Chapter 75: Taking the Bucket and Running Away

  “I’m an atant.”

  Those few words were den with hidden meaning and untold hardship. From that single sentence, An Jing fully uood why Huo Qing had been singled out and tormented.

  He said knowingly, “All right, let’s hear it. Was it a fire dragon that burned down the warehouse? Did the cash go missing, or did someone sign off on ent goods?”

  “Actually, all of the above.” At those words, Huo Qing looked even more mortified. “Besides, I also handle finances and warehouse ma for Uncle Daqiang…” He cast a sidelong g the burly man lying at An Jing’s feet. “I keep their group’s ats too.”

  “Then you really were something else.”

  An Jing nodded in genuine admiration. “So, what exactly happened?”

  It was actually quite straightforward. They were gang members… and if you didn’t exploit your own gang, you were a fool. In the Day-Tiger Gang, any mid- to high-level member with a shred of authority used the gang to make money. Daqiang’s crew was no exception.

  They oversaw several Day-Tiger Gang armory warehouses and had resold a fair amount of gang supplies. Huo Qing helped them keep the books banced from the start. Daqiang was one of the uncles who took care of Huo Qing after his parents died, eventually bringing him into the Day-Tiger Gang. Out of gratitude, Huo Qing was willing to assist with these schemes.

  After reselling the goods, they underreported the iory and infted operational expenses. By juggling the numbers bad forth, everything still appeared fine on paper. Huo Qing wasn’t foolish—he khat once he got involved, he would be tied to Daqiang’s group. Even when neighbors advised him to leave, all he could do was offer a bitter smile and shake his head.

  But this time…

  “If it had only been a few thousand points of virtuous merits, we could have ha. We’d stage a car act, say we were intercepted by a rival gang, and cim we destroyed the goods to keep them out of enemy hands. The boss might scold us, but it wouldn’t be a huge issue.”

  Propping the unsaster Liu in a nearby shed, Huo Qing expio An Jing, “But this time, Brother Daqiang and the ot too greedy. They ran off with supplies worth several thousand—nearly ten thousand—in virtuous merits.”

  “Normally, we’d just burn down the warehouse, plus the nearby dormitory and operational base, then pin the bme on the Fme Cw Gang,” he said. “We might get puer for inpetence, but at least our lives would be spared.”

  “But this time… out of the blue, the gangs started fighting. The higher-ups who arrived will definitely check our reparations.” Huo Qing forced a wry smile. “I was trying to figure out how to fix this… but now there’s no ce. They must have already checked the warehouse iory.”

  “While I was still figuring out how to bahe books… Uncle Daqiang had already e up with a pn.”

  “Which was to kill you,” An Jing said with a slight nod, “and then make you take the bme for everything.”

  Huo Qing said nothing. In truth, he had long realized how suspicious it was for a mere office worker like him to be abruptly sent to the front lines—and even who had injured him was unclear. But none of that mattered now, because Daqiang and his men had surely e not to track down someone who should already be dead, but rather to search Huo Qing’s home and vely “discover” certain at books.

  “I ’t remain in the Day-Tiger Gang anymore.” At that moment, Huo Qi utterly dejected. “Even if I bring down Uncle Daqiang, I did help them cook the books in the past. The boss will definitely have me executed.”

  It truly was troublesome. No matter how you looked at it, Huo Qing had helped Daqiang and his people embezzle gang property. Everyone did it—ces were the Day-Tiger Gang’s boss was also misappropriating corporate aid. But nobody could admit that openly. O blew up, punishments like dismemberment or drowning in a pig cage were iable.

  Especially now, with an all-out gang war raging, if someoook this to the higher-ups, it would be beled wartime embezzlement—harming the is of both the gang and the corporate alliance. Such a crime could nd them on the pilr of shame to bleed out.

  The worst part for Huo Qing was that defeating Daqiang did nothing for him. At best, it would only lessen his share of the bme and allow him to live slightly lohan Daqiang.

  The Day-Tiger Gang’s boss probably hadn’t immediately crushed Daqiang and his crew because he still wahem around as scapegoats—if Huo Qing and Daqiang were anxious about a few thousand points of virtuous merits, who knew if the boss might piimes that on them.

  They’d been doomed from the very start.

  “If you ’t stay, then don’t,” An Jing said pinly. “Just grab the bucket and run.* What’s there to agonize over?”

  “Brother An, you’re a barbarian. You just don’t uand.” Huo Qing’s face grew even more anxious. “The corporate alliance behind the Day-Tiger Gang spaeen towns, and they even have ties in Xuay… If I run, where could I possibly go? I’d have to head into the wilderness.”

  “But if I go into the wilderness, I’d be cutting myself off from civilized society. Sure, some people start over there, but how long could someone like me survive?”

  Huo Qing’s predit arose from his own nature. He’d assisted Daqiang and the others ireacherous acts against the gang purely out of gratitude.

  Even though Daqiang had just lost his temper and attempted to kill him, the fact remaihat Daqiang had once saved him from starving. Because of that debt, Huo Qing willingly did things that went against his own morals and pced him in danger.

  In the past, Huo Qing had thought that if things really fell apart, he would simply offer his life iurn to Daqiang. But after An Jing saved him—and before he even had time to hesitate—Daqiang was already taken down, leaving him no ce to act.

  That same temperament expined why Huo Qing was so quick to hand over his family’s nourishihod to An Jing as a gesture of thanks.

  —He must be terribly starved for affe, An Jing thought. If you treated him just a bit better, he’d give you his unditional trust.

  “Don’t you have other uncles?” An Jing asked. Then, seeing Huo Qing’s distress, he added, “Things are urgent. We should hide out for a couple of days—hurry, let’s take Daqiang with us. The garrison is ing!”

  He could already hear the synized footsteps in the distahat level of discipline could only belong to the City Garrison patrol.

  “Yes!” Huo Qing, startled by the cmor, helped An Jing search Daqiang and his men for valuables, the top speed alongside him—An Jiing the unscious Daqiang.

  “I really do have a few uncles… and they’re trustworthy!” he said, panting as they ran. “One of them is the same person I wao refer you to, Brother An—the shop owner who recims small houses!”

  “But he’s not in this town—he’s oskirts of Xuay…”

  “…the junkyard!”

  An Jing wasted no time. “Let’s get out of town first, then you show me the way!”

  With that, An Jing and Huo Qing bolted from the se at full speed. A few dozen seds ter, the orderly ranks of the City Garrison squad reached Liu Shifu’s breakfast stall.

  (End of Chapter)

  *This is kind of like saying "I'm outta here!" in English. Basically "grabbing your stuff and leaving before things get worse."