Evil Awe-Inspiring

“Juan, what are you talking about?” I shout in surprise. He waves his hand, motioned me not to speak, and listen to him.

He leans back in the pool, close his eyes, doesn’t know what is going on in his mind, and then suddenly asks, “5, how long have you been following me?”

“Four years.” I answer quickly, “I’ve been with you for over four years.”

“Well… More than four years.” Juan smiled and opened his eyes and looked at me. “How do you feel about me, Little 5?”

“Good!” I answer without hesitation, “You are very kind to me!”

I speak very fast, very determined!

Juan is really very kind to me. I’m just a kid working in the Golden Paradise. Since Juan discovered me, then he covers me all the time, so that I may have the achievement today! Without Juan, I’m afraid I don’t know where I am serving the dishes now.

Juan sighs. Then he suddenly finishes the red wine in his cup and pointed to the sauna room, saying, “Come in and steam with me for a while.” He put on a towel and stands up, and I follow him right away. The two twin girls hasten to put a bath towel on me.

In the sauna room, Juan and I sit side by side. He picks up a wooden ladle and waters the heap of burning stones. His hands are moving as if he is thinking something at the same time with a little distraction.

A ladle of water, two ladles of water, Juan pours five or six ladles of water. Steam diffuse, hot and hard! I feel the air is beginning to burn. Every time I breathe in, my lungs feel like burned. Sweats are pouring down, as if we are not in the sauna, but are thrown into the microwave oven.

“Juan, it’s enough.” I quickly stop Juan from watering. Joking, he is obviously wandering away. If he is pouring again, the two of us will probably be cooked.

You know, we usually stew the sauna with up to two ladles of water. Now the barrel on the side is almost bottoming out.

Juan is still meditating, but he seems to no feeling with the heat at all. From his eyes, I can see that he is thinking about something difficult to decide. Finally, he seems to make a decision at last.

“5, you know, there are only two people around me that I really trust.” Juan slowly says: “One is Jim, when I was fighting in the south, Jim’s life was saved by me, and then he followed me. I only saved him once, but he has saved me so many times these years. If he owed me anything, he would have paid it off. He is still always loyal to me. Unfortunately, Jim is loyal and listens to me very much, but my business can’t be taken care of by him. He isn’t good at it.”

I didn’t speak anything.

“The second one is you.” Juan suddenly smiles and slap me on the shoulder. “You little boy, I don’t know what happened. When I saw you, I felt like you! It’s good that you are kind to our staffs. To our opponents, you do things without a soft heart. The most important thing is that you are young, but not like the young people nowadays. Most of them are impetuous! It’s been four years since I threw you in Golden Paradise. Isn’t that strange? ”

I say, “Juan, I know, you want me to practice more. Besides, I’ve made a lot of money in the nightclub. If it weren’t you, I would still be serving the plates somewhere.”

“Well.” Juan smiles and says, “This is how I like you. You are not greedy! All men are ambitious. Ambitious is not a problem which can make people achieve great things. But greedy can only make people bad. You should remember this sentence.”

I nod.

“Tonight, I suddenly call you to come here. Because I feel it is almost the time for you to know more things about me.”

I still nod, but my face has cooled down.

Juan looks at the expression on my face. His eyes are showing some satisfactions, then he suddenly laughs and scolds, “Fuck, how hot the steam is today?”

I smile bitterly, thinking that it was not the water too hot but you were pouring too hard the stone.

Juan wipes a sweat: “Just now, I said this place is mine. Are you surprised?”

“Yes!” I nod, “I think this place is very complicated and the background is very deep. If you want to operate such a place, I’m afraid it needs a very strong strength, and also needs exceptionally adept in trickery!

“Exceptionally adept in trickery!” Juan suddenly sneers, “Little 5, these things, I can’t speak clearly now. I call you tonight is to let you have a good look! After a while we finished washing, I’ll show you around here and let you open your eyes. A lot of things will wait until you see it, and I will say it then to make you understand it.

I nod at once.

Juan smiles. Something warm in his eyes. Then he stands up and laughs and scolds, “Fuck, it’s too hot here. I can’t stand it any more. Let’s go out!”

Out of the sauna, Juan falls on the edge of the bathtub and sighs, “Come over, rub my back.”

The two girls have been hiding in the pool. One of them picks up a bath towel and sit down beside him. Juan frowns and says: “Women’s hands are too soft and have no strength.” He points to me, “Little 5, you come!”

It is not the first time I take bath with Juan, nor is it the first time rub his back. I hear he wants to rub his back, and have come to scrub a towel on my hand, and bring a basin of water.

But there are two girls staring at me. I always feel uncomfortable.

Although I am not the guy never have seen a woman, nor have I not let a woman see, but this kind of place, while taking a bath, two women stare at you, there is always something uncomfortable. I frown, “you go out first.”

The two girls are stunned and looking at Juan at the same time. He looks down, lays on his stomach, waving his hand and smiling: “All right, just go out, go back to your room, get ready, and let Little 5 have a good time with you tonight!”

Two women are blushing at the same time, then quickly pick up the wine bottle and cups, wrap in towels and run away.

I’ve rubed Juan’s back with a wet towel, then flatten the palms of my hands slightly slap him on the back.

Juan is humming with joy. He’s sighing: “5, am I old already?”

“How can it be?” I laugh, “Last week on the boxing ring, your punch beat me down almost for half a day.”

“Hum, cunning little boy.” Juan laughs and says, “You think I don’t know? You little boy has begun to pretending when fighting with me!” He immediately sighs, “In fact, I understand in my heart that old is old. You look at my waist now, how much fat is it over the previous years?”

To my mind, Juan’s body is actually very strong. But middle-aged people, even if you are Mr. Bodybuilding, the body will inevitably become swollen, I hand in Juan’s back pat knead, feel his body muscles are really much more relaxed than before.

“5! Where a man sits, what he works for? But some places, looking good, in fact, is very tired. If you are sitting wrong, you will lose your entire family’s lives!” Juan is smiling, but he seems a little helpless. “Who am I? When I took one thousand to the south, I have seen so many big things. Death and live, blood and flesh flying… I have come all the way. But unfortunately, now sitting in this position, it seems fantastic every day, but this place frightens me, like walking on thin ice!”

“Those nightclubs, restaurants and taxi companies belongs to me, how much are they worth altogether? Tens of millions? Such an amount in the eyes of ordinary people, that is astronomical! Hem, if in the eyes of those real giants, I’m afraid it’s just a lost number in a card game! Put it here, if you have tens of millions only, huh, I’m afraid you can’t even get in the door of the hotel!”

Juan’s voice smells of strange resentment, and then he takes a deep breath: “5, don’t you wonder why I said this place is mine? I’m telling you now!”

Then he asks me: “What business has the biggest profit in the world?”

“The arms and the drugs.” I immediately give the answer.

I’m afraid most of people know this common sense.

But Juan smiles, and then with a mocking tone, he says: “Wrong!”

Before I can refute, he quickly continues: “What is the arms business? What is the business of narcotics? These two things can make money, but such money is hot. If you make narcotics business, you will be on the opposite side of the national government! Even if you have many money, very powerful forces, but any organization absolutely can’t fight against the national machine! The drug business? Hmm, if the national machine must kill you, any big drug dealers will be terminated. How can you make money without a long life?”

Gasping, Juan continues laughing: “As for arms dealer… Well, it’s just reluctant. If the country supports you in the arms business, you can do it without restraint! But if one day the country does not support you, you can be erased at any time. The American arms dealers have the American government supporting them, but the US is the US. We can’t do it here. Arms trading here, is actually done by the country, not your own arms merchants. You are just making money for the country.”

As I am listening quietly, I realize that Juan has something else to say for sure. And I ask: “What is the real money-making business?”

Juan smiles. He looks up at me. There is something sharp in his eyes. Then he utters some words.

“Collusion between power and money!”

With a sneer, he says slowly, “There is no more profitable business in the world than the exchange of power and money.”

I do not speak, and Juan’s voice echoes in the bathroom air.

“Power, money, these two things are the most powerful capitals of the world! If these two things unite, the power will be greater. 5. Look at the place where you are now. You know, every night, in this place, in a room upstairs, on a card table, in a nightclubhouse, even on one of the beds. How many transactions can be taken place? How many people’s fates are decided here everyday? Well, if somebody counts this figure, I’m even sure that the annual turnover here will not catch up even if you add up the sales of all the night nightclubs in the city! If the developers want to get a piece of land, they will use their money to exchange for the power of senior officials. If a large company wants to evade taxes, it will have to pay for the pen in the hands of the tax authorities. Otherwise, one stroke is a million of digits. To smuggle, businessmen have to pay for the customs guys to close their eyes when they need to be! Officials want to buy villas, to raise lovers, to pack mistresses, and to use their power to exchange money. 5, you don’t know how many interest groups are behind this place. How many people are there? I tell you, this place, business is power and money trading!”