Special District 9 Chapter 148: A ‘Get Along Fee’ of 10,000

In the room.

Qin Yu was really fuming as he looked at Bucktooth. First of all, he had paid a lot of money for this matter, having to even resort to asking Simpleton Lin for a favor to raise the money. Secondly, even though he was standing on opposite sides as Liu Baochen and Wen Yonggang, he was forced to lower his head to them and ask them for a favor. That gave that braggart Wen Yonggang a chance to give him a good tongue-lashing. Anyone else in his shoes would also be seething with rage after going through all of this.

Bucktooth didn’t put on his usual obstinate attitude. He kept his head lowered as he repeated, “I’ll think of a way to return your money.”

However, Qin Yu only got even more furious upon hearing those words. He hollered angrily, “How are you going to return my money? You can’t even make a living for yourself! I might have given you a roof and food, but I don’t recall giving you the guts to hack another man with a chopper! Do you really think that you’re some kind of young master? I’ve done all I can for you, and I can tell you that you’re really testing my patience here. Stay put and don’t cause me any more trouble, or else you can leave right now!”

Bucktooth’s head remained lowered, and he didn’t say a word at all.

“There’s really not a single day where I can rest at all!” Qin Yu cursed under his breath as he picked up his cup and took a sip of water to calm himself down.

“Forget it. You’ve already spent the money, so there’s no point fussing over it anymore,” Zhu Wei advised by the side. “You need to drop by the Police Bureau later at night. Liu Baochen recently took on an illegal gun trade case, and he informed everyone to head back for a meeting.”

“He told me to go?”

“He didn’t specifically name you out, but he said that everyone should be present,” Zhu Wei replied. “It’ll be best for you to head over too, or else he’s going to use this as an excuse to deal with you again.”

“Let’s go then,” Qin Yu sighed deeply. Paying no heed to Bucktooth, he trudged out of the room exhaustedly.

“Stay at home obediently and don’t bring any trouble to your Brother Qin anymore. Things haven’t been easy on him these days,” Zhu Wei told Bucktooth before heading out as well.

After the two of them left, Bucktooth finally raised his head, revealing an indignant, tear-stained face. He wiped away his tears as he looked at the room he was in ruefully. A moment later, he finally headed toward his own bed.

…

In the car.

Holding the steering wheel, Zhu Wei said with a cold sneer, “Did you know that Liu Baochen tried to implicate you in the case yesterday?”

“Implicate me in the case?” Qin Yu was stunned. “How the hell was he going to do that?”

“He was intending to use Hua-jie to accuse you of having monetary agreements with the ‘meat store’,” Zhu Wei explained. “Liu Baochen sure is a son of a bitch. He was trying to make you lose your job!”

Those words were like the last straw to Qin Yu. He recalled how he just had 22,000 dollars blackmailed from him by a ruffian like Old Zhang, and that further intensified the feeling of indignance he felt within.

“I’m telling you, life will remain hellish for us till we finally get back to Platoon 1,” Zhu Wei said wryly. “If the platoon commander and the vice platoon commander are on bad terms, how are we going to work in the future? It’ll be goddamned stifling.”

“That bastard. Does he really think that I’m a pushover just because I haven’t done a thing yet?” Qin Yu sneered coldly. He lowered his head and began dialing Liu Zishu’s number.

Tens of seconds later, the call connected. “Hello, Qin Yu?”

“Is Lao-er doing better now?” Qin Yu asked.

“His mood is still quite low, but he’s started taking on some responsibilities once more. The worst has already passed,” Liu Zishu replied. “We should be able to return to Songjiang very soon.”

“Try to counsel him whenever you have time.”

“I will,” Liu Zishu replied with a nod.

“Ah yes. I’m calling you because I’ve stumbled into some minor problems over here that I need your help on.” After asking about Ma Lao-er’s condition, Qin Yu began issuing some instructions, “I need you to find two fresh faces to…”

…

The following afternoon.

Liu Baochen visited the subsidiary hospital of the Police Headquarters once more. Standing before bed of the bandaged Old Zhang, he asked nonchalantly, “You got someone to call me over?”

“Ahh, Platoon Commander Liu! I was waiting for you! Close the doors first!” Old Zhang said with a grin.

“Don’t waste my time and get straight to the point!” Liu Baochen said impatiently.

“I need to have a chat with you. It won’t take too long, really, so just help me close the doors.”

“… You sure are a handful to deal with.” Liu Baochen frowned. He walked to the doorway and closed the door before saying, “Hurry up and say what you need to.”

Old Zhang tilted his body to the side and pulled out the drawer beside him as he started speaking, “I’ve received the compensation from the police officer yesterday.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“I just wanted to thank you,” Old Zhang said as he took out an envelope from the drawer. He lowered his voice into just slightly more than a whisper as he continued, “Platoon Commander Liu, if not for your advice, I wouldn’t have been able to get so much money out of that brat. No matter what, I’ve been on the streets for many years now, so how can I not know the rules around here?”

Liu Baochen was a little stunned. He walked over to the bedside, leaned in toward Old Zhang, and asked, “What do you mean by that?”

“The hospital fees are 2000 dollars, so I have another 20,000 left,” Old Zhang said with a smile. “I’ll give you half as a token of my gratitude.”

“Don’t play tricks with me!” Liu Baochen waved his hand coldly.

“Ey, Platoon Commander Liu! Isn’t this how things work? You’re really looking down on me if you don’t accept my money! No one would want to deal with me in the future if you reject my money…” Old Zhang internally mocked Liu Baochen for putting on a hypocritical face, but on the surface, he maintained a beaming smile on his face as he grabbed Liu Baochen’s arm, pulled him forward, and forcefully stuffed the envelope into the pocket of his pants.

“Take your money back! I don’t do this kind of stuff…” Liu Baochen turned around and pushed Old Zhang's hand away, but despite doing so, he didn’t take out the envelope that had already been put into his pocket.

“No need to be courteous with me! This is what you deserve!” Old Zhang said as he patted Liu Baochen’s pocket. “Brother Liu, I’m intending to open a small casino soon, so I hope that you can take good care of me.”

While Liu Baochen would receive a stipend from the Yuan Family every month, 10,000 dollars was still a significant sum of money to him. A smile was already forming on his lips as he said, “It’s about time that someone of your age starts making a living for himself. However, no matter what you do in the future, you better make sure that you don’t cross the line. I’ll give a heads up to my platoon to take care of you a little.”

“Rest assured, I’ll do it well. I’ll make sure to deliver an envelope into your hands every month!” Old Zhang said with an obedient nod.

“Good. Rest well. I still have some matters to handle back in the bureau, so I’ll be heading off first.”

“Stay safe, Platoon Commander Liu!”

I’ll be leaving.” Liu Baochen turned around and left the ward with a satisfied smile .

Inside the ward, after confirming that Liu Baochen had left, Old Zhang’s face collapsed in bitterness as he mumbled indignantly to himself, “Goddamnit, why am I so unlucky? Why did I end up getting involved in…?”

But before he could finish his words, the door of the ward opened once more, and two young men walked in.

…

Nighttime.

Qin Yu busied himself in the Police Bureau for an entire day before finally slumping his way back home, exhausted.

As soon as he walked into the room, he scanned his surroundings, but he couldn’t see Bucktooth around. There was only a small note on the table, pressed under a cup.

Qin Yu walked over, placed the cup aside, and read the squiggly hideous words on the note. His body stiffened.

Brother Qin Yu, I’m sorry. I brought you nothing but trouble during this period of time. I’ll be leaving now. I won’t say anything awkward here, but I promise you that I’ll return what I owe you when I grow up.

Qin Yu’s heart skipped a beat upon reading the message on the note.

How could he have forgotten? Bucktooth might look strong on the surface, but as an abandoned child, his heart was incredibly fragile. Had he really gone too far with his words yesterday?

Qin Yu put down the note in a daze before abruptly dashing out of the room, heading toward the ‘meat store’ next door.