Translator: Yuyj
Editor: Nyamh
"Let's go. Come on. There's a lot of people. Hurry up and sneak in," Liu Biao nagged. "If we're slow, we won't get seats."
A couple of suited hooligans entered before them, making Liu Biao realize that Zhang Yang was definitely not dressed for the occasion. Quickly, Liu biao pulled Zhang Yang into the building before anyone could also notice the same thing.
But several muscular men, wearing crisp black suits, blocked their path. "Whose underlings are you?" one of them demanded. Damn, their suits were at least 2000 RMB a piece. [1] Compared to Liu Biao's off-the-rack cheap shit, these muscle heads were leagues ahead.
"I-I'm. I'm Liu Biao," he stuttered. A chihuahua to their bulldog.
"I asked whose underling you are," the same burly man said, ice dripping from his tone.
"I'm Xiao—No, no. I'm…H-him. I know him," Liu Biao pointed at a middle-aged man in a white suit who sauntered towards them. Liu Biao's savior.
"You know 7th brother?" The muscle head instantly changed his attitude. Though suspicion still lit his gaze as he pointedly glanced at Liu Biao's cheap suit and Zhang Yang's dirty clothes.
At this time, Zhang Yang considered a crack in the pavement and dearly wished he could just slip inside and hide. He had thought that Liu Biao was going to the party as a dinner guest to offer a gift in a red envelope…yet here they were, being interrogated at the door, no more significant or recognizable than the dirt on the guards' heels.
"Yes, yes! I know him!" Liu Biao's assurances rushed over each other like boulders in a rockslide.
Oh, gawd. Let's just hope they didn't get demolished down here at the bottom. Zhang Yang glanced at the crack in the pavement one more time. He couldn't even let out the sigh pressing against his chest.
The middle-aged man wearing the white suit, surrounded by tens of bodyguards, ambled closer. He gave off an ageless impression. As if he could easily be 30 or 40 years old though he looked frail.
"7th brother!" The suited doormen bowed simultaneously, their faces filled with respect and admiration.
"What's wrong?" Even though 7th brother wore a warm smile, his entire body exuded superiority. 7th brother's keen presence gave off an immense pressure that pushed against Zhang Yang's measly existence.
"7th brother—these two people want to be admitted inside." He pointed at Liu Biao. "This man says he knows you." The muscle head carefully watched 7th brother's expression.
"You know me?" The middle-aged man's warm expression instantly chilled as he looked at Liu Biao. His pupils narrowed to a needle point. In an instant, it was as if the temperature that had hugged them in an uncomfortable cocoon cooled so sharply that it hurt. The acute pressure made Zhang Yang struggle for breath. At any moment, he was sure he could simply stop breathing. Even his sweat pores shriveled. The middle-aged man's dangerous aura peaked as he tightly laced his fingers together, considering them. He was a fully drawn bow.
"I-I…I-I," Liu Biao's pinched face tightened as if a tear would squeeze from each of his eyes. "I saw you once at Duck Master!" Liu Biao confessed. He never would have thought just sneaking in to get a peek at his idol would be this hard. If he had known, he wouldn't have ever dared to come here like this! Even if he was beaten to death. Never. Never would he have come.
"So, you're saying you've only ever seen me before?" The middle aged man asked. The pressure in the air dissipated.
The tightly-wound Zhang Yang inhaled a breath of relief. He'd practically created a new tic that constantly had him swinging his eyes at a specific spot on the ground. The crack in the pavement. Where he would have hidden himself a long ass time ago if he could. This middle-aged man gave off a sense of pressure that was several tens of times greater than those five train robbers. Zhang Yang hated this feeling of powerlessness. This was not something he wanted to make a habit.
"Yes, exactly!" Liu Biao said. "Let me go, please! Boss Xiao is my hero. I just want to see him. Look, I brought a red envelope. I'm not here for free food." Liu Biao shakily reached into his pocket and took out a small, sad-looking red envelope. It was apparent that Liu Biao had also been strongly influenced by the middle-aged man's intensity.
Everyone stilled as they looked to the middle-aged man.
The middle aged man burst into a fit of laughter. He laughed so hard that he started coughing. His originally pale face became a rosy red.
"May I enter?" Liu Biao's pitiful expression made Zhang Yang want to vomit. He didn't think that a coarse man like Liu Biao could put on such a disgusting expression.
The middle-aged man laughed so hard that tears streamed from his eyes. He pulled out a pure white handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his face. "It's been a long time since I've been this happy. You may enter. They all call me 7th brother, and there are some who call me Little Seven. What's your name?"
"I'm Liu Biao," he said, overwhelmed with joy. "My friend's name is Zhang Yang."
"Zhang Yang." The middle-aged man gazed deeply into Zhang Yang's eyes. "I'll remember it."
"Thank you, 7th brother." Zhang Yang felt as if the man saw straight through him.
"We'll go in together!" The 7th brother laughed as he clapped Liu Biao on the shoulder. "You're not bad, kid. You have guts. Your friend's not bad either. Have some fun. If there's another banquet like this, you may use my name."
"Yes! Of course! Thank you, 7th brother!" Liu Biao bowed and scraped as he saw 7th brother off to the second floor. Though, it was true that he had seen this man at C City's most famous dimsum restaurant, Duck Master, he still couldn't figure out exactly who 7th brother was.
As they entered the main hall of Bai Jia Yuan hotel, the middle-aged man was quickly escorted to an elevator, presumably headed for the third floor. [2]
Zhang Yang took stock. The building was split into levels. Currently, they were located on the first floor and on the second floor, a contingent of suited bodyguards cased the area.
Once 7th brother had disappeared into the elevator, Liu Biao grabbed the sightseeing Zhang Yang and pulled him sneakily into a corner.
Liu Biao pointed at a group of tables in front of a screen. "Do you see that?" There were many people surrounding the tables who seemed rather busy.
"What's wrong? That's for the red envelopes. Didn't you bring one?"
"Yeah, but you didn't bring one, and I only have one." Liu Biao said. "What if I split mine in two? Then we'll both have a red envelope to give. How's that sound?" Liu Biao laughed strangely.
"Okay. That's not a bad idea," Zhang Yang said. After all, if he didn't gift a red envelope, he'd feel as if he was eating for free.
"Alright, then it's decided."
Saying this, Liu Biao immediately opened up his red envelope and took out 100 of the 200 yuan that was in the envelope and shoved it into Zhang Yang's hands. [3] Then he promptly resealed his red envelope.
Translator's Notes
[1]: 2000 RMB is about $295 USD.
[2]: "Bai Jia Yuan" translates to Fate of Hundred Families.
[2]: "100 of the 200 yuan" = $14.76 of the $29.51 USD.