Electronic Nezha

Chapter 63 My life has been like walking on thin ice
As soon as Wu Lianfeng said this, the chat group immediately exploded.

"Memories of the Past": "What do you mean, Mr. Chen?"

"Contented Tea Drinker": "We helped you and you stole our money, huh?"

"Fishing is better than catching fish": "If you're joking, now that the joke's gone too far, can you please send the money back to us right away? I won't charge you any interest..."

Finally, as if walking on thin ice, he shouted, "Stop arguing! Mr. Chen, please say something."

Looking at the WeChat names, I felt like I'd seen a similar scene somewhere before. Then it dawned on me—in our family group chat, "We're a Loving Family," my uncles all used the same naming style. This scene was just like the lively atmosphere when I announced my second marriage.

Sun Zhancheng's "walking on thin ice" has a touch of江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the world of martial arts and chivalry) spirit, but it's also inappropriate. If you owe the bank ten million, you're already in an ice hole...

I grinned and said, "I did it."

The group chat was buzzing again.

"Shut up, let me speak!" Sun Zhancheng said. "President Chen, what is your purpose in doing this?"

"In business, it's all about having equal strength. I'm just here to test your qualifications."

Sun Zhancheng said, "You just want us to bluff that guy surnamed Liu. Why do you need to check our qualifications? Besides, if we weren't short of money, we wouldn't come out of the mountains for 100,000 yuan."

Duan Shoujiang said, "Now that the inspection is complete, shouldn't it be returned?"

I said slowly and deliberately, "No rush, it's safest for you to keep your money with me."

Duan Shoujiang said urgently, "I was perfectly safe before I met you! What exactly do you want, Chen?"

Cheng Sihai said, "I understand. You're trying to show us your strength. The matter you entrusted to us did indeed encounter a bit of an unexpected problem; we ran into a fool—"

Sun Zhancheng interrupted him, saying, "You should return our money first. The matter you entrusted to us is another matter; we have plenty of ways to handle it..."

This time it was my turn to panic: "Stop bothering him! It's all a misunderstanding between Mr. Liu and me." Why is this trouble, which I tried to shift eastward, now coming back to me? Why do I always end up throwing boomerangs back at me?
Sun Zhancheng said, "Why are you two causing trouble for us with this misunderstanding?" He finally got angry, "Chen Bing, you set the rules. How should we deal with you to your liking? Let me tell you, besides returning our money, you also have to pay back the 10 yuan you promised. In short, I'm gathering my brothers right now. Either we'll deal with you or we'll deal with him. Give me a clear answer."

In a moment of inspiration, I said, "Then you guys go and take care of him!"

Sun Zhancheng felt a glimmer of hope: "What about the money after it's all over?"

"Forget about the money. Anyway, I can't afford to mess with anyone surnamed Liu. Do whatever you want. I'd love for you to fight each other!" I hung up the phone after saying that.

After listening to the half-hearted exchange, Liu Zhenhua said to me, "Dad, did you not perform well?"

I scoffed and said, "That's right. The main problem is that I've never dealt with Chen Bing before, so I can't grasp his character."

Liu Zhenhua said, "Fortunately, your last two sentences were well-chosen, and you also managed to turn the tables and defeat the enemy."

I was a little unsure and said, "Won't this backfire and trap us? What if Sun Zhancheng decides to fight me to the death?"

"No, fundamentally, they only go to whoever has their money." I agree with that statement.

Besides being disappointed in myself, I was also disappointed in these four guys during this call. Other people's business opponents are all smart people. They only talk about three-tenths of what they know when they meet, and the remaining seven-tenths are obvious to everyone. If I hadn't made this call, I wouldn't even know where my money went, and I didn't even think about Chen Bing. What a bunch of idiots! I've been walking on thin ice all my life!
I didn't even know Liu Zhenhua went to school the next day. I woke up before dawn, but it was time for me to go to the market. That's the good thing about being next to the cold storage. Other fruit markets are considered lucky if customers start arriving at 10 a.m., but after 9 a.m. at the cold storage, individual customers start to disperse, and a large number of people will take a stroll through the fruit market.

It was a very overcast day. When I went out, the sky was still gloomy. I was walking from my neighborhood to the market when a man with slicked-back hair, long sideburns, and sunglasses blocked my way. It was Sun Zhancheng. I tried to quickly pass him, but Duan Shoujiang blocked the other half of the road.

I turned around abruptly, and Cheng Sihai emerged from behind me. Wu Lianfeng also appeared at the corner of another old building.

Duan Shoujiang's right hand was in a cast, Wu Lianfeng's left hand was in a cast, and they were both using a single crutch. Cheng Sihai had a bandage on his nose secured with tape, making him look like an old white-nosed cat...

Four oddly shaped old men cornered me in the residential area. Despite their injuries, they were perfectly positioned, with each of us about five meters apart. In the cold early morning of the north, there was a kind of beauty in the cinematic language of the Northeast Renaissance and the charm of Johnnie To's classic positioning.

"Sizzle—" I unzipped my down jacket, flung up the collar, and placed my hand on the sheath of the extra-large whistle at my lower back.

"This kid has a gun!" Duan Shoujiang broke the silence with a startled exclamation.

Sun Zhancheng remained as steady as a mountain, and said in a deep voice, "We've lost all our money, what are we afraid of with guns?" He pointed to his head and said to me, "Come on, shoot me here, I'll talk if you don't kill me!"

This line is incredibly aesthetically displeasing! It gives off a vibe of Li Xunhuan suddenly saying, "See if I stab you or not, that's it," on the eve of his duel with Shangguan Jin Hong.

"What are you four up to?" With all the aesthetics gone, I started speaking in vernacular Chinese without any reservations, still trying my best to retain a bit of the Northeast Renaissance style.

"Fengzi!" Sun Zhancheng called out.

I instinctively turned to look at Wu Lianfeng, and then realized that he must be calling me this time.

Sun Zhancheng asked, "What exactly is going on between you and that Chen Bing?"

"Don't you already know? He's going to open a high-tech fruit supermarket across from the fruit market because he doesn't like me." I emphasized the word "high-tech," giving my four brothers a jab at their gut feeling...

Sun Zhancheng asked, "Do you own the fruit market?" Normally, this would be considered a sarcastic remark, but I believe that at this moment, Sun Zhancheng's question was genuine. In his mind, Chen Bing was a boss with billions of dollars in spare cash, and Chen Bing had said that I was someone he couldn't afford to offend. It was normal for such a person to have a gun.

“My family has two stalls there!” I told them frankly.

The four of them scratched their heads together. Wu Lianfeng raised his right hand and found that the armpit was bent. Duan Shoujiang also raised his right hand, but found that it was in a cast, so he switched to his left hand. Sun Zhancheng scratched off his wig, along with his two sideburns—they were part of the wig.

Only if Cheng Sihai succeeds will he receive one point.

"Is it worth risking your life for just two stalls?"

"He provoked me first!"

Taking advantage of the clear head of his hair, Sun Zhancheng scratched it again, then put his wig back on and asked in confusion, "What makes you think you can compete with him?"

I casually replied, "I'm richer than any of you."

(End of this chapter)