Book 4: Chapter 19: Just One Smoke


    Poker-Face and I took off almost at the same time and tackled him to the ground, which was covered in very sharp rocks. We had pressed Fatty down so suddenly that he probably ended up with a lot of cuts. But Poker-Face and I hade to the same determination it was useless to leave here now.


    Fatty''s whole face was covered in blood and he was irritated now that we had injured him. As we started dragging him back, he cursed at us, "Was it really necessary for the two of you to fucking gang up on me at the same time?"


    I bandaged him to stop the bleeding and said, "Old Jin is different from you. Do you want to increase the opponents bargaining chip?"


    "Mr. Nave, are you giving up on Old Jin?" Fatty looked at me in shock. "I can''t give up on him. He still fucking owes me sixty thousand yuan!"


    Jin Wantang had lost sixty thousand yuan ying mahjong one night and never transferred the money. Although we were just ying for fun, Fatty still felt highly aggrieved over it.


    I sighed heavily. If Jin Wantang knew that he was finally saved because of his shamelessness, it would be even harder to cooperate with him in the future. I looked at my watch and then patted Fatty, "Sincest night, Im not your Mr. Nave anymore. Ill find a way, so don''t be impulsive. Well have to push ourselves to the limit this time."


    As I spoke, I looked at Poker-Face. During those long, painful years, there were many times where I thought about how much trouble couldve been saved if only I had been able toplete those ns with him. Maybe I wouldnt have needed so many expendable worker ants to carry out the minute details.


    <em>Thank God, now I can realize my dream.</em>


    At this time, I pulled a cigarette out of Fatty''s pocket. He looked at me in surprise but I just stood up, looked at the darkness in the distance, and covered the lighter with my hand to light the cigarette. Although I knew it might kill me, it was so damnforting when the smoke filled my lungs.


    I hadn''t smoked for a long time, so the nicotine quickly rushed to my head. If I didnt have this thing, I really wouldnt be able to pull my thoughts back from that time.


    "Just one." Fatty calmed down andughed when he saw me smoking. "Little Brother can testify that Mr. Nave is only allowed to smoke one during this extraordinary period."


    I turned back with a smile on my face and nced at Poker-Face. He threw me the satellite phone and then looked into the darkness, very focused.


    What should I do? Was there really no way to prevent Jin Wantang from drawing hisst breath here? I inhaled a mouthful of smoke and slowly released it, feeling a little more rity now. "Are you still alive?" I asked Jin Wantang.


    "Theres still a little breath left in me, Little Master Three. That sixty thousand yuanIll pay it as soon as I get out of here. Ill even add fifty percent interest. Ouch!" He hissed in pain, "Ive spit up a lot of blood."


    His voice was clear, but it was already very weak.


    "What part of your body is stuck?"


    "My legs and a lot of my ribs are broken. I can''t use any strength."


    "That''s because your ribs pierced your lungs, but it''s not deep. You wont die as long as you don''t cause your lungs to copse."


    "How do I prevent that from happening?"


    "Can you find a gap to stick your hand out of?" I asked him,pletely ignoring his inquiry as I beckoned Fatty and Poker-Face over.


    "I''ll try," he said. "I, I can''t see a gap."


    Fatty took out a signal re as I spoke into the satellite phone, "In a few seconds, a light will shoot down from the gap. You have to hold out your hand so that we can correctly determine your location."


    "What are you nning?" Fatty asked me.


    I took a pair of binocrs out of my backpack and asked Fatty, "Do you know Hooke''s Law?"


    "I know Hook and Vegeta. Theyre two mice."


    "That''s Shuke and Beita,"⁽¹⁾ I said. "You only need to know the basics of Hookes Law. As long as you conform to thews of physics, you can drill holes in solid materials in order to quickly reduce their load-bearing capacity. The rocks here can be destroyed using Hooke''sw. Let''s take a closer look at those rocks holding him down and find a weak one so that we can perforate it and destroy it in order to free his feet."


    "How are we supposed to make a hole? Do you have a hundred-meter drill bit with you?"


    I looked at Fatty''s gun, took a puff of my cigarette, and looked at my hand that was holding the cigarette. This gun probably had a range of more than a hundred meters, so the question was: could I keep my hand steady or not?


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) The characters sound the same. Hook () sounds like Huke, which sounds like Shuke (). Vegeta () sounds like Beijita, which sounds like Beita (). Shuke and Beita are two mice from the popr Chinese childrens tale The Adventures of Shuke and Beita. They don''t want to steal food like the others, so the two friends co-found the Shuke & Beita Airlines to help other animals.