Chapter 721 Money can make the world go round
The damp night wind brought the stench of foul smell from the sewage ditch at the end of the alley into Wang Jianguo's nose, and the fingers hanging by his side trembled slightly.
He caught a glimpse of the pistol on Scarface's waist, which was looming with his movements. His Adam's apple rolled with difficulty, but a smile appeared on his face:
"Brother, this is just a misunderstanding anyway. Why don't we go to a quiet place and talk it out slowly?"
Scarface tilted his head and looked at him, the centipede-shaped scar at the corner of his mouth twisted into a strange arc with his movement.
Under the dim light of the kerosene lamp, he suddenly reached out and grabbed Wang Jianguo by the collar. The sound of his leather gloves rubbing against the coarse cloth was particularly harsh in the dead silence of the courtyard:
"Want to play some tricks?"
The blade had been pressed against Wang Jianguo's jaw at some point, and the cold touch made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up instantly.
"Look, I have nothing in my hands."
Wang Jianguo raised his hands, palms facing outward, and deliberately let his sleeves slide down to reveal his bare wrists.
"I just want to seek justice for my brother. If we really want to fight, will you, my brothers, let me take three steps?"
This made Scarface stunned for a moment. The hooligans around him burst into laughter. Someone knocked on the wall with a steel pipe and shouted:
"Brother Zhao, this coward must have peed himself out of fear!"
Scarface spat and suddenly loosened his grip. Wang Jianguo stumbled back half a step, his lower back hitting the rusty iron door handle, the pain making his eyes go black.
"Don't fucking dawdle!"
Scarface put the dagger back into the scabbard, and the sound of metal collision scared the wild cat under the eaves away.
"Fuck away!"
As the two men passed through the crooked wooden fence, Wang Jianguo deliberately slowed down his pace and glanced at the half bag of cement piled in the corner.
As long as I can lead people to the streetlight at the alley entrance——
"Move forward one step further,"
Scarface suddenly grabbed him by the back of his collar, and the smell of gunpowder mixed with sweat sprayed on the back of his head.
"I'll just cut off your tongue and eat it with the wine!"
The moonlight in the alley was cut into pieces by the brick walls on both sides. Wang Jianguo felt the cold sweat running down his spine.
He stopped at the edge of the dim light of the street lamp and watched his trembling shadow swaying on the wall:
"Brother Zhao, you have been in the black market for so long, you should know that some things will be spread out..."
Before he could finish his words, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his abdomen, and Scarface's knee hit him hard.
"Stop trying to trick me!"
The scarface man pressed the man against the wall, and the pistol was already against his temple.
"If you can't explain it in three seconds, I'll send you to hell right now!"
The cold metal pressed against his skin, and Wang Jianguo could hear his own violent heartbeat that hurt his eardrums. In the courtyard behind him, Yang Huaixi's suppressed cries of pain could be heard intermittently.
The damp night wind was filled with the stench of sewage at the end of the alley. Wang Jianguo was pushed against the wall, and the back of his head hit the peeling paint. The pain was so severe that he saw stars in front of his eyes.
But he still forced a smile, his eyes swept over the pistol on the scarred man's waist that was shining with a cold light, and his Adam's apple rolled with difficulty.
"Brother Zhao, you are also a gangster, this matter can't be hidden from your eyes."
Wang Jianguo's voice was hoarse, but with some certainty.
"My two brothers don't know the rules. They occupied the land they shouldn't have occupied and took the business they shouldn't have taken. They are wrong."
He paused, and saw Scarface's eyes move slightly out of the corner of his eye, knowing that his words had touched the other person's heart.
“But you see,”
Wang Jianguo lowered his voice, with a hint of pleading in his tone.
"They have elderly parents and young children to take care of. How will they survive without their hands? You are a magnanimous person. Just consider it as a good deed."
"I promise to take them away overnight and never set foot in the black market again."
Speaking of this, he thought of the old and young who were waiting for life-saving medicine in the mountain village, and Dou'er's focused eyes when he was preparing medicine late at night, and his heart ached.
Scarface snorted coldly and pressed the pistol hard against Wang Jianguo's temple:
"That's easy to say! My elder brother has been lying in bed for half a month, and you're just going to let it go like this?"
Wang Jianguo took a deep breath and slowly reached into his arms. This action instantly made Scarface tense up, and the safety of the pistol clicked open.
But Wang Jianguo was not in a hurry. He took out two hard objects wrapped in oil paper and unfolded them under the dim street light - two golden little yellow croakers were glowing temptingly in the night.
"Brother Zhao, please accept this gift."
Wang Jianguo handed over the gold bar, his fingers trembling slightly.
"Just treat us brothers to a drink. Please spare us. If we need you in the future, just say a word."
He noticed that Scarface's eyes were instantly attracted to the gold bars, and his hand holding the pistol loosened a little.
The air around me seemed to freeze. In the distance came the roar of a train, mixed with the meowing of wild cats in the alley.
The street lights at the alley entrance cast mottled shadows on Scarface's face. He stared at the two golden little yellow croakers in Wang Jianguo's palm, his Adam's apple rolling up and down uncontrollably.
The night wind blew up his greasy sideburns, revealing a hideous old scar behind his ear. At this moment, the scar trembled slightly with his rapid breathing.
His fingers unconsciously stroked the pistol at his waist. The cool touch of the metal and the warmth of the gold bars kept pulling at each other in his mind.
"What are you doing?"
Scarface deliberately raised his voice, and his leather shoes rolled over the gravel on the ground, making a harsh sound.
"The Black Tiger Gang always follows rules when doing things!"
He took a half step forward, deliberately blocking the light from the street lamp, trying to use the shadow to cover up the greed that was surging wildly in his eyes.
However, his right hand holding the gun barrel betrayed him - between the bulging knuckles, beads of sweat slowly slid down the gun body, leaving dark marks in the mud.
Wang Jianguo noticed that the other party's Adam's apple rolled heavily again, and the two small yellow croakers seemed to have become magnets in his palms, attracting the scarred man's gaze.
The whispers of the gangsters around suddenly became clear. Some people swallowed quietly, and some tapped the ground lightly with instruments, making an anxious rhythm.
Scarface suddenly reached out to pat Wang Jianguo on the shoulder, but his movements were extremely stiff because he was eager to hide his panic:
"Brother, aren't you making it difficult for me? How...how can I explain this to our eldest brother?"
His voice became weaker and weaker, and his attention was completely attracted by the gold bars.
Under the halo of the street lamp, the subtle lines on the surface of the small yellow croaker are clearly visible, and the heavy texture seems to be pressed on the palm of your hand.
Scarface felt his throat tighten, remembering how he had wandered in front of the pawnshop for three whole days holding those crumpled bills when the gang paid their salaries last month.
At this moment, these two gold bars were enough for him to buy a shop in the west of the city, and enough for his mother to no longer have to sleep in a leaky attic...
“No, no!”
Scarface suddenly took half a step back, but bumped into the electric pole behind him while retreating, making a dull "bang" sound.
He hurriedly straightened his tilted hat, but his eyes never left Wang Jianguo's hand.