WHF Ch 54 – “Dog”

At ten thirty in the morning, Yu Tianbai had been gone for fifteen minutes. Xiu Ma was still standing in the lonely little alley, solitarily contemplating his next move.

What was all this for?

Perhaps, in the end, there was no answer, just like what the purpose of life was, an unsolvable question.

At this moment, Xiu Ma felt like a child left at the checkout counter of life by his parents. The scanner of fate was about to come before his eyes, yet he had not brought any money. As the master of his own life, Xiu Ma certainly would not sit and wait for death! He would snatch the scanner from the hands of fate, conquer fate, and execute fate!

So he chose to wait at a high place, so that Yu Tianbai could see him more clearly when he came back.

Saying it out loud seemed a bit pathetic, but the main reason for not acting alone was the fear of something going wrong. The mishap itself was not the problem; the problem was that Yu Tianbai would definitely be dissatisfied. Once they started bickering, it would not end for an hour or two.

He stood on the stone steps of the storefront at the entrance of the alley. People coming and going would always glance in his direction, especially the group of vendors selling candied hawthorns and donkey rolls across the street, who had been staring at him motionlessly for a long time.

When the third cart selling frozen pears joined the ranks of his one-sided audience, Xiu Ma chose to go back to the car and get his sunglasses. Although he sometimes disliked being stared at, he did not want to go back into the car right now; it was too stuffy.

And he was too idle.

He had been quite used to being alone when he was in school, and also in the big house in Changchun. Even though there was no shortage of people to talk to, he was always most at ease when he was by himself. But now it was different. He felt that the air in Manzhouli was even noisier than Yu Tianbai, and he would rather have Yu Tianbai nagging in his ear.

He put on the sunglasses, and the city turned sepia. He let out a deep sigh and turned back to look at the Seafood Grand Restaurant.

With its colorful eaves and brackets, and dragons and phoenixes clinging to the huge signboard, the entire restaurant hall was decorated magnificently, yet it did not look very auspicious—who knew what Fang Hui was doing in a place like this.

Xiu Ma turned back around. There was still no sign of Yu Tianbai on the straight, wide road. He suddenly understood a little why the unlucky boss always had a cigarette between his fingers for no reason. It was quite boring to just wait for someone. At times like these, he really wished he had something to hold in his mouth.

The second time he turned around to size up the restaurant, a person suddenly appeared beside him. He looked like a waiter from a nearby shop, wearing glasses, a shirt, and a bow tie, looking gentle and frail. Seeing Xiu Ma turn around, he first smiled and said hello.

It was quite strange. There were plenty of people in the Northeast who would strike up a conversation, but he had never seen anyone greet so politely. Xiu Ma was quite surprised, but still nodded in response.

But what he did not expect was that the waiter was not only surprising as a person, but his behavior was also surprising. He did not smoke or stand around idly. He just stood by Xiu Ma’s side, with his hands behind his back, standing ramrod straight. He did not look like he was out for a break, but rather like he was there to be punished by standing.

It was too stuffy, too boring, too awkward.

“Nice weather,” Xiu Ma could not help but strike up a conversation.

The waiter smiled: “Your gracious presence is the best weather for us.”

Huh?

Did waiters all speak with such an affected tone now?

At this moment, it did not feel like they were in a restaurant in the heart of the plains, but as if they had arrived at an elegant Western restaurant on a French street, where the butler appeared and bowed elegantly.

Xiu Ma cleared his throat forcefully, trying to cough out this cringe-inducing thought.

At this moment, it was not right to speak, nor was it right to not speak. If he did not speak, he could only move away from this awkward battlefield at a negligibly slow speed. If he did speak, he would have to bear all the possibilities that this French-style waiter might throw at him. As for what he might throw, anything was possible.

Xiu Ma decided to strike first and find a topic about the waiter himself. He turned his head and gestured towards the small alley: “Why did you choose a place like this?”

The meaning was, if you are going to take a break, go stand in a more open place like the main road, do not squeeze into the back alley with others.

The waiter smiled again: “Our humble abode is poorly equipped to receive you. Please forgive our inadequacies.”

The wind carried a silence. Xiu Ma stood where he was, goosebumps shivering from his head to his toes, and back from his toes to his head.

Did waiters now have to treat even those standing outside the door as guests? On one hand, Xiu Ma admired this professional spirit. On the other hand, he hoped this professional spirit would not be applied to himself.

He decided to be direct: “Can you stop talking with such an affected tone?”

This time, the waiter did not smile. Instead, he put on an exaggerated look of surprise, followed by a knowing and, to Xiu Ma’s horror, gratified expression. Suddenly, the waiter’s hands trembled, and Xiu Ma flinched. He actually performed a standard cupped-fist salute, which added a touch of martial arts world flavor to his French sentiment. The waiter stood his ground firmly and spoke with a powerful voice:

“As expected of you, thank you for your guidance! We will definitely reflect on our mistakes and start over from scratch!”

Huh?

At the peak of all the accumulated awkwardness, the final protagonist of the story made a grand entrance. Yu Tianbai stood at the street corner, waving the oil-soaked paper bag in his hand, shouting towards this side: “The rose fried cakes over there are half price—”

But when he saw the person next to the young master, his hand waving in the air stopped.

The story returns to where it began. Yu Tianbai found a breakfast stall that was still open, borrowed the bathroom to relieve himself, washed his hands, and strolled through the morning market that had not completely dispersed. He found a fried cake shop that was having a half-price sale, bought four, and ate two on his way. By the time he arrived, he was surprised to see the young master standing with someone.

And this person was not simple.

The story goes back even further, to when Fatty Lin had just appeared at the back door, when he still had his arm around the young master’s neck. In that scene, the waiter who was now standing next to the young master had also appeared. At that time, the waiter wore the same inscrutable smile, closely following beside the fat boss.

Damn it, this was one of the fatty’s underlings!

The main point was not just the fat bastard, but also his underlings. Every one of them needed to be watched. Yu Tianbai vaguely remembered reminding the young master of this, and that person had a nonchalant expression. He did not care, and Yu Tianbai did not care either. After all, the young master was so smart, wasn’t remembering a few people as easy as flipping his hand?

He had not expected him to have really not remembered.

Yu Tianbai’s smile vanished from his face. His eyes stared at the waiter. The man’s ghostly and cunning smiling face made Yu Tianbai feel a wave of dizziness. Perhaps because the duration of this staring contest was long enough, the waiter quickly realized that the newcomer was a companion of the person beside him.

“This gentleman is—” The underling struck a pose as if he were deeply honored by the visitor’s presence, then turned his face to Xiu Ma. “A friend of yours, young master?”

This time, Xiu Ma could not take it anymore. He whipped his head around and cursed angrily:

“Who the hell is your young master—”

Before he could finish cursing, his wrist was grabbed by Yu Tianbai. With this grip, the young master immediately stopped. The three of them were all quiet, waiting for someone to be the first to break the silence.

It was strange. Along the way, Yu Tianbai had not specifically tried to discipline him. He had accepted the young master for who he was. But at critical moments, with just a stretch of his hand, the young master would surely obey. He did not know whether to say it was his own effective guidance or that Xiu Ma was naturally good material—as for what kind of good material, he did not want to elaborate. It would not sound nice and would tarnish the young master’s good name.

“You,” Yu Tianbai maintained his posture of holding onto Xiu Ma, turning his face to the waiter, “want some?”

He was pointing at the rose fried cakes in his hand. There were two left. He had originally wanted to save them for the young master, but it seemed the young master would only get to eat one now.

The waiter’s expression changed dramatically on the spot. He repeatedly refused: “Your coming is enough. We cannot accept such a grand gift. Please take it back.”

Putting aside who would consider rose fried cakes that cost five kuai for three as a grand gift, Yu Tianbai understood one thing. Either the people at this restaurant were not mentally sound, grabbing anyone and calling them ‘daddy’ and ‘mommy’, or there was some shady big business going on in the restaurant today, and the contact person had definitely not reported his appearance beforehand. As for the two of them, it was probably because of their dashing and distinguished air that they had basked in the glory of this unknown and unnamed contact person.

Looking at it now, the latter possibility was clearly much greater.

What a coincidence. This was truly like tripping and picking up a gold ingot. What a damn coincidence.

Yu Tianbai did not bother being polite with him. He put away the fried cakes and adopted an affected tone: “Look at you all. Even though the business isn’t big, you can’t just let my brother wait outside, can you?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the waiter hurriedly apologized. Amidst a series of bows and apologies, Xiu Ma looked at Yu Tianbai with a shocked expression. Today, in his world, everyone had turned into madmen who only spoke in a theatrical tone.

The young master probably still needed a while to figure out the whole story, but there was no rush. Sooner or later, he would definitely figure it out.

When you want to sleep, someone hands you a pillow. Yu Tianbai naturally would not miss such a good opportunity. He straightened his clothes and faced the main entrance. On the other side, the waiter’s self-reproach also came to an end. He straightened up and asked politely:

“Then this gentleman is your—”

It was obvious that he already regarded Yu Tianbai as the boss in today’s transaction. Of course, this understanding was completely correct. Under the sunglasses, a satisfied smile spread across Yu Tianbai’s face.

He replied: “He is my—”

His mouth formed the word “dog” for a while, but the sound never came out. Finally, the corner of his mouth lifted, and his train of thought reversed: “trusted enough subordinate.”

The young master was probably still pondering the connections here. Yu Tianbai’s roundabout way of speaking did not make him react immediately. The waiter, however, had a sudden realization. He turned and led the way: “Then let’s not waste any more words. Let’s go inside to talk in detail. The private room and tea are all ready!”

The person in front led the way. Yu Tianbai took two steps back to Xiu Ma’s side, turned his face, and called out to him: “Subordinate.”

Looking at Xiu Ma’s expression, he seemed to have understood a little, but it was not yet completely clear. Yu Tianbai loved to see him in this state, trying to complicate all the problems but unable to find a solution.

“Act your part. Just cooperate with me,” Yu Tianbai said again in a low voice, then turned his gaze to the main hall.

Before them, several burly men pulled open the ornately carved gates for them.