holding Liu Ziguang, she sobbed so hard she could not speak. Her son, who had been missing for eight years, had finally returned. A life without hope finally had a new light of hope. For eight years, what she had struggled and waited for was this moment. The old woman held her son tightly and did not dare let go, afraid that this was only a dream.

Her son was darker and thinner, but much stronger than before. Stroking the developed muscles on her son's arm, the old woman finally smiled with relief: "It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back."

At some point, the streetlamps went out, a red sun broke through at dawn, and it was daylight.

……

Liu Ziguang's home was located in the city's famous "Gaotupo," a dirty, messy, and poor shantytown. Due to various problems left over from history, this place had never been demolished. After helping his mother pull the cleaning cart home, he discovered that the courtyard had changed a lot. Many households had added two or even three floors to their buildings. This was because the area was about to be demolished, and adding floors could increase the area and get more compensation. But his own home was still the same as before: two low bungalows, with a small kitchen outside built from asbestos tiles.

When the lock was opened, a musty smell rushed out. Because the sunlight was blocked, the home was naturally dark and damp. The furnishings in the house had surprisingly remained just as they were eight years ago. Even his own bedroom, only 3 sq m, was still the same. The bed was covered with a blue printed sheet, and under the bed were his leather shoes. The shoes were clean and tidy, clearly wiped often.

"Xiaoguang, are you hungry? Mom will light the stove and cook for you right away." As she spoke, his mother opened the door of the coal ball stove and picked up the fire tongs to replace it with a new coal ball.

"Mom, I'm not hungry. Don't busy yourself. Where's Dad?" Liu Ziguang asked.

"He's working the night shift at Zhicheng Garden nearby and hasn't come back yet. Look, I almost forgot. I'll quickly call his Little Smart and tell him to come home," his mother said.

His mother picked up the phone and dialed for a long time. Finally it went through. After a few hellos and then a couple of mm-hms, she put down the phone and turned back, her face full of anxiety: "Your father was beaten at work. He's in the hospital for emergency treatment now. What are we going to do?"

Liu Ziguang said calmly: "Mom, don't panic. Let's take money to the hospital first. Saving him is the priority."

His mother took out a small artificial-leather bag from deep in the cabinet, took out a thin stack of money and two bankbooks, and her eyes reddened again. She muttered nervously: "Nothing must happen, our family really cannot bear any more trouble." As she spoke, her legs went a little weak. Over these years, the old couple had depended on each other and supported each other through difficult days. If the old man collapsed, the pillar of this family would collapse too.

A pair of strong large hands steadied his mother.

"I'm here for everything. Nothing will happen." Her son's firm voice sounded, like a shot of stimulant to his mother. That was right. Her son had returned, so what was there to fear? No matter how bitter or difficult things got, her son would hold it up.

His mother packed a bundle of hospital essentials such as a thermos, lunch box, chopsticks and spoons, and a change of clothes, and gave it to her son to carry. The mother and son closed the door and locked it, took a taxi, and arrived at the emergency department of the city's First Hospital.

Outside the emergency room, two middle-aged men in black security uniforms were smoking. When they saw Liu Ziguang and his mother approaching, they hurried over: "Sister-in-law, you're here."

His mother said anxiously: "Where is our Old Liu?"

"He's inside. The X-ray has been taken. He just entered the resuscitation room. The company leaders have also been notified and will come soon. Sister-in-law, please don't worry..." Father's coworker threw away his cigarette butt and quickly accompanied Mother into the emergency room, without asking who Liu Ziguang was.

The door of the emergency resuscitation room was tightly closed. Masked doctors and nurses were busy inside. His mother was afraid of delaying the doctors' treatment, so she stood at the door and did not dare go in. Father's coworker held the X-ray and quietly explained the whole sequence of events.

"Old Liu was on the shift from the latter half of the night until dawn. Our residential compound has two gates. For easier management, one is for entry and one for exit. At around 5 in the morning, a BMW blocked the exit and insisted on going in. Old Liu went up to persuade him, but who knew that guy had drunk too much? He kicked Old Liu down with one foot and even took out a steering wheel lock and beat Old Liu over the head and face. If we hadn't arrived in time, it would not have been as simple as just a broken arm."

Hearing that her man had been bullied and beaten like this by someone, his mother's tears fell again: "Old Zhang, Old Li, thank you. How much did you advance? I'll give it to you."

Old Zhang said: "Sister-in-law, don't say such distant words. Old Liu was injured in the line of duty. The company can reimburse it. Besides, we've already called the police. This time no matter what, we have to make him pay us tens of thousands of yuan."

"Where does the attacker live? What's his name?" Liu Ziguang suddenly interjected and asked.

Old Zhang looked at Liu Ziguang suspiciously: "This is?"

"This is my son," his mother introduced.

"Oh." Old Zhang nodded and sighed: "That man does big business. He drives a champagne-gold BMW SUV in and out. He lives in Building 16, but I really don't know which unit exactly. That man is no easy character. He and his wife are fierce. We usually avoid him when we see him. Only Old Liu is stubborn and insists on standing up to him. Isn't that just asking for trouble?"

Liu Ziguang was burning with anger, and his iron fists cracked as he clenched them. He did not blame Old Zhang and Old Li. These two security guards, nearly 50 years old, like his father, were laid-off workers, just trying to earn a living. Who would dare go against local thugs and bullies?

"Mom, you keep watch here first. I'll be back soon." After saying that, Liu Ziguang turned and left.

"Xiaoguang, where are you going? Come back quickly." By the time his mother chased him out, her son was already long gone.

……

Building 16 of Zhicheng Garden. In the parking spaces downstairs there were only a few lonely cars, among them a champagne-gold BMW X5 SUV, parked domineeringly across two parking spaces.

Liu Ziguang looked in through the driver's side window. There was no one in the car. A thick steering wheel lock was fastened on the steering wheel. Strangely, there was a huge S logo in the center of the steering wheel. What damned BMW SUV? It was clearly a modified Shuanghuan SCEO.

Liu Ziguang threw one punch, and a deep dent immediately appeared on the car door. The knockoff BMW let out a sharp shriek, and the alarm sounded throughout the compound.

Liu Ziguang looked up and around. No one in Building 16 leaned out to look. He smashed down another punch, the hood deformed, and the alarm sounded again. This time, finally, a window upstairs opened, and a flushed fleshy face appeared. Due to the angle, he did not see Liu Ziguang, so he only pressed once with the remote key, the alarm stopped abruptly, and the fat face shrank back again.

Liu Ziguang fixed the location of the apartment, went straight upstairs to the eighth floor, and pressed the doorbell.

For a long time there was no movement inside. Liu Ziguang patiently pressed the doorbell again. Finally an angry roar came from inside: "Can't people sleep anymore! What do you want?"

Liu Ziguang spoke in Mandarin: "I'm from the property management company. A neighbor complained that your car is disturbing residents..."

The security door suddenly opened, and a furious fat man stood at the door, reeking of alcohol and looking extremely impatient: "Are you done yet!"

Without another word, Liu Ziguang grabbed the fat man by the top of his head and yanked him outward, then with the momentum slammed him hard into the hallway. The fat man's slippers flew into the air, and he crashed headfirst into the wall, immediately bleeding all over his face.

Liu Ziguang stepped forward and stepped on the fat man, asking coldly: "You're the one who beat and injured the security guard at the compound gate, right?"

"You... who are you?" The fat man still had not come to his senses. Liu Ziguang did not ask again and directly stomped down. With a crack, the fat man's right ankle bone shattered. A pig-slaughtering scream traveled far and echoed through Zhicheng Garden for a long time without subsiding.

Liu Ziguang asked again: "Which hand did you use to hit him this morning?"

Only then did the fat man understand that the man had come to his door for revenge. A wise man does not fight when the odds are against him. He groaned: "Stop hitting me. How much money do you want?" At this moment the fat man no longer had his earlier arrogance. His floral pajamas were open, the flesh on his fat belly rolled in waves, snot, tears, and blood smeared all over his face, and his speech carried a sob. He looked as pitiful as could be.

"Left hand or right hand?" Liu Ziguang asked amiably, as if he were not about to break someone's arm but guessing a riddle.

"Murder! Help!" A sturdy woman rushed out from inside the apartment, her face full of flesh, her eye shadow pitch-black, and her newly tattooed eyebrows lying like two slender black worms on her triangular eyes. At one glance she was clearly not a good person.

The woman lunged at Liu Ziguang with claws bared. Liu Ziguang did not even look. He directly used a backward sweeping leg to kick the shrew back into the apartment, then continued asking the fat man: "If you don't answer, I'll take it as both hands."

"Right... no, left hand, neither, spare me." The fat man unexpectedly began wailing loudly. Shiny snot ran into his mouth, and a mouthful of smoke-yellowed buck teeth was exposed in broad daylight. It was as disgusting as could be.

Liu Ziguang was unmoved. He stretched out his foot to step on the fat man's right elbow, grabbed his forearm, and violently snapped it against the joint. With a crisp sound, the arm hung down at an incredible angle.

This time the fat man did not howl again. He went straight into shock.

"City Hospital emergency room. Bring money and go see my father. Otherwise I'll break your husband's other arm and leg too." Liu Ziguang left these words to the terrified shrew in the apartment, turned, and swaggered away.

Only after a long while did the fat man slowly wake up. The sound of an ambulance outside was getting closer and closer. The shrew knelt beside him and cried: "Husband, let's call the police."

"Calling the police is too cheap for him. Call Qiangzi, quickly," the fat man said weakly.

02

Liu Ziguang hurried back to the hospital. When he reached the door of the emergency room, he suddenly stopped. Through the glass on the door he could see his father lying on the hospital bed, his arm in a splint, his head wrapped in bandages, his face pale and haggard, with graying hair showing between the bandages.

His father was old. He would no longer be like 20 years ago, riding a 28-inch Forever bicycle and taking the whole family to the zoo. He could no longer be like 15 years ago, teaching him to play ball and swim. Nor could he be like 8 years ago, nimbly helping him repair the tricycle used for his stall.

Now he was just an old man, an old man who needed care, yet still using his thin shoulders to hold up a patch of sky for this family and shelter them from wind and rain.

"Are you standing here to go in or not?" said the young nurse from the emergency room reproachfully as she stood behind Liu Ziguang holding a tray.

This person was very strange. He wore an outdated gray polyester suit, dowdy to the extreme, yet he also had long hair hanging to his shoulders. He stood dumbly at the emergency room door with his head lowered and would not go in. No, wait, he seemed to be crying. There seemed to be something glistening at the corners of his eyes. The kind little nurse quickly covered her mouth.

The man suddenly raised his head. There was no trace of tears on his face anymore. A cold, stern face, a firm and straight nose bridge, wild and unruly eyes, and tightly closed lips all gave off a powerful masculine air, making the little nurse's heart pound for no reason.

The emergency department is a window unit of the hospital, and all the nurses were carefully selected excellent staff with tall stature, good image, and excellent skills. This little nurse was no exception. Her slender figure was graceful and elegant, and the people pursuing her could fill a class. She had seen all kinds of handsome men and good-looking guys. To be honest, this guy in front of her could not be considered very handsome, but he made people's faces feel hot and their hearts race. She did not know why.

Liu Ziguang slightly turned sideways and very gentlemanly pushed the door open, inviting the little nurse to go in first, and then followed in.

His father had already heard from his mother that Liu Ziguang had returned, but when he saw his son after eight years apart, he still could not help shedding tears. Holding Liu Ziguang's hand, he could not speak.

His father was a strong man. Except for when Grandma passed away, this was the first time he had seen him shed tears. Holding his father's hand on the hospital bed, Liu Ziguang's nose stung, and he said hoarsely: "Dad, I'm back."

His mother also could not help wiping the corners of her eyes, but she still said: "Stop crying, both of you. The doctor just looked at the X-ray and said it's not serious. Your father's company leaders also came and gave 200 yuan as a consolation payment. We'll pay the expenses first, and when he is discharged we'll get the invoice and reimburse it all together." As she spoke, she took out a large roll of toilet paper, tore off two pieces, and gave them to father and son to wipe their tears.

The little nurse helped change Father's IV bottle at the side and also tried to reassure them: "The old man has a compression fracture in the lumbar area and a linear fracture in the arm. It's just a crack in the bone, not an open or comminuted fracture. The splint has already been applied. It's not a big deal, so rest assured."

Liu Ziguang nodded to the little nurse: "Thank you."

The little nurse's heart again pounded for no reason. As if afraid others would notice, she picked up the stainless steel tray and fled in panic.

Suddenly there came the ear-piercing sound of sudden braking. A sapphire-blue Mazda 6 five-door hatchback sports sedan stopped in the parking lot at the emergency room entrance. All four doors opened at the same time, and four young men jumped out. They all had buzz cuts, wore sunglasses, tight V-neck short shirts, thick glittering gold chains around their necks, Adidas sneakers on their feet, small bags tucked under their arms, and dragons and tigers tattooed on their arms. At one glance they were clearly not good people.

The emergency room door was kicked open with a bang. The leading young man in a purple T-shirt shouted arrogantly: "Where's the security guard sent here from Zhicheng Garden?"

"What are you shouting about? Get out!" The little nurse, who had just reached the door, was not afraid of them and shouted sternly.

"None of your business. Get lost!" The purple T-shirt man chewed gum and scanned the emergency room lobby with his eyes. There were not many emergency patients in the morning, and soon his gaze fixed on Liu Ziguang's family.

"Brother Qiang, the one your brother-in-law mentioned is that guy in the suit, right?" Another young man pointed at Liu Ziguang, who was wearing a gray polyester double-breasted suit.

The purple T-shirt man took off his sunglasses, spat the gum onto the ground with a peh: "Damn it, isn't he just a migrant worker? Beat him!"

Seeing that things were going badly, the little nurse quickly fumbled out her phone and dialed 110.

The two elders understood what was going on. Just now their son must have gone for revenge, and now the other side had come knocking. Judging by their attire, they were people from the underworld. How could this be allowed? His mother pushed Liu Ziguang hard, her voice changed: "Xiaoguang, run."

Liu Ziguang stood up unhurriedly and comforted his parents: "It's fine. It'll be over soon." As he spoke, he walked toward the four thugs.

The three thugs spread out in a triangular formation to surround him, and without speaking, raised their hands to strike. Liu Ziguang directly kicked the shin of the person in front, and with a crisp sound the man fell down. Then he sent a side kick flying into the person on the left, who knocked over two emergency beds in a row before stopping. Immediately after, Liu Ziguang used his left foot as a pivot, turned his body, and swept his right foot across the face of the person on the right, also knocking him down on the spot. A 1.8 m tall man fell onto a nearby small pushcart without even a grunt. Hemostats, gauze, injections, and syringes clattered all over the floor.

The little nurse's earlier shout had drawn several other nurses from the emergency department over, and they happened to witness this scene. All four nurses were stunned. Such superb skill appeared only in movies. Using only his legs the whole time, he took down three people in no more than ten seconds, and the protagonist was even a handsome man with flowing long hair. Especially when he spun for the side kick, his long hair danced with the movement. It was simply super cool!

Not only were the nurses' mouths open in an O shape, but the purple T-shirt man was also dumbfounded, watching helplessly as that migrant worker walked over and grabbed him.

"Qiangzi, right? Come, come, come. Big brother has something to tell you." Liu Ziguang grabbed Qiangzi by the back of the neck and walked toward the restroom. Qiangzi's small face turned pale, and he did not dare say anything.

After entering the restroom, Liu Ziguang made Qiangzi stand properly against the wall, then asked: "Where do you run around?"

Qiangzi said: "I usually hang around the Dibei area. May I ask what line of work you are in, big brother?"

Liu Ziguang slapped him across the face: "I ask you questions, you answer. You still dare ask me back, damn!"

Qiangzi covered his face and did not dare speak. Liu Ziguang said: "That fat man told you to come, right?"

Qiangzi did not dare speak and could only nod.

"Fine. I'll settle accounts with the fat man later. First let's talk about you. What the hell did you bring three people here for? Tattooed with dragons and tigers, you think you're Hongxing Haonan? Tell me, what if you scare old people into getting sick? This is serious. You have to give me an explanation."

Qiangzi stammered: "Big brother, isn't it enough if I say I was wrong?"

"No. Be quick. Bring out 1 million yuan, and I'll let this go for now." As Liu Ziguang spoke, he grabbed the water pipe beside Qiangzi and bent it with one hand. This was not a PVC pipe, but an old-style galvanized steel pipe. Qiangzi was badly frightened and thought to himself that even opening one's mouth like a lion should not be this ruthless. But he still did not dare say so out loud. He stammered: "I didn't bring that much." As he spoke, he opened a genuine leather handbag with a crocodile logo and took out a stack of money, estimated at 6,000 to 7,000 yuan.

Liu Ziguang grabbed the money, and casually fished out the Mazda 6 car key as well: "I'll hold the car first. When you pay the money, you get the car back. Get lost."

Qiangzi was almost crying: "Big brother, this car isn't mine."

"Still talking nonsense? Bring money to redeem the car. Get lost!"

Qiangzi scrambled out of the restroom and came face to face with a man and a woman in uniform police officers walking over, full sets of police gear hanging from black leather duty belts. The female police officer raised her white-gloved right hand and pointed at Qiangzi: "Stop. Yes, you. Stand still."

Qiangzi hurriedly stood still. The middle-aged male police officer scanned the area and asked: "Who reported the case?"

The little nurse said: "I reported it. Just now someone was fighting..."

"Who was fighting?"

"This nurse sister saw wrong. No one was fighting. They came to deliver medical expenses." Liu Ziguang appeared unhurriedly, his polyester double-breasted suit draped over his shoulder, revealing the Baleno T-shirt inside. A belt was casually tied around his waist, his long hair flowed, and his expression was calm and natural, very dashing. The other three nurses had by now completely become Liu Ziguang's fans and murmured together: "So handsome."

As a woman herself, the female police officer accompanying the old police officer on the assignment was not moved at all. With a cold pretty face, she interrogated Liu Ziguang: "Who are you? Show your ID card."

"Officer Wang, he is my son Liu Ziguang. He just came back from working away," Liu Ziguang's father said from the hospital bed.

Officer Wang was the older male police officer, the district police officer for this area, and he knew Old Liu. It suddenly dawned on him: "Oh, so you're that son who left for eight years. No wonder I had some impression. There's a photo in the station files."

"Was it you people fighting just now?" the female police officer continued asking.

"No, no, none of us were fighting," Qiangzi brushed it off casually. On this female police officer's shoulder insignia were two hooks, and at a glance she was an intern trainee. If not for the old police officer being there, Qiangzi would not even have bothered with her.

"Then what's going on with these three people?"

"They ran into things themselves."

"Nonsense! You run into something yourself and let me see."

"Xiao Hu, forget it. Since there's no problem, let's go back." The old police officer was more experienced. Seeing this scene, he understood.

"But..." the young female police officer was still unwilling.

"Let's go." The old police officer gave a look and left with the female police officer. Qiangzi and the others also helped each other away. They did not dare seek treatment here and had to go to another hospital for emergency care.

"Mom and Dad, it's fine now. That person came to deliver money. Look, he brought 7,000 yuan." Liu Ziguang showed the money to his parents and then waved the nurse over.

"This is 5,000 yuan. Please deposit it at the cashier. This is 1,000 yuan, which is my thanks to you," Liu Ziguang said.

The little nurse's face immediately turned red. She thought this person was really strange. Who treats a nurse like a servant and even gives a tip? Who did he think he was? If it had been anyone else, the little nurse would have blown up long ago. But in front of him, the little nurse could only blush and say softly: "I'll deposit it for you, but I can't take this 1,000 yuan."

In the hospital parking lot, Officer Wang was educating Xiao Hu: "Don't you understand the situation just now? These people had a dispute, but they already resolved it themselves. As 110 responders, we are supposed to stop criminal behavior, not add unnecessary work burdens to ourselves. So we don't need to take this case."

"But..."

"I know. That man named Liu Ziguang is very suspicious. Eight years ago he fled because of a public order case. Although the statute of limitations has now passed and the parties no longer pursue it, based on my 30 years of experience, during the eight years he disappeared, this person must have been involved in quite a few major cases. That look in his eyes, that demeanor, can only be seen on the faces of some notorious bandits from the 1980s. This person... is not simple."

"Then hurry up and arrest him," Xiao Hu said.

"No rush. Just now I already took his photo with my phone. When we get back to the station, I'll check the internal network and see whether this person is on the wanted list. Maybe we can uncover a major case, and then you'll have made a merit."

"Uncle Wang, you really are something else."

"Heh heh, you formally trained cadets from the Criminal Police Academy aren't necessarily as useful as us old-timers."

Amid the laughter and chatter, the Santana police car painted with the number 110 pulled away from the hospital.

On the hospital's outer wall, Qiangzi was hugging his phone to his ear: "Hello, hello, Brother Wei, it's Little Qiang, the car's been impounded, not by traffic police, by some... I can't even explain it clearly, Brother Wei, hurry up and bring people over."

After hanging up, Qiangzi let out a long breath, and suddenly a familiar face appeared in front of him. That migrant worker had shown up at some point and was looking at him with a smile.

"Done with your call? Nice phone, let me play with it for a few days." Liu Ziguang grabbed Qiangzi's Nokia N85 without further ado, then added: "Just now you told that Brother Wei or whatever to come over, how come you didn't mention bringing money?"

"I..." Qiangzi was left speechless, and Liu Ziguang's expression changed. "You still dare to call people! I'll teach you to call people!" He drove a punch into Qiangzi's stomach, making him throw up his last night's meal. Qiangzi was in so much pain he dropped to his knees, snot and tears streaming down. Liu Ziguang gave him a few more fierce kicks, then straightened his suit and walked off as if nothing had happened.

Dad's fracture wasn't very serious and he had already been transferred from the emergency room to a ward. Liu Ziguang didn't need to bother with any of this, a bunch of young emergency room nurses handled it all. Seeing Liu Ziguang return, they swarmed over, chattering: "Handsome, what's your phone number, what's your QQ?"

Liu Ziguang smiled, pulled out Qiangzi's N85 and said: "Newly bought phone, haven't set up a number yet."

Just as he was speaking, the phone rang. Liu Ziguang pressed the answer button, and a voice came through: "Qiangzi, we're about to arrive, two Jinbei vans, twenty people, all carrying weapons, where do we get off?"

"At the parking lot." Liu Ziguang hung up after saying that, then dialed three digits: 110.

"Is this 110? There's a fight at the City First Hospital, two Jinbei vans, twenty people all carrying weapons, hurry over." Then he hung up and turned off the phone.

The young nurses' mouths all formed an O shape, and after a long while the emergency room nurse finally said: "Are they coming to corner you?"

"Heh heh, they're coming to bring me money." Liu Ziguang said.

Just as the words left his mouth, two Jinbei vans came speeding into the hospital, screeching to a halt with a sudden brake. The sliding doors opened, and twenty burly men jumped out, all bare-chested, wearing jeans and sneakers, holding iron rods, chains and watermelon knives.

03

Before the twenty weapon-wielding thugs had even entered the gate, Liu Ziguang had already walked up to meet them, asking proactively: "Qiangzi sent you, right?"

"Who are you?" A young man in his twenties pointed a galvanized steel pipe at Liu Ziguang and asked.

Liu Ziguang held up the Mazda 6's car keys and said: "Qiangzi came to the hospital to cause trouble, I impounded his car. You need to pay to get it back. Did you bring money?"

The thugs were furious, and one shouted: "Beat him!" Then all kinds of weapons came raining down on him. By common sense, the one being beaten should have been cowering and running, but Liu Ziguang didn't move an inch, letting the iron pipes and chains hit his body.

"That handsome guy is about to fight back." The emergency room nurse said confidently, but after a long while, Liu Ziguang was still being beaten, already knocked to the ground. The thugs did have some restraint though, only swinging iron rods randomly without using daggers to stab, so it wouldn't turn into a fatality.

"Stop hitting him!" The young nurse cried out anxiously, but the thugs had no intention of stopping. The hospital security guards watched from afar and didn't dare move. Everyone watched coldly, only those kind nurses were so anxious they were about to cry.

Liu Ziguang lay on the ground enjoying the massage, cursing inwardly: Why haven't those cops arrived yet.

At the same time, in an alley across the street, a Santana with police livery was parked quietly. Precinct officers Old Wang and Xiao Hu were monitoring the brawl in the hospital parking lot. Because there had been two reports within half an hour, the 110 command center suspected a false alarm, so they only notified the local precinct to respond, without dispatching riot squads or the like.

"Let's wait a bit more, that Liu what's-his-name will make his move soon." Old Wang said confidently. "Once he starts throwing punches, we'll move in and arrest them all, bring them to the station and question them slowly."

Female officer Xiao Hu was very anxious. The brawl had been going on for five minutes and the man was still toughing it out. Could Old Wang's judgment be wrong? If he still didn't act, someone might die. With that thought, Xiao Hu resolutely turned on the siren and drove the police car over. Old Wang didn't have time to stop her and could only sigh softly: This kid is still too green.

Seeing the police car arrive, the thugs dropped their weapons and scattered. The middle-aged man directing operations from inside the Jinbei van also tossed his cigarette butt and shouted: "Let's go!"

In the end the police didn't catch a single person. The huge parking lot held only the battered Liu Ziguang lying on the ground. A bunch of young nurses rushed over and hastily lifted him onto a stretcher. Female officer Xiao Hu walked over and said: "Wait, I need to ask the injured person a few questions."

The young nurses glared angrily: "You came so late, he almost got beaten to death, and you still want to ask questions? Wait until he's past the critical period."

Xiao Hu was left speechless, watching helplessly as the man was carried away. Old Wang came over and patted her shoulder: "Don't worry, it's all on camera. If you want to arrest someone, just pull the hospital's surveillance footage."

Xiao Hu suddenly understood: I know why he didn't fight back.

In the emergency room, the nurses unbuttoned Liu Ziguang's clothes, revealing a body of solid muscle. The thugs had beaten him for five minutes and only left some superficial wounds, which surprised even the nurses accustomed to bloody scenes.

Liu Ziguang suddenly sat up and said: "Have the police left?"

The nurses were even more surprised: "Weren't you unconscious?"

"Their massage was too comfortable, I just dozed off. Thank you all." Liu Ziguang revealed a charming smile, got off the emergency bed, and said to the nurses: "Don't tell my family about the fight, I don't want them to worry."

The nurses nodded like pounding garlic. Liu Ziguang straightened his clothes, said goodbye to them, and left the emergency room. He went to the parking lot, pulled out the keys, opened the car door, got into the Mazda 6, and first rummaged through it. From the suitcase in the passenger seat he found the vehicle registration, looked at the name on it: Sun Wei. He couldn't help but sneer: "Brother Wei, you're about to have bad luck."

Although Liu Ziguang didn't have a driver's license, his driving experience was quite extensive. In terms of skill, he was no less than an F1 racer. After fiddling for a bit he figured out the Mazda 6's driving method. Ignition, reverse gear, throttle to the floor, the whole car shot backward like lightning, reversing straight out of the hospital gate, and with one tail swing he straightened the car out. The whole process flowed like water, done in one breath, astonishing the security guard who had come to direct the reversing, his mouth hanging open for a long time.

Liu Ziguang stepped on the gas and drove forward, then suddenly slammed on the brakes. The Mazda 6 let out a strange cry and stopped beside a bus stop. Liu Ziguang rolled down the window and asked: "Going home?"

Waiting at the stop was the young emergency room nurse, the one who had called the police earlier. The girl had a slender figure, and in casual clothes she looked even more lovely and graceful. Hearing someone in the car trying to chat her up, she initially thought it was some cad, so she turned her head away and ignored it, then suddenly turned back and said in surprise: "It's you."

"Don't wait, I'll give you a ride home." Liu Ziguang said.

The young nurse hesitated for a moment, then opened the door and sat in the passenger seat. She pressed the leather seat and said: "This is that little thug's car, right."

Liu Ziguang said: "Whoever's it is, it's mine when I drive it. Where do you live?"

The young nurse gave the name of a residential compound. Fortunately Liu Ziguang knew the place, so he chuckled and said: "Hold on tight." Then he stepped on the gas, and the Mazda 6 shot out like flying, cutting from the bike lane directly into the fast lane, startling several cars behind to slam on their brakes.

The whole ride was extremely thrilling. The young nurse had never ridden in such a fast car in her life, so scared she gripped the handle on the passenger door tightly, her little face pale. But Liu Ziguang's driving skills were excellent, and after a while the nurse's face returned to its rosy color.

Along the way Liu Ziguang basically committed every traffic violation possible. The cameras must have photographed him hundreds of times, but since the license plate wasn't his, he could play as much as he wanted. In less than twenty minutes he covered a journey that would normally take an hour, arriving at the young nurse's home.

As she was about to get out, the young nurse bit her lip and said hesitantly: "Um, you... want to come up for a cup of tea?"

Liu Ziguang blinked and agreed readily: "Sure."

The young nurse's home was a large three-bedroom apartment, decorated quite nicely. The nurse was about to offer him slippers to change into, but Liu Ziguang had already casually walked in. The nurse pouted and let it go.

Liu Ziguang sat on the sofa while the nurse brewed tea, asking: "By the way, I still don't know your name?"

"My name is Liu Ziguang."

"My name is Fang Fei, I just started working last year. By the way, what do you do for work?"

"I just got back home, no job for now."

Fang Fei brought the teacup over. Liu Ziguang took it with a smile and took a sip, his brow furrowing slightly.

"What? Doesn't it taste good?"

"Nothing, it's fine." Liu Ziguang normally drank only the finest tribute tea. Although Fang Fei's tea was good, it was far from matching his taste. Of course, Liu Ziguang wouldn't say this.

"By the way, my suit is torn, can you help me mend it?" Liu Ziguang took off the grey polyester double-breasted suit jacket that cost thirty yuan a set and shook it out. It was covered in rips and holes, all from those thugs.

"No problem, we emergency room nurses have the best skills." Fang Fei was happy to be able to do something for Liu Ziguang. She took out needle and thread and started mending. This garment was stock from the 1990s, the fabric already rotten, unfit even as a rag in an ordinary household, yet Liu Ziguang treated it like a treasure. Yue Lin found it puzzling. This person was too strange, wearing such low-class clothes, yet his bearing was exceptionally good. When he was being arrogant, even that Li Yunlong on TV couldn't match him. When he was quiet, even the hospital's American-trained medical doctor wasn't as refined as him. In short, this person was truly too strange.

Fang Fei looked up and saw Liu Ziguang gazing at the playground in the residential compound outside the window. Following his gaze, she saw three or four children playing under their mothers' guidance. Looking back at Liu Ziguang, his eyes were so melancholic, yet full of deep affection, his eyes so profound, as if they contained a boundless universe.

Fang Fei was completely stunned. In that moment she was certain: this man must have an extraordinary story.

There were too many holes in the clothes, and it took a long time to finish mending. Fang Fei didn't give the clothes back to Liu Ziguang, but instead went into a room and brought out one of her father's suit jackets, saying: "Your clothes are dirty, I'll wash them for you. Wear my dad's for now."

Liu Ziguang frowned, but still took the suit and put it on.

The large clock on the wall chimed. Liu Ziguang looked up: "Oh, it's twelve o'clock. Let me treat you to lunch."

Fang Fei said joyfully: "Sure, sure."

The two went downstairs. Fang Fei said she wanted to eat at the ramen shop at the compound entrance, because she knew Liu Ziguang's financial situation was very tight, which she could tell from his parents' status and Liu Ziguang's clothing. But Liu Ziguang insisted on driving to a nicer restaurant. Fang Fei couldn't argue with him, so she guided him to drive to a fairly decent restaurant.

At the restaurant parking lot, the security guard saw the car approaching and hurried over to help open the door. Liu Ziguang flicked out a hundred-yuan bill. The guard looked at his outfit, then at the bill, and his mouth dropped open in surprise. Liu Ziguang stuffed the money into the guard's collar and led the astonished Fang Fei into the lobby.

Yue Lin thought to herself, this person is too weird. He doesn't have a few big bills to his name, yet he's so generous, giving a hundred yuan tip just for opening a car door. He must be from abroad. But what surprised her even more was yet to come. Liu Ziguang immediately asked for a private room, the top-grade private room, and was only persuaded by the hostess to take a two-person booth. When the menu came, he didn't let Fang Fei order, just quickly ordered ten dishes, and asked for double portions of everything.

Liu Ziguang ordered the more expensive signature dishes, covering all kinds of flavors, a true expert at ordering. Soon ten dishes were on the table. Liu Ziguang called out and started eating. His eating manner was elegant, but his speed was truly astonishing, like a whirlwind sweeping away clouds, every plate emptied. The waiters whispered among themselves: "This guy hasn't eaten in eight lifetimes." Some even suspected he was here to dine and dash, but he had come by car and had a beautiful woman with him, and aside from being a bit shabbily dressed, nothing suggested a dine-and-dash.

During the meal Fang Fei wanted to say something but couldn't find an opening. Annoyed, she also started eating heartily. The two ate in silence and finished quickly. The restaurant also packed up the other set of dishes Liu Ziguang had ordered. The bill came to exactly one thousand eight hundred yuan.

Fang Fei's mouth dropped open in shock. One thousand eight hundred, that was more than half a month of her salary. This man dressed like a migrant worker was actually so generous. Liu Ziguang took out one thousand nine hundred yuan to pay, saying: "The rest is a tip." He picked up the packed food and explained: "This is for my parents."

Fang Fei was secretly delighted. This person was absolutely kind-hearted. He only had this much money on him, and spent it all on his loved ones. Two sets of dishes, one to treat me, one for his parents. Didn't this mean...

The young girl's romantic fantasy wasn't finished before Liu Ziguang woke her up: "Let's go, I'll take you home."

At the compound entrance, Fang Fei got out of the car and looked at Liu Ziguang reluctantly. She wanted to invite him up again, but he still had to deliver food, so she just bit her lip and said nothing. Liu Ziguang didn't even get out of the car, just said goodbye and stepped on the gas to reverse, backing out of the compound at sixty kilometers per hour, then with a drift and tail swing, headed toward the hospital.

Arriving at the hospital, the parents indeed hadn't eaten yet, waiting for Liu Ziguang to eat together. Liu Ziguang opened the food, and the family had their first reunion meal in the hospital.

After eating, Liu Ziguang drove out again, this time to find the Mazda 6's owner. Following the address on the vehicle registration, he quickly found a bar. A Jinbei van was parked in front, one of the two that had come to the hospital that morning to cause trouble.

The bar was half-new, half-old, with two large neon characters on the door reading "Candy". Kicking the door open, it was very dark inside. It was afternoon and not yet open for business. The bar was empty, with only the monotonous clacking of billiard balls and mournful blues music.

With a clang, the harsh sunlight from outside shone in, and a tall figure appeared at the door. The young man who had been bending over aiming at a billiard table slowly straightened up, the cue weighing in his hand. The man drinking at the bar also turned around, squinting at this uninvited guest.

It was actually him! The kid who had been beaten at the hospital that morning, he actually dared to come looking for them! Seven or eight young men stood up, sinister cold smiles on their lips as they slowly closed in.

Facing the pack of wolves, Liu Ziguang didn't even furrow his brow, saying: "I'm here to see Sun Wei about something."

"Brother Wei's name is yours to say?" A long-haired young man suddenly swung a beer bottle at his head. Liu Ziguang sidestepped, snatched the beer bottle in his hand, and with a crisp crack, the 500ml Blue Ribbon beer bottle shattered into countless coffee-colored shards on the long-haired youth's head. Blood streamed down from his forehead, and the youth collapsed without a sound.

Another guy with a nose ring launched a surprise attack from the side. The billiard cue swept over with a fierce wind, unstoppable as a thunderbolt, but was firmly caught by one hand. The nose-ring youth was stunned, tried to pull it back, but couldn't budge it. Looking up, he saw a smiling face.

The nose-ring youth cursed: "Fuck!" Before the words faded, the sharp beer bottle remnant intimately kissed him. The glass shards gashed his face all over, flesh and blood mangled. The nose-ring youth screamed repeatedly, clutching his head and stumbling, knocking over several tables.

The youths stopped in their tracks, looking somewhat fearfully at this fiendish fellow. They were just regulars at the Candy Bar, not professional thugs hired by Sun Wei. Seeing this scene, they couldn't quite handle it.

"I'm looking for Sun Wei." Liu Ziguang spoke again, his tone still calm as before.

"Who's looking for me?" A door on the side of the bar counter opened, and a man in his thirties walked out, wearing a fitted black shirt, a thick gold chain visible in his open collar, a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

The man looked at the mess on the floor without the slightest shock, just glared at Liu Ziguang and said coldly: "Let's talk in my office."

Liu Ziguang walked into the office. Sun Wei was already sitting behind a large executive desk, pointing at a chair in the corner: "Sit."

But Liu Ziguang didn't sit in the corner as Sun Wei instructed. Instead he pulled a sofa to the center of the office and sat down face to face with Sun Wei, bold as you please.

Sun Wei took out a pack of Hard Zhonghua cigarettes, tossed one over: "Have a smoke." Then took one himself, lit it with the gilded Napoleon cannon on the desk, leaned back in his wide boss chair, looking down at Liu Ziguang.

Liu Ziguang also took out a disposable plastic lighter and lit his cigarette. The two just sat there puffing smoke and staring at each other.

Two minutes passed and Sun Wei began to falter. He had tried to overwhelm the other with his aura, but shamefully failed. This man's gaze was sharp as a blade, making him not dare to meet it.

No dragon crosses the river without reason. The fact that the other dared to come alone meant he had the strength. The fact that he could sit in the office boldly staring back, rather than urgently demanding conditions, meant he was no reckless fool.

Sun Wei opened a drawer, took out a stack of money and pushed it over. A bank-banded stack of one hundred red bills, exactly ten thousand yuan.

Sun Wei was no saint. Last time a sports school student came to cause trouble, one man fighting eight, a professional Sanda fighter no less, and in the end he was still taken down. Sun Wei personally cut his Achilles tendon. Forget compensation, Sun Wei even made him pay for the bar's damaged decoration costs.

But this time was different. Sun Wei actually, for the first time ever, took out ten thousand yuan. This was because he had smelled something from the other man that made him uneasy.

It was killing intent.

"Take the money, leave the car." Sun Wei said very briefly, trying to appear calm and composed, but the slightly trembling cigarette butt in his hand had already deeply betrayed him.

Liu Ziguang picked up the money and weighed it, then suddenly slammed it into Sun Wei's face: "Ten thousand yuan, who do you think you're fobbing off, a beggar?"

Sun Wei instinctively jumped up, the blood vessels at his temples throbbing, staring fixedly at Liu Ziguang. After a long while he still deflated, sat back down and said in a low voice: "This is all the shop has."

Liu Ziguang stared at him for a while. Sweat was beading on Sun Wei's forehead. He could no longer hold out, and said humbly: "Brother, really, this is all the money. The shop doesn't usually keep cash on hand."

Liu Ziguang snorted, stuffed the ten thousand into his pocket, casually grabbed a carton of Hard Zhonghua from the desk, and turned to leave: "I'll play with the car for a couple of days, give it back when I'm done."

"Brother, let's talk this out, that car..." Sun Wei stood up.

Liu Ziguang turned his head: "Not happy?"

"No, no..."

"If you're not happy, go find Qiangzi. He's the one who started this." With that, Liu Ziguang strode off.

The moment he stepped out of the office, the young men gathered at the door instinctively backed away, not daring to meet Liu Ziguang's eyes.

Only after this fearsome figure drove off in the Mazda 6 did the youths surge into the office.

"Brother Wei, why didn't you finish him off?"

"No matter how tough he is, he's just one person, what's there to fear."

The youths clamored all at once, regaining their usual swagger.

Sun Wei lit a cigarette and took a deep drag, then said: "You don't understand. This person is not ordinary."

"What's so extraordinary about him, just because he knows a few martial arts moves?"

Sun Wei shook his head and blew out a stream of smoke: "You wouldn't understand." He leaned back in his boss chair and fell into memories.

The youths knew Brother Wei had something to say, so they all quieted down.

"That year, I was pulled from my cell to accompany a death row inmate, basically just to talk with him and such, to prevent the prisoner from doing something desperate the day before execution. That man was truly a tough guy, operating across six provinces and one municipality, with seven lives on his hands, two of them police officers. The day before his execution he ate what he wanted, drank what he wanted, like nothing was happening. Us younger guys were filled with admiration."

The youths stared wide-eyed, waiting for what came next.

Sun Wei stubbed out his cigarette: "This person today is the same kind of man as him."

The office was dead silent. A small-time bar thug and a notorious criminal were completely different beasts. Everyone was having second thoughts, they had all walked past the gates of hell today.

04

Liu Ziguang drove back, stopping midway at a large shopping mall to buy some ginseng, deer antler and similar tonics. Although they were obviously low-grade goods, with money he couldn't buy top quality right now, so these would have to do. He also found a China Mobile partner outlet and bought a Shenzhouxing SIM card that didn't require ID registration, and put it into the N85.

After all this, he returned to the hospital. The family was talking in the ward. The attending physician came, holding a CT scan, saying it was just a compression fracture, not serious, and after a week of observation in the hospital he could go home. The whole family was overjoyed.

Someone needed to stay overnight to watch over the patient. Mom said she had already taken leave from the cleaning company, and she could stay here tonight, telling Liu Ziguang to go home and rest. How could Liu Ziguang agree? He said I can stay here, Mom you go home and sleep. His mother couldn't argue with him, so she went home first.

Liu Ziguang walked his mother home. Just as the group got into the elevator, a young girl came running up behind them, slender and graceful, with an extremely beautiful face, making even someone like Liu Ziguang who was used to seeing beautiful women feel a stir in his heart.

The girl was carrying a plastic bag, her hair in a ponytail, her clothes very plain, with even two inconspicuous patches. Although there was still room in the elevator, the sturdy women standing at the door showed no intention of making way. The girl bit her lip and silently stood to one side. The elevator doors closed, and his mother started nagging again. Liu Ziguang pulled his thoughts back and stopped thinking about that girl.

After taking his mother home, Liu Ziguang rushed to the hospital again, buying some food along the way. Father and son had dinner at the hospital. The day had been exhausting enough. After the meal, the old man went to sleep, and Liu Ziguang sat by the sickbed keeping him company. It was not exactly boring, because the little nurse from the orthopedics department found an excuse to come by and check on him every so often, though she really just wanted to chat him up.

The next morning, Fang Fei, who had just come off the night shift, came running over again and told Liu Ziguang he could be discharged. A compression fracture was not serious, and staying in the hospital offered no particularly effective treatment. It was better to go home and rest. After all, the hospitalization costs were sitting right there. Liu Ziguang had originally wanted to observe a bit longer, but he could not overcome the old man's wishes, so he went through the discharge procedures.

Out the door of the inpatient department, his dad saw the blue Mazda6 in front of him and gaped in surprise, asking Liu Ziguang where the car came from. Liu Ziguang vaguely said it was borrowed. The old man said worriedly, "Don't you dare steal a car."

Fang Fei just giggled on the side and helped Liu Ziguang smooth things over: "It really is borrowed. I can vouch for him."

Only then did the old man feel relieved. Liu Ziguang's family got into the car. Fang Fei waved and said, "Goodbye, peh peh peh, you shouldn't say goodbye in a hospital. I wish your whole family good health."

Liu Ziguang said thanks, stepped on the gas, and drove off, leaving Fang Fei fuming. She stamped her foot hard. This heartless guy had not even left a phone number.

Back home, his mother prepared seven or eight dishes, and soon the aroma of food filled the small courtyard. Old neighbors all came to congratulate them and, by the way, to see Liu Ziguang, who had been missing for eight years. Liu Ziguang took out a pack of Chunghwa cigarettes and passed them around. The neighbors all said the Liu family's boy had made something of himself. After chatting for a while, they left smiling.

When the food was ready, his dad even opened a bottle of Yanghe Daqu. The family had just sat down at the table when they heard a faint knock at the door, so faint it seemed barely there. It sounded once and then stopped. Even Liu Ziguang, with his sharp hearing, thought he had imagined it. But after a while it sounded again. Liu Ziguang went over and suddenly pulled the door open.

Standing at the door was a young girl with a familiar face. It was exactly the girl he had seen at the hospital yesterday. She instinctively took a step back, her hand twisting the hem of her clothes, and said in a voice as tiny as a mosquito, "Hello, uncle."

Liu Ziguang was just about to correct the girl's form of address when his mother came over and said, "Xiaoxue, have you eaten? Come in and have some."

The girl said timidly, "I've eaten. I came to borrow a thermos. I just made soup and want to take it to my dad. I'm afraid it will get cold on the way." After saying this, her snow-white face had already turned red. She was clearly an extremely introverted girl.

As if to prove she was lying, the girl's stomach suddenly gave a growl. It was obvious she had not eaten yet. Without another word, his mother pulled the girl inside: "Don't be polite. We made plenty of food today. Grandma will serve you rice." She pressed the girl into a seat and filled a big bowl of rice for her.

Liu Ziguang also returned to his seat and looked at the girl curiously. While putting food in the girl's bowl, his mother introduced her: "This is a neighbor who moved here the year before last. The girl is a senior at No. 1 Middle School. She's been a Three Good Student every year. That's a key high school in our province, you know. It's a pity her father is sick and has been in the hospital year-round, dragging down a perfectly good family. The child hasn't bought clothes in years. It's truly pitiful."

Seeing the girl's eyes reddening and about to cry, Liu Ziguang cut in: "Mom, say less and let her eat."

Only then did his mother stop. She put down her chopsticks and went to get the thermos. The girl held her chopsticks and ate her rice very shyly. Aside from the food in her bowl, she did not reach for anything on the plates at all. That pitiful look made even Liu Ziguang's heart ache.

Before long, Xiaoxue finished eating and stood up, saying, "Thank you, grandpa, grandma, uncle. I should go deliver the food."

His mother brought over two stainless steel lunch boxes and a thermos: "There's food inside. Grandma made it. Take it to your dad and let him try it."

Xiaoxue took the lunch boxes and thermos. Something crystalline was already glistening in her eyes. She tried hard to hold back her tears and did not dare speak, afraid that if she opened her mouth she would cry. His mother quickly saw Xiaoxue out. Before leaving, she fished out two coins for her: "Xiaoxue, don't walk there. Taking the bus is much easier."

After coming back, his mother gave a long sigh: "That poor family. Who knows how many times a year they get to eat meat. He worked a lifetime in the factory and was a model worker for decades. What use was it in the end? He still got bought out and laid off for a few thousand yuan. The house is about to be demolished, and the family still doesn't know where they'll settle."

His dad snorted: "How much better off are we? Isn't it the same? Now that Xiaoguang is back, and he's already thirty, he can't go down the wrong path again. How about this: I'll talk to the company leaders, and you take over my job and work as a security guard at the property management company."

Liu Ziguang was speechless and could only nod in agreement.

That evening, his dad made more than a dozen phone calls and used quite a few connections. Finally the matter was settled. The property management company told Liu Ziguang to come for an interview the next morning.

The next morning, Liu Ziguang went to the property management company. It was called an interview, but it was actually very simple, just a manager asking a few casual questions.

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-nine."

"What have you done before? Have you served in the military?"

"This... I've done all sorts of things. I just never served in the PLA."

"Oh, do ten push-ups and let me see."

So Liu Ziguang got down on the floor and did ten standard push-ups. Seeing that he was not out of breath, neither nearsighted nor fat, the manager nodded and said, "All right, for Old Liu's sake I'll take you. Pay 500 yuan for the uniform fee, bring a copy of your ID to the general office and register, and you'll officially start work this afternoon. Oh, right, cut your long hair. Looking neither male nor female, what kind of appearance is that?"

……

When he got home and shared the good news, his parents were delighted. There was no time to cook at noon, so his mother, for the first time ever, went out and bought cooked foods like roast chicken and braised beef. His dad took out the Jiannanchun he had treasured for years, got two cups, and personally poured his son a full cup of liquor.

Liu Ziguang was startled. Although he was no longer young, in his parents' eyes he was still a child. His father taking the initiative to pour him liquor was, in all his years of growing up, an unprecedented first.

He quickly took the bottle: "Dad, let me."

His dad raised his cup and said, "Son, in the blink of an eye you're almost thirty. You lost eight years of your youth, so you can't keep not doing things properly. In all three hundred and sixty trades, every trade can produce a champion. There's nothing shameful about being a security guard. You have to do it seriously. Your mom and I are getting old. We won't be able to take care of you forever."

These words made Liu Ziguang's nose sting. He also raised his cup and said, "Dad, rest assured. I will work hard and make something of myself. Even as a security guard, I'll do it well enough to make you proud." With that, he tipped his head back and downed the liquor.

His dad nodded with relief and drained his cup too. His mother stood at the doorway holding a plate. Seeing this scene, her eyes were already full of tears.

……

At two in the afternoon, Security Guard Liu Ziguang officially went on duty. He had cut his hair very short, and he looked much more energetic. Wearing the gray security uniform, somehow he looked far more spirited than the others, especially with that peaked cap pressed down over his brows, which made him look extremely cool and handsome. With the black leather duty belt cinched around him and a pair of spotless white gloves, he did not look like a security guard at all, but rather like a German SS member.

"Hey handsome, are you new? What's your name?" At the community exit, a middle-aged beauty driving a BMW 320 actually stopped her car and blocked the gate without moving. She rolled down the window and kept chatting up Liu Ziguang, setting off a chorus of honking behind her. After rambling for a long while, the middle-aged beauty finally handed Liu Ziguang a fragrant business card. "Handsome, call me." The beauty threw him a flirtatious glance before leaving.

"Bro, you've got some romantic luck," said Wang Zhijun, a security guard also on duty at the gate, enviously. This young man was a veteran who had spent three years feeding pigs in the military. He had only joined the property management company at the end of last year, so he was also relatively new.

"Not interested. How about you give it a try?" Liu Ziguang did not even look and tossed the card to Wang Zhijun. Wang Zhijun put the card to his nose and sniffed it, looking enchanted: "So fragrant. Too bad she didn't take a fancy to me."

"Have a smoke." Liu Ziguang tossed out a Chunghwa cigarette. Wang Zhijun hurriedly caught it, first lit Liu Ziguang's, then his own. After one puff, he exclaimed, "These are the real thing! Did that woman give them to you?"

"Bullshit, I bought them myself," Liu Ziguang said disdainfully.

"You two! No smoking on duty!" shouted the security team leader, who had patrolled over. Wang Zhijun quickly put out his cigarette and stuffed it into his pocket. Liu Ziguang, however, ignored him and continued puffing away.

"Hey, you new guy, do you still want this job?" The team leader ran over furiously. Just then, a Santana police car drove up. The security team leader had no time to deal with Liu Ziguang and hurried to attend to the police car.

"Officer Wang, Officer Hu, on patrol?" the team leader greeted warmly.

"Yes, Old Li. Came by to take a look and pass along some information. Recently several roving robbers have come to our city to commit crimes. All units need to increase vigilance..." Officer Wang explained the situation, while on the other side the female officer, Xiao Hu, opened the car door and walked toward Liu Ziguang.

"It's you. Two days without seeing you and you've found a job. I'm telling you, don't think those people lying in the hospital don't dare sue you. If you cause trouble again, I will definitely arrest you and take you back!" Xiao Hu said with a cold face.

"Officer Hu, your uniform doesn't fit. It's about to burst open," Liu Ziguang said, his lecherous gaze fixed on Xiao Hu's full chest. Xiao Hu's face went white with anger on the spot. "You! Pervert!"

"What? What did I say? That makes me a pervert?" Liu Ziguang laughed loudly. Beside him, Wang Zhijun had just followed with a laugh when he did not dare laugh anymore, because the stern Old Wang had already come over.

"Kid, I don't care what you did before, but in my jurisdiction you must behave yourself. I think your parents don't want to see you go to prison again either." Old Wang tossed out this icy sentence and then pulled Xiao Hu away.

"What? You came down from the mountains?" The security team leader's gaze toward Liu Ziguang had already changed. He no longer cared about the smoking matter and turned to leave. "No, I have to go find Manager Gao. A weasel guarding the chicken coop, that's outrageous!"

05

Security Team Leader Bai found Manager Gao and explained the situation. Manager Gao was also troubled and said, "It's probably not good to fire him on his very first day. Besides, these released convicts are not easy to deal with. What if they retaliate against us?"

Team Leader Bai said, "But letting him work here will sooner or later cause trouble. You didn't see the attitude he had when talking to Officer Hu. It was simply..." He angrily slapped the table, as if Liu Ziguang had bullied a female relative of his.

Manager Gao lowered his head in thought. After a long while he said, "How about this: observe him for a while first, find small faults to dock his pay, and keep docking it until he resigns himself. That way we won't intensify the conflict."

Team Leader Bai praised, "The manager really has a higher level of skill."

……

At the community gate, Wang Zhijun said regretfully, "Ah, no more cigarettes from you in the future. This time Manager Gao will definitely fire you."

Liu Ziguang glared: "He wouldn't dare!"

Wang Zhijun leaned in and asked, "Bro, did you really come down from the mountains?"

Liu Ziguang put on an innocent, harmless expression and said, "Do I look like it?"

"You do! Too much. That bearing of yours is just different from ordinary people..."

"All right, nothing much going on now. I'm going out for a spin. Cover for me." Liu Ziguang tossed the remaining half pack of Chunghwa to Wang Zhijun, took out the Mazda6 remote key and pressed it. The car in the distance responded with a crisp beep. He did not even change out of his security uniform and drove off just like that, leaving Wang Zhijun clicking his tongue in admiration: "Damn, the manager only drives an Elantra, and he drives a Mazda6. This bro is really something."

Having been away from his hometown too long, Jiangbei City had undergone earth-shaking changes. Tall buildings rose from the ground, the roads were broad and clean, plaza fountains gurgled, and green trees shaded the streets. The area where Liu Ziguang had pushed a cart selling grilled sausages eight years ago had become a bustling commercial street. Men and women in bright clothes hurried past, giving Liu Ziguang the feeling that a whole lifetime had passed.

In a flash eight years had passed, and he still had nothing to his name. How to let his parents live out their later years in peace, how to rise above others and improve their living conditions, had become his biggest problem.

With countless tangled thoughts and no place to start, the restless Liu Ziguang drove left and right through the streets. A police motorcycle by the roadside spotted the car seriously speeding and violating traffic rules, so it sounded its siren and gave chase.

With police chasing him, Liu Ziguang instead became more excited. The accelerator, clutch, brake, and gears changed constantly as he sped forward through traffic like a fish swimming through water.

Before he knew it, he had shaken off the police motorcycle. Ahead was a broad expressway. Liu Ziguang suddenly snapped to his senses, stepped on the brake, and the car stopped across the road.

Rather than racking his brains over how to get rich, it was better to start from the smallest things. As the old saying goes, if you cannot sweep a room, how can you sweep the world? If he could not even be a good security guard, what was the point of talking about rising above others?

Only by first integrating into this society could he find a path suited to himself, display his strengths, and stand out.

……

Once he had made up his mind, Liu Ziguang turned the steering wheel and went back to Zhicheng Garden to work.

When he arrived at the community gate, he saw a long line of cars backed up, with several of them honking impatiently. Liu Ziguang parked by the roadside and walked to the gate to take a look. A black Honda Fit was sitting inside the gate with its front facing outward, the doors locked, and the driver nowhere to be found.

This was the entrance to the community, for entering only, not exiting. The Fit was blocking the gate, and more than a dozen cars outside could not get in. It was also the evening rush hour, and the number of vehicles was still increasing. Wang Zhijun was worried sick.

"Brother Liu, you're finally here. Something bad happened." Seeing Liu Ziguang return, Wang Zhijun, drenched in sweat, ran over to complain.

"What's going on?" Liu Ziguang asked.

"The Honda was driving the wrong way to get out, and just then a car was coming in. Both sides were stubborn and refused to back up, so they got stuck facing off. I tried to persuade them for ages, but it was useless. The Honda owner simply got out and left. Now we're screwed. Our bonuses are down the drain."

Liu Ziguang said in surprise, "Driving out the wrong way is already wrong, and he still dares to pull this? He's rebelling! Call the police and tow his car."

Wang Zhijun said, "I already called. The traffic police said roads inside the community are not under their jurisdiction."

Liu Ziguang said, "Then did you report it to the manager?"

Wang Zhijun said with a bitter face, "Didn't I just say? If this gets to the manager, our bonuses are finished."

"I see..." Liu Ziguang propped up his cheek and thought for a moment. By now more cars were jammed outside, honking rose and fell, and residents coming and going were looking askance at the scene. Liu Ziguang's brows relaxed. He snatched the walkie-talkie from Wang Zhijun's hand and pressed the talk button: "Guys at the garage, guys at the exit, come support us."

Before long, two security guards came running over. They were also shocked to see the scene. Liu Ziguang said, "Guys, give me a hand. Let's move this car to the side."

Wang Zhijun said, "The guy driving the Honda doesn't seem easy to deal with. When he left, he threatened that whoever touched his car would regret it."

Liu Ziguang scoffed, "Horsefeathers. He violates public decency and still thinks he's in the right? Lift it! If anything happens, I'll take responsibility."

Since Liu Ziguang was taking full responsibility, everyone worked together to lift the Honda. Fortunately, Japanese cars are notoriously stripped-down, so the four of them easily carried it to one side. The long line of blocked cars slowly drove into the community. Every driver who passed the security guards honked in salute. The four guards exchanged glances, and a sense of professional honor welled up spontaneously.

Just then, an angry curse rang out: "Fucking hell, who touched my car?" A red-haired young man in sagging pants came storming over from outside the community, heading straight for the security guards.

Liu Ziguang's eyebrows shot up. He was about to go over and beat the man, but Wang Zhijun grabbed him.

"Brother Liu, don't be impulsive. If you hit a property owner, you'll definitely lose your job. Let me handle it."

With that, Wang Zhijun put on a smile and went up to meet him. First he saluted, then apologized, explaining slowly and gently. But the red-haired guy only became more arrogant. He rolled up his sleeves, revealing thin arms covered in dragon and tiger tattoos, knocked off Wang Zhijun's peaked cap, grabbed him by the collar, and cursed, "Just a watchdog, huh? You dare touch my car? I'll beat the shit out of you."

Tall, strong Wang Zhijun was shoved and cursed at by this 1.6-meter-tall young man, while the honest face kept smiling apologetically. Even the onlooking residents could not stand it anymore, but because of the tattoos on the red-haired man, everyone only dared to mutter quietly.

At this point Liu Ziguang, by contrast, did not step in. He crossed his arms and watched the excitement, wanting to see how long Wang Zhijun could endure.

They were all young men around twenty. No one was born to be bullied. Sure enough, Wang Zhijun's patience reached its limit. He shoved the red-haired man away and pointed at the object on the ground, shouting sternly, "Pick it up for me!"

The thin, small red-haired man was pushed staggering and nearly fell. Humiliated and enraged, he not only refused to pick it up but stomped hard on the object on the ground. When Wang Zhijun saw this, his eyes went red. He grabbed the red-haired man's arm and, with a beautiful grappling move, threw him to the ground. The red-haired man was dazed by the throw and took a long time to get up. Then he limped away.

A burst of crackling applause rose around them. Seeing there was no more excitement to watch, the residents dispersed. A faint smile appeared at the corner of Liu Ziguang's mouth. He asked, "Zhijun, were you really a pig-feeding soldier?"

Wang Zhijun picked up a small badge from the ground, carefully wiped the dust off it, and proudly pinned it to his left chest: "Of course. I fed old sows for three years."

Under the glow of the setting sun, a golden airborne wing badge shone brightly over his heart.