Chapter 101: Fifty

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“I’m Xu Fei.”

Xu Fei stepped out of the Yingchun Inn and glanced at the stout man waiting by the Liberation truck. He stood a little over 1.7 meters tall, yet his stomach seemed to tower above his height. As he came forward, the flesh on his belly rolled from side to side with each sway of his body, as if invisible hands were pushing it from within.

“So you’re Xu Fei.”

The man pulled off his oil-stained gloves and extended one toward him.

“Hello.”

“I’m Zhao Tie.”

Xu Fei smiled and shook the man’s plump, doughy hand.

“Hello, Brother Zhao.”

Zhao Tie looked to be in his thirties. Even when he didn’t smile, he still seemed to be grinning. His palm was damp, wet and fresh, as if he had just washed his hands.

“Sorry. Big men just love to sweat.”

Xu Fei smiled and shook his head. It was late autumn; a normal person shouldn’t be sweating like that.

“Miss Liu sent me.”

Xu Fei nodded. That had to be the female storekeeper at the Nanjing Television Factory.

“She tell you the details?”

Xu Fei looked toward the truck.

“The televisions are on the truck?”

“Get your things in order and we can leave.”

Xu Fei pointed. “Take me to see.”

Zhao Tie wrinkled his brow.

“What, don’t trust me?”

Xu Fei laughed. “Brother Zhao, with you speaking of this and with Sister Liu’s introduction, how could I not trust you? It’s just business, though—blood is blood, money is money.”

Zhao Tie seemed a little impatient. “Fine then. You have many conditions.”

He turned and walked toward the truck. Xu Fei watched him. He was not used to this attitude, but he knew the rule of the road: peace is worth more than pride. There was no point in testing this driver’s temper.

When Xu Fei reached the truck, Zhao Tie said, “Do it yourself.”

He handed over his gloves.

“Do it myself?”

Xu Fei gave him a quick look. “Brother Zhao, this is your lashing, and I don’t understand this stuff. Could you just do it for me?”

“Alright then, five yuan.”

Zhao Tie put his gloves back on and held out a hand.

“Five?”

“Yes. I tied this load carefully; now you want it opened. Shouldn’t I be paid for that?”

Xu Fei burned with irritation. Then he swallowed it.

“All right.”

Seeing him agree, Zhao Tie gave a cold smile and walked to the truck.

The truck’s fastening system had a trick to it. People who weren’t used to this trade said even undoing the knots was hard enough. But when Zhao Tie touched one end of the rope and tugged just once, the rope came away at once, like skin slipping from a boiled bone.

Underneath was a tarpaulin.

“Give me a hand.”

“Give you a hand?”

“You do it, then.” Zhao Tie spoke as if ordering a housemaid.

The tone drew a frown to Xu Fei’s brow. He endured it. He climbed up into the truck and took the corner of the tarpaulin from Zhao Tie, heaving the heavy covering up with effort.

“What is wrong?” Zhang Mingyang came out of the inn at that moment.

He stepped to the truck, cast Zhao Tie a sidelong look, and said, “What’s going on here?”

“What’s wrong?” Zhao Tie feigned confusion.

“We hired you for transport. Why are we asked to handle your tarpaulin?”

Zhao Tie snapped, “I tied this tarpaulin. It’s your turn to inspect the load now; I did not charge you to open it.”

“You!”

Xu Fei, standing on the truck, said, “Third Brother, let it go. It’s no big thing.”

Zhang Mingyang did not have Xu Fei’s patience.

“We paid for the transport. Are we not allowed to see what’s inside after paying?”

He turned to Zhao Tie. “If you don’t want to do it, drive the truck back and we’ll find someone else.”

“Pah.”

Zhao Tie barely glanced at him. “No need, that’s not how it works. If the load is on the truck and I brought it out of the factory, my job is done.”

“Hey, this is absurd. We haven’t even driven away yet.”

He pointed at Zhao Tie, voice sharpened with anger. “We’re not leaving.”

“The rule is this: once the goods are on the truck and out of the gate, the work is complete.”

“Never heard of such logic in this world,” Zhang Mingyang burst out. “Fourth Brother, we’re not leaving.”

Zhao Tie leaned against the truck.

“Don’t leave? Then unload it yourselves.”

Watching this, Xu Fei’s anger rose as well, yet he had already swallowed enough affronts.

“Brother Zhao, please bear with us. We’ll inspect the cargo and leave right away if everything is fine.”

“Leave?”

Zhao Tie snorted. “You can’t leave now. If you want to go, add money.”

“What?”

That was enough to ignite Zhang Mingyang’s temper. He stepped right up to Zhao Tie.

“Are you looking for a fight, you brat?”

Zhao Tie glared right back. “You going to hit me?”

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“I hit you? What for?” He said nothing and removed his gloves, then blew a sharp whistle.

From the direction of the Nanjing Television Factory, four thickset men who had been at the entrance ran across the road.

“What’s the matter, Brother Tie?”

“He’s going to hit someone.”

The men turned toward Zhang Mingyang, one pointing straight at him. “What did you say? You’re going to hit Brother Tie?”

Xu Fei knew this was no Donghai. These men were locals. Even a mighty dragon must answer to the snake of the home territory. And at the moment only the two of them stood against them. They were no match.

He hurried up to the truck and called out, “Third Brother, go inside and bring out our things. I’ll handle this.”

Zhang Mingyang was no fool. Seeing Xu Fei giving him a way out, he shot Zhao Tie a hard glance and walked toward the Yingchun Inn.

“Don’t let him go!” one of the big men moved as if to give chase.

“Brother Zhao, tell those brothers how much extra, and we’ll pay whatever you name,” Xu Fei said.

Zhao Tie did not really want to turn this into a brawl. His purpose had already been met. Since Xu Fei was willing to pay, he did not add anything.

“Fifty.”

Xu Fei froze for an instant. The job had been agreed at one hundred and fifty yuan. An extra fifty straight away—thoroughly unfair. Still, getting the cargo back to Nanjing was all that mattered.

He nodded.

Zhao Tie waved the four men back. “Alright, go on. Let them go. After I finish this trip, I’ll treat you to drinks when I return.”

The men nodded and drifted away.

Xu Fei, with an effort, opened the tarpaulin, checked the goods, counted them all, and found them complete. Only then did he cover the load again.

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At that moment Zhang Mingyang came out carrying a bag. Xu Fei climbed down, helped him load the items into the truck, and then turned to go back to the Yingchun Inn to call on Meng Anyi. The landlady herself came out to see them off.

She watched as Xu Fei and the others climbed into the truck.

The Liberation truck started slowly and rolled forward, leaving the Yingchun Inn, then took to the highway and headed toward Donghai.