Chapter 146: Brothers Falling Out

“Glistening and translucent, it’s practically a work of art...” In a hospital room, Hou San withdrew his gaze from the snow-covered sculptures outside, glazed with thick ice crystals, and looked at Zhu Dachang, who was sitting beside the bed, peeling an apple with his head lowered. Hou San sighed deeply. “Zhu Dachang, do you know how I feel right now? It’s like sprouts growing on ice—my heart feels cold as ice!”

Zhu Dachang looked up, blinking. “Third Brother, are you cold? I’ll go find another quilt right away...”

“Even if I had ten quilts, they wouldn’t warm this chilly heart of mine...” Hou San fixed Zhu Dachang with a steady gaze, pounding his chest with his right hand. “I’ve always been loyal and sincere, but fate has shone its moonlight into a ditch! Zhu Dachang, ever since we were kids, I’ve treated you like a brother without blood ties. Whenever there was something good to eat or play with, I’d include you. Whatever happened, I was always honest with you... But to think you’ve been hiding something from me all this time—it breaks my heart!”

“Third Brother...” Zhu Dachang lowered his head again, looking uneasy. “I only have two hands; I’m not hiding a third one...”

“Keep acting then!” Hou San snorted coldly. “Want me to give you an award for Best Supporting Role?” He pulled Zhu Dachang’s phone from his pocket, opened the messaging app, his face darkening. “Come on, tell me what these messages mean.”

Zhu Dachang glanced furtively at the texts on the screen, burying his head deeper and swallowing nervously. “I was just chatting with a friend, nothing important...”

“Sure, nothing important!” Hou San read the messages aloud. “‘Uncle Man, today our plan is to take down that woman’s old hideout first. Around ten at night, we’ll head to East View Street to hit that woman’s jewelry shop. Third Brother says this is like trading one shot for another...’ Uncle Man? Which Uncle Man? Do you chat with friends by detailing plans like this? No need for any extra explanations—explanations are just cover-ups, and cover-ups are lies!”

Zhu Dachang stared at the apple in his hands for a moment before resuming peeling, his tone apologetic. “Third Brother… I’m sorry for messaging others behind your back... Since you found out today, I’ll be honest. I’ve been feeling trapped these days... That Uncle Man is someone you know, too. It’s Zhang Xiaoman, the officer who came to our village when we were kids. He even gave us two balls. Do you remember?”

A clear image of Zhang Xiaoman’s younger self appeared in Hou San’s mind. Narrowing his eyes, he said, “Ah, no wonder everything’s been going wrong lately. It’s like the police have us under constant surveillance. Wherever we go, they follow. So there’s a mole among us!”

“Third Brother... I’m doing this for your own good...” Zhu Dachang pouted. “Life on the streets is tough—there’s no way to avoid getting hurt. The ‘Master Thief’ and ‘God of Thieves’ sound glamorous, but in reality, they’re just like us—caught and thrown in jail. That blond guy is proof. Skilled as he was, he still served years in prison. Cuihua and I are about to get married. Do you want her to be a widow right after tying the knot?”

“Cuihua, Cuihua... Your heart belongs only to that widow...” Hou San straightened his neck. “I’m not doing this for myself, but for you. Remember, you need a big sum of money to bring home for your wedding with Cuihua, so I thought we’d try a quicker way to make money. From what you’re saying now, I led you down the wrong path? Was this path one I chose willingly? If it weren’t for that developer not paying us, do you think I’d want to become a thief?”

“Uncle Man said we should seek proper legal aid. It’s illegal to withhold workers’ wages...” Zhu Dachang said.

“Right. Try seeking legal aid and see whether that widow marries Wang Mazi first, or if you get your money first! It’ll take three or five years to get your pay back. Dream on!”

“Uncle Man said he could advance us some money...”

“Uncle Man? You sound close. Are you two really that familiar? Oh, after all these years with no word from him, he suddenly shows up now wanting to give you money? Only you’d believe that. Why would he give you money? Because you’re tough? Because you’re broad-faced? Surrender? Look at those who surrendered—did they end well? Need me to retell the story of the Liangshan heroes?”

Zhu Dachang handed the peeled apple to Hou San with a forced smile. “If you don’t like me calling him Uncle Man, I won’t. He said if I become his informant, he’d cover all the expenses for me and Cuihua’s wedding. Just like when we took him to the mountain as kids... That blond guy was also his informant. I wasn’t trying to deceive you. It was only when you asked me to swipe the membership card from him that I got in touch with him. I’ve been meaning to tell you.”

“Blond guy?” Hou San sneered without reaching for the apple. “That blond guy’s grave grass is nearly three feet tall by now. You want to be an informant like him for Zhang Xiaoman? Don’t you watch the news? He was the one who set off the fire alarm at the hospital, stabbed over ten times, and the case is still unsolved. Zhang Xiaoman? He’s a master of lies! You still trust him? If he kept his word, he’d have come back to Yuliu Village to find us by now.”

“He explained to me. That incident was too dangerous back then. He didn’t come to protect us... This time it’s different. He will come to us.” Zhu Dachang pursed his lips. “Third Brother, let’s trust him one more time. He’ll come in a few days. Once we get the money, we’ll return to the village. I’ll invite you to my wedding banquet...”

“Wedding banquet? Zhu Dachang, do you know why the widow’s mother is so eager to marry her off? She’s been with that Li Ergou in the wheat fields...”

“What were they doing in the wheat fields?”

“What else? Playing games? You think those village rumors came out of thin air? Where there’s smoke, there’s fire! Only you treat her like a treasure, with a green meadow growing on your head and you don’t even know it...”

“That was before. Now she has no contact with Li Ergou and avoids him everywhere in the village...” Zhu Dachang bit his lip. “No regrets about the past, no fear of the future—that’s true love.”

“I’d rather steam horse dung buns,” Hou San spat on the ground. “Li Ergou clearly won’t marry her. If she doesn’t marry you, she’ll marry Wang Mazi. Do I need to tell you what kind of man Wang Mazi is? Marrying him means marrying his father! Can she have a good life? To put it bluntly, you’re just a rebound! I didn’t tell you before because I didn’t want to ruin your mood, and I gently advised you to find someone in the city... Even a reformed woman is better than a cheating old shoe!”

“What did you say?” Zhu Dachang slammed the apple onto the bedside table, his eyes red. “Who are you calling a cheating old shoe?”

Hou San said each word deliberately, “Who? The widow! If you want me to name her, Zhang Cuihua! Got it? Are you clear-headed now?”

“Hou San! You’ve gone too far!” Zhu Dachang stood up sharply. “I don’t care if she went into the wheat fields with Li Ergou or not. All I know is, since she’s been with me, she hasn’t gone into those fields. I’m determined to marry her. If you don’t like her, you don’t have to come to the wedding, but don’t let me hear you say ‘cheating old shoe’ again, or don’t blame me for being rude!”

“Fine!” Hou San’s anger flared. “Zhu Dachang, you’re getting worked up over a woman? Have I ever harmed you? Zhang Xiaoman and Zhang Cuihua—both with the surname Zhang—same gang, both using you!”

“Using? Aren’t you using me too?” Zhu Dachang sneered. “Master Thief, God of Thieves my foot. Which thief trembles just carrying a bag weighing dozens of pounds? Ever since your wife died, you’ve been like a lump of rotten mud, lying around every day. If I didn’t bring you meals three times a day, you’d have starved in bed long ago. God of Thieves? You belong in the eighteenth level of hell before you can call yourself that!”

“If you’re going to argue with me, there’s no point. Are we brothers or not?”

“Brothers? If I didn’t consider you my brother, would I have followed you to steal from that villa? Would I have joined you in roadblocks and robberies? It’s because I see you as a brother that I even dared to hide a gun and hold up a robbery...” Zhu Dachang pulled a homemade gun from his trouser leg and threw it onto the bed. “Caught with this, it’s at least three years in prison. You say you understand the law? I think you only know addition! Want fame? Want to make a name? Killing like mad? Hou San, you don’t even dare kill a chicken and jump onto tables at the sight of a mouse. Who gave you the courage to say all this?”

Hou San’s face reddened as he panted heavily, pointing toward the door. “Different paths, no common ground! If you look down on me so much, then we’re done. Get out of here! I never want to see you again!”

Zhu Dachang turned and walked to the door but stopped just before leaving the ward. “I’m going home to marry Cuihua. Whether you come to the wedding is up to you! As for medical bills... I’ll have Zhang Xiaoman help settle them for you. The trouble you caused before will be offset by my work as his informant. If you still want to be a master thief, you can do it all alone!”

Watching Zhu Dachang’s retreating figure, Hou San threw the phone Zhu Dachang had given him toward the door with force, shouting, “Go as far as you can! I don’t care if you pay my medical bills. You’re just a pig’s intestine with a head, pretending to play double agent. Pah! If you ever die on the street, I won’t shed a single tear. That’s what you deserve!”

Zhu Dachang stepped out of the ward, leaned against the wall, and looked down sadly at the shattered phone on the floor. Sniffling, he walked to the hospital’s public phone, dialed Zhang Xiaoman’s number, said a few words, then hung up. He wandered into the lobby, found a bench, sat down, and quietly held two black USB drives in his palm, waiting for Zhang Xiaoman.

Just as Zhu Dachang sat with his head bowed, dozing off, a man in a gray jacket entered the hospital lobby. After asking a few questions at the information desk, he quickly headed toward a certain ward—the very same direction where Hou San’s ward was located...