Wen Siqiang suddenly grabbed his throat and said fiercely, "You won't listen when I talk nicely. Do you want to die?"
The waiter, choked and rolling his eyes, opened his mouth wide and let out a gurgling sound.
Wen Siqiang pushed him back a few steps, to the end of a corridor. He took a small knife from his waist and pressed it against the waiter's neck.
Weapons are not allowed on planes, so I guessed he had bought it on the pedestrian street earlier.
The man's face turned pale. He gestured upstairs with his eyes and said, "888."
Wen Siqiang released him, then kicked him again and said, "If you dare to lie to me, I'll take your life when I come down later!"
After saying that, we turned and he led us upstairs.
At the stairwell, I asked a girl where 588 was. She pointed inside, and we walked further down the corridor.
888 doesn't necessarily mean the eighth floor; it's often used to bring good luck.
Indeed, this 888 was at the end of the third floor.
As we approached, my senior walked ahead. Two people dressed in short outfits stood by the door. Seeing us coming, they quickly stepped forward to block our path.
My senior went forward, grabbed one of them by the chest, and gave a gentle pull. The man fell beside us like a rigid stick.
The other one quickly attacked, trying to sneak up on my senior. Unexpectedly, my senior twisted his wrist in return. With a crisp "crack," the man stumbled and, with a yelp, fell to his knees.
My senior kicked the door open and said to me and Wen Siqiang, "In!"
We walked in. The room was large. Upon entering, we discovered at least ten people standing on both sides, with two people sitting on a sofa. One of them was Principal Sun.
Another woman stood beside him, presumably his assistant.
Beside Principal Sun sat another person. He was tall and burly, with a dark complexion and a buzz cut. His sharp eyes and chiseled face gave off an immediate chill. He must be Brother Hui.
Seeing us force our way in, he said coldly, "Get these people out!"
The men in black standing on either side of the room heard the order and immediately surrounded us, shrinking the encirclement like an iron barrel, leaving us no room to move.
Through the gaps between the thugs, I saw Principal Sun whispering something into Brother Hui's ear. Seeing that we were completely surrounded, they stood up and said to their subordinates, "Clean them up. Don't disappoint me."
With that, they, along with Principal Sun and the woman, walked towards the door. The door was shut behind them. We were left there, helpless.
My senior said, "Follow my lead. Attack their lower bodies. One, two, three!"
The three of us exerted force simultaneously, using the most practical and underhanded moves to subdue the three closest to us. Then, we did the same to another three. My senior said, "Charge for the exit!"
The three of us ran towards the door together.
The thugs didn't expect us to use such tactics and were in disarray. We took the opportunity to open the door and rush out, slamming it shut behind us.
My senior said, "Don't take the elevator. Use the stairs. Go to the first floor!"
I knew my senior hadn't given up on Principal Sun and Brother Hui. He was convinced they hadn't left the club yet.
We quickly descended the stairs, running all the way to the first-floor lobby.
My senior said, "You two, go to the entrance. Defend it with your lives and don't let them escape. Ignore the security guards at the entrance; they're out of fighting power for today."
We quickly ran towards the entrance, while my senior moved backward. We split up.
Just as my senior had said, when those security guards saw us approaching, they weren't as aggressive as before. They all had their heads down, hands hanging limply, completely devoid of fighting spirit.
Just then, I saw Principal Sun running out with his assistant. I lunged forward and knocked Principal Sun to the ground with a sweeping leg. Principal Sun shouted, "Li Hua, do you know who you've offended? You will regret this!"
I stepped on his neck, bent down, and said to him, "I don't know if I'll regret it, but you might not even make it through tonight. You should worry about yourself first."
The woman behind him was already trembling, her legs weak, almost on the verge of kneeling. She cowered to the side, shaking uncontrollably.
I walked over, pinched her cheek, and said, "Classmate, why did you follow him when you could have followed someone else? Do you know you could lose your life? Aren't you afraid of death?"
She whispered, "Classmate Li, I know I was wrong. I'm afraid of death. Please let me go."
I said, "I want to let you go, but this old man won't. The moment I let you go, he'll find you, and you'll still be in his grasp. Am I right?"
She nodded vigorously in agreement.
I said, "Only by eliminating him completely can you truly break free. Everything else is futile."
Her eyes welled up with tears as she looked at me. I shook my head, ignoring her, and said to Wen Siqiang, "Keep an eye on this old man. I'm going to check on my senior."
Wen Siqiang stepped on Principal Sun. I left the woman and walked back to find my senior.
I spent a long time conceptualizing this book. I stayed in Tengchong for several months in 2010, and that's when I began to understand jade.
Jade is incredibly beautiful, exquisitely beautiful. The Xiangxie Hotel where we stayed had a jade carving weighing over a ton in its lobby, which was truly awe-inspiring and magnificent.
The jade ornaments in the exhibition hall were even more captivating, making one linger, lost in their beauty.
It was then that I suddenly developed a fondness for jade. Whenever I had free time, I would visit the jade market, though most of the time, I would just browse and admire.
Occasionally, I would buy a small item, just to indulge the feeling.
Jade can be addictive, especially stone gambling. It's truly a case of "one cut to poverty, one cut to wealth, one cut to rags," and such things happen daily in the stone gambling city.
As described in the book, most stones don't yield great surprises. Getting even a little color is considered good. Yet, people constantly seek the next opportunity, driven by the dream of getting rich.
I've written about one person's struggles in this industry. Please take it as just a story. If it can offer any inspiration or help, I will be content.
The book has been released. I started uploading it gradually from the end of last month and met the requirements for release. From now on, there will be locked chapters. If you feel this book is worth continuing, I hope you will spend a few thousand coins to support the author. I didn't realize how arduous writing a book is until I started. It requires immense thought, not to mention the daily update tasks, which create a lot of pressure.
Once, I missed the last high-speed train of the day because I was writing. I had no choice but to forfeit the ticket and change my travel plans to the next day, which led to a lot of criticism, with people saying I had become a bookworm.
I was sitting in the waiting room and didn't hear the boarding announcements. By the time I realized it, the train had long gone.
There are many interesting stories that happened during the writing process, which I will share with you from time to time. In short, I hope for your support. Please write more reviews. Your support is the motivation for me to keep writing.