------------
As they drove into Clearview City, it was already past 5 p.m., almost dinnertime. Though Clearview was just a county-level city, the streets were still bustling. Rainie Cheng guided her Audi slowly into the city, following the flow of people and cars ahead.
Shawn Young originally wanted to stop by home first, but when he called, no one answered. Then he remembered—it was the weekend, and both his parents were busy at this time. His mother ran a fruit stand opposite the City Hospital, which was always crowded with visitors on weekends, making the fruit business brisk. His father, Shawn Cheng, and his younger sister, Shawn Jing, who came home for the weekend, would also help out. So every weekend, the Young family wouldn’t have dinner until after eight-thirty at night.
Thinking it over, Shawn was still worried about Joanna Gong’s situation. Besides, Rainie Cheng didn’t have much free time, and her police background could help avoid a lot of hassle. So he said to her, “Rainie, let’s go check on the Gong family first and see what’s up!”
“Oh, sure! Which way?” Rainie Cheng had already guessed what Shawn was thinking.
“Take a right at the intersection on the left. That road’s called Xin Heng Road. Drive straight ahead and you’ll reach Joanna Gong’s place—it’s right on the main street. There’s a little shop downstairs, a mini-market called ‘Everbright Market.’ You can’t miss it.” Shawn explained.
“Alright, let’s head over now.” With that, Rainie Cheng turned left at the intersection, steering the car onto Xin Heng Road and driving straight in.
Soon, the car reached the middle stretch of Xin Heng Road, but up ahead they suddenly saw a crowd gathered at the roadside, nearly blocking the way. Rainie Cheng frowned, a little annoyed: “Ugh—what’s with all these people? They’re blocking the road, I can’t get through!”
Shawn Young rolled down the window and stuck his head out to look. He saw a bunch of people—mostly older folks—pointing and gossiping, some even eating dinner while watching the commotion. It was classic Chinese street theater. Peering closer, Shawn realized the crowd was right in front of the Everbright Market, downstairs from Joanna Gong’s place. He froze, sensing something was wrong, and quickly told Rainie, “Rainie, that’s Joanna’s building. Looks like the crowd’s watching some drama—probably nothing good.”
“Oh, I see!” Rainie quickly parked the car by the roadside. She and Shawn got out and walked toward the crowd. As they passed two older women, Shawn noticed them shaking their heads and sighing, chattering away with animated gestures. He stopped and asked, “Excuse me, ladies, what’s going on in there?”
One of the older women looked up at Shawn and said, “Sigh—it’s those loan sharks again, here to collect debts and causing a scene. Such wickedness!”
“Wait—aren’t loan sharks illegal? How come no one’s doing anything?” Shawn asked, surprised.
The other woman glanced around, then whispered to Shawn, “Do something? Who’d dare get involved in this mess! Those loan sharks are all Tiger Mafia—do you know what that means, kid? Only the nastiest, most ruthless types get into that. Word is, the loan sharks are Tiger Mafia guys. Around here, folks would rather get busted by city inspectors than mess with Tiger Mafia—they’re monsters!”
“Oh, don’t the police do anything about the mafia?” Shawn asked, playing dumb.
“Hey, young man, are you from out of town?” one of the women asked Shawn.
“Uh—sort of,” Shawn replied.
“Then keep your voice down, don’t go talking nonsense. Let me tell you, everyone in Clearview City knows—the cops and Tiger Mafia are in cahoots! Around here, you can mess with anyone except the Tiger Mafia and the police, or you’ll regret it! Kid, just watch the drama and stay out of trouble. Times have changed, you gotta be careful!” The woman took a liking to Shawn and gave him a friendly warning.
“Oh, got it. Thanks, ma’am. I’ll be careful,” Shawn said, then pulled Rainie Cheng along as they squeezed into the crowd.
They quickly made their way inside. Looking up, they saw the Everbright Market sign was completely defaced, splattered with red and black paint. The metal shutter had a huge hole smashed through it, and inside, shelves were toppled with all the goods gone. On both walls, big, ugly, threatening words were scrawled in red paint: “Pay up!” “Kill your whole family!” “XX, I’ll end you!” and other intimidating messages.
At the entrance stood a skinny young guy with glasses, messy red-dyed hair, wearing beach shorts and wooden sandals. His chest was tattooed with a badly-drawn tiger. In his left hand was a watermelon knife, and in his right, a can of red spray paint. He was busy tagging the wall by the stairs with threats like: “Pay up now! Or else first X then X!”
Shawn Young frowned, pushed through the crowd, and walked right up to the guy. He patted him on the shoulder and said, “Hey, what are you doing? Knock it off with the graffiti, will you?”
“Screw you! Who the hell are you? I’m working here, okay? I’m busy, got it? What’s your problem, you want me to help you scratch that itch? You—” The punk turned around, cursing, and locked eyes with Shawn. Both froze, their expressions changing instantly.
“Holy chicken!! It’s you!”
“Damn! Gunpowder!! You—it’s you!!”
Both Shawn and the punk shouted in surprise, then hugged each other excitedly. After a while, they let go, and Rainie Cheng, who was watching the drama from outside, was left dumbstruck. Turns out Shawn actually knew this guy—and they seemed to get along pretty well, too.