Jing Shu's single shout, sharp and urgent in the quiet evening, brought Jing An and Grandpa Jing, both splattered with drying cement, sprinting from the back where the smell of wet concrete still hung in the air.
Wang Zhong stared, stunned at the indistinct figure in front of him, his mind struggling to process the sudden blur of motion. Before he could react, a fist the size of a sandbag crashed into his face.
Two big teeth arced into the air, glinting briefly in the dim light. Was it the call of the wind or their roots refusing to hold. Wang Zhong had no time to ponder such mysteries, because the other sandbag fist was already swinging again, cutting through the air with a soft whoosh.
Unlike his blanked-out mind, his body gave the most honest response. The sharp, bright pain ripped a raw scream from his mouth.
After a dozen solid punches, the rhythm of impact against flesh, Jing An felt something was off. "Why did this guy look so familiar." he clicked on a flashlight, the beam cutting a stark white circle in the gathering dark. The man lay sprawled on the gravel path, scooting back on his elbows and wheezing, each breath a ragged gasp. "Stop, stop."
"Wang Zhong?" Jing An finally saw clearly, the recognition flashing in his eyes before surprise flared into a hotter, deeper anger. "What did you do to my daughter."
Black-and-blue and swollen, one eye already puffing shut, Wang Zhong also finally recognized Jing An. Wang Zhong wailed that he had come out of kindness, to bring gifts and check on Jing An after so long. Who knew the girl would keep denying things; he hadn't done anything to his daughter, his words slurring through the gaps in his mouth.
Jing An looked to Jing Shu, his brow furrowed in puzzled silence.
Jing Shu blinked, her expression utterly calm. "He asked me if I was Jing Zhu. I told him I wasn't."
"Lao Jing's daughter is Jing Zhu, right. You are his daughter, so stop denying you are Jing Zhu," Wang Zhong said, the words whistling awkwardly through the spaces where two teeth used to be.
Jing An frowned, the lines deepening on his cement-dusted face. "Wang Zhong, my daughter's name is Jing Shu."
"Ah?" Wang Zhong stood there, the confusion plain on his battered face, embarrassed for several seconds before it sank in that he had the name wrong. "Look at my pig brain, causing such a misunderstanding. Lao Jing, you were hard to track down. See what I brought, one bag of dried noodles, one bag of walnuts, all rare goodies. Come on, let us go inside and talk. Hey, is that tempered-glass canopy from the old factory? Great quality. Lucky you installed it yourself. Money well spent." He gestured weakly toward the house, trying to summon a smile that looked more like a wince.
Jing Shu narrowed her eyes at Jing An, a silent question hanging in the look.
"Say whatever you have to say out here. The house is inconvenient," Jing An said, his body a solid barrier blocking Wang Zhong at the door.
"Are you still mad at me, brother? We have twenty-plus years of friendship. I admit I was wrong back then, but I had no choice when I made you cash out.
I felt bad too. Besides, you are a lucky man. You took the payout and did plenty with it, right. Not long after you left, I sold the company for grain, though it wasn't much.
Now grain is tight and I'm here to apologize," Wang Zhong groaned and acted pitifully, clutching his jaw. "Brother, you really hit too hard."
"Dad, take the shovel and keep at it," Jing An said, his voice flat, handing the heavy tool to Grandpa Jing. "I will talk a bit."
"Okay," Grandpa Jing said, his own fists still clenched, and left, his footsteps crunching back toward the unfinished work.
The pain was killing Wang Zhong, a throbbing ache radiating through his skull. When Jing An stayed unmoved, his expression unreadable in the twilight, Wang Zhong switched tactics, his voice dropping into a conspiratorial wheedle.
"Lao Jing, you are my savior. My family is counting on you. I only came because I had no choice. I heard you work at the Livestock Breeding Center. Can you get me in. Be my recommender. Sweeping, feeding pigs or cows, anything is fine. I know the rules. Recommenders want grain. I will give it to you."
Jing An glanced at the two bags lying discarded on the ground. "You can trade those at the supermarket for a recycler job."
"I know, but there is no future in that. Only the Livestock Breeding Center and the Planting Industry R&D Management Department have prospects. With meat and vegetables so scarce, they will only get rarer. You can't get into the Livestock Breeding Center now. I heard you can get eggs there, trade them for lots of rice. That is why I'm begging you. Brother, we have been together over twenty years."
"I don't have any recommendation slots. Find someone else," Jing An said. He really didn't want to get tangled with these people again; he had seen through it all, the desperation, the calculation.
"Lao Jing, please. If it isn't enough, I will bring more food. Just get me in. Say the word and I will agree."
Jing An shook his head, a firm, final motion. "Sorry. I am powerless." Just like you were to me back then.
Wang Zhong gritted his remaining teeth, the sound audible. "Lao Jing, you really won't leave any room for sentiment."
"From the moment I left the company, I had no more ties with anyone. No more sentiment," Jing An said evenly, each word clear and deliberate.
Jing Shu cheered inside, her heart lifting, almost clapping. All that daily nagging at her parents had worked. The family's mindset had changed without their noticing. No one here was a doormat anymore.
Wang Zhong jabbed a finger at Jing An, the gesture trembling with fury. "You ungrateful wolf. I built this enterprise and at least let you drink a bowl of soup. Not kicking you out sooner was already mercy. Aside from decent skills, you are a block of wood. I told you to cut corners and you wouldn't, and look how much material you wasted."
Jing An's face tightened, the muscles in his jaw working. "For over twenty years I worked like an ox and a horse around the clock, supervising jobs. Because I held the line on quality, the company earned its reputation. Half of the clients were my repeat customers. How much revenue did I bring in? Do you really not have a clue?
I watched you slowly eat away at the company shares. My stake went from fifty percent to two percent, and I said nothing. In the end, you still kicked me out. Damn it."
Jing An rolled up his sleeves, the fabric rough against his forearms, and laid into Wang Zhong again. This time it was not the call of the wind nor the roots refusing to hold. It was a firm massage from an iron fist, a series of heavy, meaty thuds, and two more teeth decided to take a spontaneous one-way trip. Goodbye forever.
"So refreshing," Jing An said, slowly letting out a long breath that misted in the cool air. The long-suppressed knot finally loosened, unraveling in his chest. Jing An now understood a brutal truth: if you can use your hands, don't waste breath.
Wang Zhong, curled on the ground, never expected his first use of Big Data's SOS function would be like this, fumbling with his device through the pain.
"You are all done for," Wang Zhong said, thinking of the criminals who had been dealt with in recent days, their faces on the public screens. Bloodied gums bared, he smirked, a grotesque expression. Big Data was a wonderful thing, and thankfully it existed.
Beep, beep… Emergency video connecting. The screen lit up his battered face. Based on your location we have found your community's Consolation and Counseling Specialist, Wu You'ai. Connecting…
"Help. I'm at the community villa area, being beaten to death. The family across from me is named Jing An," Wang Zhong shouted into the camera, the words bubbling through blood, then shot a taunting, triumphant look at Jing An and Jing Shu.
Jing An blinked, thrown for a moment by the sudden official intrusion.
"Oh. Then pass the phone over here so I can ask about the situation," came a classic homebody voice from the video, calm and slightly bored.
Wang Zhong hesitated, the smirk faltering. "In this kind of case, shouldn't you not first comfort the victim, learn the details, then send people to arrest them and rescue me? Since when do you ask the suspect for their side first."