"Really, how did you get so tall, Brother Shi?"
Shi Xiaofei rolled his eyes and sat straight in the truck. While they were traveling to their village, Lou started an innocent conversation about each other that fully blew up within minutes.
Shi Xiaofei thought that if he had the chance, he'd catch another truck, because the constant yapping from Lou annoyed him. In his mind, he had already cursed his village to the ninth hell for not having modern roads and good public transport!
While standing up, Shi Xiaofei was atleast two heads taller than him. It's probably the reason Lou asked him about his height.
"C'mon brother Shi, tell me!"
Lou looked at him with sparkles in his eyes. Blissfully ignorant of the way the other passengers were looking at him in disdain. The saying 'ignorance is bliss' felt true to Shi Xiaofei now.
Most of the passengers were from the city, so they didn't even think before considering Lou as some ignorant village bumpkin. Otherwise, why would he get so amazed over someone's height?
Of course, they couldn't really see how tall Shi Xiaofei was, otherwise they wouldn't be sneering in disdain.
"What an idiot, he looks like he's seeing tall people for the first time, eh? "
A moderately tall man whispered to his wife, who quietly chuckled. Lou didn't hear those two, but Shi Xiaofei did.
"Hm, it's just how I was born. I think I'm just an anomaly; because my entire family never had a member that was taller than the Chinese average."
"Oh I see. What's your height then Brother Shi?"
"I don't exactly remember, but I'm above six feet."
"Six feet, wow. I'm not sure if I'm even five feet nine, heh!"
Lou blabbed on for some time more before the truck reached its destination. They both left it together and started walking towards their village.
Shi Xiaofei didn't forget to flash a brilliant smile back at the other passengers, who hid away their faces in shame.
"Those people were making fun of us." Shi Xiaofei rolled his eyes and informed Lou.
"Yeah, like I didn't notice Brother Shi. They were very loud."
Lou's steps slowed down bit by bit as he and Shi Xiaofei reached the village. Shi Xiaofei turned to him for an explanation and discovered him staring at a big tree just beside the village entrance.
A small car was parked there. Surrounding the car were a few middle-aged women and a well-dressed man. Shi Xiaofei was confused about why Lou was staring so intently at it.
"This is why I don't like coming back here Brother Shi. It's because of that guy...fuck him!" Lou gnashed his teeth.
"Who's that?" Shi Xiaofei strained his neck for a closer view to the tree; especially the man. But failed to even see his features.
"Don't you know brother Shi? He's pestering my girlfriend for marriage!" Lou closed his eyes and shook his head to dispel his anger, but it instead increased.
Shi Xiaofei wordlessly smiled, "So instead of trying to thwart his approaches like a man, you're here avoiding the village entirely? Something tells me you're gonna lose your girlfriend this way."
As if ashamed, Lou's pale face went red. He stuttered as he replied, "I know, I know, I've been trying to get rid of him b-but, my girlfriend's parents are weirdly warm to him. I think they like him more than me, maybe that's why they told me to avoid her!"
As far as he knew, Shi Xiaofei hadn't heard of Lou's girlfriend. Sure, he knew that Lou got married but he wasn't sure if they were the same woman.
"Oh come on, what does he have that you don't?" Shi Xiaofei played along.
"He's Ling Dasheng, brother Shi! He's quite well known around the village for his humble and simple attitude, furthermore, he has a government job. He's a staff of Rural Development Board, y'know?"
"Rural Development Board? What's his rank?"
As soon as he heard the guy worked at the Rural Development Board, Shi Xiaofei's mind exploded in laughter. His entire face went red due to him trying to control his laughter.
Really? Some staff from an obscure agency can scare people to this extent?! Hah!
"I don't really know...but he should be at least rank 23[¹]. He's in charge of handling the matters of this village...damnit, I'm so envious of him."
Shi Xiaofei sighed and rolled his eyes. Then he looked towards the tree in front of the village and started walking there.
He always wanted a faithful lackey, so why not strike while the iron's hot? Solving Lou's problem would turn him eternally grateful to Shi Xiaofei, which could help him a lot.
Noticing him move towards the tree, panic appeared on Lou's face as he hurriedly followed after him.
"Brother Shi, don't do anything weird! You don't need to do anything, after we enter the police force we'll take care of this matter! We can't deal with someone of his standing right now."
Hearing Lou's panicked shouting, Shi Xiaofei disapprovingly scowled and turned around. Like a mantis preying on an ant, he slowly nabbed Lou's shoulders.
" Do you know how much time it takes to pass through police training? "
" N-no...why?"
"Nine months. I don't think you have the heart to guess what can happen in these nine months but I'll guess it for you."
"A woman isn't a block of ice. She's human; and like every human, she can't just wait for someone for that long without suffering from loneliness. What if that Ling guy continously pesters her, and even though she dislikes him at first, his warmth invades her and melts her away, "
Lou lost the light in his eyes and mindlessly stared at the tree, while Shi Xiaofei continued with schadenfreude in his eyes.
" slowly but surely, her hesitation will evaporate and she'll willingly jump into the arms of that man and call him 'sweetheart'. Maybe she'll even decide to let herself be defiled since he's so manly and ha--"
"S-STOP...S-stop, wait, wait, i-I...she can't do that. I can't allow her to do that. Brother Shi, let's go, we'll smash that fucker's d**k. I'll see how he dares to touch women after this!"
Like a bull seeing red for the first time in its life, Lou erratically breathed and shot death stares at the people below the tree.
A dynamic shock of comfort ripped through Shi Xiaofei's body as he cooed in pleasure. He was surprised, as the electricity-like shock was sudden, but the thing that surprised him more was a faint whisper in his ears...
"Good choice."
The shock evaporated into thin air as Shi Xiaofei regained control of his body. He felt as if something foreign had entered his body, but didn't fret over it because it was comfortable.
The voice he could guess was from the entity from before, so he didn't really dwell on it. He redirected his eyes to Lou and nodded; joining him on his 'stroll of fury' towards the tree.
Surprisingly, there were a lot of familiar faces under the tree. Although they weren't familiar to Shi Xiaofei, they were to the now-shocked and cautious Lou.
The birds on the branches chirped while the sun shone bright light on the evergreen leaves. The tree looked fairly old to the eyes.
Under the tree, a few men and women were discussing with each other on something happily. All of them surrounded a single man, who was humbly smiling while staring at a girl with fire in his eyes.
The man wore a simple white undershirt and dark blue pants. His black coat was on his left arm. Overall, his entire attire mismatched the attires of people around him; who were wearing simple clothes. Furthermore, his sharp and chiseled features were charming. They added to his noble aura even more power.
The man was Ling Dasheng. A well-respected youth within the village. Not only was he working a well-paying government job, he was handsome too. He was the one guy that every parent of a girl wanted as a groom in the village, so it was a matter of pride for the Feng family to have him come for a marriage proposal.
An old looking man dressed in a washed out grey shirt came in front of Ling Dasheng and respectfully cupped his hands. His face was forcefully morphed to bear the most humble expression he could muster. Which made him look like an experienced ass-kisser.
"This old man from Feng family respectfully welcomes Sir Ling to our homely village. I wish I could take you to our house but..." He remorsefully sighed.
"Uncle, please don't blame yourself for that. That fire wasn't you, or your family's fault. And how many times have I said to not call me Sir? Uncle, our fathers were friends!" Ling Dasheng frowned. His voice was rather silky.
"Haha, yes! You make me so proud Ling'er — youths these days are uncouth, they should learn something from you!" Old Feng laughed and turned back.
"Feng Hanying, come and greet your childhood friend here!" Old Feng said and laughed. His laugh was disgustingly shameless.
Suddenly, the girl Ling Dasheng was eyeing like lamb meat smiled and came towards Ling Dasheng. Her beautiful big eyes fluttered as she extended her hands towards him.
Feng Hanying was truly beautiful. Her charming and glossy white skin complimented her feminine facial features. She wore a plain white t-shirt and jeans; unfortunately, she didn't have the curves to fill them up.
"Hi Ling'gege, it's been a while since I've met you. I hope you're doing well!"
Ling Dasheng's breathing quickened as he repeatedly nodded his head. "N-no, I'm doing really well. But being away from this village for a few months has made me rather remorseful."
Ling Dasheng extended his hands and shook them with Feng Hanying's. They were...too soft.
Looking at them both, Old Feng just wanted to seal them away in a dark room and prepare for his grandchildren. They looked so friendly with each other!
" Good thing that monkey lusting after my daughter has ran away from the village. We should take this chance to fix the problem in one go..."
Old Feng whispering to his brothers and wife and returned his gaze to his daughter. He smiled and said at a voice louder than before, " Ling, don't you think you have something to say to our daughter? "
Hearing her father say something like that, Feng Hanying couldn't help but stare at Ling Dasheng.
"Ah, well... Little Feng, I have something to confess. I'm in love with you, and I want to marry you..."
"W-what? L-ling Dasheng? You...? But I've never seen you in that way! This...this can't be!!"
Feng Hanying stuttered as she emotionally erupted. Seeing her like this Ling Dasheng's face reddened in shame.
Ling Dasheng never thought he'd be rejected.
"Feng Hanying, what are you saying?! Come back here!" Old Feng grabbed her and pulled her back. He then coughed and said to Ling Dasheng, "Uhm, sorry. Feng Hanying really speaks nonsense when she's flustered and excited. She must be really excited about this to be like that, haha!"
Ling Dasheng's felt like his soul returned to his body as he sighed. Just as he was about to continue talking, a deep voice interrupted him.
" Hm, she must be really excited, byeh? So excited for someone that she doesn't even like? "
A tall man and a frail man suddenly came between Old Feng And Ling Dasheng. The frail man was suave and had feminine charm while the tall man overshadowed everyone with his height and devilish looks.
Yeah, they would've looked kind of comedic together if the atmosphere wasn't so densely charged.
Looking at the frail man, Feng Hanying gasped and put her hands on her mouth.
"Oh it's you? Where did you come from, Shi Xiaofei and Lou Xangsheng? I thought you guys ran away?" Ling Dasheng formed a face full of concern, ignoring what they said before. Inside however, he was seething with rage.
"Lou!" Feng Hanying called out for him.
Old Feng frowned.
"Anyway, now that you're back, go home. We're handling personal matters here." Old Feng shook his head and tried to shoo them away.
"We don't wanna go home, old man. And neither are we going to allow you to sell out your daughter."
"Yeah! How dare you try to marry her off forcefully! She doesn't even want to marry!" Lou angrily roared.
"I don't think this is something you should worry about, is it Lou Xangsheng?" Ling Dasheng calmly faced Lou.
Shi Xiaofei was, of course, fully ignored by everyone.
"Oh come on, if it isn't his right, who's right is it?" Shi Xiaofei moved away Lou and stood in front Of Ling Dasheng. Compared to Ling, Shi Xiaofei was so tall that he looked like a giant compared to him.
"You should know about it, but I'll inform you nonetheless: Feng Hanying is pregnant with Lou's unborn child."
The last two words shocked the souls out of everyone. Specifically Lou and Feng Hanying, of which the former opened his mouth to the size of a football, and the latter blushed in shame.
Of course, it was a shitty made-up story, because Lou hadn't even touched the nape of Feng Hanying before.
Ling Dasheng's face went pale as he gnashed his teeth, and like a faithful lackey Old Feng came and barked at Shi Xiaofei.
"Insolent! Who gave you the right to say libel against my daughter! My daughter would never even be friends with a person as low-class as Lou Xangsheng!"
"Shut up junior, do you know who you're spouting libel in front of?! My daughter's fiance, Officer Ling Dasheng will have you arrested!" Feng Hanying's mother, a grey haired fat woman spoke.
Of course, they didn't know that whatever Shi Xiaofei said was made-up. So while they were trying to salvage the situation Shi Xiaofei exploited them!
" Get out, Shi Xiaofei. How dare you accuse Feng'er!" Ling Dasheng shot death glares at Shi Xiaofei.
"Hm, no. I don't want to, what'll you do? Arrest me like your...uncle said? Do you have the authority to even make me visit the police station?"
"What are you? Some puny staff the from Rural Development Board; these people kissing your ass has made you senile."
Ling Dasheng didn't stay quiet either, "If I'm a nobody, then what are you? Did you think just by giving a police exam, you're a hotshot? Even people greater than me couldn't pass that exam, so who are you? Just because some answers you gave were correct, doesn't mean you passed it."
"Aw, did it hurt being reminded of your job? You know, I passed the exam, and so did Lou. But that's not where my confidence is coming from, it's coming from facing someone like you."
"I don't want to argue with you, so fuck off. Don't try coming back here again."
Weeds should be pulled out of their roots before they overtake the growth of the trees. So...
The surprised face of Ling Dasheng was squashed soon as Shi Xiaofei strained the muscles in his left arm and shot a fist straight at his face.
" Bastard! How dare you hit Ling Dasheng?!"
"Sir sir, are you okay?!"
Suddenly, the other people under the tree all ran and pulled up Ling Dasheng from the ground; who looked like a mud-animal after the punch threw him on the small puddles of mud.
"That's what you get for trying to act like a hotshot, asshole!" Lou vented through insults.
Shi Xiaofei looked at his fists and was surprised. Amazingly, his punch held such strength that he punched someone straight to the ground; granted that his hit was rather sneaky.
" Y...you, how dare you hit me?! Do you know who I am?!"
"A buff man's boytoy?"
Shi Xiaofei's quick rebuttal aroused a short chuckle from Lou and Feng Hanying. But only fury from the other people.
"Shi Xiaofei, you should be grateful that your father isn't here to see what you've become!! Do you really think this won't have any bad effects?!" Some unknown man from the group spoke.
" I don't care. I really don't have time to fuck around here either, so adios!"
Shi Xiaofei waved at the enraged group of men and women and glanced at Lou, who nodded and grabbed Feng Hanying by both her neck and her legs and lifted her in a princess carry.
Feng Hanying blushed and hid her face in Lou's chest, while Lou looked at where Shi Xiaofei was and discovered thin air.
He looked right in front of him and discovered Shi Xiaofei briskly running like his life was on the line. Lou wasn't that dumb as he yelled, "Wait!" and ran; following Shi Xiaofei.
Shi Xiaofei didn't run because he was afraid, oh no. That'd be a big mistake to even assume. He was running because...he just wanted the arrogant group of shitheads to die in anger, hehehe!
"Brother Shi, haa, why did you run, hoo?!"
"Fool, if we don't run, how will these guys get a taste of their own medicine?! I bet they made you angry, now it's their time to be angry!"
"Haha, alright!"
...
...
...
"Gosh, everything here looks like it's from a haunted mansion!" Feng Hanying coughed and shoved away the grey spiderwebs around the fridge.
Shi Xiaofei nodded and softly reclined on the sofa. It was his own home, so he sure had the power to do whatever he wants! Not even arrogant filth could interrupt him now!
" Brother Shi, how can you be so calm?! We should be running away from here as fast as we can, the village people won't spare us!"
Annoyed that Lou had interrupted his important beauty nap, Shi Xiaofei grumbled, "Not really, that Ling Dasheng won't talk or let others talk about this matter because he doesn't want to lose face. He'll solve this matter with his own hands.
" But Shi'gege, isn't that even more dangerous? What if he comes with some of his lackies to take revenge?" Feng Hanying looked worried as he carried two glasses of water to them.
"I have an easy solution to that. We'll go the city, hah!" Shi Xiaofei burst out laughing.
"...that's what I've been saying repeatedly for the past ten minutes, brother Shi..."
"And, get a job, because begging on the streets doesn't pay much. Neither me or Lou can afford a taxi right now, we're that broke."
Feng Hanying asked, "Oh, but didn't you guys say you passed the exam you went to give?"
Lou replied to her with shifty eyes, "Feng'er, it takes upto a month for the results to be announced. Along with waiting another month to even get the job, we'll be skeletons if we stay jobless!"
"Plus, I can't really buy a ring with the money I have right now, hehe."
"Y-you idiot, I don't need a ring!" Feng Hanying furiously blushed, and already started dreaming about living in the city with Lou.
"Um, but do I go with you guys?"
"Yeah, I don't think Lou will be able to control himself otherwise from all the...you know, jade-legged beautiful women in the city."
"C'mon Brother Shi, you're talking like they throw themselves on me!"
Feng Hanying chuckled while Lou rolled his eyes.
"Oh well, but I don't think I'll be able to get a good job. My university degree is kind of useless since it's from an obscure and new university." Shi Xiaofei bitterly remarked. Unfortunately, him being poor and mediocre contributed to his poor education.
" Then it's hopeless for us too...sigh..."
...
1 | The rank systems will be explained soon. But they're similar to the ranking system of the Chinese Civil Service.