A Jun IV

This article was written on October 19, 2013

Author: Lü Jianfeng

A Jun IV

— In memory of the reckless years of youth

When A Jun was twenty, he was fond of Jin Yong, Gu Long, and martial arts novels, valuing chivalry and boldness.

One day, A and a friend took a minibus. In a Beijing minibus, there was a driver and a conductor. A passenger, possibly without money, took advantage of the crowd boarding and claimed he had paid. The burly conductor dragged him off and slapped him hard. A Jun's blood rushed to his head, and he shouted, 'If you don't drive now, I'll beat you to death!' The whole bus fell silent. The conductor stopped hitting and exchanged a glance with the driver, then the bus started moving.

Another day, at the roundabout under the North Fourth Ring Road, A saw some people gambling on chess. He casually said, 'They're cheating.' Immediately, three or five men rushed at A. A kicked the front one and turned to run, escaping swiftly.

Once, A's fellow townsman was beaten by a pork seller at a vegetable market. So he gathered A and over ten fellow townsmen, carrying iron rods and cleavers, chased and slashed the vendor. Several butchers around made loud noises but dared not move. The vendor was covered in blood, and A and the others retreated calmly.

Another time, another fellow townsman of A had beaten a watermelon seller in a suburban residence. The seller was a member of a gang, all local thugs from nearby rural areas of Beijing. The gang leader led people with long watermelon knives to search everywhere for A's fellow townsman. On the weekend, A took his fellow townsman directly to the gang leader's residence. Over ten thugs immediately surrounded them, waiting for the leader's order. The beaten man, holding a watermelon knife, thrust at A's fellow townsman behind him. A grabbed the blade with his bare hand, and like in a Hong Kong gangster film, the knife could not move. The leader quickly ordered, 'Everyone, stop!' A said slowly, 'We are all outsiders. If we really fight, we're not afraid. We'll beat you and run, and you'll have no way to catch us.' The leader said it couldn't be for nothing. A agreed to host a banquet to apologize. Probably the local snake fears the roaming dragon, and that matter was settled.

A was beaten and slashed even more often. Due to limited space, details will be given in the next installment.