Chapter 22: Thunderstorm
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These people also exchanged coins with Cao Yang and gathered around to play.
There were clearly two machines, yet the six or seven of them preferred crowding around a single one. That was simply how people around here were.
Before long, Thunderbolt arrived as well, carrying liquor and food, his face wreathed in smiles.
“Well, well, so many people today?” Thunderbolt exclaimed, surprised to find business so good.
Cao Yang merely smiled. From his expression, he could tell that they had made some money the night before.
“Where are A Liang and Jiawei?”
“Forget about them. Let’s have a drink, just the two of us.”
Cao Yang drank while keeping an eye on the shop. By three in the morning, everyone had left.
After seeing Thunderbolt off, he sat behind the counter to count the money and settle the accounts. He had made more than five hundred today.
He was overjoyed and wanted to share the good news with Li Yan. Once she found out, given her temperament, she would surely be ecstatic.
But Cao Yang had no phone, and he was too lazy to make the trip there. Since she was angry with him, he might as well let her stew for a couple of days. Once he had made a little more money, he would tell her and slap her hard in the face. That would teach her to tell him to transfer the shop!
The next day, the same group came again.
Although they had lost more than they won the day before, they did not blame the machines. Cao Yang’s machines frequently paid out big jackpots. At first, they would all win a little; whenever they lost, it was because their own greed kept them from walking away.
And that was indeed the truth. Cao Yang’s machines often paid out major prizes, whereas other machines could swallow dozens of yuan without producing so much as a fart.
Those lousy machines did nothing but produce apples or tiny triple payouts. Even when someone finally managed to hit the gun symbol, it often failed to fire.
Cao Yang’s machines were different. Not only did they frequently pay out big prizes, they had also produced the Old Ghost several times, allowing people to win real money.
The group played with such enthusiasm that passersby began stopping to watch. Seeing the decent payout rate, they could not resist trying their luck and exchanged a few coins of their own.
That was the effect of a crowd: the more people gathered, the more people came. Soon both machines were surrounded.
When Cao Yang closed the shop that night and counted the money, he found that he had made a net profit of two thousand one hundred. His grin stretched from ear to ear.
On the third day, business was as good as ever, and Thunderbolt watched with undisguised envy.
By now, he was a permanent fixture at Cao Yang’s shop, playing there whenever he had nothing else to do.
“Cao Yang, you must be making quite a bit every day, aren’t you?” he asked enviously.
“Not too bad, not too bad.” Cao Yang tried to sound modest.
“How come no one collecting protection money has come to cause you trouble?” Thunderbolt asked suspiciously. If nobody was going to make trouble, perhaps he should get two machines himself.
“Maybe they haven’t heard about it yet.” Cao Yang knew that this was what worried Li Yan most, but he did not care. If soldiers came, he would meet them with soldiers; if water came, he would block it with earth.
Thunderbolt’s phone rang. He answered, exchanged a few words, and hung up.
Cao Yang gazed enviously at the phone. “How much did that cost you?”
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“A little over two thousand. It’s a Motorola—a famous brand.”
“What are you so pleased about? I’ll buy one tomorrow too.” Cao Yang felt that he ought to have a phone of his own.
Hearing that he intended to buy one, Thunderbolt became interested. “You should have told me earlier. I’ll take you shopping tomorrow. My sister works at a phone store.”
“You have a sister?”
“Why not? Are you the only one allowed to have a sister?”
“My sister is my real sister, not some wild sister like yours.”
His tone was odd, and he was clearly harboring serious suspicions about the relationship between Cao Yang and Li Yan.
At first, when Cao Yang called her his sister, Thunderbolt had thought nothing of it. Later, after learning that they did not share a surname, he had assumed they might be cousins. But now, it seemed more like an illicit romance between an older woman and a younger man.
Early the next morning, Cao Yang stuffed more than three thousand yuan in cash into his pocket and took a taxi with Thunderbolt to the city center, where they arrived at a mobile-phone shop.
“Sis.” As they entered, Thunderbolt greeted a fair-skinned, refined, and delicate-looking beauty.
She wore a pale-blue blouse and a simple ponytail. Her face was free of makeup, yet she looked pure and radiant.
When she saw Thunderbolt, she frowned. “What are you doing here?”
There was considerable helplessness in her voice. Apparently, her younger brother had caused her no shortage of trouble.
“What kind of attitude is that? I’m here to buy a phone and boost your sales.”
As he spoke, Thunderbolt pointed at Cao Yang. “This is my brother, Cao Yang.”
“And this is my sister, Lei Yu. You can also call her Xiaoyu.”
“Nice to meet you, Sis.” Cao Yang gave her a simple, honest smile. He had never expected Thunderbolt’s sister to be so beautiful.
Her beauty was different from that of ordinary girls. She gave off the air of a virtuous wife and devoted mother, as though marrying her would guarantee happiness for the rest of one’s life.
“Hello.” Lei Yu smiled at him politely. “Which phone would you like?”
“I don’t know much about them. Why don’t you recommend one, Sis?” Cao Yang genuinely knew nothing about phones.
“What’s your budget?”
“Hmm… around two thousand.”
Lei Yu took a Nokia from behind the counter and began introducing it to him.
Her explanation was wasted, because Cao Yang could not understand a word of it. As far as he was concerned, it was a famous brand that would look good in public, let him make calls and send text messages, and, ideally, came with a few small games.
As luck would have it, this Nokia met all his requirements, so Cao Yang paid for it on the spot.
Lei Yu took him to the register, processed the payment, issued the receipt, packed the phone into its box, and then helped him get a SIM card.
“What is your relationship with Thunderbolt?” Lei Yu asked as she handed Cao Yang his things.
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“We’re friends—good brothers!” Cao Yang emphasized the closeness of their relationship.
Unexpectedly, Lei Yu’s expression grew colder at once. After handing him the items, she ignored them completely.
Cao Yang was utterly baffled. Had he somehow offended her?
“Sis, what’s your phone number?”
“What do you need my number for?” Lei Yu asked, suddenly wary.
“Yeah, what do you want my sister’s number for?” Thunderbolt asked, his expression turning hostile as well.
I treat you like a brother, so don’t get any funny ideas!
“This is my first time using a phone. If I run into something I don’t understand, I’ll need to ask you.” Only after hearing this explanation did Lei Yu take his phone and dial her own number into it.
As for Thunderbolt’s question, Cao Yang simply ignored it.
“Sis, we’re leaving.” As they departed, Cao Yang waved to her, but Lei Yu did not even spare him a glance.
“Thunderbolt, your sister doesn’t seem very happy to see us. We came all this way, and she didn’t even invite us to dinner.”
“That’s normal. Your sister doesn’t welcome me either.”
“That’s different. My sister is worried you’ll lead me astray.”
“Then my sister is worried you’ll lead me astray too!”
“What could I possibly lead you astray into?”
Cao Yang was startled. He had more or less guessed why Lei Yu disliked him.
She certainly knew what her younger brother did for a living. She must have mistaken Cao Yang for Thunderbolt’s accomplice—for another petty thief.
Damn it, his reputation had been ruined. If only he had come alone.
Back at the convenience shop, Cao Yang opened for business while lovingly fiddling with his new phone.
Suddenly, a text message arrived. To his surprise, it was from Lei Yu.
“Do not lead my brother down the wrong path.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Cao Yang replied, thinking that it was clearly her brother who had led him astray.
He waited for a long while, but Lei Yu never replied.
He then excitedly called Li Yan to tell her that he had bought a phone. A good mood was meant to be shared, after all.
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