Chapter 13: Sanpang knew him well enough to know that he was holding back something big. He felt that desperate, lawless killing intent and felt that Wei Qian was preluding to him going mad.
Song Xiaobao and Wei Zhiyuan’s method of getting along with each other was even more unexplainable than the clothes that became popular with girls every year.
Usually, they could switch between "choking each other" and "making up" several times in five minutes without any problem.
...... it was swifter and more unpredictable than lightning, and not something that foolish mortals could keep up with.
Song Xiaobao's rare linguistic talent in giving Wei Zhiyuan nicknames was at its best. Her favourite nicknames were "doggie", "big-eyed lantern", and "sheep dung ball on top of a rutabaga stick" ( She was also known as "the sheep dung ball", "little bastard", "son of a bitch", etc. ...... Wei Zhiyuan was more concise, usually, the word "ugly girl" could wreck her in the blink of an eye.
But after that day, the way Song Xiaobao addressed Wei Zhiyuan suddenly stopped being so varied, and she had since streamlined it to an "Er Ge". [TN: Second Brother]
Song Xiaobao stopped her one-sided provocations, and in front of Wei Zhiyuan, she finally changed from a disagreeable bear child to a lovable little girl, and Wei Zhiyuan returned the favour by simplifying the way he addressed her to "Xiaobao". Since then, the two cubs had evolved from old enemies to a normal sibling relationship.
However, Wei Qian had no time for these children's antics and reconciliations. As long as the two of them did not fight, he could not tell even if they quarrelled, so when they made up he felt nothing either. Wei Qian was born turning a blind eye to things he was not interested in.
That day, Wei Qian smeared Wei Zhiyuan's little face with medicine to reduce the swelling. His face remained calm and collected as if nothing mattered, but first, he awkwardly soothed Xiao Bao, who he had taken out his anger on.
Xiao Bao looked at him with teary eyes, his pitiful little eyes were heartbreaking: "Brother, are you still angry with me?"
Wei Qian lowered his eyes and twisted his fingers unconsciously at his sides. His face was tense and serious, but his heart was embarrassed and irritated. In the face of his precious sister, Wei Qian had no way to look up like a normal person and say, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't hit you." And he wasn’t capable of just shaking his head and straightforwardly saying, "I'm not mad at you anymore."
The two of them stood at a standstill for more than ten seconds before Wei Qian opened his mouth and said, "I ...... ke, I'll give you both ten yuan a week from now on, don't you love popsicles?"
Sanpang who had been listening intently almost fell over on to his face. He was convinced that if you pet him correctly, this donkey would squint his eyes happily and if you poked him in the wrong place, he would raise his fur. [TN: Donkey can be used to describe stubborn people] 　
After Wei Qian had dried Xiao Bao's tears and coaxed the two children to bed, he walked out of the house and said to Sanpang, "Find this man, I have to kill him."
When he said this, his expression and tone of voice were almost flat, as if he had just said "I'm going downstairs to buy a pack of cigarettes".
It was then that Wei Qian learnt not to show his anger.
Sanpang felt that he should agree with him out of brotherhood, but for some reason, he felt a little bit of hidden fear, and he didn't have the heart to say it in front of the others, as it made him look like a wimp. Wei Qian was now a popular person with Le, Xiao He and the others were more or less trying to flatter him, saying one by one that they would help him find this person, while Sanpang patted the teenager's thin shoulder not saying a word.
On the surface, it seemed as though the others had said all the words that Sanpang had wanted to say, but in fact, in Sanpang's heart, some kind of great worry began to emerge.
Fighting, causing trouble, even petty theft, was the daily routine of young delinquents. Even though they weren’t good actions, they couldn’t stir up any big trouble. However, Wei Qian only said that then stopped talking about it, and turned to thank Xiao He and the others politely.
Sanpang knew him well enough to know that he was holding back something big. He felt that desperate, lawless killing intent and felt that Wei Qian was preluding to him going mad.
At that moment, Sanpang sincerely hoped that the pervert would hide far away and never be found by Wei Qian.
Wei Qian was indeed going crazy, and the next day he had his cast removed and moved to the demons and ghosts so that he could continue to pick up the two kids during the day.
In those days, new drugs like ecstasy had not yet caught on, and the relevant regulations were not strict, so there was everything in nightclubs. From sex workers to sickly addicts, to dance floors full of crazy young people and theatres where rock youths partied late at night.
Staying up all night, stinking of alcohol.
Two cups of wine rushed straight to their heads and almost every day there were troublemakers.
It was this group of people that Wei Qian had to deal with.
His arm had just barely regained its strength back and he had already begun a new period of intensive fighting. He led a fight almost every day and returned in the early hours of the morning covered in alcohol and bruises. In just two months, Wei Qian had emerged as a mad dog and had become a reputable fighter.
Le- Ge didn't mistreat his capable brothers and Wei Qian made a good income during that time. the pervert had always had young brothers asking him for news about him. The younger brothers were also still helping him search for the pervert.
Whether or not Sanpang's prayers moved the heavens could not be said, but surprisingly, they really never found the pervert.
Wei Qian's body became sturdier during the fierce conflicts he was in one after another, and some people began to call him Xiao Wei Ge. He gained the dangerous aura of a real fighter with incredible speed and became a different person from the teenager who sneaked out of school at noon and ran to the billiard hall.
Violence was a very dangerous behaviour in which it was constantly self-rewarding, self-reinforcing and could change a person's personality.
Those who have not been exposed to it would never understand why anyone could become addicted to violence.
It was like a drug that instantly ignited the adrenaline in the body and built up distorted self-esteem and confidence. A sense of security, a sense of belonging, and even a degree of self "worth" which Wei Qian could find, under the fearful gaze of his little brothers.
It brought an experience similar to that of "success", and just as "success" turned a person into one with a "winner" mindset, so did "violence". "Violence" could also turn a person into one with a "violent" mindset.
Those who became addicted to it would inevitably begin to inflate their egos, avoiding normal concerns about 'consequences' and other ways of thinking about problem-solving.
Fear and guilt were the first to collapse in the case of self-denial, and then self-control would begin to crumble until, eventually, all conscience, morality and warmth were lost within the person, finally reaching an "irredeemable" situation.
Some people say that most of the so-called "outlaws" were people who would give up their lives for money, but that was not accurate. The value of what they risked their lives for was much more complicated than that of simple "money".
And Wei Qian was clearly walking on this broad road.
He was unaware of it, but Sanpang, who was watching from the sidelines, was terrified.
Sanpang finally couldn't help himself and said to Wei Qian in private for the second time, "You should stop doing this and go to an Internet café. It's so relaxing and you can take a break during the day, I'll take care of our younger siblings to and from school for you, okay?"
It was already late autumn, and Wei Qian, who was young, strong and foolish enough to sleep on a cool kang (1) , stuck his head under the tap and rinsed it with cool water without any care, and looked up just as he heard this.
He picked up a towel and messily wiped his face, then shook his head from side to side and replied, "No, don't worry about it."
Sanpang had to shut up again.
Sanpang had watched Wei Qian grow up. He knew that if he said it once, Wei Qian would know that it was a kind gesture and would appreciate it, but if he said it too often, Wei Qian’s donkey [TN: Stubborn] temper would come out and he would really be in a hurry to cut all ties.
Sanpang had to change the subject: "Hey, what do you think happened to Mazi? He's been sneaking around. I even go to the hospital once a day to see his mother, but I haven't seen him for half a month, what's going on?"
His mother had been in the intensive care unit for a long time, and the high cost of her hospitalisation had nearly caused the three brothers to sell their house, in the end, Mazi had mortgaged their house and borrowed some money to save her life. In any case, Mazi’s mother had survived but she had been burn to the point of not looking human, had both an arm and leg amputated and could no longer stand up. It was estimated that her future would be her living a life of neither ghost nor human for a lifetime.
They would never have a place to eat her soy milk and youtiao again.
Wei Qian was stunned, he would go to the hospital during the day when he had nothing to do, to see if there was any money left in his account to make up for it as best he could, but he hadn't seen Mazi for over half a month – and he still worked in the same nightclub as Mazi.
Sanpang frowned: "You said that grandson was an extremely stupid person, nothing could have happened, right?"
As soon as it was mentioned, Wei Qian took it to heart. One night he happened to be on the second half of the night shift, Wei Qian deliberately dawdled for a while and waited in the surveillance room.
After three o'clock, Wei Qian was almost fast asleep, when he saw Mazi walking out after cleaning the first batches of rooms that had been left empty. The monitor wasn’t clear but Wei Qian could make out another person, not far from Mazi. Wei Qian couldn’t make out the person’s appearance but he always kept a set distance away from Mazi.
He seemed to be trying their best not to let others find out that he and Mazi were together.
With a jolt, Wei Qian went out of the surveillance room, keeping an eye out, avoiding the cameras and carefully following Mazi.
He didn't dare to follow too close, the man with Mazi was too wary and looked back several times.
Mazi and the unknown person then went into a tiny alleyway.
It was not yet dawn and Wei Qian was standing too far away, so he could just barely see Mazi pull out a wad of money and give it to the man, who took it, counted it, and then pulled out a few notes and handed them to Mazi and gave him a small bag of something.
The two men parted in a hurry; Wei Qian's head hurt from the late autumn morning wind.
After making sure the man was gone, Wei Qian carefully followed Mazi for a while longer until he felt safe, then stepped out and called out, "Mazi!"
He was ready to interrogate Mazi about what had happened, but when Mazi looked back, he ran away like a scared bird.
Wei Qian immediately chased after him.
Mazi ran as fast as a rabbit, turning east and west in the small alleyway, and it wasn't long before Wei Qian lost sight of him.
Wei Qian kicked a stone away and cursed, "Fuck!"
Then he went home and waited in front of Mazi’s house.
He waited until it was almost dawn, the lights in his own house were already on, Xiao Yuan and Xiao Bao were up and ready for school, and he failed to block Mazi.
(1) A platform for general living, working, entertaining and sleeping used in the northern part of China, where the winter climate is cold. It is made of bricks or other forms of fired clay and more recently of concrete in some locations. Source
Heya! This is the last chapter I will be translating :) Recently found someone who actually properly understands Chinese translating Dage and they're zooming ahead even though they started after me! After much thought I decided I feel like I'm hindering reading experience sometimes with my translations as I may fail to catch references and things like that, therefore I'll let the person I found translate Dage and redirect you guys who are reading my translation to them! Will probably still translate as I do enjoy it and it's helping me learn Chinese but probably with a novel that has a wayyy smaller fanbase! You can also input novel suggestions in the about section of this site! Thank you for sticking with me ^ ^Read up to chap 17 here! ---> https://sites.google.com/view/dage-translation/home?authuser=0
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