Chapter 107: A Takeaway from Special Training, A Sinister Kick
Translated by: kevin1782
Edited by: Isalee
In the dilapidated apartment block, Gao Yang stopped to confirm the address on the door before entering the block together with Elena.
Upon spotting them entering the block, an old black man slowly asked, “Excuse me, who are you looking for?”
“We’re looking for Mrs. Smith in unit 03-06A.” Gao Yang said as he came to a halt.
The old man donned in uniform put down his newspaper and briefly inspected Gao Yang. He shook his head, “I remember they were a pretty nice family. Unfortunately, you have found the wrong place, or you are too late. Mrs. Smith and her son were chased out by the landlord because they couldn’t afford the rent.”
Gao Yang knew the rent should be inexpensive, considering how run-down the apartment looked. The survivors of the Smith family seemed to be struggling as they could not even afford to rent this kind of housing.
“Do you know where they went?” Gao Yang frowned.
The old man pouted, “Although I am not sure where they really went, you can try your luck at Coronation Park.”
“May I ask where Coronation Park is? And is it far from here?”
“Not at all, you should be able to get there pretty quickly on a cab.”
Gao Yang and Elena left the apartment after thanking the old man. Without further ado, they flagged a taxi and went straight to Coronation Park.
Gao Yang assumed Coronation Park was some sort of a small residential area, but he appeared to be in the wrong as the taxi pulled up in front of an entrance to an actual park. As soon as the taxi stopped, he asked, “Bro, we’re looking for someone in Coronation Park, and this is not exactly the park we were expecting. So, is there any residential area called Coronation Park around?”
The dark-skinned driver was very young. With a characteristic black’s person smile, he said, “Are you looking for a very poor white cracker[1]? If so, you have came to the right place. This is indeed where lazy bums like them live.”
Even though Gao Yang was utterly confused, he decided to take a look first. Together with Elena, they walked into the park after they paid the taxi fare. There were black kids playing everywhere on the grassy fields in the park, along with many others playing football. Some were even having barbeques.
A few black youths whistled loudly at Elena upon spotting her and Gao Yang, and proceeded to chatter non-stop while pointing at Elena. Although their expressions greatly displeased Gao Yang, the youths did not cross the line.
Just then, Elena pointed at one corner of the park: “Look over there, I spot white people.”
Following Elena’s finger, Gao Yang saw a mess of trailers and makeshift shacks made of aged iron sheets where a few white kids were playing rugby.
As they approached the shacks, Gao Yang was shocked to find the white kids caked in filth without any shoes on. These kids were just running after a punctured rugby ball while barefoot.
The shacks were basically separated from the park with numerous broken tires piled at the entrance.
It felt like entering a completely different world after crossing the broken tires. Going around those happy kids, Gao Yang and Elena delved deeper into the shacks. As they went further in, they only saw many white people along the two sides of the road of various ages. They all looked the same, wearing dirty, worn-out clothes and staring blankly at the duo.
In this unfamiliar environment full of hostility, Gao Yang began to feel uneasy. He shifted his backpack onto his chest and unzipped it. Using his right hand, he cocked the pistol in his backpack and held onto the pistol in the bag. He then held Elena with his left hand.
Although he regretted bringing Elena to this sort of place, she was not worried in the least. Conversely, she was excited to have Gao Yang hold her hand for the first time.
A few more steps in, Gao Yang finally spotted a friendly-looking old lady. He stopped and greeted her as gently as he could, “Hello, may I ask if you know Mrs. Smith?”
Due to British naming conventions, after John Smith’s passing, his wife only left ‘Mrs. Smith’ as her name. Gao Yang was not aware of Mrs. Smith’s own name, but as long as she did not remarry, he felt this name would still be useful for finding her. Much to his dismay, the old lady merely turned around and left after she briefly looked at him.
In his desperation, he just shrugged and kept pressing forward, hoping to find someone else to ask. This time, it was not long before he saw a crowd making a fuss, with some even hollering, “Beat him to death!”
Gao Yang and Elena approached the crowd. He could hear two screaming women, dull sounds of fists thumping onto bodies, as well as a raging man. Gao Yang was reluctant to get himself into this mess, but even more so, he wanted to get the hell out of there. He unwillingly approached a middle-aged man that was enthusiastically shouting in front of him.
“Hi sir, may I ask if you know Mrs. Smith? She probably lives around here too.”
Annoyed with his interruption, the middle-aged man glared at Gao Yang. However, after Gao Yang finished, the man sized him up and replied in a queer tone, ‘“I know her, and I even know her son.”
“Thank goodness, may I know where she lives? Can you bring me to her? I can give you a hundred Rands for your trouble.”
Upon hearing that money was involved, the man’s eyes shined and his hand immediately reached out for the money. Without waiting for Gao Yang, Elena promptly slapped a hundred Rand note in the man’s open palm.
With the money in hand, the man spoke without hesitation while glancing at the center of the crowd, “She’s there. You hear those cries? The one that’s not so sharp belongs to Mrs. Smith. As for the screams coming from the guy that’s taking a beating? That’s her son.”
Gao Yang immediately grabbed Elena and pushed through the crowd towards the center without even bothering to trouble the middle-aged man.
After finally managing to squeeze their way to the front of the crowd amidst the curses, they saw two men, one older than the other beating each other up. To be more precise though, the older, stronger man was just mounted on top of the youth, pounding away at the youth’s face fist after fist. Even though the youth was at a complete disadvantage, he retaliated with all the strength he could muster, swearing perpetually.
Besides the two fighting men, two women of different ages were crying while trying to pull the muscular man away. Unfortunately it was in vain, as the man could easily brush them aside with a simple sweep of the arm.
Gao Yang did not act on impulse. He quickly asked a spectating man, “Who is that woman?”
“That’s Mrs. Smith… and who the heck are you?”
Gao Yang did not respond after getting the answer he wanted. Instead, he removed his backpack and handed it over to Elena. “There’s a gun inside this backpack. Hold onto it, but don’t take it out. Fire at will if you are in danger, be careful.” Gao Yang whispered into Elena’s ear.
He gave Elena’s face a couple pats upon finishing his sentence, and ran up the muscular man. With a firm kick, the man was booted to one side.
Everybody was dumbstruck by Gao Yang’s sudden appearance, along with his kick that sent the man reeling. Mrs. Smith and the teenage girl looked at Gao Yang gratefully, and they swiftly helped the youth lying on the floor get up. However, after the youth got up, he brushed aside the two women and instantly pounced on the man who was still trying to get to his feet.
Looking at the brawl that the youth and the man got into once again, Gao Yang heaved a sigh and roared, “Stop this at once!”
Gao Yang moved in at the same time— he grabbed the youth by his collar and dragged him over to one side. He then pointed at the man who was trying to retaliate and bellowed, “Stop right now. Stop, or I will kill you!”
Although the youth was furious, he was aware that Gao Yang was on his side. So he did not continue fighting and stood over on one side while spitting a big mouthful of spittle with some blood. That muscular man stood up. However, he yawped and waved his fist towards Yang immediately.
Gao Yang swerved his body and tilted his head to avoid a punch from the muscular man before he silently struck him with his right leg.
Gao Yang’s sinister kick struck the man’s groin squarely, sending the man to his knees and he fell forward while cupping his groin in pain. Before his next kick could connect with the man’s nape, Gao Yang twisted his body and redirected his kick onto the floor beside the man.
Gao Yang did not waste his one month with Lee Jin Fang. He felt no pressure up against an man with all brawn and no brains. However, if not for his quick reaction and readjustment, the kick, which was now part of his instinct, would have taken the man’s life for sure if it landed in the original spot.
Even though an opponent would most definitely lose all resistance after taking a hit to a weak spot like the groin, Jin preached that an additional kick was always necessary whether it was to the nape, or to the throat. It all depended on whether the opponent was falling forward or backward. This would ensure the enemy’s death. An extra kick would not have taken too much effort to pull off anyway.
Gao Yang almost got that last kick in, but it was better that he withdrew his offense in time. He was no longer on the battlefield and neither was he allowed to; he did not need to bring about death right now.
Sure enough, the teenage girl who had been crying and trying to pull the man away from the fight suddenly shouted, “Daddy!” and scrambled onto the man.
Regardless, the situation was finally under control. Gao Yang turned to the sobbing woman grabbing onto the youth and asked, “Hello, are you Mrs. Smith?”
The astonished woman and youth both stared at Gao Yang. Then the woman replied, “Yes, that’s me, and who might you be?”
Translation note:
Very offensive for Whites. Means they’re really poor. But it suits the situation because the original text says, “窮鬼”, which is poor ghost from the direct translation. More appropriately, it means very poor and has a derogatory connotation to it.