Blinded chapter 49
Chang Xiaojia was originally sitting cross-legged on the car hood, but he suddenly stood up and forcefully threw the unfinished beer bottle into the bonfire along with the bottle. With his action, the bonfire suddenly leaped high, making crackling sounds and immediately causing cheers and whistles from the surrounding young people.
Xie Li walked to the side of the car, and just as Chang Xiaojia was getting off the car, Xie Li subconsciously took a big step forward, reaching out to catch him and holding him on the ground.
But Chang Xiaojia didn’t even look at him. He pushed him away, turned around, and asked a young man next to him for a cigarette.
Most of the young people surrounding him were Hongfang’s little brothers. They had all seen Xie Li at the single-sword meeting that day. When they saw Xie Li approaching, they greeted, “Brother Li.” Some were whispering and probably discussing him.
Xie Li didn’t care about this. He shouted, “Xiaojia.”
Chang Xiaojia seemed oblivious to his presence. He approached the fire of another person nearby, lit the cigarette in his mouth, and ignited it.
The girl didn’t know Xie Li. She just looked him up and down, then hugged Chang Xiaojia’s arm and asked in a sweet voice, “Xiaojia, who is he?”
Only then did Chang Xiaojia turn his gaze to Xie Li.
Xie Li looked a bit tired, wearing the same clothes for several days, hastily changing into a jacket, messy hair, a wound on his chin from accidentally cutting himself while shaving, and the bite marks on his neck still visible.
Chang Xiaojia didn’t look good either. Not seeing Xie Li for a few days made him seem thinner. The loose hoodie on him looked even looser, probably because his legs were too thin, and the jeans were not fitting well.
“Why are you here?” Chang Xiaojia asked Xie Li in a cold tone.
Xie Li glanced at the girl hugging Chang Xiaojia’s arm, and calmly said, “Xiaojia, come back with me.”
Fingers pinching the cigarette, Chang Xiaojia frowned and said, “Are you crazy?” He turned away to leave.
Xie Li reached out and grabbed his wrist.
Chang Xiaojia immediately pressed the burning cigarette against the back of Xie Li’s hand. In that moment, even in the noisy environment, the sizzling sound could be heard, accompanied by the scent of burnt flesh spreading in the air.
The girl was startled, withdrew her hand from hugging Chang Xiaojia, and stood frozen in place.
Xie Li only frowned fiercely, pursed his lips, but didn’t let go of Chang Xiaojia’s hand. He said, “Xiaojia, please, come back with me.”
At this moment, Dai Hao, accompanied by three or four of his men, walked towards them. Before getting close, he shouted loudly, “Hey, another familiar face?!”
Xie Li released his grip on Chang Xiaojia’s hand, stepped in front of him, and smiled at Dai Hao, saying, “Brother Hao, long time no see.”
Their conversation immediately attracted the attention of most people in the open space. Even the music was deliberately lowered, and everyone looked over, some even jumped on top of cars to watch the excitement.
Chang Xiaojia didn’t speak, just looked at Dai Hao with a gloomy expression.
Dai Hao, with a half-smile, said, “Don’t call me brother. You’re just a dog for Chang Xiaojia. There’s a clear distinction between us.”
After saying this, a group of his men behind him all laughed.
Xie Li heard a lot of low discussions, but he didn’t care and wasn’t angry. He just said, “It seems your leg is completely healed?”
When Dai Hao heard Xie Li mention his leg, his smile became somewhat fierce. “My leg is fine. Today, I’ll take care of you guys.”
Xie Li said, “Chang Xiaojia won’t race against you.”
Chang Xiaojia looked at Xie Li with cold eyes.
Xie Li didn’t want to get entangled with Dai Hao and didn’t want to provoke him. Right now, he just wanted to take Chang Xiaojia home immediately, comfort him, and let him sleep peacefully.
Dai Hao, upon hearing this, sarcastically said, “Why, scared? Chang Xiaojia, are you in a hurry to go back and sleep with your dog?”
Chang Xiaojia coldly replied, “You don’t need to care who i go back to sleep with. Anyway, I’m going to break your other leg first.”
Dai Hao’s men immediately got angry. “What did you say?”
Dai Hao stopped them, sneered, and said, “What’s the use of being arrogant? We’ll see who breaks whose leg later!”
After that, Dai Hao walked away with his people, and the crowd naturally dispersed.
Xie Li had no intention of letting Chang Xiaojia race against Dai Hao. If Chang Xiaojia didn’t listen, he planned to just carry him away. Just as he was about to turn around and grab Chang Xiaojia, he suddenly noticed a young man in the crowd.
Even in the late night, the young man still wore a baseball cap, mingling in the noisy crowd, receiving money from someone. He was the person Xie Li had seen before, selling the new type of drugs at Fengling Bar. Since being driven away by Xie Li and the others that time, he had not appeared in the bar again.
Xie Li had always been bothered by the new type of drugs he was selling. It was something he had never seen in the market before, and there had been no large-scale sales of it. Not only in the Harbor City, but when Yu Zhengkun confirmed with him, this kind of drug had not appeared in other areas of the country or even abroad. Xie Li wanted to know the source of his drugs and also suspected that the drug trafficking lead Chen Haiman had been investigating was related to the new type of drugs being sold.
That young man had already taken the money and disappeared into the crowd.
Subconsciously, Xie Li walked in his direction, trying not to be too obvious to avoid startling him.
“Xie Li,” Shi Hongqian walked through the crowd to him, “the race is about to start.”
Xie Li said, “Wait a moment,” and continued walking forward, pushing aside the people blocking his way. However, he found that the young man with the hat was nowhere to be seen.
Perhaps he had taken off the hat, or perhaps he had slipped into a car. In any case, he suddenly disappeared from Xie Li’s view. At this moment, Xie Li heard everyone around cheering loudly, whistling, and the sound of breaking glass from all directions.
Turning back, he saw that Chang Xiaojia had already sat in the car, and the girl was opening the door on the passenger side to get in.
The firelight through the car window tinted Chang Xiaojia’s face red, no longer pale but even more gloomy.
Xie Li walked back with big strides, standing in front of Chang Xiaojia’s car, hands pressing heavily on the hood. The burn on the back of his hand was intensely painful, and he shouted loudly, “Get out of the car!”
Chang Xiaojia slowly rolled down the window, leaned out, and softly uttered a word to Xie Li, “Scram.”
Xie Li blocked the front of the car, saying, “Either get out of the car, or run me over!”
At this point, Shi Hongqian and He Chuanyun had already come over. He Chuanyun frowned slightly, still worried about Chang Xiaojia causing trouble right under his nose. He asked Shi Hongqian, “Should we inform his brother?”
Shi Hongqian seemed hesitant, but finally said, “Let Xie Li handle it. I’m afraid it won’t be easy to deal with if Young master Xin comes.”
The race was about to start. Dai Hao’s car was already in position, but Chang Xiaojia was still in a standoff with Xie Li. There were quite a few people around, hissing at him.
Chang Xiaojia leaned out of the car window, saying to Xie Li, “Do you think I can’t run you over?”
Xie Li stepped back a few steps, raised both hands, and beckoned him, “Do it then.”
Chang Xiaojia retracted his head, expressionless, shifted gears, then slammed the accelerator. The high-performance sports car rushed towards Xie Li, causing several girls nearby to scream in terror.
Xie Li didn’t dodge.
The front of the sports car almost pressed against Xie Li’s legs and came to a dead stop. The girl in the passenger seat closed her eyes in fear, while Chang Xiaojia shouted in anger, “I made a bet with Dai Hao, and the stake is a leg. Do you want to help him break one of my legs directly?”
Xie Li was breathing heavily. Biting his lip almost to the point of bleeding, he took big steps to the side of the car door, opened it, and reached in to pull Chang Xiaojia out of the car.
Chang Xiaojia struggled forcefully, “Let go of me!”
Xie Li said, “Sit in the passenger seat; I’ll drive.”
Chang Xiaojia cursed, “Get lost! What qualifications do you have to help me drive?” He remained in the driver’s seat, grabbing the steering wheel tightly to prevent Xie Li from pulling him out. With the other hand, he raised it to slap Xie Li.
The sports car had a low chassis to begin with. Xie Li was almost kneeling next to the car door. He stopped Chang Xiaojia’s incoming slap, leaned into the car compartment, and forcefully kissed Chang Xiaojia’s lips.
The girl sitting in the passenger seat had not expected this scene at all. She was completely stunned, staring blankly with her mouth open at the two of them.
Xie Li didn’t care how many people were watching. He was bitten bloody by the fiercely resisting Chang Xiaojia. He lifted his head, gazing at the girl in the passenger seat with a fierce look, and said, “Get out of the car.”