HPDBC Chapter 6: I believe in you!
Chapter 6: I believe in you!
"Wait a minute before you start!"
Zhang Haozhe pointed to his bulbous nose and buzz cut, raised his hand in a gesture, and then pulled Lin Qi aside.
"Did my dad send you to find me?"
He looked at Lin Qi nervously, afraid of hearing a positive answer from Lin Qi.
"no."
Lin Qi's answer made him breathe a sigh of relief instantly.
"That's good, that's good."
He rubbed his forehead, then asked疑惑地问道, "How did you know I was here?"
This time, Lynch didn't answer him, but instead asked the same question again: "How much have you lost?"
"...Not many."
Zhang Haozhe awkwardly picked at his ear and mumbled, "Why did you bring An Xin here? It's a mess in here, you should go back!"
"Don't change the subject."
Lynch saw through his pretense: "Honestly, how much have you already lost?"
Zhang Haozhe's expression turned awkward, and then, annoyed by his questioning, he waved his hand and said, "How much I lose is none of your business. You two should go back now."
"If you don't tell me, I'll tell your dad."
Lin Qi knew his weakness and had him under control with just one sentence.
What are you doing?
Zhang Haozhe panicked: "How much I lose is my business, and besides, I'm about to win it all back. Don't interfere!"
Are you genuinely stupid or just pretending?
Lin Qi frowned and stared at him: "Didn't you realize that Ma Chao and the others conspired to set you up?"
Lin Qi's tone was harsh, and Zhang Haozhe could tell that he was genuinely angry.
"Setting up a trap?"
Zhang Haozhe hesitated for a moment before muttering, "Don't talk nonsense, Brother Chao and I are from the same village..."
Seeing that he was still so stubborn, Lin Qi was exasperated and raised his voice: "Then why doesn't he fight you himself, and instead lets someone else fight you?"
The private room wasn't very big to begin with, so Ma Chao and the others could hear them talking.
After Lin Qi finished speaking, he simply turned to Ma Chao, who was pretending not to hear by the window, and asked, "Ma Chao, tell me yourself, did you conspire with someone else to trick him?"
In this situation, an ordinary person would certainly not speak frankly.
However, because of Asperger's syndrome, he has never been good at speaking in a roundabout way since childhood.
Ma Chao was put on an awkward spot by his question and couldn't keep up the pretense any longer. He stiffened his neck and retorted, "Stop talking nonsense! Who tricked him? He's the one who asked me to bring him here, and now you're blaming me?"
"Lynch!"
Fearing a conflict, Zhang Haozhe pulled Lin Qi aside and gave him a wink.
"What the hell are you doing? Are you still playing or not?"
On the other side, the blond-haired guy sitting on the chair by the wall cursed in annoyance.
"Play, play, coming right now."
Zhang Haozhe was a little scared and quickly responded.
"Xiao Zhang."
Across the pool table, a man with a bulbous nose and a buzz cut grinned and said, "This is your classmate? Pretty capable, huh!"
"Brother Hai, he has a strange personality and doesn't know how to talk, so don't take it to heart."
Zhang Haozhe smiled ingratiatingly, while subtly blocking Lin Qi and An Xin from view.
Lin Qi looked at the bulbous-nosed, buzz-cut man and calmly asked, "Brother Hai, right? How much money did Zhang Haozhe lose to you guys?"
The blond-haired man by the wall suddenly stood up, walked to Hai Ge's side, and stared coldly at Lin Qi.
Seeing this scene, Zhang Haozhe's body began to tremble slightly.
But Lin Qi remained calm, simply staring at Hai Ge.
Zhang Haozhe is currently just a high school student and doesn't have much social experience.
But Lynch is different.
In his previous life, for safety reasons and to prevent himself from being kidnapped, he studied self-defense techniques, mixed martial arts, and escape skills for several years.
In terms of unarmed combat skills, although he is not as good as a professional athlete, he can easily handle a few ordinary people.
He could tell that these guys in front of him were at best street thugs.
This blond guy yelled loudly, but every move he made exuded the half-baked thug vibe he'd picked up from gangster movies—he was incredibly immature.
But in terms of actual combat ability, he is probably not as good as this Brother Hai.
Lin Qi pulled Zhang Haozhe behind him and went to the pool table. Chonghai asked again, "How much money does he owe you?"
"Holy shit..."
Huang Mao glared and started cursing as he tried to come up, but Hai Ge stopped him.
Smiling at Lin Qi, he took out a cigarette case from his pocket, pulled out a cigarette, and his female companion raised her hand to light it for him.
He took a drag, slowly exhaled the smoke, and then replied with a smile, "It's two thousand four hundred now. What, are you going to help me pay it off?"
Seeing his moves, which he seemed to have picked up from some Hong Kong movie, Lin Qi nodded: "Yes, I'll pay it for him."
"Lynch!"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Haozhe immediately became anxious.
Ignoring his fear, he stepped forward and grabbed Lin Qi, urgently saying, "What does this have to do with you? Don't get involved!"
Hai-ge, Min-ge, this has nothing to do with him! I'm the one who lost your money, so I'm the one who has to pay it back!
"..."
Lin Qi looked at him speechlessly: "Are you acting in a movie? A Better Tomorrow?"
"What?"
Zhang Haozhe was stunned and became somewhat angry.
What time is it? Lin Qi is still joking around?
Shaking his head, Lin Qi took the billiard cue from Hai Ge's hand and said, "What stakes are you playing? I'll play for him. If we lose, it's on me; if we win, it's his money back to you."
"You want to fight us?"
Hai Ge across from them was also stunned. He exchanged a glance with Huang Mao next to him and they both burst out laughing.
"Sure! Haha!"
Hai Ge grinned so hard his eyes narrowed into slits: "We'll play for a hundred a game, one game at a time, are you in?"
"Lynch!"
Zhang Haozhe panicked: "Stop messing around! Can't we just leave? I'm begging you!"
But Lin Qi remained unmoved, took a goal from the bottom of the storage box, and rolled it towards the other side: "Alright, a hundred and one round it is, set up the ball!"
"Wow, I'm really impressed!"
Zhang Haozhe was extremely anxious and pleaded with An Xin behind him, "An Xin, can you talk to him?"
But Anxin was completely bewildered by this series of events after she entered the room.
She looked at Lin Qi, somewhat bewildered.
Why does Brother Lin Qi seem different today?
Hai Ge looked at the billiard ball rolling towards him, then looked up and saw it fall on Lin Qi's faded school uniform. He smiled and reminded him, "Didn't you hear me? One round, one bill—where's your money?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Qi looked at Zhang Haozhe.
"I have no money left."
Zhang Haozhe shook his head repeatedly and reached out to pull him: "Let's go! I'll think of something later."
But Lin Qi remained silent and did not move his feet.
Upon seeing this, Hai Ge and Huang Mao burst out laughing.
"Haha! You bragged like a madman, but you don't even have a hundred dollars?"
"I thought I'd run into some tough guy, but it turns out he's just an idiot! Hahaha!"
Lin Qi thought for a moment, then reached into his pocket.
He didn't have a hundred dollars, but he had twenty.
Suddenly, a voice came from behind.
"Who says we're broke? We're rich!"
An Xin, who hadn't spoken until now, quickly walked over from the doorway and stuffed a hundred-yuan bill, still warm from her body, into Lin Qi's hand.
She glared angrily at Hai Ge and the other man, then grasped Lin Qi's hand, nodded earnestly, and said, "Go for it! Brother Lin Qi! I believe in you!"
Holding the still-warm money in his palm, Lin Qi was momentarily puzzled.
Have you ever seen me play billiards? You actually believe me?
But now was not the time to talk about these things. He stuffed the money back into An Xin's hand: "No need, I have a way."