Blood Neon-Chapter 26

Chapter 26
Entering the Scene
Liu Hao, 25 years old. The younger guys usually called him “Brother Liu”, while those more familiar with him would say “Hao’er” or “Haozi”.
After retiring and returning home, he didn’t choose to find a job. Currently, he was unemployed. Using his resettlement allowance along with a few single-storey houses given by his parents, he had constructed a medium-sized three-story courtyard. He now lived off the rent it generated.
Normally idle and carefree, he was a somewhat well-known boss in the surrounding area. Because he handled matters with some smarts and had built a wide network of connections, he had been doing fairly well in the past few years, managing a modest stretch of turf.
There weren’t many vicious rumors about him. Aside from a few fights, the worst might’ve been sleeping with a couple of students. He had spent a week detained at the local police station. Overall, he was the kind of person who wasn’t exactly timid, but not particularly daring either—probably because he had a reasonably legitimate income. As for dangerous, high-risk moves, there was no need for him to go that far.
…
“Five of a kind! Hell yeah!”
“Drink up!”
“Give me a bottle of Lethe’s Water~ Let me just…”
The men were singing and drinking in the room. The low table in front of them was crammed with all kinds of liquor bottles and snacks—mostly beer, of course, taking up the lion’s share.
Every now and then, a good buddy would grab the mic, step up to the small stage and say a quick “Excuse my poor singing,” before transforming into a lone-wolf performer, belting out a howling, emotionally-charged song. The crowd below would keep the beat, shouting cheers and continuing to chug down pineapple beer.
Among those present, aside from the few brawny street guys sitting in the middle of the sofa, drinking with arms around each other, the remaining ten or so were mostly youngsters—or more accurately, a bunch of middle schoolers, a group of underage teens.
Of the dozen or so people, most were male. The few girls who were dressed like little gang chicks were surrounded and pampered like reverse harem protagonists.
There was a high amount of foot traffic in the room, too. People kept coming and going—some going to the restroom, others buying drinks. Just earlier, a few people who came together had even opened up another small private room next door, dragging their own little clique in there to party.
To all this, Liu Hao generously declared that it was all on him. Play, enjoy, do whatever—anything goes.
Chattering away with his scoundrel buddies and flattered by the brown-nosing high school lackeys around him, Liu Hao ate fruit and downed alcohol in big swigs, his mood clearly elated.
After all, this whole street was under their protection. He knew the owner of the place well, had been a regular since they only sold booze—an old acquaintance. So this kind of food and drink only cost him the base price. Those foreign liquors were a bit pricey, but only a few of their close brothers would order those to sip together. As for those underage students, at most they could chug a few bottles of beer before tapping out—so lame.
Taking another sip of alcohol, Liu Hao caught sight of a few of the new younger guys he had recently taken in walking through the door. He didn’t pay them much attention and kept chatting.
It wasn’t until he saw one of them walking straight toward him that he frowned and paused the conversation.
This brat—didn’t he see I’m chatting happily with my friends? Interrupting the boss like this… he’s got no eyes.
It wasn’t a big deal, but still, someone needed to remind him about this sort of thing. Otherwise, sooner or later, he’d suffer for it…
Although his mind was still wandering in all sorts of messy thoughts, Liu Hao outwardly kept a calm face and spoke first.
“Little Wang, you’re really late this time. We’ve been waiting for you quite a while.”
The newcomer quickly lowered his head. “Sorry, Brother Liu. Dinner took a bit longer than I thought.”
“No problem, no problem. It’s Mid-Autumn Festival today—having something come up is normal.”
Brother Liu waved his hand, took another swig of beer to moisten his throat.
Tonight’s gathering wasn’t supposed to be a big one. Its main purpose was to help him solidify relationships with the younger followers he had recently recruited. It wasn’t like yesterday’s celebration, where everyone went wild. Choosing a festival night like Mid-Autumn to sing and drink together meant that the students who showed up tonight were clearly more serious on the path of being “delinquents” than those who just came to make up the numbers yesterday.
Strengthening these boys’ sense of belonging and loyalty was the duty of a newly rising boss.
He had developed these delinquent students from several nearby schools, backing them up and letting them earn money from other students. They, in turn, paid him a small protection fee—not much, but a very profitable arrangement. After all, for him, occasionally stepping in to teach a lesson to some brainless kid like the one from yesterday was no big deal.
However, if he had to personally intervene too often, that would only mean the ones managing the matter were incompetent. Naturally, he wouldn’t waste time with those who couldn’t even handle such small things. But if a person was capable, able to generate steady profits, then after graduating high school, they might directly stay and follow him—after all, no one here was exactly good at studying. None of them had the right to look down on anyone else.
“Brother Liu, do you remember that kid from yesterday?”
“Which one? Ah, you mean that brat who played dead and ran off? What about him?”
When Liu Hao recalled what happened yesterday, his brows furrowed slightly.
At the time, he had thought it was about enough and had decided to let it go, but seeing that kid run off right in front of him had still been somewhat irritating—especially after he had just thrown out a few tough words.
So what about him now? Don’t tell me something serious happened? If it turned into trouble, he might have to pull some strings again. Just thinking about it made him sigh. These students really didn’t know how to control themselves when they acted…
“You won’t believe this, but we actually ran into his sister just now in the bar’s main hall! Looks like she sneaked out here to have fun, so I scared her a little and brought her over.”
Little Wang showed a knowing grin.
“Sister?”
Liu Hao looked dumbfounded for a moment, an image of a small figure in a dress flashing through his mind.
The newcomer quickly shifted aside, revealing the confused, nervous-looking girl he had been leading.
Liu Hao’s eyes lit up instantly. Even his drunkenness seemed to fade a little.
Compared to yesterday, the girl was dressed in more clothing, but under the bright indoor lighting, her beautiful and striking features could finally be seen clearly.
Yesterday, the alley had been dimly lit, and he hadn’t even gotten a proper look at her face. The words “pretty” and “cute” had just been descriptions from his underlings. But now, in the clear light of the room, he finally saw what she really looked like.
Silky long hair falling over her shoulders, a small face with delicate and well-proportioned features; flawless, soft-looking skin that seemed like it could break at a touch; eyes that might have been wearing cosmetic lenses, giving her innocence an extra hint of charm. She was cute to the extreme—so cute that it almost felt surreal, like a living work of art.
He couldn’t help swallowing a mouthful of saliva, thinking that this might be the most beautiful girl he had ever seen in real life.
To put it simply—he had only wanted to drink, but now he wanted to commit a crime.
In short, if he could have her, even spending the rest of his life in prison would be worth it.
.
Rubbing his forehead and shaking his head to calm himself, he finally figured out what Little Wang was thinking.
Yesterday’s incident had left the kid owing him a favor, so bringing the girl here was clearly a way to curry favor and show credit.
Liu Hao found it both funny and frustrating. If he really planned to do something criminal, at least he should’ve been prepared in advance. Pulling this kind of surprise move—who could react in time? He wasn’t one of those guys who spent every night at bars, drugging people and waiting for prey. Without preparation, all he could do now was look but not touch—which only made it worse.
Or maybe this brat thought he should be the one to charm her instead?
That might actually work. After all, girls that age tended to have rebellious streaks and craved excitement and maturity. So with some patience and a bit of sweet talk, if they hit it off, it wasn’t impossible.
He cleared his throat, summoned some patience, and decided to give it a try.