It must be said that anyone can change, and once some people change, they become completely different from who they were before.
The old Qiao Xiaohu was timid and didn't dare to fight at all; when people bullied him, he simply endured it.
Sometimes, when Wang An saw his clumsy, cowardly appearance, he wanted to give him a couple of kicks to beat some spirit into him and make him a bit more formidable.
But now, things had changed. He swung a thick pickaxe handle into someone's body without a second thought; more importantly, he didn't even blink while doing it.
From this, it was evident that Qiao Xiaohu had now become a ruthless individual.
However, to be fair, it was only natural for Qiao Xiaohu to become this way, because as the old saying goes, "If your heart isn't ruthless, you can't stand firm."
Qiao Xiaohu frequently traveled between the North and the South. Whether on the road or once he arrived in the South, it could be said that he encountered all sorts of people.
If Qiao Xiaohu had continued to refuse to change, he would have remained a coward for the rest of his life and would certainly never have achieved any great success.
After two strikes with the pickaxe handle, the kid being questioned by Qiao Xiaohu couldn't take it anymore and immediately shouted
"It was Pang Likun! Pang Likun told us to come!"
Among those who truly live in the underworld, "loyalty" is supposed to come first, but more often than not, "loyalty" is just something people talk about.
After two hits with the pickaxe handle, he betrayed his boss immediately; it showed just how laughable the word "loyalty" was.
Wang An, however, couldn't help but be stunned upon hearing the kid's words, mainly because he didn't know this person named Pang Likun at all.
Not only did he not know him, he had never even heard of him.
It had to be said that the rate of turnover among people in the underworld was truly fast.
As soon as the kid finished speaking, Qiao Xiaohu immediately frowned and said
"That piece of trash, where is he now?"
As he spoke, the pickaxe handle in Qiao Xiaohu's hand fell again.
The kid wailed as he spoke
"I really don't know! I don't know where he went! This morning, he left right after giving us the instructions."
Qiao Xiaohu stared at the kid with wide eyes for a moment, then, with a glare, struck him with the pickaxe handle once more before turning to walk toward Wang An.
Wang An took out a cigarette and was about to dig one out of the pack when Qiao Xiaohu suddenly took two quick steps and very rapidly pulled a cigarette from his pocket to hand to Wang An.
While handing over the cigarette, he also produced a flip-top kerosene lighter, casually sparking it to light the cigarette for Wang An.
When Wang An saw the lighter in Qiao Xiaohu's hand, his eyes lit up.
The lighter looked very exquisite; with Wang An's eye, he could tell at a glance that it wasn't cheap. Most importantly, it was a windproof kerosene lighter.
It was clear that Qiao Xiaohu had been making a decent amount of money.
After Qiao Xiaohu helped light the cigarette, Wang An said with a smile
"This lighter of yours is quite nice. Come, let me see it."
Qiao Xiaohu was stunned for a moment and subconsciously handed the lighter over.
Wang An examined it for a while, toyed with it a couple of times, and then said to Qiao Xiaohu
"Alright, this lighter is mine now. Buy another one when you have the time."
As he spoke, Wang An stuffed the lighter into his crossbody bag.
With this thing, smoking outdoors in the future would be much more convenient; at the very least, he wouldn't have to stand with his back to the wind or use his clothes as a shield when lighting up.
After Wang An finished speaking, to his surprise, Qiao Xiaohu pulled a brand new one out of his pocket and handed it to Wang An, saying
"Big Brother, I prepared a new one for you. I've used that one for a while; it's already old."
Wang An took it, looked at it, and casually put it in his crossbody bag, though he didn't take the old one out. He then patted Qiao Xiaohu's shoulder with a smile and said
"Not bad, Xiaohu. I'll take both of these lighters, hahahaha!"
Qiao Xiaohu was stunned at first, then followed suit and started laughing.
It was clear that Qiao Xiaohu seemed very happy about Wang An's act of robbing him of his lighters.
After the laughter subsided, Wang An asked
"What's the deal with that guy named Kun? Do you have a grudge with him?"
Hearing this, Qiao Xiaohu's face suddenly became full of rage as he said
"That son of a bitch! His great-uncle works in the government. Every time he took goods, I gave him a discount, but the kid still wasn't satisfied. Last time, he told me to hand over all the goods to him, and he'd handle everything."
Wang An didn't get angry; instead, he asked with a smile
"What? You mean he wanted you to lead people to carry goods back over thousands of miles, and then he'd be the only one making the money?"
Qiao Xiaohu said indignantly
"Exactly! Of course I wouldn't do it! He's dreaming. He didn't even stop to think—who the hell does he think he is?"
Wang An thought for a moment and said
"Can you handle it yourself? Or should I just go ahead and send them in for you?"
Although Wang An's martial arts had improved and he was very capable in a fight, he no longer wanted to use underworld methods to solve problems. It was simply much more effortless to send people straight into the "fence" (prison).
Qiao Xiaohu knew that Wang An had very strong connections. After thinking for a moment, he said
"Wouldn't doing that cost a lot of favors? If it's too much of a hassle, it might not be worth it. I'm not afraid of them; I just wasn't prepared today."
Wang An was actually quite surprised to hear this, because it was easy to tell from Qiao Xiaohu's words that he now possessed significant strength and was capable of facing off against a gang.
This also indicated that Qiao Xiaohu likely had many subordinates and was now a "Big Brother" himself.
However, no matter how high Qiao Xiaohu had risen or how impressive he was, Wang An didn't care. In the face of the "Great Machine," these were all just clay chickens and pottery dogs. After all, no matter how impressive Wang An had been in his previous life, hadn't he ended up spending half his life behind the fence?
Wang An laughed and pulled out his Neighborhood Defense Member certificate, saying
"What favors? Your brother here is now a Neighborhood Defense Member. Dealing with these scraps of fish and shrimp is a piece of cake, hahahaha!"
When Qiao Xiaohu saw the certificate, his eyes lit up, but then he said with some concern
"That guy Pang's great-uncle... his position seems quite high. I heard he's some kind of Office Director..."
Before Qiao Xiaohu could finish, Wang An waved his hand and interrupted him domineeringly
"That's useless. Xiaohu, just remember: we don't look for trouble, but we are absolutely not afraid of it. In this small patch of land in DJ County, we don't have to cater to anyone."
After saying this, Wang An threw the cigarette butt on the ground, patted Qiao Xiaohu's shoulder, and said
"Keep an eye on them; don't let them run. I'm going to get people to arrest them."
As he spoke, Wang An turned and walked toward the sidecar motorcycle.
(End of Chapter)