Editor: Scarlet
Qiao Jia and Qiao Jian were ten years apart in age, which was too much of an age gap between siblings. Qiao Jia’s father had told him that Qiao Jian’s birth was actually an accident, but since he hadn’t been aborted at the embryonic stage, his parents had decided to go with the flow and let him be born.
Therefore, since the first time he’d been able to steal his first steamed bun, Qiao Jia had provided for Qiao Jian as if he were his own son.
Their father had been a truck driver. In order to provide for his family, he worked tirelessly, often burning the candle at both ends. One night, while he was driving while fatigued, he got into a serious accident. Although he survived, he was sued by the other party for 300,000 yuan as compensation. The court finally sentenced him to 280,000 yuan. Unable to handle the stress, he climbed onto an overpass bridge and jumped to his death while the brothers were in school.
After their father’s death, Qiao Jia never saw their mother again.
The two brothers relied on each other for support. Qiao Jian was only twelve years old when he started accompanying Qiao Jia as they lived from hand to mouth. In the blink of an eye, he was about to go to college.
Likely because of the hardships he faced at a young age, Qiao Jian had developed a dull personality. He was not very talkative, avoided conflicts, and kept his distance from others. So, when Qiao Jia received a call from him saying that he was in trouble, he immediately assumed that something major had occurred.
Without delay, Qiao Jia called P-Ghost and four other people and rushed to Qiao Jian’s school.
At this time, the school grounds were still very quiet.
When Qiao Jia arrived at the school, he saw a group of people blocking the entrance. He couldn’t see clearly what was happening because their backs were turned to him. He shouted, “Qiao Jian!”
From the other side of the throng, a calm and steady voice replied, “Brother.”
In an instant, the group of people who were crowded together separated, and all of them turned back to stare at Qiao Jia.
He did not recognize any of them.
Looking at their unbuttoned shirts that revealed their chests, Qiao Jia could tell that they were in the same line of business as him. A dark-skinned man with a little fat belly sticking out said, “What the fuck! You haven’t even grown your hair out yet, and you’re already calling yourself a ‘big brother’?”
Qiao Jia did not respond to the dark-skinned man’s comment, but P-Ghost shouted from behind him, “You damn fool, haven’t you heard of siblings?”
Qiao Jia didn’t have time to pay attention to this group of gangsters. He quickly made his way through the crowd and pulled his brother out. “What’s going on?”
“I helped a schoolmate while eating at a restaurant.”
“Schoolmate?” Qiao Jia’s brows tightened. “Are you dating?!”
The usually composed high school student, Qiao Jian, turned red for the first time. He was at a loss for words and unable to refute Qiao Jia’s comment. Finally, he could only lower his head and remain silent.
Although Qiao Jia had originally made the comment offhandedly, he could now see the truth in his brother’s expression. Initially, he found it hard to believe, but upon further consideration, he realized that Qiao Jian’s behavior was a little peculiar.
After their father died, Qiao Jian had a period of time when he didn’t even talk much.
Faced with this unusual reaction from his younger brother, Qiao Jia also decided to give a full play for his “profession” as an elder brother. He raised his head and said, “Which one of you here is as good as your word?”
“Me!” The dark-skinned fat man pushed P-Ghost aside and barged his way in. Pointing at Qiao Jian, he said, “Whatever the story is, I don’t care. I’m going to beat this guy today!”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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And the next moment, the two groups of people descended into a violent brawl.
In terms of fighting ability, even if there were three more men like the dark-skinned, fat man, they wouldn’t have stood a chance against Qiao Jia.
When his father was still alive, Qiao Jia had not been the studious type. He spent his days hanging out with a group of good-for-nothing, unemployed youths, drinking and fighting all the time. After his father’s death, in order to pay for Qiao Jian’s education, he had to work harder to establish himself in this community. That was why even professional fighters wouldn’t have been able to gain the upper hand when fighting against Qiao Jia, let alone this level of punks.
Given his ability to survive in the harsh environment of the bottom of the social ladder, it was clear that Qiao Jia possessed some level of skill.
So it didn’t take even ten minutes for eight or nine people to lean against the wall, defeated. With a foot on the stomach of the dark-skinned, overweight man, Qiao Jia bent down, patted his face, and said, “Next time, be sure to consider the strength of the person you’re provoking before you act. Don’t go looking for death, got it?”
Qiao Jia did not want to waste any more time talking to this group of people. He instructed Qiao Jian to return to class, left a sidekick at the door of the school to escort Qiao Jian home after school, and then invited his own group to join him for dinner.
Seeing Qiao Jia’s arrogance, the fat man’s whole body trembled in anger. After somehow managing to scramble to his feet, he covered his face and cursed with hatred, “I think you’re the one who is looking for death! Do you know who I am? Black Dog’s younger brother! Let me tell you, you’re screwed for real this time!”
As he shouted hysterically, two gangsters next to him, who could barely stand, rushed at Qiao Jia again. However, Qiao Jia was rooted to the spot in shock. Hearing the words “Black Dog,” Guo Lin’s face automatically popped up in his mind.
Fuck… He’d beaten the brother of Black Dog. How could he possibly infiltrate their gang and serve as an informant now?
And then, in the next moment, he only felt something hit the back of his head and saw the expressions of Qiao Jian and P-Ghost in front of him change to one of horror.
It was a complete and utter disgrace…
As he fell to the ground, Qiao Jia couldn’t hold back from muttering a curse, “Guo Lin! Fuck you, motherfucker!”
While wiping his wet hair, Guo Lin sauntered into the kitchen to grab a bottle of beer from the fridge.
The arrest mission had been a success. After the debriefing meeting, Shen Jun had allowed them to go home to take a bath and catch up on some sleep. Guo Lin had not been home for three consecutive days. The heat was so intense that his shirt had been drenched with sweat, only to dry off a short while later, before getting wet again. This cycle had repeated itself countless times.
Shaking his head, he muttered, “It’s so hot that no one would feel like eating anything.” He then turned on the TV and listened to the news casually.
His phone on the coffee table vibrated, and he picked it up lazily to find that the call was from Geng Wei. “What’s up?”
“I’ve always heard you have a side thing going on, but I didn’t think you’d change your taste and start keeping a man!”
“I’m keeping your sister!” Guo Lin scolded impatiently. “Speak human words.”
“Today, Zhao Yu caught several gang members and one of them was looking for you, Officer Guo—Guo Lin from the Criminal Investigation Department, Drug Enforcement Unit, Team 2. He knew everything about you, even your name and team. Everything was accurate!” The only thing missing was Guo Lin’s home address.
Guo Lin cinched his brows together. “Who is it?”
“A gangster named Qiao Jia. Why? Is he your relative?”
“Fuck me!”
After saying that, Guo Lin directly hung up the phone, wiped it twice casually, rushed to the bedroom to change clothes, and then ran to the place Geng Wei had mentioned.
He kept being messed with by that rogue Qiao Jia. Now, the whole world must know that he was his informant!
When Guo Lin arrived, he could hear Qiao Jia yelling from a distance, “How many times have I told you, my brother didn’t fight? Can’t you understand human language?”
“Brother.” Guo Lin could tell that this voice belonged to a teenager. Frowning, he walked directly to the detention room.
Because he was wearing plain clothes, a policeman on duty stood up in surprise upon seeing him. “Hey, hey, hey, where did you come from?”
Guo Lin quickly produced his identification and stated, “I’m a fellow officer.”
Before his words dropped to the ground, Zhao Yu, who came out of the meeting room, saw him. “Whoa, whoa! I was wondering who this was. Isn’t this Officer Guo Lin from the Criminal Investigation Department, Drug Enforcement Unit, Team 2?” He rushed up to Guo Lin, caught his hand, and shook it vigorously. “Welcome sir, we are honored by your presence!”
Guo Lin pushed away Zhao Yu’s hand and said, “All right, that’s enough.”
He, Zhao Yu, and Geng Wei were actually college classmates. After graduation, Geng Wei and Guo Lin were transferred to a higher police station, while Zhao Yu chose to stay at a lower police station for reasons unknown. Nevertheless, the bond between the three remained strong.
Seeing that Guo Lin’s expression was not looking good, Zhao Yu smiled happily for a while before waving his hand and asking, “What, you’re here to pick someone up?”
“What happened?”
“There was a fight at the entrance of the school that was reported to the police by the school security, which is not a big deal, but this Qiao Jia guy is really too noisy. He’s been yelling since he came in. I almost asked someone to gag his mouth.”
“You should have done that a long time ago.”
Guo Lin grunted and pushed open the door to the detention room with an expression of displeasure.
Qiao Jia was sitting across from the door, his face twisted as he heard Guo Lin’s words from outside. Despite this, he remained silent. The wound on his head had been treated with an emergency dressing. His younger brother, Qiao Jian, sat beside him, his face a bit pale.
After pulling out a chair and sitting down, Guo Lin knocked on the table and said, “Go ahead and explain.”
The man opposite him tilted his head and responded, “There’s nothing to say. Get my brother out first.”
“Your brother?” Guo Lin glanced at Qiao Jian and said, “How can I get him out if you don’t say anything? How the hell did you guys get in anyway?” In his impression, Qiao Jia, although not very reliable, was not much of a troublemaker, and although he was one of the loafers, he was not the type to cause trouble and land himself in detention.
He usually ran away.
Qiao Jia was also angry about this matter. He slammed his handcuffs on the table. “You’ve heard it all before. Why do you need to ask again? I didn’t ask you to come here for an interrogation. My brother has nothing to do with the fight. Let him go first.” Then he added, “Don’t leave any records of this incident.”
“Do you think I’ll do whatever you say?”
“But if you want me to continue gathering intel on Black Dog, let my brother go.”
At the mention of the words “Black Dog,” Guo Lin subconsciously narrowed his eyes. He didn’t move for a long time, only his eyes moved back and forth several times between Qiao Jia and Qiao Jian. Then he stood up and went to Zhao Yu to go through the formalities.
Once Guo Lin had left the room, Qiao Jian pulled Qiao Jia and asked, “Brother… what’s going on?”
Although Qiao Jian was unsure of the details of the conversation between his brother and Guo Lin, he could vaguely sense that it was not a good thing.
Qiao Jia just frowned and shook his leg, clearly in a bad mood. “Nothing!”
It was easy to handle affairs in the presence of an acquaintance. Soon after Guo Lin went out, someone came in to complete the necessary paperwork, and Qiao Jia and Qiao Jian were able to leave. Qiao Jia asked Qiao Jian to go find P-Ghost and the others first and told him that he still had some unfinished business to attend to. Although Qiao Jian was not feeling very comfortable about it, just like he’d never asked what his elder brother did before, he didn’t ask this time either. He just turned back and glanced at his brother a few times before boarding the taxi that Qiao Jia had called for him.
Qiao Jia bought a pack of cigarettes from a nearby shop and walked toward a small alley.
He found Guo Lin there waiting for him, leaning against the wall.
“Qiao Jia, if you shout again about Black Dog all over the street, I’ll let you go into prison for yelling.”
Qiao Jia, who was smoking, looked at him and said, “Isn’t that policeman your buddy? Why are you feigning ignorance?”
Guo Lin pressed Qiao Jia against the wall and held him by the throat. “Did you hear what I just said?” Qiao Jia’s face was all red, and he laboriously let out two coughs. He desperately broke away from Guo Lin’s arm and shouted, “What the fuck!”
“There are many ways to deal with people like you, and I know you’re aware of them.” Guo Lin straightened his clothes. “Don’t test my limits just because you have nothing better to do.”
“Only scumbags enjoy causing trouble,” he added.
If he was given the chance to make a new choice, Qiao Jia would rather die than get involved with Guo Lin. Nobody liked to get into such troubles in their lives.
He seemed to be an honest and good police officer, but when he raised his hands, he was even more ruthless than the gangsters.
Rubbing his sore neck, Qiao Jia took a puff of his cigarette. “The one who fought with me today is Black Dog’s younger brother. It probably won’t take long for him to come knocking at my door.”
“Black Dog’s brother?” Guo Lin searched for the person in his mind. “How did you get into trouble with him?”
“My brother… Anyway, I’ll think of a way later.”
Qiao Jia didn’t want to say too much about Qiao Jian. He didn’t trust Guo Lin, the policeman. Their relationship was a typical case of each using the other for their own ends. Once the matter of Black Dog was over, it’d be best if they went their separate ways and never thought or mentioned each other again!
Guo Lin sensed that Qiao Jia was evasive about Qiao Jian. Thinking of the student he’d seen earlier, he couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity, “Is that really your brother?”
“Nonsense!” He absolutely didn’t want to recognize Qiao Jian as his younger brother in front of the other person.
“Your name is Qiao Jia, and your brother’s name is Qiao Jian. Your parents were quite thoughtful with their naming.” He’d glanced at their forms earlier. The naming of the two brothers was probably based on addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
When the subject of parents came up, Qiao Jia’s expression became more impatient. He stubbed out his cigarette on the wall and put his hands in his pockets. “Anyway, I’ll contact you if I hear about anything.” After saying that, he turned to leave, but after taking two steps, he turned back and yelled, “Give me your phone number!”
It’d always been Guo Lin who contacted him, so today he could only rely on Zhao Yu to call Guo Lin.
Guo Lin raised his eyebrows. He hesitated for a moment, but still gave Qiao Jia his number. Qiao Jia recorded the number on his phone. This time, he didn’t turn back after leaving.
Hahaha I also had thought that the author really didn’t bother with Qiao Jian’s name.
Thank you for the chapter 🙏
Thanks ♡♡
I already love them ugh. Thank you translator-nim. You’re doing gods work lolol.