Chapter 5: The plan
Three days had passed, dust was settling inside the house everywhere except for in Wang Ming's room. He hadn't left the house in three days the only thing he had been doing were eating dried noodles. His eyes were red and puffy, he had read the letter his father left for him repeatedly. He dated it 20th of May, which meant that no one took care of him this month, his father didn't take care of him instead left.
Finally, the dreaded moment happened, Wang Ming was out of food, he would need to come out of his haven from anyone that could hurt him. Taking a deep breath, Wang Ming knew that this was also his first step for revenge.
Before going out, Wang Ming had to come up with a plan, he needed to earn money and be wise with spending his money.
First, he needs to find a steady source of income, either by self-employment or by finding a job.
Second, finding a new place to live, since this part of Fen Zhong City is not safe for him anymore since he had offended Brother Hou. Roughly 1000 yuan a month.
Third, get enough money to buy a wheelchair costs roughly 350 yuan, he could rent one for now for roughly 50 yuan a week.
It would help him get to the last goal, revenge on everyone that had hurt him.
For now he would need to go back to FanLang street, it's a dangerous move as it was where Brother Hou had beat him. But if he could retrieve the food stand, then he could secure a source of income. He couldn't really sell food on the ground. Wearing a t-shirt and some pants, Wang Ming made his way out of the house. They barely fit him as his body was larger now, so he would need to buy new ones soon.
Slowly, Wang Ming finally made his way outside. He realized his speed was seriously impaired to move with crutches. Locking the door behind him, he took a deep breath. It had been over a month since he's gone out of his house and it felt great. He didn't feel it before, but the air inside his house were a lot worse than outside.
Slowly moving his crutches, Wang Ming used them instead of legs and moved one after another forward. As he made his way towards the FanLang street, he could feel people staring at him with eyes of both empathy and fear. Some old acquaintances wanted to help him, but didn't dare, because of the fear of implicating their family and business. The rumors had already spread to this district of the city.
Usually it only takes him 5 minutes from his house to his food-cart, but walking with his crutches it took almost 25 minutes. He understood now how important each body part is, even missing one part could mess up your life. At least his legs would be better sometimes down the road, they would even be better and stronger than before, which made him happy.
Finally arriving at the FanLang street, Wang Ming saw the cart was lying on the ground. He moved towards it and saw that Brother Hou's underlings had scrapped it. There were multiple bulks in it, which made it impossible for him to use. They even poured red paint all over it to assure that Wang Ming couldn't use it anymore. He had hoped that at least he could scavenge and restore some of it, but the paint had destroyed everything.
Wang Ming's lips quivered, his body trembling, couldn't they just let him go? The food cart was the first object Wang Ming had purchased with his own money, it also provided a way for him to earn money to take care of his father. Seeing the state of the cart saddened him, but the damage is too severe. He could only scrap it now.
The question though was how is he going to get it there, he could pay someone to transport it to the scrappers but that would cost money, he only had 100 yuan and 50 of it would go to his wheelchair already. Which meant he only had 50 left. The bigger problem also was who would help him. He would need to get someone that didn't live in this part of the city as no one would dare to interact with him afraid of Brother Hou's wrath.
Before he could come to a solution Wang Ming felt a tap on the shoulder which scared the crap out of him, making him fall backwards. Closing his eyes he braced himself for the fall to the ground, but it never came instead he felt a soft feeling at the back of his head and a sweet smell of flowers.
Hurriedly stabilizing himself on the two crutches, Wang Ming turned around to see that it was Sister Lin, thankfully not one of Brother Hou's thugs. If he met them now, he would probably get another beating.
"Wang Ming, what happened to you? What happened to your cart?" Lan Ling asked with great concern, even though she wasn't that close to Wang Ming. They had interacted with each other more times than she could count. Bewilderment shrouded Lan Ling's mind when she saw Wang Ming's state and his food-cart.
She still remembered it was fine when she walked by here a few days ago. Though she hadn't seen him selling for over a month, Lan Ling initially thought Wang Ming had gone on a vacation or been out of town. But seeing the state of him and his cart now, it seemed like something different had happened.
"Thank you, Sister Lin, but it's a long story. Do you know anyone that could take this cart and deliver it to the scrappers for me? I can pay you and them 20% of what I get for it. I know it's not a lot, but It's the best I can offer."
Wang Ming felt embarrassed asking Sister Lin, since she was only a customer of his and nothing more. He didn't want to implicate her either, but he had no other choice. He also knew that Sister Lin works for a big company Brother Hou wouldn't mess with them, would he?
"That shouldn't be a problem. I know some guards at my company. They should be able to help you. I will call them now. But you need not give them any money. They earn a lot every month. Just stay here I'll call them now."
Said Lang Lin as she smiled sweetly at Wang Ming. Taking out her phone to call them, Lang Lin walked away. Her smile was like a gentle summer breeze for Wang Ming's mind. He had never seen someone with such a beautiful smile before, even his mother, the most beautiful person in Wang Ming's mind didn't have such a brilliant smile.
Feeling thankful and relieved, Wang Ming shouted to Lan Ling's departing back.
"I will never forget this favor, Sister Lin. If I ever open up for business again, you and your friends can eat for free for the rest of your lives!"
After Sister Lin walked away, Wang Ming sighed and leaned his back towards the cart that was still lying on the ground. Brother Hou's thugs usually stroll around FanLang street to harass people and ask for protection money, which made Wang Ming nervous if they saw him then he didn't know what to do. But he had to wait here for the people that Sister Lin mentioned.
After 10 minutes elapsed Wang Ming heard people gasping and pointing to the street entrance, which made Wang Ming fear it was Brother Hou again. Hurriedly standing up on his crutches, Wang Ming tried to hide, but before he could. Three men in black suits ran up to him. Seeing them move closer and closer to him, Wang Ming felt scared.
The men looked so intimidating in their tight black suits, one man even had a big scar over his eye like someone cut his face with a knife. It looked like they were looking for blood, as the men got closer even many of the bystanders and vendors gasped by the intimidation.
Stopping in front of Wang Ming, the man in the front with the big scar over his eye said in an intimidating tone.
"Are you Wang Ming?"
Hearing him ask about him, Wang Ming still didn't know what his intentions were. Puffing his chest up to appear more intimidating. Wang Ming gulped before saying in the manliest voice he could.
"Yes, and who are you?"
Wang Ming then saw the man with the scar pulled his arm up, afraid that the man wanted to ambush him. Wang Ming hurriedly made a distance between them. Even if he didn't know how to fight, he felt determined to make it the hardest possible for them. Once again with a louder voice, Wang Ming asked them.
"Who are you? Are you Brother Hou's underlings!?"
The man with the scar looked confused and somewhat disgusted after he heard what Wang Ming's words.
"No, Sister Lin sent us, why would we work for a small-time gangster? My name is Huang Peng, and the two behind me are A'Hu and A'Feng,"
Shocked at Huang Peng's word, Wang Ming wondered who these guys were? Brother Hou, a small-time gangster? There weren't many people that would even dare to say this in this city.
"Yes, I'm Wang Ming. I thought Sister Lin said she would send some guards from her company to help me? What business do you guys do?"
"If she hasn't told you. It's not my place to do, get to work A'Hu, A'Feng."
Getting the order from Huang Peng, the two men instantly went to carry Wang Ming's cart. The cart had to at least weigh a 100 kg and made of stainless steel and iron, but the two men carried it as it was nothing. A'Hu and A'Feng went out first and walked to the scrapper, while Huang Peng and Wang Ming took the car.
But as Wang Ming opened the door to the car, he heard shouting and three thugs running towards him. "Fucker!, you dare come back here? Aren't you afraid of the beating you got last time? Kneel and give us all your money, then you might get out of here alive."
Hearing their words, Wang Ming knew he would be in trouble the only thing he could do were to fight. If they took him to Brother Hou, then he would lose his life. Glancing towards Huang Peng, it disappointed Wang Ming to see that he didn't seem to care about what was happening, and the look in his eyes said your problems you solve it yourself.
The thugs then walked towards Wang Ming, puffing their chests up to intimidate him. Most thugs in this area didn't know how to fight, they would just compete in power and stamina. Who had a stronger fist or could take more punches would be the victor.
Walking up to Wang Ming they surrounded him, four thugs around him leaving him nowhere to escape. Wang Ming was still in a panic, not knowing what to do. Would he fight here or did he run? But how would he do any of these things? Then they started their rain of punches on Wang Ming, but he could barely feel their punches. Was this what the pamphlet meant with upgrading his body?
Wang Ming wanted to see what his new body's limit is. So he just let them keep punching him, but the thugs soon realized that Wang Ming showed no signs of pain from hitting his upper body. It even hurt their fists, it was like they were hitting a steel plate.
"Boys hit his legs!"
To see them targeting his legs, Wang Ming felt enraged, Wang Ming felt a stinging and burning pain in his legs when they started hitting and kicking his legs. Wang Ming tried dodging their attacks, but with two broken legs it wasn't possible. Gritting his teeth Wang Ming felt anger bursting out from within himself, taking his right crutch Wang Ming stabilized himself with the left crutch and hit him right in the head with the crutch, knocking him out instantly.
Still this didn't dampen his anger, he could still feel the pain in his legs. Taking the crutch, Wang Ming hit the two other thugs hard with the crutch, one to the stomach, the other right in the balls. The crutch broke down after Wang Ming hit the third thug.
Which terrified the last thug, seeing his friends lying in a fetus position on the ground. Last time Wang Ming was a coward and had just taken the beating. But this time he was like a maniac waving his crutch around, hitting back with might and precision. Seeing that there was no chance for him to win, the thug hurriedly ran away.
"Brother Hou is going to hear about this!"
When Wang Ming saw that the last thug had run away, he felt that the adrenaline and all of his pent up anger and stress left his body. His arms felt like jelly. So he just sat straight down on the ground.
Using a minute to calm down, Wang Ming then remembered he needed to go to the scrapper together with Huang Peng. Hurriedly standing up on the one crutch he still had, he looked towards Huang Peng and just saw him standing there smoking and patiently waiting for him. Feeling a little guilty for wasting Huang Peng's time, he said.
"Sorry for wasting your time, Brother Hou and I have a problem."
"No problem, I'm just doing my job. Just a tip you should probably search them for money, no one will arrest you for it most likely."
Thinking about it, Wang Ming thought it made sense, it was still stealing but he need money urgently. Searching their bodies. They had nothing on them except for cigarettes, lighter, around 200 yuan and a cheap-looking watch. Taking the money and the watch, Wang Ming put the rest back in their pockets. The watch was a lifesaver as he didn't have a phone, at least now he would know the time.
Feeling satisfied, he walked back to the car, opened the door and sat in it. They then drove towards the scrapper which was roughly 10 minutes away with a vehicle. He had lots of questions about Huang Peng and Sister Lin, but he knew that even if he asked, Huang Peng wouldn't answer.
So Wang Ming just used the time in the car to think about the next step. Should he buy another food cart? Maybe buy an oven and sell on the streets? He at least needed to secure an alternative way for him to generate income.
Arriving at the scrapper, he saw his food cart lying on the floor in front of the shop. A'Hu and A'Feng were in front of the shop, It didn't seem that they sweated at all.
Seeing that a high-class car had arrived the shop owner hurriedly ran outside to greet Wang Ming and Huang Peng, as fast as he could, afraid of offending them.
"Hello and welcome to my shop do you guys want to buy metal or sell?" Even though he knew that most likely they wanted to sell the food-cart but to be polite, he still asked.
Wang Ming felt puzzled about the polite attitude of the owner. Last time Wang Ming was here he didn't even bother to come out. It's scary how money and power changes everything around you, Wang Ming thought. He connected the change in the owner to the three mean-looking men and the car.
"I want to sell the food-cart. How much can I get for it?"
Feeling puzzled wasn't only Wang Ming but also the shop owner when he saw it was Wang Ming that talked with him and not the man with the scar. He couldn't help but think Wang Ming was the Mens boss.
Playing it safe, the owner gave Wang Ming the best price that he could. In case of Wang Ming, being a big shot, he wanted to curry a favor.
"Ok Sir, let me get someone to take it inside and weight it. The cart is entirely 304 solid stainless steel, which should be around 3,8 yuan per pound. No need to worry, I will give you the best price I can."
Hearing their owner shout, four men hurriedly came from inside the shop and took the food-cart inside to weigh it. Coming back 2 minutes later they informed Wang Ming and the shop owner that the food cart was 242 pounds, which would have made out to be 920 yuan, but the shop owner directly gave Wang Ming 1000 yuan.
Satisfied with the price, Wang Ming took the money and thanked the shop owner and the guys before walking away. Seeing Wang Ming walk away, Huang peng took A'Hu and A'Feng back to the company with the car. Leaving a still puzzled shop owner. Why would the three men take the car back while their boss walked home? What kind of world was this he thought?
Now with 1300 yuan, Wang Ming headed to the market.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone