Special District 9

During this period of time, Qin Yu’s life didn’t change due to the sudden intrusion of Bucktooth. He was too busy dealing with the handover, the management of the medicine route, and the resolution of Ma Lao-er’s case.

Meanwhile, Bucktooth remained at home to recuperate from his injuries. Everyday, before heading off to work, Qin Yu would make sure to leave him with 2 dollars in order to buy himself lunch. As for breakfast and dinner, the two of them would usually have it together.

After the conflict between Qin Yu and Ol’ Three became known throughout the Police Bureau, Qin Yu no longer faced any impediment in his job anymore. Yuan Ke and his gang had begun to neglect his existence at work. As for the medicine route, it was mostly handled by Old Ma, and the profits so far were still decent.

In any case, the streets were amazingly peaceful these days. Not only were there no direct conflicts between the medicine smugglers, most of the other unlawful occupations had also quietened down significantly.

It was under such an environment that Ma Lao-er was fished out from jail.

Old Ma found a lawyer, and following Qin Yu’s instructions, the lawyer discreetly advised Damin to carry the blame for the entire matter. Damin also didn’t let Old Ma down either. Without any hesitation, he pleaded guilty to nearly everything in the case.

Ma Lao-er also received the cue and played along with it. Through pulling some strings, he managed to clean himself of all his accusations. In the end, he was only charged with the crime of being an unintentional accomplice in hiding illegal substances. All in all, he was sentenced by the District Court to be placed under special observation for three months, which basically meant that he needed to report at the Police Bureau once in a while, and a fine of 10,000 Asian Dollars.

While Ma Lao-er managed to get out, Damin wasn’t as lucky. He was immediately thrown into a high-security prison for convicts of major crimes, and he would have to stay in there for at least fifteen years before he could be let out.

…

Qin Yu’s previous impression of Ma Lao-er was that he was a reckless, dull-witted, and aggressive character, the kind of person who didn’t think before speaking or acting, and couldn’t control his temper either.

But at the same time, Qin Yu also knew that beneath all of Ma Lao-er’s bad habits, that lad was a very sentimental person.

Qin Yu was still part of Yuan Ke’s faction when Ma Lao-er was captured, so he didn’t hold back on torturing Ma Lao-er in order to get a confession from him. Yet, Ma Lao-er never gave a word away despite so. He was willing to be put through pain to avoid putting Damin or Old Ma in trouble.

As such, Qin Yu’s impression of Ma Lao-er wasn’t bad to the extremity. It was just that he felt that the latter was a little too temperamental, which made him a difficult person to get along with.

But what Qin Yu didn’t expect was that Ma Lao-er would personally give him a call the following day after his release to ask him out for a meal. Qin Yu actually didn’t have any intention of befriending Ma Lao-er, especially since there was a grudge between them. It would only make it awkward if they were to force themselves to get along.

However, since Ma Lao-er had already taken the initiative to ask him out to eat, it wouldn’t be good for Qin Yu to reject him. They were already on the same boat now, so it would be good if they were at least not on hostile terms.

After contemplating over this matter again and again, Qin Yu finally gave a call to Old Cat, Zhu Wei, and Guan Qi, inviting them to come along with him. He wanted to get them to meet and familiarize themselves with one another since it would make it easier for them to take care of business that way.

…

Friday, seven in the evening.

Everyone was gathered together in a relatively renowned Chinese restaurant in Black Street Sector. Both sides appeared to be a little restrained over the course of the meal. Everyone seated this table, with the exception of Old Cat and two other companions, had beaten up Ma Lao-er before. It wasn’t to say that the atmosphere was awkward, but the engagement they had were mostly limited to superficial pleasantries.

After a hearty meal, Ma Lao-er became slightly drunk. He began to let himself loose, insisting on treating Qin Yu and the others to play at Dirt Street. Qin Yu and the others didn’t think that it would be good to turn him down, so they went along with him.

But just as they were about to head over to Dirt Street, Ma Lao-er ended up going on a drunken rampage which left Qin Yu and Old Cat feeling heartened inside.

Qin Yu, Old Cat, and Ma Lao-er were chatting at the entrance of the Chinese restaurant, waiting for Guan Qi and the others to drive the cars over, when an old man dressed in rags began arguing with the worker of a small food store not too far away.The worker was a young man of around 1.8 meters in height, and he had an apron wrapped around his waist. He appeared to have been shoveling snow that had piled up on the stairs before the argument began. The ragged old man was standing right beside him as he complained, “I want to order some food. Why aren’t you letting me in?”

“All you do is to buy a 50 cents bun from our store everyday! Who would want to serve you over a measly 50 cents?” the worker berated. “Look at your shoes. They are covered in snow! If you enter our store, it’ll dirty the whole place again, and I still have to clean up after you. Shoo, you should hurry up and leave. Our store won’t serve someone like you!”

The old man had to be at least in his sixties. Getting scolded by a youth in his early twenties at his age made his face redden in humiliation. He clenched his fists tightly as he turned around to leave.

The worker lifted his leg and kicked a small cloth bag placed on the windowsill of the store as he berated, “Take this junk away with you too. I’m telling you, never ever put your stuff on the windowsill ever again. Can’t you see that it’s dripping oil? You really bring nothing but trouble!”

“You can just say it nicely if you don’t want me to put my stuff there! You don’t have to kick it!” The old man trembled in rage as he spoke. “No matter how much of an eyesore you think I am, I still need to live my life! You can’t do this to me!”

“Why do you have so much crap to spout? Don’t you understand what it means to get lost?” The worker glared at the old man. “You dawdle here any longer, and I’ll beat the living daylights out of you!”

The old man gritted his teeth, but in the end, he could only sigh deeply. He bent his body down to pick up the cloth bag before patting the snow off it.

Pah!

It was at this moment that Ma Lao-er, who was talking with them a moment ago, suddenly appeared before the worker and slapped the worker’s head. “You brat! Do you have no father and mother? Haven’t your parents taught you how you should talk to your elders?”

The worker was struck silly by the blow. “You… What’s wrong with me?!”

“I was listening to what you have been saying all this while, but none of the shit you spout sounds like something that should have come out from a human being!” Ma Lao-er bellowed as he grabbed the worker by his collars. “Even a person who serves others like you has learned how to look down on others, huh? What is it about you that makes you so high and mighty?”

“No, that old man comes by everyday just to get a 50 cents bun, and his clothes are always so dirty… I’m doing this so that everyone else can have a better environment to eat in!”

“Why don’t you go and fuck yourself!” Ma Lao-er’s temper was as bad as ever. He gave the worker two tight slaps before bellowing, “Apologize to the old man right now!”

The worker wouldn’t possibly dare to talk back to someone like Ma Lao-er. In fact, after being slapped twice, he was already on the verge of crying. “Bro, I only scolded him a few words. I’m also…”

“I’m telling you to apologize right now!” Ma Lao-er shouted as he pointed at the old man.

The worker gulped down his saliva as he turned to the old man and spoke with a very soft voice, “Old man, I’m sorry.”

“There’s no one who is able to remain young forever,” the old man remarked dryly.

Ma Lao-er had thick eyebrows and large eyes, and he had a buzz cut too. Paired with his huge physique, he looked particularly fierce. Glaring at the worker with his large eyes, he seemed to only be getting angrier and angrier by the moment.

In the end, he released the worker’s collar and ordered, “Go and prepare a table of four dishes for us! I’ll be treating this old man to a meal. I want you to get a cloth and clean up every bloody thing behind this old man. If I see any stains on the ground, you’ll never see the end of it from me!”

“Thanks, young man, but I won’t buy the bun anymore,” the old man replied with a smile.

Ma Lao-er eyebrows shot up as he asked, “What’s wrong, old man? I’ve already beaten up this fellow for you. Aren’t you going to sell me this face?”

“I appreciate your goodwill, but it’s not as if I can afford to eat at this store everyday,” the old man replied. “My grandson just had an abdominal surgery not too long ago, so he can’t eat solid food yet. That’s why I always get a soft bun from this store to bring it back for him to eat.”

Ma Lao-er pondered for a moment before taking out a wad of cash from his pocket. He told the old man with a grand air around him, “Fine, I shan’t treat you to a meal today then. Instead, I’ll treat your grandson to a year worth of buns!”

The old man was stunned. Qin Yu, Old Cat, and the others were shocked too.

Ma Lao-er took out 500 dollars in total and stuffed them into the hands of the worker. “From this day onward, you better have a bun prepared at this timing for this old man. If I were to find out that you haven’t been doing your job properly, I’ll have you sweep all of the snow in Dirt Street!”

“I… I’ll make sure to get it done well!” the worker replied with a nod.

It was at this moment that Guan Qi and the others arrived with the cars. Ma Lao-er smiled at the old man and waved his hand, saying, “We’re going off now, old man.”

The old man was stunned for a long while before he bowed deeply to Ma Lao-er and said, “I… I’m really thankful to you, child!”

“What’s there to thank? Heh. I’m still young, there’s still plenty of time for me to earn money!” Ma Lao-er threw those words behind before getting in the car.

Having watched how everything unfolded, Old Cat shook his head and remarked, “This fellow sure is generous. He gave away 500 dollars without any hesitation at all.”

“It’s worth befriending such a person,” Qin Yu also evaluated with a smile.

On the way to Dirt Street, Qin Yu jokingly asked, “Ma Lao-er, that old man is clearly in dire need of money. Since you’re going to do a good deed, why don’t you just give the money straight to him?”

The drunk Ma Lao-er thought for a long while before replying with a very classical quote, “I can treat his grandson to a year worth of buns, but I can’t save him. Those are two different things.”

Qin Yu was quiet for a while before he replied smilingly, “You really are an interesting person.”

…