Chapter Twenty-Five: The Little Dwarf

“Hello, my name is Kong Rong.”
The name instantly reminded Xu Fei of a historical figure.
“Xu Fei.”
Xu Fei reached out and shook hands with the chubby man with the square face.
The man smiled as he offered a cigarette. It was a Red River, a brand that had only just come onto the market, and rumor had it that very few people could even get their hands on it.
There was a saying: “Section chiefs smoke Red River, bureau chiefs smoke Ta Shan.”
Generally, only the likes of section chiefs could afford to smoke this brand. Judging from this, the chubby man must be some kind of cadre at the candy factory.
“Xu, my friend, as soon as I got my cousin’s call, I drove straight here. The goods?”
Xu Fei nodded.
“Then shall we go take a look?”
But Xu Fei shook his head. “Brother Kong, there’s a slight complication now, so…”
“Complication? What do you mean?”
Xu Fei recounted the story of how he bought the sugar.
“That troublesome? You really went through quite a lot, Xu,” Kong Rong said.
“It’s nothing much. You’re doing this for the factory, and I just want to earn a little on the side.”
As he spoke, Xu Fei glanced at Kong Rong. “So, what about the cost of hiring the truck, and the payment for Xiao Zhang?”
Kong Rong, still smiling, replied, “Don’t worry, as long as the sugar is good, I’ll cover all of it for you.”
Xu Fei shook his hand again with a smile.
“With your word, that’s settled. Let’s go look at the goods.”
They stepped outside the courtyard.
At that moment, Du Man was waiting outside, watching.
Xu Fei led Kong Rong out. Kong Rong approached the half-ton of sugar, opened a bag, and examined it.
“Excellent sugar. Your Donghai Sugar Factory really does have the best product among all the local factories.”
As he spoke, he gave Xu Fei a thumbs up.
“All right, since you’re satisfied, Brother Kong, shall we exchange cash for goods on the spot?”
“Yes, yes.”
They went back into the courtyard, and Kong Rong handed Xu Fei the prepared sum—eight hundred yuan in total.
Wang, the neighbor woman, was watching with utter astonishment. Such a sum was more than she’d ever seen in her life.
Xu Fei glanced at her, pulled out five yuan in front of Kong Rong, and said, “Sister Wang, this is for you.”
“For me? Really?”
Xu Fei nodded.
“If it weren’t for you making the introduction, I wouldn’t have made this money.”
Kong Rong regarded Xu Fei and nodded. “A man of real initiative, Xu. I hope we have the chance to work together again in the future.”
Xu Fei, of course, was happy to agree.
While Kong Rong went outside to load the goods, Xu Fei took the money and Du Man home.
Once inside,
“Did he pay you?”
Xu Fei smiled and nodded at Du Man, then pulled out the eight hundred yuan from his pocket.

“At last, we can pay off Ma San’s debt,” Du Man said at last.
But Xu Fei shook his head.
“What’s wrong?”
“This money isn’t all ours.”
Du Man was startled. “What do you mean? Didn’t we agree that fifty cents per jin would be our profit?”
Xu Fei nodded.
“I brought in Sun Xing. Without his signature, we wouldn’t have been able to get the sugar out of the factory. I promised him thirty cents. We only get twenty.”
“That much for him?” Du Man was baffled.
“He’s a greedy one. If I hadn’t offered that price, he’d never have agreed.”
“So we’re left with only two hundred.”
Xu Fei nodded.
“Ma San will be here tomorrow to collect. What will we do?”
“We’ll see then. I do have an idea.”
“What idea?”
Xu Fei looked at her. “Tonight I’ll go find Sun Qigong.”
“You’re going to gamble?!”
“It’s the only way.”
“But… what if you lose?”
“Lose?”
Xu Fei shook his head. When it came to Zhang Mingyang and his group, he was still confident.
“Don’t forget, last time I walked away seventy yuan richer.”
“But this time, can you guarantee you’ll win?”
Of course, Xu Fei couldn’t guarantee that.
“Do you see any other way? Tonight, I’ll play a big game with them.”
He took out a hundred yuan from the eight hundred.
“We’ll set this aside. I spent less than twenty today. I can’t let this matter keep you two from eating.”
Du Man tucked the money away but still looked at him worriedly. “If Xu Qing finds out, who knows how she’ll quarrel with you.”
“Don’t tell her. She’s about to take her college entrance exams. I don’t want to affect her mood.”
“So I’m just supposed to worry?”
“Don’t worry, darling. Like I said, gambling with these guys isn’t just about winning their money.”
Du Man remained anxious but, thinking of Ma San’s threatening face, swallowed her words.
Before six,
Xu Fei arrived at the cinema, where Old Liu was already waiting.
The two of them went around to the back.
Third Brother An had parked the truck at the warehouse behind the cinema.
“Third Brother.”
When he saw it was Xu Fei, An greeted him with a smile and offered him an osmanthus-flavored cigarette.
“Can’t you see me?” Old Liu glared at An.
“Come on, brother, don’t pick on me,” An replied with a grin, handing a cigarette to Old Liu.
“I say, Fei, what did you give this kid? He’s treating you so well.”
Xu Fei didn’t want to hide anything from Old Liu.
He recounted everything that had happened that day.
“Not bad, Third Brother. This trip wasn’t in vain—a half month’s wages in one go.”
An waved his hand quickly.
“Keep your voice down, brother. Don’t let anyone else hear.”
The three men exchanged glances and laughed.
“Let’s unload first. I’ll get you guys seats to watch a movie.”
Old Liu waved it off. “I’m not in the mood for that.”
Xu Fei said, “Thanks, Third Brother, but I have something to do later.”
“Anytime you want to watch, just come find me—no ticket needed.”
After their cigarettes, the three began unloading.
An hour later, they had finished.
Old Liu collected his pay and rode off.
An offered to buy Xu Fei a soda.
Xu Fei didn’t protest and waited outside.
It was just as the five o’clock movie was letting out.
People began streaming out of the cinema.
“Isn’t that Xu Fei?”
Xu Fei turned and saw a short man, barely over one and a half meters, with a center parting and a face full of pockmarks.
He was as unattractive as could be.
But Xu Fei recognized him. His name was Zhang Lei, and he was Zhang Lichun’s son.
Zhang Lei glanced at Xu Fei, noticed the sweat soaking his clothes, and fanned his nose.
“What have you been doing?”
Xu Fei sniffed himself and caught a whiff of sweat.
“Just did some work.”
“Xu Fei, my dad introduced you to the sugar factory last time. What about the promise you made to him?”
Xu Fei hadn’t expected him to remember.
“I spoke to Director Zhang. I’ll deliver by the end of the month.”
At that moment, a woman in a dress approached behind Zhang Lei. Her hair was long and glossy, her nose high, her lips delicate—she was the very image of beauty.
“Xu Fei?”
“Chen Rong?”
She had once been the goddess in his heart.
Chen Rong smiled as she approached Xu Fei, looking him up and down. “It’s been years. How come you…”
“Oh, I just helped someone unload some goods.”
“You’re working odd jobs?”
“What else can he do?” Zhang Lei cut in. “He was fired and owes a lot of money. If my father hadn’t taken pity on him, he probably wouldn’t even have this job.”
He stepped between Chen Rong and Xu Fei, glaring at Xu Fei with obvious hostility.