Chapter 80: The Tangled Web of Small-Town Relationships
On the ground floor of the Cultural Center’s south wing, an arcade had been set up, filled with thirty or forty of the most fashionable coin-operated cabinet machines of the era—what people called arcade games.
It was the height of summer vacation. Besides the town’s idle youths, quite a few fresh-faced middle and elementary school students were mixed in. Electronic sound effects, the clatter of buttons, and bursts of shouting overlapped into a lively din.
But the moment Xiao Liang, Gu Xiong, and Gu Peijun walked in alongside Yuan Wenhai in his police uniform, it was as if invisible hands clamped over every mouth in the hall. In an instant, only the cheerful electronic sounds remained, echoing awkwardly through the silence.
A few young men working odd jobs in the arcade—local drifters—froze when they saw Yuan Wenhai. They stared blankly, as if stunned, unsure how to react.
“….”
Zhang Wei, sitting in a small partitioned office in the corner, immediately noticed the unnatural silence. He stuck his head out, saw Yuan Wenhai’s unfamiliar face in uniform, and couldn’t place him. Panic flickered across his face as he hurried out, pulling out a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes and offering them nervously.
“O-Officer, our arcade operates legally…”
Yuan Wenhai had only just arrived in Yunshe and wasn’t familiar with the local situation yet. Seeing Zhang Wei—crew cut, black tank top, muscles bulging—he instinctively doubted the man’s legitimacy. Instead of taking the cigarette, he glanced toward Xiao Liang and the Gus, who knew the town better.
Zhang Wei quickly shifted, offering the cigarette to Xiao Liang instead, stammering, “Cadre Xiao knows me… we run everything properly here, nothing shady…”
Xiao Liang gave him a look.
It was normal that Zhang Wei didn’t recognize Yuan Wenhai—he had only taken up his post a couple of days ago. But Zhang Wei, Gu Xiong, and Gu Peijun were all from Nanting Village. Normally, Zhang Wei would have addressed Gu Xiong as “uncle” when he saw him.
And yet now, the man had offered a cigarette to Xiao Liang first.
So Zhang Feili had only just returned to Yunshe yesterday, and already this guy had picked up quite a bit of news.
Xiao Liang had warned Zhang Feili and Liu Weiwei to keep certain things to themselves after returning, but Zhang Wei and Zhang Feili were close cousins who had grown up together. It was only natural that he’d learned something from her.
Xiao Liang couldn’t exactly expect them to return home after more than a month away and say nothing at all about their work. That would be unnatural.
Still, Zhang Wei himself was… complicated.
Back in middle school, he had run with street thugs, though he’d been one of the insignificant ones, often bullied. After graduating high school, his family had sent him into the army.
He spent five years there, training in sanda and combat. After being discharged and returning to Yunshe, he refused the job assigned by the town and instead followed the trend, opening a boxing gym.
Around the early ’90s, China was in the middle of a kung fu craze. His gym attracted a group of energetic young men, helping Zhang Wei finally establish himself in Yunshe. Later, he leased the first and second floors of the Cultural Center to run an arcade, a billiards hall, and a video room.
If Xiao Yujun represented the older generation’s boss in Yunshe, then Zhang Wei was the standout figure of the younger generation.
But Zhang Wei had clashed with Xiao Yujun in his early years. After returning from the army, he kept his distance—neither interfering with nor aligning with him.
In Xiao Liang’s previous life, he had little interaction with Zhang Wei at first. But after being acquitted and returning to Yunshe, before studying for postgraduate exams to escape this quagmire, he spent most of his free time in Zhang Wei’s boxing gym on the third floor of the Cultural Center. Sometimes he even slacked off during work hours just to train.
Partly because Xiao Yujun had constantly sent people to provoke him, filling him with anger—he had turned to violence as an outlet.
Partly because Zhang Wei and Xiao Yujun kept their distance, making the gym a place where Xiao Liang could avoid harassment.
Zhang Wei had even been his first coach in sanda and combat.
Although Zhang Wei wasn’t part of Xiao Yujun’s circle, and generally kept his distance, a small town like Yunshe made complete separation impossible.
For one thing, Zhang Wei had only been able to lease the Cultural Center’s first two floors and expand his business after Zhang Feili began dating—and later married—Zhou Bin, thus connecting him to Zhou Jianqi and his son. In town, he was widely seen as part of Deputy Party Secretary Zhou Jianqi’s camp.
For another, like many arcades of the time, Zhang Wei secretly kept seven or eight gambling machines tucked away in a corner.
The arcade might have been Yunshe’s most popular entertainment spot, but in 1994, one yuan bought six game tokens. Even with dozens of machines, profits alone weren’t enough to sustain him.
But a single slot machine could hook people—and pull in hundreds, even over a thousand yuan a day.
Zhang Wei’s current standing in Yunshe, his ability to maintain his gym—all of it depended on those machines. Which meant he inevitably had to quietly grease the palms of people like Chen Shen and Du Jiang.
Xiao Liang valued the help Zhang Wei had given him in his previous life.
But now his headache was how to quietly separate Zhang Wei from those dealings—and from people like Zhou Jianqi, Zhou Bin, Chen Shen, and Du Jiang.
Another issue was that Zhang Wei, trying to make his way in a small town, had to rely on brotherhood and loyalty. The people around him were a mixed bag—some decent, others far from it.
Behind the cashier’s counter, Xiao Liang spotted a young man staring over with open disdain—the same slick-haired punk who had harassed Lin Xi on the bus before and had been beaten up by him.
Xiao Liang glanced at the cigarette Zhang Wei was offering but didn’t take it. His gaze turned cold as it swept toward the young man behind the counter. He pointed straight at him and snapped:
“You know who I am now, right? From now on, keep your head down in Yunshe. Don’t think no one can deal with trash like you.”
With that, Xiao Liang ignored Zhang Wei completely and headed straight toward the spiral staircase inside.
Though the Cultural Center had separate staircases in the northern reception area and on the river-facing west side, the spiral staircase in the southern hall was the most convenient route to the offices upstairs.
Yuan Wenhai glanced at the slick-haired youth, then quickly caught up and asked in a low voice, “What’s going on?”
Xiao Liang replied just as quietly, “Zhang Wei is Zhang Feili’s cousin. The people around him are a mixed bunch. That kid harassed Lin Xuetong’s daughter on a bus once—I happened to see it and taught him a lesson.”
Gu Xiong and Gu Peijun were on fairly familiar terms with Zhang Wei, but hearing this, neither found it appropriate to speak up for him.
Together, they headed upstairs to the Cultural Center offices.
